Tribal 106 Grant Guidance, 24852-24854 [E6-6363]
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24852
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 81 / Thursday, April 27, 2006 / Notices
decisional record of the proceeding,
unless the communication was with a
cooperating agency as described by 40
CFR 1501.6, made under 18 CFR
385.2201(e)(1)(v).
The following is a list of off-therecord communications recently
received by the Secretary of the
Commission. The communications
listed are grouped by docket numbers in
ascending order. These filings are
available for review at the Commission
in the Public Reference Room or may be
viewed on the Commission’s Web site at
https://www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary
link. Enter the docket number,
excluding the last three digits, in the
docket number field to access the
document. For assistance, please contact
FERC, Online Support at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll
free at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY,
contact (202) 502–8659.
Date
received
Docket number
Exempt:
1. IS06–191–000 ....................................................................................................................................
4–4–06
2.
3.
4.
5.
IS06–191–000 ....................................................................................................................................
P–459–128 .........................................................................................................................................
P–459–128 .........................................................................................................................................
P–459–128 .........................................................................................................................................
4–4–06
4–3–06
4–3–06
4–3–06
6. P–459–128 .........................................................................................................................................
7. P–459–128 .........................................................................................................................................
8. P–11841–002 .....................................................................................................................................
4–3–06
4–10–06
4–14–06
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6–6326 Filed 4–26–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OW–2005–0026; FRL–8162–4]
Tribal 106 Grant Guidance
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This document provides
notice of availability for public
comment of the draft Guidance on
Awards of Grants to Indian Tribes under
Section 106 of the Clean Water Act for
Fiscal Year 2007 and Future Years. This
draft Guidance provides the
Environmental Protection Agency and
Tribes with a consistent framework of
procedures and guidelines for awarding
and administering grants to federally
recognized Tribes under the authority of
Section 106 of the Clean Water Act.
Specifically, the draft Guidance will
assist Tribal water quality program
managers, staff, and other Tribal
environmental decision-makers in
designing and implementing an
effective and successful water quality
program utilizing Section 106 funds.
The draft 106 Tribal Guidance is for
Tribal water quality programs at all
levels of sophistication and
development. For new programs, it
explains how to successfully initiate
and develop a water quality program.
For Tribes with well-established
programs, it contains information on
expanding a water quality program. To
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:13 Apr 26, 2006
Jkt 208001
meet the needs of Tribes at all levels of
development, the draft Guidance
presents the basic steps a Tribe would
take to collect the information it will
need to make effective decisions about
its program, its goals, and its future
direction. The final Guidance will take
effect for grants issued by the
Environmental Protection Agency’s
Regional offices in fiscal year 2007. A
Notice of its Availability will be
published in the Federal Register. This
action affects all Tribal environmental
programs that receive Section 106 Tribal
grants.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before June 26, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OW–2005–0026, by one of the following
methods:
• www.regulations.gov: Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
• E-mail: ow-docket@epa.gov
Attention Docket ID No. OW–2005–0026
• Fax: (202) 566–1749
• Mail: Water Docket, Environmental
Protection Agency, Mailcode: 4101T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center,
EPA West, Room B102, 1301
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC, Attention Docket ID No. OW–2005–
0026. Such deliveries are only accepted
during the Docket’s normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2005–
0026. EPA’s policy is that all comments
received will be included in the public
docket without change and may be
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Presenter or requester
Hon. James W. Crawford,
Jr.
Hon. Terry C. Burton.
Robert C. Burk.
Charles N. Clark.
Dr. Robert H. and Anna M.
Fuchs.
Larry Oth/Brent Calvert.
Hon. Matt Blunt.
Kenneth Hogan.
made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided, unless
the comment includes information
claimed to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected through www.regulations.gov
or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov Web
site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system,
which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless
you provide it in the body of your
comment. If you send an e-mail
comment directly to EPA without going
through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically
captured and included as part of the
comment that is placed in the public
docket and made available on the
Internet. If you submit an electronic
comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name and other contact
information in the body of your
comment and with any disk or CD–ROM
you submit. If EPA cannot read your
comment due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification,
EPA may not be able to consider your
comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form
of encryption, and be free of any defects
or viruses. For additional information
about EPA’s public docket, visit the EPA
Docket Center homepage at https://
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
For additional instructions on
submitting comments, go to Unit I.1 of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
of this document.
