Amendments to the Water Quality Regulations, Water Code and Comprehensive Plan To Revise the Human Health Water Quality Criteria for PCBs in Zones 2 Through 6 of the Delaware Estuary and Bay, 47241-47242 [2013-18810]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 150 / Monday, August 5, 2013 / Proposed Rules
effective September 15, 2012, is
amended as follows:
Paragraph 6005 Class E Airspace areas
extending upward from 700 feet or more
above the surface of the earth.
*
*
*
*
*
ACE KS E5 Washington, KS [Amended]
Washington County Memorial Airport, KS
(Lat. 39°44′07″ N., long. 97°02′51″ W.)
That airspace extending upward from 700
feet above the surface within a 7.3-mile
radius of Washington County Memorial
Airport.
Issued in Fort Worth, TX, on July 25, 2013.
David P. Medina,
Manager, Operations Support Group, ATO
Central Service Center.
[FR Doc. 2013–18868 Filed 8–2–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
DELAWARE RIVER BASIN
COMMISSION
18 CFR Part 410
Amendments to the Water Quality
Regulations, Water Code and
Comprehensive Plan To Revise the
Human Health Water Quality Criteria
for PCBs in Zones 2 Through 6 of the
Delaware Estuary and Bay
Delaware River Basin
Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public
hearing.
AGENCY:
The Delaware River Basin
Commission (‘‘DRBC’’ or
‘‘Commission’’) will hold a public
hearing to receive comments on
proposed amendments to the
Commission’s Water Quality
Regulations, Water Code and
Comprehensive Plan to revise the water
quality criteria for polychlorinated
biphenyls (‘‘PCBs’’) in the Delaware
Estuary and Bay, DRBC Water Quality
Management Zones 2 through 6, for the
protection of human health from
carcinogenic effects. The Commission
will simultaneously solicit comment on
a draft implementation strategy to
support achievement of the criteria.
DATES: The public hearing will be held
starting at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday,
September 10, 2013. The hearing will
continue until all those wishing to
testify have had an opportunity to do so.
Written comments will be accepted and
must be received by 5:00 p.m. on
Friday, September 20, 2013. More
information regarding the procedures
for the hearing and comments is
provided below.
ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be
held in the Goddard Conference Room
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:53 Aug 02, 2013
Jkt 229001
at the Commission’s office building
located at 25 State Police Drive, West
Trenton, NJ. As Internet mapping tools
are inaccurate for this location, please
use the driving directions posted on the
Commission’s Web site.
Oral testimony and written comments:
Persons wishing to testify at the hearing
are asked to register in advance by
phoning Paula Schmitt at 609–883–
9500, ext. 224. Written comments may
be submitted as follows: If by email, to
paula.schmitt@drbc.state.nj.us; if by fax,
to Commission Secretary at 609–883–
9522; if by U.S. Mail, to Commission
Secretary, DRBC, P.O. Box 7360, West
Trenton, NJ 08628–0360; and if by
overnight mail, to Commission
Secretary, DRBC, 25 State Police Drive,
West Trenton, NJ 08628–0360.
Comments also may be delivered by
hand at any time during the
Commission’s regular office hours
(Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.
through 5:00 p.m. except on national
holidays) until the close of the comment
period at 5:00 p.m. on Friday,
September 20. In all cases, please
include the commenter’s name, address
and affiliation, if any, in the comment
document and ‘‘PCB Rulemaking’’ in the
subject line.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The
rule text, basis and background
document and the draft Implementation
Strategy are available on the DRBC Web
site, DRBC.net. A May 10, 2012
PowerPoint presentation that illustrates
PCB loading reductions achieved
through the implementation of the
Commission’s PMP Rule is also posted
on the Web site. For further information,
please contact Commission Secretary
Pamela M. Bush, 609–883–9500 ext.
