Updated National Recommended Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health, 27303-27304 [2014-10963]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 92 / Tuesday, May 13, 2014 / Notices
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Dated: May 6, 2014.
Byron J. Bunker,
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Transportation and Air Quality, Office of Air
and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2014–10953 Filed 5–12–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OW–2014–0135; FRL_9910–81–
OW]
Updated National Recommended
Water Quality Criteria for the
Protection of Human Health
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
AGENCY:
EPA is announcing the
availability of draft updated national
recommended water quality criteria for
the protection of human health for the
purpose of obtaining public comments.
EPA has updated its national
recommended water quality criteria for
human health for ninety-four chemical
pollutants to reflect the latest scientific
information and current EPA policies.
This draft update is based on EPA’s
current methodology for deriving
human health criteria as described in
‘‘Methodology for Deriving Ambient
Water Quality Criteria for the Protection
of Human Health (2000)’’ and does not
establish new policy. EPA’s
recommended water quality criteria
provide technical information for States
and authorized Tribes to establish water
quality standards under the Clean Water
Act to protect human health.
DATES: The public comment period
begins on May 13, 2014 and ends on
July 14, 2014. Technical comments
should be submitted to the public EPA
docket by July 14, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
19:27 May 12, 2014
Jkt 232001
OW–2014–0135, by one of the following
methods:
• www.regulations.gov: Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
• Mail: Water Docket, Environmental
Protection Agency, 28221T, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,
DC 20460. Attention Docket ID No.
EPA–HQ–OW–2014–0135.
• Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA
Docket Center, EPA WJC West Building
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave.
NW., Washington, DC, 20004, Attention
Docket EPA–HQ–OW–2014–0135.
Deliveries to the docket are accepted
only during their normal hours of
operation: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. For access to docket materials,
call (202) 566–2426, to schedule an
appointment.
• Email: ow-docket@epa.gov;
Attention Docket No. EPA–HQ–OW–
2014–0135. To ensure that EPA can
properly respond to comments,
commenters should cite the section(s) or
chemical(s) in draft updates to which
each comment refers. Commenters
should use a separate paragraph for each
issue discussed, and must submit any
references cited in their comments. If
you submit an electronic comment, EPA
recommends that you include your
name and other contact information in
the body of your comment. Electronic
files should avoid any form of
encryption and should be free of any
defects or viruses.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2014–
0135. 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.
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 email 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
PO 00000
Frm 00027
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
27303
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.
Docket: 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, 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 3334, 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:
Heidi Bethel at U.S. EPA, Office of
Water, Health and Ecological Criteria
Division (Mail Code 4304T), 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington,
DC 20460; telephone: (202) 566–2054; or
email: bethel.heidi@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What should I consider as I prepare
my comments for EPA?
In preparation for submitting
comments for EPA on this action, please
review the draft chemical-specific
support documents EPA is publishing
(1) in the public docket for this action
under Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–
2014–0135, or (2) on EPA’s Web site
https://water.epa.gov/scitech/
swguidance/standards/criteria/current/
hhdraft.cfm. Provide EPA with
comments regarding scientific views
related to the draft updated national
recommended water quality criteria for
protecting human health. Include any
recommended references for data or
other scientific information to be
considered by EPA.
II. What are recommended water
quality criteria?
EPA’s recommended water quality
criteria are scientifically derived
numeric values that protect aquatic life
or human health from the deleterious
effects of pollutants in ambient water.
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
13MYN1
27304
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 92 / Tuesday, May 13, 2014 / Notices
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water
Act (CWA) requires EPA to develop and
publish and, from time to time, revise,
criteria for protection of water quality
and human health that accurately reflect
the latest scientific knowledge. Water
quality criteria developed under section
304(a) are based solely on data and
scientific judgments on the relationship
between pollutant concentrations and
environmental and human health
effects. Section 304(a) criteria do not
reflect consideration of economic
impacts or the technological feasibility
of meeting pollutant concentrations in
ambient water.
EPA’s recommended Section 304(a)
criteria provide technical information to
States and authorized Tribes in adopting
water quality standards that ultimately
provide a basis for assessing water body
health and controlling discharges or
releases of pollutants. Under the CWA
and its implementing regulations, States
and authorized Tribes are to adopt water
quality criteria to protect designated
uses (e.g., public water supply, aquatic
life, recreational use, or industrial use).
EPA’s recommended water quality
criteria do not substitute for the CWA or
regulations, nor are they regulations
themselves. Thus, EPA’s recommended
criteria do not impose legally binding
requirements. States and authorized
Tribes have the discretion to adopt,
where appropriate, other scientifically
defensible water quality criteria that
differ from these recommendations.