Docket: All documents in the docket
are listed in the www.regulations.gov
index. Although listed in the index,
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 81 / Thursday, April 27, 2006 / Notices
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 docket materials are available
either electronically in
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the Water Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West,
Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave.,
NW., Washington, DC. The Public
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays. The telephone
number for the Public Reading Room is
(202) 566–1744, and the telephone
number for the Water Docket is (202)
566–2426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lena Ferris, Office of Water, Office of
Wastewater Management, 4201M,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 564–8831; fax number:
(202) 501–2399; e-mail address:
ferris.lena@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES
I. General Information
Affected Entities: Tribes that are
eligible to receive grants under Section
106 of the Clean Water Act.
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this
information to EPA through
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly
mark the part or all of the information
that you claim to be CBI. For CBI
information on a disk or CD ROM that
you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the
disk or CD ROM as CBI and then
identify electronically within the disk or
CD ROM the specific information that is
claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that
includes information claimed as CBI, a
copy of the comment that does not
contain the information claimed as CBI
must be submitted for inclusion in the
public docket. Information so marked
will not be disclosed except in
accordance with procedures set forth in
40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments.
When submitting comments, remember
to:
• Identify the rulemaking by docket
number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal
Register date, and page number).
• Follow directions—The agency may
ask you to respond to specific questions
or organize comments by referencing a
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part
or section number.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:13 Apr 26, 2006
Jkt 208001
• Explain why you agree or disagree;
suggest alternatives; and substitute
language for your requested changes.
• Describe any assumptions and
provide any technical information and/
or data that you used.
• If you estimate potential costs or
burdens, explain how you arrived at
your estimate in sufficient detail to
allow for it to be reproduced.
• Provide specific examples to
illustrate your concerns, and suggest
alternatives.
• Explain your views as clearly as
possible.
• Make sure to submit your
comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
3. Specific Questions EPA is Soliciting
for Tribal Comment. In addition to
overall general comments on any/all
portions of the Guidance, EPA is
specifically requesting Tribal comment
on the following five questions:
(1) Does the proposed Guidance
structure, offering three paths (nonregulatory, tribal water quality
standards, regulation-based water
quality controls) and three program
activity levels (fundamental,
intermediate, and mature) provide
Tribes appropriate direction and
flexibility for developing and
implementing surface water quality
protection programs?
(2) Does the title of Chapter 5, NonRegulatory Approach, accurately portray
the substantive programmatic elements
found in the chapter?
(3) Do the basic minimum nine
reporting requirements for monitoring,
listed in Chapter 8, seem reasonable/
compatible with the various maturity
levels of Tribal water quality programs?
(4) What is the estimated Tribal cost
to sample for the nine basic parameters?
(5) What type of technical assistance,
if any, would your Tribe need to receive
from EPA in order to comply with the
monitoring and reporting requirements
associated with the Guidance (see
Chapter 8)?
II. Background
Over the past 10 years, funding
available for Section 106 grants to
Indian Tribes has increased from $3
million to $25 million per year. The
draft Guidance provides a framework for
evaluating national program results and
more clearly defines expectations and
requirements for Tribal Section 106
grant recipients. This document is an
effort to provide unified guidance that
helps Tribes develop and implement
water quality programs and defines
what EPA expects from Tribal programs.
It provides an overview of all
programmatic and technical
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Frm 00015
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
24853
requirements, discusses some common
considerations across programs, and
links to technical resources available to
develop Tribal programs. The draft
Guidance outlines new reporting
requirements and data management
expectations for all Tribal programs
receiving Section 106 funds. Data
collected as a result of the new reporting
requirements will help EPA measure
environmental results of the Section 106
Tribal Program and comply with the
Government Performance and Results
Act (GPRA) and other federal mandates.
