Final Section 106 Tribal Grant Guidance, 61972-61973 [E6-17570]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 203 (Friday, October 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61972-61973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17570]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2005-0026; FRL-8232-9]


Final Section 106 Tribal Grant Guidance

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document provides notice of the final Guidance on Awards 
of Grants to Indian Tribes under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act: 
For Fiscal Year 2007 and Future Years. This 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, this 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 
Section 106 Tribal Guidance focuses on 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, this 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. This final Guidance will take effect for grants issued by 
the Environmental Protection Agency's Regional Offices in fiscal year 
2007. This action affects all Tribal environmental programs that 
receive Section 106 Tribal grants.

DATES: This final Guidance is effective on October 20, 2006.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2005-0026. All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. 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, is publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at

[[Page 61973]]

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.


    Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding 
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing 
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary 
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of 
operation, for people who wish to visit the Public Reading Room to 
view documents. Consult EPA's Federal Register Notice at 71 FR 38147 
(July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/
dockets.htm for current information on docket status, locations, and 
telephone numbers.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lena Ferris, Office of Water, Office 
of Wastewater Management, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 4201M, 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.

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. 
This Guidance more clearly defines expectations and requirements for 
Tribal Section 106 grant recipients and provides a framework for 
evaluating program results. 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 
common considerations across programs and links to technical resources 
available to develop Tribal programs. This document 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. EPA 
published a Notice of Availability regarding a draft version of this 
Guidance on April 27, 2006 (71 FR 24852). The Agency provided a sixty-
day public comment period, in which more than two-hundred comments were 
received. These comments encompassed four major areas: (1) Monitoring/
data reporting (including STORET-related issues); (2) funding 
(including EPA's future plans with respect to linking Section 106 
funding to the various Tribal program activity levels outlined within 
the Guidance document); (3) training/technical assistance; and (4) 
miscellaneous comments (i.e., Guidance implementation issues and 
aligning the Guidance to the Agency's Strategic Plan). As a result of 
these comments, various communication efforts were undertaken in order 
to effectively and efficiently provide resolution. Responding to these 
comments, EPA made minor changes to the actual Guidance text. The 
Agency has developed a comprehensive Response to Comments (RTC) 
document outlining details of submitted comments and their associated 
responses. This document also provides specific locations of the actual 
Guidance text that have been modified and outlines the exact 
modifications that were made. This RTC document and final 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.) 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 conducted with Tribes, and a 
formal comment period was also provided. 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 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 this 
final Guidance in its report to Congress under the Act.

    Dated: October 13, 2006.
Benjamin H. Grumbles,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
 [FR Doc. E6-17570 Filed 10-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P