[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]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn.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]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P