The draft Guidance can be found at the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Web
site at https://www.epa.gov/owm/
cwfinance/106tgg07.htm, or by
contacting the point of contact listed
under the section entitled FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
III. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR
51735, October 4, 1993), this action is
not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ and
is therefore not subject to OMB review.
Because this grant action is not subject
to notice and comment requirements
under the Administrative Procedures
Act or any other statute, it is not subject
to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or sections 202 and
205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act of 1999 (UMRA) (Pub. L. 104–4). In
addition, this action does not
significantly or uniquely affect small
governments. Although this action does
not generally create new binding legal
requirements, where it does, such
requirements do not substantially and
directly affect Tribes under Executive
Order 13175 (63 FR 67249, November 9,
2000). Informal consultation has been
ongoing with Tribes, and a formal
comment period will be initiated with
the release of this notice. This action
will not have federalism implications,
as specified in Executive Order 13132
(64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This
action is not subject to Executive Order
13211, ‘‘Actions Concerning Regulations
that Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use’’ (66 FR 28355, May
22, 2001), because it is not a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order
12866. This action does not involve
technical standards; thus, the
requirements of section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C.
272 note) do not apply. This action does
not impose an information collection
burden under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). The Congressional
Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.,
generally provides that before certain
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24854
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 81 / Thursday, April 27, 2006 / Notices
actions may take effect, the agency
promulgating the action must submit a
report, which includes a copy of the
action, to each House of the Congress
and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. Since this grant action
contains legally binding requirements, it
is subject to the Congressional Review
Act, and EPA will submit its final action
in its report to Congress under the Act.
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
Sunshine Act Meeting
Tuesday, May 2, 2006 at
10 a.m.
PLACE: 999 E Street, NW., Washington,
DC.
STATUS: This meeting will be closed to
the public.
DATE AND TIME:
Items To Be Discussed
Compliance matters pursuant to 2
U.S.C. 437g.
Audits conducted pursuant to 2
U.S.C. 437g, section 438(b), and Title
26, U.S.C.
Matters concerning participation in
civil actions or proceedings or
arbitration.
Internal personnel rules and
procedures or matters affecting a
particular employee.
*
*
*
*
*
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, May 4, 2006
at 10 a.m.
PLACE: 999 E Street, NW., Washington,
DC (ninth floor).
STATUS: This meeting will be open to the
public.
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES
Items To Be Discussed
Correction and Approval of Minutes.
Advisory Opinion 2006–08: Matthew
Brooks by counsel, Craig Engle.
Advisory Opinion 2006–13: Dennis
Spivak by counsel, Neil Reiff.
Report of the Audit Division on the
New Democrat Network.
Routine Administrative Matters.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Robert Biersack, Press Officer,
Telephone: (202) 694–1220.
Mary W. Dove,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 06–4035 Filed 4–25–06; 3:22 pm]
BILLING CODE 6715–01–M
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15:13 Apr 26, 2006
Jkt 208001
By order of the Federal Maritime
Commission.
Dated: April 24, 2006.
Bryant L. VanBrakle,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6–6350 Filed 4–26–06; 8:45 am]
Dated: April 21, 2006
Felipe Mendoza,
Associate Administrator, Office of Small
Business Utilization, General Services
Administration.
[FR Doc. E6–6360 Filed 4–26–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6730–01–P
BILLING CODE 6820–34–S
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
Dated: April 20, 2006.
Benjamin H. Grumbles,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. E6–6363 Filed 4–26–06; 8:45 am]
The Commission gives notice that it
has requested that the parties to the
below listed agreement provide
additional information pursuant to
section 6(d) of the Shipping Act of 1984,
46 U.S.C. app. 1701 et seq. This action
prevented the agreement from becoming
effective as originally scheduled.
Interested parties will have fifteen days
from date of publication to file
comments on the agreement.
Agreement No.: 011950.
Title: HSDG/FOML Agreement.
Parties: Hamburg-Sud and FESCO
Ocean Management, Limited.