203.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Re-Proposal. A notice of proposed
rulemaking to amend the current PCB
criteria and to invite comment on an
implementation plan was published in
the Federal Register (74 FR 41100) on
August 14, 2009. The Commission
deferred action on the proposal,
however, pending the refinement of
implementation strategies for point
sources. Today, the uniform criterion of
16 picograms per liter is re-proposed,
and a draft implementation strategy that
has been revised for point sources is
simultaneously published for comment.
Current Criteria. The human health
water quality criteria for PCBs currently
in effect in Zones 2 through 5 of the
Delaware Estuary were established by
the Commission in 1996 (see 61 FR
58047 and incorporation by reference at
18 CFR part 410). The 1996 criterion
applicable to the lower portion of Zone
PO 00000
Frm 00028
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
47241
5 was extended to Zone 6, Delaware
Bay, in 2010, effective the following
year (see 76 FR 16285). The
development of these PCB criteria predated the collection of site-specific
bioaccumulation data for the Estuary
and Bay and site-specific fishconsumption data for Zones 2 through
4 that are relevant to the development
of human health water quality criteria.
They are also inconsistent with current
guidance issued by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(‘‘EPA’’) for the development of such
criteria, and they vary by water quality
zone, adding undue complexity to
application of the criteria in these tidal
waters.
Development of New Criteria. By
Resolution No. 2003–11 on March 19,
2003 the Commission directed the
executive director to initiate rulemaking
on a proposal to revise the
Commission’s water quality criteria for
PCBs for the protection of human health
from carcinogenic effects to reflect sitespecific data on fish consumption, sitespecific bioaccumulation factors, and
current EPA guidance on development
of human health criteria. Amendment of
the PCB criteria was delayed, however,
pending ongoing work by the
Commission’s Toxics Advisory
Committee (‘‘TAC’’) to develop the new
criterion and a simultaneous initiative
by the Commission and diverse
stakeholders to develop an
implementation plan. The TAC is a
standing committee of stakeholders,
including regulators, municipal and
industrial dischargers and
environmental organizations that
advises the Commission on technical
matters relating to the control of toxic
contaminants in shared waters of the
Basin.
Rigorously applying the most current
available data and methodology,
including site-specific data on fish
consumption, site-specific
bioaccumulation factors, and the current
EPA methodology for the development
of human health criteria for toxic
pollutants (see EPA–822–B–00–004,
October 2000), the TAC in July 2005
completed development of a revised
PCB water quality criterion for the
protection of human health from
carcinogenic effects for the Delaware
Estuary and Bay, recommending
adoption of a uniform criterion of 16
picograms per liter for Water Quality
Management Zones 2 through 6. By
Resolution No. 2005–19 on December 7,
2005, the Commission again directed
the executive director to conduct
rulemaking, specifically to replace the
existing criteria for PCBs with the
E:\FR\FM\05AUP1.SGM
05AUP1
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
47242
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 150 / Monday, August 5, 2013 / Proposed Rules
uniform criterion of 16 picograms per
liter.
Over the course of the next three-anda-half years, the Commission continued
to work with co-regulators on an
implementation strategy for point and
non-point sources to accompany the
proposed uniform criterion. A notice of
proposed rulemaking to amend the
current PCB criteria and to invite
comment on an implementation plan
was issued in August 2009 (see 74 FR
41100). The Commission deferred action
on the proposal, however, pending the
refinement of implementation strategies
for point sources. The updated, uniform
criterion of 16 picograms per liter is
now re-proposed, and a draft
implementation strategy that has been
revised for point sources is
simultaneously published for comment.
