[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4741-4742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02696]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 151

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0444; FRL-9989-49-OLEM]
RIN 2050-AG87


Clean Water Act Hazardous Substances Spill Prevention Proposed 
Action Under Clean Water Act Section 311(j)(1)(C); Notification of Data 
Availability--Responses to 2018 Clean Water Act Hazardous Substances 
Survey (OMB Control No. 2050-0220)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

[[Page 4742]]


ACTION: Proposed action; notification of data availability.

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SUMMARY: EPA is making available for review and comment the data 
received from respondents of a voluntary survey, ``2018 Clean Water Act 
Hazardous Substances Survey'' (OMB Control No. 2050-0220). This data is 
being made available consistent with the preamble to the proposed 
action ``Clean Water Act Hazardous Substances Spill Prevention'' 
published on June 25, 2018. The data collected through the voluntary 
survey is available in Regulations.gov at Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-
0444.

DATES: Comments on data from respondents of the voluntary survey posted 
in Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0444 must be received on or before March 
5, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0444 in the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments 
cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish 
any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically 
any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information 
(CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA 
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other 
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA 
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, 
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Wilson, United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Land and Emergency 
Management, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (Mail Code 5104A), Washington, DC 
20460; telephone number: (202) 564-7989; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Detailed background information on the 
Information Collection Request (ICR) process and the development of the 
voluntary survey may also be found in Regulations.gov at Docket ID: 
EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0444. The proposed action associated with the 
voluntary survey, Clean Water Act Hazardous Substances Spill 
Prevention, was published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2018 (83 
FR 29499). Additional detailed background information on the proposed 
action can be found in Regulations.gov at Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2018-
0024.

I. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA's initial data gathering efforts for the Clean Water Act (CWA) 
Hazardous Substances (HS) Spill Prevention proposed action focused on 
assessing the scope of historical CWA HS discharges, identifying 
relevant industry practices, and identifying regulatory requirements 
related to preventing CWA HS discharges. EPA also developed a voluntary 
survey to collect information from states, tribes and territories 
focused on the universe of potentially-regulated facilities and on CWA 
HS discharges. EPA anticipated using relevant survey responses to 
further inform the proposed action.
    EPA has already made the voluntary survey data available in 
Regulations.gov at Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0444, provided notice of 
its availability on the EPA website for this action, and provided 
direct notice to the litigants that the data was available. 
Nonetheless, EPA is publishing this Notice of Data Availability to 
ensure the public has an opportunity to review and comment on the data 
EPA received in response to the voluntary survey. The Agency will 
consider the supplemental data and related comments as appropriate in 
the final Clean Water Act Hazardous Substances Spill Prevention action.

II. What is the background for this action?

    On July 21, 2015, EPA was sued for failing to comply with the 
alleged duty to issue regulations to prevent and contain CWA hazardous 
substance discharges. On February 16, 2016, the United States District 
Court for the Southern District of New York entered a Consent Decree 
between EPA and the litigants that required EPA to sign a notice of 
proposed rulemaking pertaining to the issuance of hazardous substance 
regulations and take final action after notice and comment on said 
notice. On June 25, 2018, based on an analysis of the frequency and 
impacts of reported CWA HS discharges and the existing framework of EPA 
regulatory requirements, EPA proposed to establish no new spill 
prevention requirements for CWA HS under Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 
311 at this time.
    EPA's initial data gathering efforts for the proposed action 
focused on assessing the scope of historical CWA HS discharges, 
identifying relevant industry practices, and identifying regulatory 
requirements related to preventing CWA HS discharges. EPA also used 
available data to estimate the universe of potentially regulated 
entities subject to this action. Additionally, EPA developed a 
voluntary survey intended to collect information from states, 
territories, and tribes focused on the universe of potentially-
regulated facilities and on a 10-year period of CWA HS discharges.
    On June 22, 2018, EPA issued the voluntary survey to respondents 
identified as potential custodians of data relevant to the survey. The 
voluntary survey was directed at State and Tribal Emergency Response 
Coordinators (respondents with custodial responsibility for data 
representing the potentially affected ``facility universe'' that 
produce, store, or use CWA hazardous substances), as well as state, 
tribal, and territorial government agencies with custodial 
responsibility for data on CWA hazardous substance impacts to drinking 
water utilities and fish kills potentially caused by discharge(s) of 
CWA hazardous substances. EPA provided 45 days to submit data 
responsive to the voluntary survey, requesting that information be 
submitted by August 6, 2018. EPA received responses from: Alabama, 
California, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, 
Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Texas. 
The data collected through the voluntary survey is available for review 
and comment in Regulations.gov at Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0444.

    Dated: February 6, 2019.
Reggie Cheatham,
Director, Office of Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2019-02696 Filed 2-15-19; 8:45 am]
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