[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 245 (Friday, December 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70182-70183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27540]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-10003-59-Region 9]
Public Water System Supervision Program Revision for the State of
Arizona
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of tentative approval.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the State of Arizona revised its
approved Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program under the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) by adopting the Public Notice
(PN) Rule, Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule, Public Water System
(PWS) Definition and Administrative Penalty Authority. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that these
revisions by the State of Arizona are no less stringent than the
corresponding Federal regulations and otherwise meet applicable SDWA
primacy requirements. Therefore, the EPA intends to approve these
revisions as part of the State of Arizona's PWSS Program.
DATES: Request for a public hearing must be received on or before
January 21, 2020.
ADDRESSES: All documents relating to this determination are available
for inspection between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Thursday, except official State holidays and official Federal
holidays, at the following offices: Arizona Department of Environmental
Quality, Records Center, 1110 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ
85007; United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9,
Drinking Water Management Section, 75 Hawthorne Street (WTR-4-1), San
Francisco, California 94105.
Documents relating to this determination are also available online
at http://azdeq.gov/notices for inspection.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daria Evans-Walker, EPA Region 9,
Drinking Water Management Section, at the Region 9 address provided
above; via telephone at (415) 972-3451; or via email address at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background. The EPA approved the State of
Arizona's original application for PWSS Program primary enforcement
authority on August 25, 1978 (43 FR 38083). Primacy States such as
Arizona must adopt and submit for approval to EPA all new and revised
national primary drinking water regulations. Since that initial
approval, EPA has approved various revisions to Arizona's PWSS Program.
For the revisions covered by this action, the EPA promulgated the
Public Notice (PN) Rule on May 4, 2000 (65 FR 25982), the Consumer
Confidence Report (CCR) Rule on August 19, 1998 (63 FR 44512), and the
Public Water System (PWS) Definition and Administrative Penalty
Authority on April 28, 1998 (63 FR 23362); and EPA issued guidance on
the PWS definition on August 5, 1998 (63 FR 41940). Arizona has
incorporated by reference directly into the Arizona Administrative Code
(AAC) in Title 18 Chapter 4 R18-4-103, R18-4-117 and R18-4-119 the
definition of PWS found at 40 CFR 141.2, the requirements of the
federal CCR Rule, 40 CFR part 141 subpart O, and the PN Rule, 40 CFR
part 141 Subpart Q through a rulemaking made effective on April 2,
2016. Arizona has also revised its statutes related to Administrative
Penalty Authority, Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) Sec. 49-354, and PWS
definition, ARS Sec. 49-352, with
[[Page 70183]]
language sufficient to meet the federal requirements. These are the
primacy revisions that the EPA Region 9 intends to approve as part of
Arizona's PWSS Program.
In 2012, Arizona enacted an environmental audit law which had to be
evaluated as part of EPA's approval of these revisions. In order to
properly evaluate a request for approval, EPA requires a State Attorney
General to certify that the State's environmental audit law does not
affect its ability to implement the SDWA program. EPA applies the
criteria outlined in its ``Statement of Principles Effect of State
Audit Immunity/Privilege Laws on Enforcement Authority for Federal
Programs'' memo issued on February 14, 1997 in determining whether
states with audit laws have retained adequate enforcement authority.
This Statement of Principles memo provides that, if provisions of state
law are ambiguous, it is important for EPA to obtain an opinion from
the State Attorney General interpreting the law as meeting specific
federal requirements and, if the law cannot be so interpreted, changes
to state law may be necessary to obtain federal program approval. In
this case, the Arizona Attorney General's office submitted a legal
opinion to EPA analyzing the audit law and concluding that it does not
impede Arizona's ability to implement and enforce its PWSS Program. EPA
finds this legal opinion sufficient to approve the PWSS Program
revisions.
Public Process. Any interested party may request a public hearing
on this determination. A request for a public hearing must be submitted
by January 21, 2020, to the Regional Administrator of EPA Region 9, to
the address shown above. The Regional Administrator may deny frivolous
or insubstantial requests for a hearing. If a substantial request for a
public hearing is made by January 21, 2020, EPA Region 9 will hold a
public hearing. Any request for a public hearing shall include the
following information: 1. The name, address, and telephone number of
the individual, organization, or other entity requesting a hearing; 2.
A brief statement of the requesting person's or organization's interest
in the Regional Administrator's determination and a brief statement of
the information that the requesting person intends to submit at such
hearing; and 3. The signature of the individual making the request, or,
if the request is made on behalf of an organization or other entity,
the signature of a responsible official of the organization or other
entity.
If EPA Region 9 does not receive a timely and substantive request
for a hearing and the Regional Administrator does not elect to hold a
hearing on his own motion on the determination at issue in this notice,
the EPA's approval shall become final and effective on January 21,
2020, and no further public notice will be issued.
Authority: Section 1413 of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42
U.S.C. 300g-2 (1996), and 40 CFR part 142 of the National Primary
Drinking Water Regulations.
Dated: December 9, 2019.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9.
[FR Doc. 2019-27540 Filed 12-19-19; 8:45 am]
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