Proposed Amendment. It is proposed
to amend Table 6 in Section 3.30 of
Article 3 of the Water Quality
Regulations and Water Code as follows:
For the parameter ‘‘PCBs (Total)’’, in the
column headed ‘‘Freshwater Objectives
(ug/l): Fish & Water Ingestion,’’ by
removing the number ‘‘0.0000444’’ and
inserting ‘‘0.000016’’; in the column
headed ‘‘Freshwater Objectives (ug/l):
Fish Ingestion Only,’’ by removing the
number ‘‘0.0000448’’ and inserting
‘‘0.000016’’; and in the column headed
‘‘Marine Objectives (ug/l): Fish
Ingestion Only,’’ by removing the
number ‘‘0.0000079’’ and inserting
‘‘0.000016’’. It is further proposed to
amend paragraph 410.1(c) of title 18 of
the Code of Federal Regulations by
replacing the date of incorporation by
reference that appears there (December
8, 2010), with the date on which the
Commission adopts a final rule in
response to this proposal.
Water Quality Impairment for PCBs.
Because high levels of PCBs have
resulted in state-issued fish
consumption advisories for certain
species caught in the Estuary and Bay,
these waters are listed by the bordering
states as impaired under Section 303(d)
of the federal Clean Water Act (‘‘CWA’’),
and a total maximum daily load
(‘‘TMDL’’) is required to be established
for them. A TMDL expresses the
maximum amount of a pollutant that a
water body can receive and still attain
water quality standards. Once the TMDL
is calculated, it is allocated to all
sources in the watershed—point and
nonpoint. In order to ensure the
attainment and maintenance of water
quality standards, a source must not
discharge a load in excess of its
allocated share of the TMDL.
The EPA established TMDLs for PCBs
on behalf of the states in December of
2003 for the Delaware Estuary and in
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:53 Aug 02, 2013
Jkt 229001
December of 2006 for the Delaware Bay
(‘‘Stage 1 TMDLs’’). Upon adoption of
revised human health water quality
criteria for PCBs in the Delaware
Estuary and Bay, it is anticipated that
EPA will establish new TMDLs (‘‘Stage
2 TMDLs’’) corresponding to the
updated criteria.
Implementing PCB Load Reductions.
To initiate PCB reductions, by
Resolution No. 2005–9 in May 2005, the
Commission amended its Water Quality
Regulations (‘‘WQR’’) to establish a
requirement for PCB Pollutant
Minimization Plans (‘‘PMPs’’) (see
Section 4.30.9 of the WQR, incorporated
by reference at 18 CFR Part 410) (‘‘the
PMP Rule’’). In accordance with the
PMP Rule the largest point source
dischargers of PCBs to the Delaware
Estuary and Bay undertook the
development and implementation of
PMPs, including a variety of track-down
and load reduction strategies. Ambient
and effluent data collected between
2005 and 2011 show that their efforts
over the past 12 years (and in some
cases longer) have substantially reduced
point source PCB loadings to the
Estuary and Bay. However, because
PCBs persist in the environment,
including in soils that drain to
municipal and industrial discharge
facilities, most dischargers will require
more time, including in some instances
decades, to achieve the PCB loading
reductions needed to meet their
assigned wasteload allocations.
The draft document entitled
Implementation Strategy for
Polychlorinated Biphenyls for Zones 2–
6 of the Delaware River Estuary
(‘‘Implementation Strategy’’) builds on
the approach embodied by the PMP
Rule. Among other things, it attempts to
better integrate PMP requirements with
the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit
program administered by the Estuary
states of Delaware, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania pursuant to the CWA.
Notably, the 2003 Delaware Estuary
TMDL report projected that ‘‘due to the
scope and complexity of the problem
that has been defined through these
TMDLs, achieving the estuary water
quality standards for PCBs will take
decades.’’ (EPA 2003, Executive
Summary, p. xiii). Adoption of an
updated, uniform criterion for the
Delaware Estuary and Bay and
implementation of the criterion by
means of the proposed strategy will not
alter this prognosis. However, the
proposed criterion and Implementation
Strategy are intended to align the
Commission’s water quality criteria
with current science and to ensure that
increasingly protective pollutant levels
PO 00000
Frm 00029
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
in fish and ambient water are achieved
at an aggressive pace until the protected
use—fishable waters—is restored.