This
notice is published in accordance with
the provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA) (Pub. L. 92–
463). The purpose of this meeting is to
develop the topics generated during the
previous meeting February 21–22, 2006;
to receive briefings from small business
topical experts, and to hear from
interested members of the public on
proposals to improve GSA’s small
business contracting performance.
Topics to be discussed from the
previous meeting may include, but are
not limited to, Size Certification,
Contract Bundling, and the GSA
Schedules Program. Information from
previous meetings can be found online
at https://www.gsa.gov/sbac.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Office of Small Business Utilization;
Small Business Advisory Committee
Solicitation of Nominations for
Membership on the Secretary’s
Advisory Committee on Human
Research Protections
FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION
Notice of Request for Additional
Information
Notification of a Public Meeting of the
Small Business Advisory Committee
Office of Small Business
Utilization, GSA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The General Services
Administration (GSA) is announcing a
public meeting of the GSA Small
Business Advisory Committee (the
Committee).
DATES: The meeting will take place May
15, 2006. The meeting will begin 9:00
a.m. and conclude no later than 5:00
p.m. that day. The Committee will
accept oral public comments at this
meeting and has reserved a total of
thirty minutes for this purpose.
Members of the public wishing to
reserve speaking time must contact
Aaron Collmann in writing at:
sbac@gsa.gov or by fax at (202) 501–
2590, no later than one week prior to the
meeting.
ADDRESSES: GSA Expo 2006, Henry B.
Gonzalez Convention Center Room
007A, 200 E. Market St., San Antonio,
TX 78205.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Aaron Collmann, Room 6029, GSA
Building, 1800 F Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20405 (202) 501–1021
or email at sbac@gsa.gov.
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4703
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Office of Public Health and
Science, Office of the Secretary, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 217a, section 222 of
the Public Health Service Act, as amended.
The Committee is governed by the provisions
of Public Law 92–463, as amended (5 U.S.C.
Appendix 2), which sets forth standards for
the formation and use of advisory
committees.
SUMMARY: The Office for Human
Research Protections (OHRP), a program
office in the Office of Public Health and
Science, Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), is seeking
nominations of qualified candidates to
be considered for appointment as
members of the Secretary’s Advisory
Committee on Human Research
Protections (SACHRP). SACHRP
provides advice and recommendations
to the Secretary, HHS, and the Assistant
Secretary for Health on matters
pertaining to the continuance and
improvement of functions within the
authority of HHS directed toward
protections for human subjects in
research. SACHRP was established by
the Secretary, HHS, on October 1, 2002.
OHRP is seeking nominations of
qualified candidates to fill four
E:\FR\FM\27APN1.SGM
27APN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 81 (Thursday, April 27, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24852-24854]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-6363]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2005-0026; FRL-8162-4]
Tribal 106 Grant Guidance
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This document provides notice of availability for public
comment of the draft Guidance on Awards of Grants to Indian Tribes
under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act for Fiscal Year 2007 and
Future Years. This draft Guidance provides the Environmental Protection
Agency and Tribes with a consistent framework of procedures and
guidelines for awarding and administering grants to federally
recognized Tribes under the authority of Section 106 of the Clean Water
Act. Specifically, the draft Guidance will assist Tribal water quality
program managers, staff, and other Tribal environmental decision-makers
in designing and implementing an effective and successful water quality
program utilizing Section 106 funds. The draft 106 Tribal Guidance is
for Tribal water quality programs at all levels of sophistication and
development. For new programs, it explains how to successfully initiate
and develop a water quality program. For Tribes with well-established
programs, it contains information on expanding a water quality program.
To meet the needs of Tribes at all levels of development, the draft
Guidance presents the basic steps a Tribe would take to collect the
information it will need to make effective decisions about its program,
its goals, and its future direction. The final Guidance will take
effect for grants issued by the Environmental Protection Agency's
Regional offices in fiscal year 2007. A Notice of its Availability will
be published in the Federal Register. This action affects all Tribal
environmental programs that receive Section 106 Tribal grants.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 26, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2005-0026, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
E-mail: ow-docket@epa.gov Attention Docket ID No. OW-2005-
0026
Fax: (202) 566-1749
Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency,
Mailcode: 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room B102,
1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, Attention Docket ID No.
