[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 238 (Thursday, December 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 79489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27121]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2020-0673; FRL-10018-43-OW]
Applying the Supreme Court's County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife
Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System Permit Program
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of draft guidance and request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a draft
memorandum to provide guidance to the regulated community and
permitting authorities on applying the recent decision of the United
States Supreme Court in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S.
Ct. 1462 (2020), in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program for point source
discharges that travel through groundwater before reaching waters of
the United States. Consistent with EPA Guidance; Administrative
Procedures for Issuance and Public Petitions, published in the Federal
Register on October 19, 2020, EPA is soliciting public comments on the
draft memorandum for thirty days. The Agency may pursue a future
rulemaking action to provide greater regulatory certainty concerning
discharges subject to the NPDES permit program. This draft guidance
document does not have the force and effect of law and it does not bind
the public in any way. By issuing this draft guidance memorandum, the
Agency intends only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing
requirements under the law or Agency policies.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 11, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2020-0673, at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from regulations.gov. 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. 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://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epadockets.
Due to the public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA
Docket Center (EPA/DC) and Reading Room is closed to visitors with
limited exceptions. The staff continues to provide remote customer
service via email and telephone. For the latest status information on
EPA/DC services and docket access, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Wilson, Office of Wastewater
Management, Water Permits Division (MC4203M), Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 564-6087; email address: [email protected].
A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
You may access this document electronically at https://www.epa.gov/npdes/releases-point-source-groundwater or at https://www.federalregister.gov. EPA has established an official public docket
for receiving comments under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2020-0673 which is
accessible electronically at http://www.regulations.gov that will also
contain copies of this Federal Register notice. The public docket does
not include CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by
statute. The telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
Dated: December 4, 2020.
David P. Ross,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2020-27121 Filed 12-9-20; 8:45 am]
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