Subjects on Which Comment is
Expressly Solicited. Public comment is
solicited on all aspects of the proposed
rule. These include but are not limited
to the assumptions applied in
developing the criterion as set forth in
a basis and background document that
is available on the DRBC Web site,
DRBC.net. Comment on the proposed
Implementation Strategy for the new
criterion, also posted on the Web site, is
simultaneously requested.
Dated: July 30, 2013.
Pamela M. Bush,
Commission Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013–18810 Filed 8–2–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 117
[Docket No. USCG–2013–0526]
RIN 1625–AA09
Drawbridge Operation Regulation;
Umpqua River, Reedsport, OR
Coast Guard, DHS.
Notice of proposed rulemaking.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Coast Guard proposes to
temporarily change the operating
schedule that governs the U.S. 101
Umpqua River swing bridge, mile 11.1,
at Reedsport, OR. The proposed rule
change is necessary to accommodate
Oregon Department of Transportation’s
(ODOT) extensive bridge maintenance
and restoration efforts. The bridge is
currently scheduled to open on signal if
at least two hours notice is given. ODOT
proposes to only open the bridge with
a minimum of six hours notice and will
limit the openings to twice daily; once
in the morning and once in the evening.
DATES: Comments and related material
must reach the Coast Guard on or before
September 4, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
identified by docket number USCG–
2013–0526 using any one of the
following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Fax: 202–493–2251.
(3) Mail or Delivery: Docket
Management Facility (M–30), U.S.
Department of Transportation, West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\05AUP1.SGM
05AUP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 150 (Monday, August 5, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47241-47242]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18810]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DELAWARE RIVER BASIN COMMISSION
18 CFR Part 410
Amendments to the Water Quality Regulations, Water Code and
Comprehensive Plan To Revise the Human Health Water Quality Criteria
for PCBs in Zones 2 Through 6 of the Delaware Estuary and Bay
AGENCY: Delaware River Basin Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public hearing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Delaware River Basin Commission (``DRBC'' or
``Commission'') will hold a public hearing to receive comments on
proposed amendments to the Commission's Water Quality Regulations,
Water Code and Comprehensive Plan to revise the water quality criteria
for polychlorinated biphenyls (``PCBs'') in the Delaware Estuary and
Bay, DRBC Water Quality Management Zones 2 through 6, for the
protection of human health from carcinogenic effects. The Commission
will simultaneously solicit comment on a draft implementation strategy
to support achievement of the criteria.
DATES: The public hearing will be held starting at 1:00 p.m. on
Tuesday, September 10, 2013. The hearing will continue until all those
wishing to testify have had an opportunity to do so. Written comments
will be accepted and must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September
20, 2013. More information regarding the procedures for the hearing and
comments is provided below.
ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held in the Goddard Conference
Room at the Commission's office building located at 25 State Police
Drive, West Trenton, NJ. As Internet mapping tools are inaccurate for
this location, please use the driving directions posted on the
Commission's Web site.
Oral testimony and written comments: Persons wishing to testify at
the hearing are asked to register in advance by phoning Paula Schmitt
at 609-883-9500, ext. 224. Written comments may be submitted as
follows: If by email, to paula.schmitt@drbc.state.nj.us; if by fax, to
Commission Secretary at 609-883-9522; if by U.S. Mail, to Commission
Secretary, DRBC, P.O. Box 7360, West Trenton, NJ 08628-0360; and if by
overnight mail, to Commission Secretary, DRBC, 25 State Police Drive,
West Trenton, NJ 08628-0360. Comments also may be delivered by hand at
any time during the Commission's regular office hours (Monday through
Friday, 8:30 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. except on national holidays) until
the close of the comment period at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 20.
In all cases, please include the commenter's name, address and
affiliation, if any, in the comment document and ``PCB Rulemaking'' in
the subject line.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The rule text, basis and background
document and the draft Implementation Strategy are available on the
DRBC Web site, DRBC.net. A May 10, 2012 PowerPoint presentation that
illustrates PCB loading reductions achieved through the implementation
of the Commission's PMP Rule is also posted on the Web site. For
further information, please contact Commission Secretary Pamela M.
