[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 230 (Friday, December 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83937-83939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26437]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R06-OW-2023-0566; FRL-11561-01-R6]
Notice of Availability of Initial Revised Designation of Certain
Stormwater Discharges in the State of New Mexico Under the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System of the Clean Water Act
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 is
providing notice of an initial revised designation determination that
storm water discharges from the Los Alamos Urban Area (as defined by
the latest decennial Census) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
property in Los Alamos County and Santa Fe County, New Mexico are
contributing to violations of New Mexico water quality standards (WQS)
and require National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permit coverage under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This action is in
response to a June 30, 2014, petition filed with EPA by Amigos Bravos
entitled ``A Petition by Amigos Bravos for a Determination that Storm
Water Discharges in Los Alamos County Contribute to Water Quality
Standards Violations and Require a Clean Water Act Permit,'' and
revises the Agency's prior December 16, 2019, designation decision,
which was remanded to EPA for reconsideration by the Tenth Circuit
Court of Appeals.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 29, 2024. The
``Initial Revised Designation Decision and Record of Initial Decision
in Response to A Petition by Amigos Bravos for a Determination that
Stormwater Discharges in Los Alamos County Contribute to Water Quality
Standards Violations and Require Clean Water Act Permit Coverage'' was
signed on November 6, 2023. The EPA will hold an informal virtual
public meeting in January 2024, at least two weeks before the end of
the public comment period. Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section for additional information on the public hearing.
[[Page 83938]]
ADDRESSES: You may send comments on the Initial Designation
Determination, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OW-2023-0566, by the
following method:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the EPA-R06-OW-
2023-0566 for this Initial Designation Determination. 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 Initial Designation
Determination, see the ``Public Participation'' heading of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Ms.
Evelyn Rosborough via email: [email protected], or may be
mailed to Ms. Evelyn Rosborough, Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 6, Water Division (6WQ-NP), 1201 Elm Street, Suite 500, Dallas,
TX 75270.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation
A. Written Comments
Submit your comments as detailed in the ADDRESSES section. Do not
submit to EPA any information you consider to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI), Proprietary Business Information (PBI), 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).
B. Participation in Virtual Public Meeting
More information on how to participate in the informal virtual
public meeting planned for January 2024 will be available soon via the
New Mexico section of the Public Notices at U.S. EPA web page at
https://www.epa.gov/publicnotices. Public comments will not be accepted
during the public meeting, but the date of the meeting will provide at
least two weeks after the meeting to submit written comments prior to
the end of the public comment period.
II. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
Small MS4s operated by the County of Los Alamos, Los Alamos
National Laboratory, including Triad National Security, LLC and the
U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration,
and the New Mexico Department of Transportation would potentially be
regulated as a result of this action. To determine whether your entity
is affected by this action, you should also review the description of
EPA's action in Section II.B of this notice and the Initial Designation
Determination document available in Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OW-2023-0566
at the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ or
online via the Public Notice web page for New Mexico at: https://www.epa.gov/publicnotices. If you have questions regarding the
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
B. Summary and Availability of Designation Documents
The Regional Administrator of EPA Region 6 has made an initial
designation of stormwater discharges from certain MS4s for regulation
under the NPDES permitting program pursuant to Section 402(p)(2)(E) and
(6) of the CWA and EPA's implementing regulations at 40 CFR
122.26(a)(9)(i)(C)-(D). Those provisions authorize the Agency to
regulate stormwater discharges that contribute to a WQS violation or
that are a significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the
United States, or where controls are needed based on wasteload
allocations that are part of total maximum daily loads. This authority
is often referred to as ``residual designation authority'' or RDA. EPA
is providing notice of its revised initial designation that storm water
discharges from the Los Alamos Urban Area (as defined by the latest
decennial Census) and LANL property in Los Alamos County and Santa Fe
County, New Mexico are contributing to violations of New Mexico WQS and
require NPDES permit coverage under the CWA.
This proposed initial designation revises EPA's prior December 16,
2019, decision designating stormwater discharges from small MS4s
operated by the County of Los Alamos, LANL, and the New Mexico
Department of Transportation for NPDES permitting. The County of Los
Alamos filed a petition for review of EPA's 2019 designation with the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Following the filing of
the petition for review, EPA filed a motion for voluntary remand to
reconsider its response to the Petition considering the Supreme Court's
intervening decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S.
Ct. 1462 (2020) (Maui) and based on other relevant factors. On January
21, 2022, the Court granted EPA's motion, remanding the matter to EPA
``for the limited purpose of reconsidering the EPA's decision that is
the subject of this petition for review. Specifically, the EPA should
reconsider its decision in light of the Supreme Court's decision in
County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020). The EPA
may conduct any and all proceedings it deems necessary and appropriate
to reconsider the decision at issue in this case.'' Order, United
States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, January 21, 2022, Case #20-
9534, at 2. In addition to considering the Supreme Court's decision in
Maui, EPA has also considered the facts at issue in this matter
considering the recent Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, 598
U.S. 651, 143 S. Ct. 1322 (2023). EPA has carefully considered all
record information, including stormwater discharge data collected by
NMED, LANL, and the Buckman Direct Diversion, NMED's water quality
assessments and lists of impaired waters and any supplemental
information submitted by LANL or the County regarding EPA's previous
2019 designation decision, as well as the public comments submitted on
that decision. EPA also conducted a site visit in September 2022 to
examine first-hand the effects of the discharges and waters at issue.
EPA is hereby proposing its initial determination for public comment.
EPA is soliciting public comment and may revise its findings based on
public input.
Upon reconsideration of the Petition on remand, EPA has initially
determined that stormwater discharges from small MS4s located in the
Los Alamos Urban Area as defined by the latest decennial Census and
MS4s located on LANL property within Los Alamos and Santa Fe Counties,
New Mexico require NPDES permit coverage because the discharges are
contributing to violations of NM WQS in waters of the United States.
The initial designation plus supplementary information relating to it
are available on the EPA Public Notice web page at: https://www.epa.gov/publicnotices. Please refer to that website to review these
materials and then follow the directions above in this Notice for
submitting any comments.
[[Page 83939]]
Dated: November 27, 2023.
Dzung Kim Ngo Kidd,
Acting Director, Water Division, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2023-26437 Filed 11-30-23; 8:45 am]
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