[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 168 (Friday, August 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53365-53366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19005]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-10013-99-Region 9]


Public Water System Supervision Program Revisions for the Navajo 
Nation

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of tentative approval.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Navajo Nation revised its 
approved Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program under the 
federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) by adopting the Arsenic Rule, 
Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule, Filter Backwash Recycling Rule 
(FBRR), Lead and Copper Rule--Minor Revisions (LCR-MR), and Stage 1 
Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts (DBP) Rule. The Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that these revisions by the 
Navajo Nation are no less stringent than the corresponding Federal 
regulations and otherwise meet applicable SDWA primacy requirements. 
Therefore, the EPA intends to approve these revisions to the Navajo 
Nation's PWSS Program.

DATES: Request for a public hearing must be received on or before 
September 28, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Information submitted by the Navajo Nation relating to this 
determination are available for inspection on http://www.navajoepa.org. 
If there are issues with accessing the website, contact Yolanda Barney, 
Navajo PWSS Program, via telephone at (928) 871-7715; or via email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bessie Lee, EPA Region 9, Drinking 
Water Section (WTR-4-1), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; 
via telephone at (415) 972-3776; or via email address at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background. The EPA approved the Navajo Nation's original 
application for PWSS Program primary enforcement authority on October 
23, 2000 (65 FR 66541). Primacy states such as the Navajo Nation must 
adopt and submit for approval to EPA all new and revised national 
primary drinking water regulations. Since that initial approval, EPA 
has worked with the Navajo Nation to review and approve various 
revisions to Navajo's primacy program. For the revisions covered by 
this action, EPA published the latest iteration of the Arsenic Rule in 
the Federal Register on January 22, 2001 (66 FR 6976) and promulgated 
this rule at 40 CFR part 141 Subpart G; published the CCR Rule on 
August 19, 1998 (63 FR 44512) and promulgated this rule at 40 CFR part 
141 Subpart O; published the FBRR on June 8, 2001 (66 FR 31086) and 
promulgated this rule at 40 CFR part 141 Subpart P; published the LCR-
MR to the 1991 Lead and Cooper Rule on January 12, 2000 (65 FR 1950) 
and promulgated at 40 CFR part 141 Subpart I; and published the Stage 1 
DBP Rule on December 16, 1998 (63 FR 69390) and promulgated this rule 
at 40 CFR part 141 Subpart L. The Navajo Nation has incorporated these 
federal drinking water rules by reference into its Navajo Nation 
Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NNPDWRs), and therefore they 
parallel the federal requirements. The relevant citations to the 
NNPDWRs are: Part IV for the Arsenic Rule, Part XII for the CCR Rule, 
Part VIII for the FBRR, Part VII for the LCR-MR, and Part XI for the 
Stage 1 DBP Rule. These are the primacy revisions that the EPA Region 9 
tentatively approves as part of the Navajo PWSS Program.
    Public Process. Any interested party may request a public hearing 
on this determination. A request for a public hearing must be submitted 
by September 28, 2020, to the Regional Administrator (RA) of EPA Region 
9, to the address shown above. Please note on the mailing envelope 
``Request for

[[Page 53366]]

Public Hearing''. The RA may deny frivolous or insubstantial requests 
for a hearing. If a substantial request for a public hearing is made by 
September 28, 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 
RA'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 RA does not elect to hold a hearing on his own 
motion, the determination at issue in this notice, the EPA's approval 
shall become final and effective on September 28, 2020, and no further 
public notice will be issued. EPA Region 9 will provide public notice 
of any public hearing held pursuant to a request submitted by an 
interested person or on EPA's own motion. If a public hearing is held, 
EPA Region 9 will issue an order either affirming or rescinding the 
determination. If EPA Region 9 affirms the determination, it will 
become effective as of the date of the order.

    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: August 19, 2020.
John W. Busterud,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9.
[FR Doc. 2020-19005 Filed 8-27-20; 8:45 am]
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