Bush, 609-883-9500 ext. 203.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Re-Proposal. A notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the current
PCB criteria and to invite comment on an implementation plan was
published in the Federal Register (74 FR 41100) on August 14, 2009. The
Commission deferred action on the proposal, however, pending the
refinement of implementation strategies for point sources. Today, the
uniform criterion of 16 picograms per liter is re-proposed, and a draft
implementation strategy that has been revised for point sources is
simultaneously published for comment.
Current Criteria. The human health water quality criteria for PCBs
currently in effect in Zones 2 through 5 of the Delaware Estuary were
established by the Commission in 1996 (see 61 FR 58047 and
incorporation by reference at 18 CFR part 410). The 1996 criterion
applicable to the lower portion of Zone 5 was extended to Zone 6,
Delaware Bay, in 2010, effective the following year (see 76 FR 16285).
The development of these PCB criteria pre-dated the collection of site-
specific bioaccumulation data for the Estuary and Bay and site-specific
fish-consumption data for Zones 2 through 4 that are relevant to the
development of human health water quality criteria. They are also
inconsistent with current guidance issued by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (``EPA'') for the development of such criteria, and
they vary by water quality zone, adding undue complexity to application
of the criteria in these tidal waters.
Development of New Criteria. By Resolution No. 2003-11 on March 19,
2003 the Commission directed the executive director to initiate
rulemaking on a proposal to revise the Commission's water quality
criteria for PCBs for the protection of human health from carcinogenic
effects to reflect site-specific data on fish consumption, site-
specific bioaccumulation factors, and current EPA guidance on
development of human health criteria. Amendment of the PCB criteria was
delayed, however, pending ongoing work by the Commission's Toxics
Advisory Committee (``TAC'') to develop the new criterion and a
simultaneous initiative by the Commission and diverse stakeholders to
develop an implementation plan. The TAC is a standing committee of
stakeholders, including regulators, municipal and industrial
dischargers and environmental organizations that advises the Commission
on technical matters relating to the control of toxic contaminants in
shared waters of the Basin.
Rigorously applying the most current available data and
methodology, including site-specific data on fish consumption, site-
specific bioaccumulation factors, and the current EPA methodology for
the development of human health criteria for toxic pollutants (see EPA-
822-B-00-004, October 2000), the TAC in July 2005 completed development
of a revised PCB water quality criterion for the protection of human
health from carcinogenic effects for the Delaware Estuary and Bay,
recommending adoption of a uniform criterion of 16 picograms per liter
for Water Quality Management Zones 2 through 6. By Resolution No. 2005-
19 on December 7, 2005, the Commission again directed the executive
director to conduct rulemaking, specifically to replace the existing
criteria for PCBs with the
[[Page 47242]]
uniform criterion of 16 picograms per liter.
Over the course of the next three-and-a-half years, the Commission
continued to work with co-regulators on an implementation strategy for
point and non-point sources to accompany the proposed uniform
criterion. A notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the current PCB
criteria and to invite comment on an implementation plan was issued in
August 2009 (see 74 FR 41100). The Commission deferred action on the
proposal, however, pending the refinement of implementation strategies
for point sources. The updated, uniform criterion of 16 picograms per
liter is now re-proposed, and a draft implementation strategy that has
been revised for point sources is simultaneously published for comment.