OW-2005-0026. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's
normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for
deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2005-
0026. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in
the public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or e-mail.
The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system,
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov,
your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available
on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends
that you include your name and other contact information in the body of
your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read
your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional
information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. For additional
instructions on submitting comments, go to Unit I.1 of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index,
[[Page 24853]]
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 docket materials are available either
electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Water
Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone
number for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lena Ferris, Office of Water, Office
of Wastewater Management, 4201M, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202)
564-8831; fax number: (202) 501-2399; e-mail address:
ferris.lena@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
Affected Entities: Tribes that are eligible to receive grants under
Section 106 of the Clean Water Act.
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information on a disk or
CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date, and
page number).
Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives;
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
3. Specific Questions EPA is Soliciting for Tribal Comment. In
addition to overall general comments on any/all portions of the
Guidance, EPA is specifically requesting Tribal comment on the
following five questions:
(1) Does the proposed Guidance structure, offering three paths
(non-regulatory, tribal water quality standards, regulation-based water
quality controls) and three program activity levels (fundamental,
intermediate, and mature) provide Tribes appropriate direction and
flexibility for developing and implementing surface water quality
protection programs?
(2) Does the title of Chapter 5, Non-Regulatory Approach,
accurately portray the substantive programmatic elements found in the
chapter?
(3) Do the basic minimum nine reporting requirements for
monitoring, listed in Chapter 8, seem reasonable/compatible with the
various maturity levels of Tribal water quality programs?
(4) What is the estimated Tribal cost to sample for the nine basic
parameters?
(5) What type of technical assistance, if any, would your Tribe
need to receive from EPA in order to comply with the monitoring and
reporting requirements associated with the Guidance (see Chapter 8)?
II. Background
Over the past 10 years, funding available for Section 106 grants to
Indian Tribes has increased from $3 million to $25 million per year.
The draft Guidance provides a framework for evaluating national program
results and more clearly defines expectations and requirements for
Tribal Section 106 grant recipients. This document is an effort to
provide unified guidance that helps Tribes develop and implement water
quality programs and defines what EPA expects from Tribal programs. It
provides an overview of all programmatic and technical requirements,
discusses some common considerations across programs, and links to
technical resources available to develop Tribal programs. The draft
Guidance outlines new reporting requirements and data management
expectations for all Tribal programs receiving Section 106 funds. Data
collected as a result of the new reporting requirements will help EPA
measure environmental results of the Section 106 Tribal Program and
comply with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and other
federal mandates. The draft Guidance can be found at the Environmental
Protection Agency's Web site at https://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/
106tgg07.htm, or by contacting the point of contact listed under the
section entitled FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and is therefore not
subject to OMB review. Because this grant action is not subject to
notice and comment requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act
or any other statute, it is not subject to the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or sections 202 and 205 of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1999 (UMRA) (Pub. L. 104-4). In addition, this
action does not significantly or uniquely affect small governments.
Although this action does not generally create new binding legal
requirements, where it does, such requirements do not substantially and
directly affect Tribes under Executive Order 13175 (63 FR 67249,
November 9, 2000). Informal consultation has been ongoing with Tribes,
and a formal comment period will be initiated with the release of this
notice. This action will not have federalism implications, as specified
in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action is
not subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations
that Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR
28355, May 22, 2001), because it is not a significant regulatory action
under Executive Order 12866. This action does not involve technical
standards; thus, the requirements of section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do
not apply. This action does not impose an information collection burden
under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.). The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.,
generally provides that before certain
[[Page 24854]]
actions may take effect, the agency promulgating the action must submit
a report, which includes a copy of the action, to each House of the
Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. Since
this grant action contains legally binding requirements, it is subject
to the Congressional Review Act, and EPA will submit its final action
in its report to Congress under the Act.
Dated: April 20, 2006.
Benjamin H. Grumbles,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. E6-6363 Filed 4-26-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P