[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51155-51156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19787]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0547; FRL-5601.5-01-OW]
RIN 2040-ZA38


Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Preliminary Effluent Guidelines 
Program Plan 15 (Preliminary Plan 15) and solicits public comment. The 
Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the EPA to biennially publish a plan for 
new and revised effluent limitations guidelines, after public review 
and comment. Preliminary Plan 15 discusses EPA's 2020 annual review of 
effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards, presents 
the agency's preliminary review of specific categories identified 
through the review, provides an update on the analyses and tools that 
EPA is continuing to develop, and discusses several new and ongoing 
rulemaking actions.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 14, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2021-0547, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. 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 and multimedia 
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please 
visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Phillip Flanders, Engineering and 
Analysis Division, Office of Water, 4303T, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (202) 566-8323; fax number: (202) 566-1053; email 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Supporting Documents

    A key document providing additional information is the Preliminary 
Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 document. Supporting documents 
providing further details are also available for review.

B. How can I get copies of these documents and other related 
information?

    1. Docket. The EPA has established an official public docket for 
these actions under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0547. The official 
public docket is the collection of materials that are available for 
public viewing at the Water

[[Page 51156]]

Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460.
    2. Electronic Access. You can access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the United States Government online source for 
Federal regulations at http://www.regulations.gov.
    3. Internet access. Copies of the supporting documents are 
available at http://www.epa.gov/eg/effluent-guidelines-plan.

II. How is this document organized?

    The outline of this document follows.
    A. Legal Authority.
    B. Summary of Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15.
    C. Request for Public Comments and Information.

A. Legal Authority

    This notice is published under the authority of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 
1251, et seq., and in particular sections 301(d), 304(b), 304(g), 
304(m), 306, 307(b) and 308 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1311(d), 1314(b), 
1314(g), 1314(m), 1316, 1317(b), and 1318.

B. Summary of Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15

    EPA prepares Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plans pursuant 
to CWA section 304(m). Preliminary plans provide a summary of the EPA's 
annual review of effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment 
standards, consistent with CWA sections 301(d), 304(b), 304(g), 304(m), 
and 307(b). From these reviews, preliminary plans identify any new or 
existing industrial categories selected for effluent limitations 
guidelines or pretreatment standards rulemakings and provide a schedule 
for such rulemakings. In addition, preliminary plans present any new or 
existing categories of industry selected for further review and 
analysis.
    Preliminary Plan 15 discusses EPA's 2020 annual review of effluent 
limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards, presents its 
preliminary review of specific categories identified through the 
review, provides an update on the analyses and tools that EPA is 
continuing to develop, and discusses several new and ongoing rulemaking 
actions.
    EPA is initiating three new rulemakings after concluding several 
studies that were discussed in Plan 14. After several years of 
collecting and analyzing data, EPA has concluded that revision of the 
following effluent limitations guidelines or pretreatment standards are 
warranted:

1. Meat and Poultry Products point-source category to address nutrient 
discharges (see Section 6.2 of the preliminary plan for additional 
details)
2. Organic Chemicals, Plastics & Synthetic Fibers point-source category 
to address Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) discharges (see 
Section 6.4 of the preliminary plan for additional details)
3. Metal Finishing point-source category to address PFAS discharges 
(see Section 6.4 of the preliminary plan for additional details)

    Preliminary Plan 15 also discusses the Steam Electric Generating 
category rulemaking that the agency announced on July 26, 2020. At that 
time, EPA announced that the agency was initiating a rulemaking process 
to strengthen certain wastewater pollution discharge limits for coal 
power plants that use steam to generate electricity. See Section 7.1 of 
the preliminary plan for additional details.
    Finally, Preliminary Plan 15 provides updates on ongoing point 
source category studies of the electrical and electronic components 
category and the Multi-Industry PFAS study and explains the agency's 
intention to take no further action on oil and gas extraction 
wastewater management. It also discusses the initial results from EPA's 
review for the metal products and machinery, explosives manufacturing, 
canned and preserved seafood, sugar processing, soap and detergent 
manufacturing, and landfill point source categories.
    Preliminary Plan 15 can be found at http://www.epa.gov/eg/effluent-guidelines-plan.

C. Request for Public Comments and Information

    EPA requests comments and information on the overall content of 
Preliminary Plan 15. In particular, EPA requests comments on the 
announcements regarding ongoing studies and rulemaking activities (see 
Sections 6 and 7 of the plan for additional details), and the topics 
below. See Preliminary Plan 15 for more information on these issues.
    1. Reviews of Industrial Wastewater Discharges and Treatment 
Technologies.
    EPA solicits feedback on the cross-category rankings analysis. To 
the extent that any comment advocates for a revision to existing 
effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs), the commenter should explain 
why EPA should prioritize these point source categories ahead of the 
ones that EPA is studying and revising.
    2. Membrane Wastewater Treatment Technology.
    EPA solicits comment on the capabilities, performance, and costs of 
membrane treatment technologies for industrial wastewater to support 
the membrane technology review.
    3. Environmental Justice.
    EPA solicits comment on how best to incorporate environmental 
justice into the ELG planning process.
    4. PFAS Multi-Industry Study.
    EPA solicits feedback on the findings of the Multi-Industry PFAS 
study, specifically findings from the pulp and paper manufacturers and 
commercial airports.

Radhika Fox,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-19787 Filed 9-13-21; 8:45 am]
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