[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 52 (Friday, March 19, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14858-14859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05436]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 147

[EPA-HQ-OW-2020-0595; FRL 10019-85-OW]


State of Michigan Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class II 
Program; Primacy Approval

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is 
proposing to approve the State of Michigan's Underground Injection 
Control Class II (UIC) Program for primacy. EPA determined that the 
State's program is consistent with the provisions of the Safe Drinking 
Water Act (SDWA) at Section 1425 to prevent underground injection 
activities that endanger underground sources of drinking water. The 
Agency's approval allows Michigan to implement and enforce its state 
regulations for UIC Class II injection wells located within the State. 
Michigan's authority excludes the regulation of injection well Classes 
I, III, IV, V and VI, and all wells in Indian country, as required by 
rule under the SDWA. The Agency requests public comment on this 
proposed rule and supporting documentation. In the ``Rules and 
Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, the Agency published 
EPA's approval of the State's program as a direct final rule without a 
prior proposed rule. If the Agency receives no adverse comment on the 
direct final rule, EPA will not take further action on this proposed 
rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received by April 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2020-0595, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at: https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. All submissions received must include the Docket ID No. for 
this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change to 
https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Public Participation'' 
heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Out 
of an abundance of caution for members of the public and our staff, the 
EPA Docket Center and Reading Room are closed to the public, with 
limited exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19.Our 
Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote customer service 
via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public to submit 
comments via https://www.regulations.gov/ or email, as there may be a 
delay in processing mail. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received 
by scheduled appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket 
Center services and the current status, please visit us online at: 
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    EPA is offering one virtual public hearing so that interested 
parties may also provide oral comments on the proposed rulemaking. For 
more information on the virtual public hearing and to register to 
attend, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/npdes/. Refer to the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for additional information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle Carey, Drinking Water Protection 
Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (4606M), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-2322; fax number: (202) 564-3754; 
email address: [email protected], or Anna Miller, UIC Section, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 
60604; telephone number: (312) 886-7060; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This supplementary information section is 
organized as follows:

I. Public Participation

    Submit your written comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2020-0595, at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from the docket. 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. Contact 
EPA if you want to submit CBI; see FOR INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document. 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information 
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area 
health departments, and our federal partners so that we can respond 
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.

II. The Proposed Rule

    EPA proposes to approve Michigan's UIC Program primacy application 
for Class II injection wells located within the State (except all wells 
in Indian country), because it meets all requirements under SDWA for 
such programs. The proposed rule would grant Michigan primary 
enforcement authority to prevent Class II (oil and gas-related) 
underground injection activities that endanger underground sources of 
drinking water. Accordingly, the Agency proposes to codify the State's 
program in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR part 147. 
EPA will continue to administer the UIC Program for injection well 
Classes I, III, IV, V and VI, and for all wells in Indian country.
    EPA has published a direct final rule in the ``Rules and 
Regulations'' section of the Federal Register, approving the State's 
program because EPA views this approval as noncontroversial and 
anticipates no adverse comment. For the Agency's rationale for approval 
and additional supplementary information, please see the preamble to 
the direct final rule. If EPA receives no adverse comment on the direct 
final rule, the Agency will not take further action on this proposed 
rule. If EPA receives adverse comment on the direct final rule, the 
Agency will withdraw the direct final rule and it will not take effect. 
The Agency would then consider and address all public comments in any 
subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. The Agency does not 
intend to institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in 
commenting must do so at this time.

[[Page 14859]]

    For further information, please contact the persons listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

Jane Nishida,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-05436 Filed 3-18-21; 8:45 am]
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