[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 140 (Friday, July 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43847-43848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15648]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R06-OW-2022-0603; FRL-6179.1-01-R6]


Proposed NPDES General Permit for New and Existing Sources and 
New Dischargers in the Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas 
Extraction Category for the Western Portion of the Outer Continental 
Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (GMG290000)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed NPDES general permit issuance.

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SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator of Region 6 proposes to reissue the 
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit 
No. GMG290000 for existing and new sources and new dischargers in the 
Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source 
Category, located in and discharging to the Outer Continental Shelf 
offshore of Louisiana and Texas. The discharge of produced water to 
that portion of the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Subcategory 
facilities located in the territorial seas of Louisiana and Texas is 
also authorized by this permit.
    This draft permit proposes to retain, with certain modifications, 
the limitations and conditions of the existing 2017 issued permit (2017 
permit). The 2017 permit limitations conform with the Oil and Gas 
Offshore Subcategory Guidelines and contain additional requirements to 
assess impacts from the discharge of produced water to the marine 
environment, as required by section 403(c) of the Clean Water Act. The 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to use the reissued 
permit to regulate oil and gas extraction facilities located in the 
Outer Continental Shelf of the Western Gulf of Mexico, e.g., offshore 
oil and gas extraction platforms, but other types of facilities may 
also be subject to the permit. Covered operators would fall primarily 
under the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 211 
and 213 code series (previously the Standard Industrial Classification 
(SIC) 13 code series). To determine whether your facility, company, 
business, organization, etc., may be affected by this action, you 
should carefully examine the applicability criteria in Part I, Section 
A.1 of the draft permit.

DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing to EPA on or before 
September 20, 2022.

[[Page 43848]]

    Proposed Documents: A complete draft permit and a fact sheet fully 
explaining the proposal are available online via the docket for this 
action at: https://www.regulations.gov. A copy of the proposed permit, 
fact sheet, and this Federal Register Notice may also be found via the 
EPA Region 6 website at: https://www3.epa.gov/region6/water/npdes/genpermit/index.htm.
    To obtain hard copies of these documents or any other information 
in the administrative record, please contact Ms. Evelyn Rosborough 
using the contact information provided below.
    Other Legal Requirements: Other statutory and regulatory 
requirements are discussed in the fact sheet that include: Oil Spill 
Requirement; Ocean Discharge Criteria Evaluation; Marine Protection, 
Research, and Sanctuaries Act; National Environmental Policy Act; 
Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act; Endangered 
Species Act; State Water Quality Standards and State Certification; 
Coastal Zone Management Act; Paperwork Reduction Act; and Regulatory 
Flexibility Act.

How do I comment on this proposal?

    Comment Submittals: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID. 
No. EPA-R06-OW-2022-0603; by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ 
(our preferred method).
     By Email: Send comments by email to 
[email protected]. Include Docket ID. No EPA-R06-OW-2022-0603; 
in the subject line of the email.
     By Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Deliver comments to U.S. 
EPA, Attn: Evelyn Rosborough, 1201 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75270.
     We encourage the public to submit comments via 
www.Regulations.gov or via email as there may be a delay in processing 
mail and hand deliveries will be accepted by appointment only due to 
public health concerns related to COVID-19.
     Please submit your comments within the specified time 
period cited in the DATES section of this document. Comments received 
after the close of the comment period will be marked ``late''. The EPA 
is not required to consider these late comments. All comments received 
by the EPA in accordance with this section by the ending date of the 
comment period will be considered by the EPA before a final decision is 
made regarding permit issuance.
     Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
the docket. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public 
docket.
    Do not submit to EPA's docket or email 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. The 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.
    Administrative record: All documents and references used in the 
development of this permit are part of the Administrative Record for 
this permit. Although listed in the index, some information is not 
publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly 
available materials are available either electronically or in hard copy 
from Ms. Evelyn Rosborough at the address above. The Administrative 
Record may also be viewed at the EPA Region 6 Offices from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. For more 
information on scheduling a time to view the Record or to obtain copies 
of available documents, please contact Ms. Evelyn Rosborough at 214-
665-7515 or [email protected].

Public Meetings and Public Hearings

    Public meetings and hearings on the proposed permit will be held 
during the comment period approximately 30 to 45 days after the date of 
this notice. Times, places and instructions for virtual participation 
will be announced online at the EPA Public Notices pages for Texas and 
Louisiana at https://www.epa.gov/publicnotices. The meetings will 
include a presentation on the proposed permit followed by the 
opportunity for questions and answers. The public hearings will be held 
in accordance with the requirements of 40 CFR 124.12. At the public 
hearing, any person may submit oral or written statements and data 
concerning the proposed permit. Any person who cannot attend one of the 
public hearings may still submit written comments, which have the same 
weight as comments made at the public hearing, through the end of the 
public comment period.
    Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

Charles W. Maguire,
Director, Water Division, EPA Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2022-15648 Filed 7-21-22; 8:45 am]
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