Proposed Amendment. It is proposed to amend Table 6 in Section 3.30
of Article 3 of the Water Quality Regulations and Water Code as
follows: For the parameter ``PCBs (Total)'', in the column headed
``Freshwater Objectives (ug/l): Fish & Water Ingestion,'' by removing
the number ``0.0000444'' and inserting ``0.000016''; in the column
headed ``Freshwater Objectives (ug/l): Fish Ingestion Only,'' by
removing the number ``0.0000448'' and inserting ``0.000016''; and in
the column headed ``Marine Objectives (ug/l): Fish Ingestion Only,'' by
removing the number ``0.0000079'' and inserting ``0.000016''. It is
further proposed to amend paragraph 410.1(c) of title 18 of the Code of
Federal Regulations by replacing the date of incorporation by reference
that appears there (December 8, 2010), with the date on which the
Commission adopts a final rule in response to this proposal.
Water Quality Impairment for PCBs. Because high levels of PCBs have
resulted in state-issued fish consumption advisories for certain
species caught in the Estuary and Bay, these waters are listed by the
bordering states as impaired under Section 303(d) of the federal Clean
Water Act (``CWA''), and a total maximum daily load (``TMDL'') is
required to be established for them. A TMDL expresses the maximum
amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still attain
water quality standards. Once the TMDL is calculated, it is allocated
to all sources in the watershed--point and nonpoint. In order to ensure
the attainment and maintenance of water quality standards, a source
must not discharge a load in excess of its allocated share of the TMDL.
The EPA established TMDLs for PCBs on behalf of the states in
December of 2003 for the Delaware Estuary and in December of 2006 for
the Delaware Bay (``Stage 1 TMDLs''). Upon adoption of revised human
health water quality criteria for PCBs in the Delaware Estuary and Bay,
it is anticipated that EPA will establish new TMDLs (``Stage 2 TMDLs'')
corresponding to the updated criteria.
Implementing PCB Load Reductions. To initiate PCB reductions, by
Resolution No. 2005-9 in May 2005, the Commission amended its Water
Quality Regulations (``WQR'') to establish a requirement for PCB
Pollutant Minimization Plans (``PMPs'') (see Section 4.30.9 of the WQR,
incorporated by reference at 18 CFR Part 410) (``the PMP Rule''). In
accordance with the PMP Rule the largest point source dischargers of
PCBs to the Delaware Estuary and Bay undertook the development and
implementation of PMPs, including a variety of track-down and load
reduction strategies. Ambient and effluent data collected between 2005
and 2011 show that their efforts over the past 12 years (and in some
cases longer) have substantially reduced point source PCB loadings to
the Estuary and Bay. However, because PCBs persist in the environment,
including in soils that drain to municipal and industrial discharge
facilities, most dischargers will require more time, including in some
instances decades, to achieve the PCB loading reductions needed to meet
their assigned wasteload allocations.
The draft document entitled Implementation Strategy for
Polychlorinated Biphenyls for Zones 2-6 of the Delaware River Estuary
(``Implementation Strategy'') builds on the approach embodied by the
PMP Rule. Among other things, it attempts to better integrate PMP
requirements with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permit program administered by the Estuary states of Delaware,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania pursuant to the CWA.
Notably, the 2003 Delaware Estuary TMDL report projected that ``due
to the scope and complexity of the problem that has been defined
through these TMDLs, achieving the estuary water quality standards for
PCBs will take decades.'' (EPA 2003, Executive Summary, p. xiii).
Adoption of an updated, uniform criterion for the Delaware Estuary and
Bay and implementation of the criterion by means of the proposed
strategy will not alter this prognosis. However, the proposed criterion
and Implementation Strategy are intended to align the Commission's
water quality criteria with current science and to ensure that
increasingly protective pollutant levels in fish and ambient water are
achieved at an aggressive pace until the protected use--fishable
waters--is restored.
Subjects on Which Comment is Expressly Solicited. Public comment is
solicited on all aspects of the proposed rule. These include but are
not limited to the assumptions applied in developing the criterion as
set forth in a basis and background document that is available on the
DRBC Web site, DRBC.net. Comment on the proposed Implementation
Strategy for the new criterion, also posted on the Web site, is
simultaneously requested.
Dated: July 30, 2013.
Pamela M. Bush,
Commission Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-18810 Filed 8-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