III. What are the updated criteria?
Today, EPA is publishing draft
updated national recommended water
quality criteria for the protection of
human health for ninety-four chemical
pollutants. These revisions are based on
EPA’s current methodology for deriving
human health criteria (See: Methodology
for Deriving Ambient Water Quality
Criteria for the Protection of Human
Health (2000), EPA–822–B–00–004,
October 2000). The methodology
describes EPA’s current approach for
deriving national recommended water
quality criteria for the protection of
human health.
The revision of these criteria
represents a systematic update of EPA’s
national recommended 304(a) criteria.
EPA has previously described its
process for publishing revised criteria
[see National Recommended Water
Quality Criteria—Correction (64 FR
19781; or EPA 822–Z–99–001) or the
Federal Register Notice for EPA’s 2000
Methodology (65 FR 66444)]. EPA is
announcing the availability of the
updated human health criteria in
today’s Notice in order to solicit
scientific views. EPA has updated the
VerDate Mar<15>2010
20:31 May 12, 2014
Jkt 232001
draft human health criteria using
information sources and models that
have previously undergone external
peer review. A fact sheet and a summary
of updated input parameters (e.g.,
cancer slope factor, reference dose, and
bioaccumulation factors) used to derive
the updated criteria was prepared to
assist reviewers. EPA has also
developed chemical-specific support
documents for each of the ninety-four
chemical pollutants. The support
documents detail the latest scientific
information supporting the updated
draft human health criteria, particularly
the updated toxicity and exposure input
values. All of these documents are
available in the docket (EPA–HQ–OW–
2014–0135) and on EPA’s Web site
https://water.epa.gov/scitech/
swguidance/standards/criteria/current/
hhdraft.cfm.
IV. What is the relationship between
the draft national recommended water
quality criteria and your state or tribal
water quality standards?
As part of the water quality standards
triennial review process defined in
section 303(c)(1) of the CWA, the States
and authorized Tribes are responsible
for maintaining and revising water
quality standards. Water quality
standards consist of designated uses,
water quality criteria to protect those
uses, a policy for antidegradation, and
may include general policies for
application and implementation.
Section 303(c)(1) requires States and
authorized Tribes to review and modify,
if appropriate, their water quality
standards at least once every three
years.
States and authorized Tribes must
adopt water quality criteria that protect
designated uses. Protective criteria are
based on a sound scientific rationale
and contain sufficient parameters or
constituents to protect the designated
uses. Criteria may be expressed in either
narrative or numeric form. States and
authorized Tribes have four options
when adopting water quality criteria for
which EPA has published section 304(a)
criteria. They can:
(1) Establish numerical values based
on recommended section 304(a) criteria;
(2) Adopt section 304(a) criteria
modified to reflect site specific
conditions;
(3) Adopt criteria derived using other
scientifically defensible methods; or
(4) Establish narrative criteria where
numeric criteria cannot be determined
(40 CFR 131.11).
EPA believes that it is important for
States and authorized Tribes to consider
any new or updated 304(a) criteria as
part of their triennial review to ensure
PO 00000
Frm 00028
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
that state or tribal water quality
standards reflect current science and
protect applicable designated uses.
These updated criteria
recommendations may change based on
scientific views shared in response to
this notice, but once final they would
supersede EPA’s previous
recommendations.
Consistent with 40 CFR 131.21, new
or revised water quality criteria adopted
into law or regulation by States and
authorized Tribes on or after May 30,
2000 are in effect for CWA purposes
only after EPA approval.
Dated: April 29, 2014.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of
Water.
[FR Doc. 2014–10963 Filed 5–12–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9910–78–OGC]
Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air
Act Citizen Suit
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Consent
Decree; Request for Public Comment.
AGENCY:
In accordance with section
113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended
(‘‘CAA’’ or the ‘‘Act’’), notice is hereby
given of a proposed consent decree to
address a lawsuit filed by WildEarth
Guardians in the United States District
Court for the District of Colorado:
WildEarth Guardians v. McCarthy, Civil
Action No. 1:13–cv–03457–JLK (D.
Colo.). On December 23, 2013, Plaintiffs
filed a complaint alleging that Gina
McCarthy, in her official capacity as
Administrator of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency
(‘‘EPA’’), failed to take action on an
application for an Operating Permit
under Title V of the CAA, and EPA’s
implementing regulations for the
Deseret Bonanza coal-fired power plant,
which is located in Uintah County in
northeastern Utah, within the Uintah
and Ouray Indian Reservation, in the
timeframe required. The proposed
consent decree would establish
deadlines for EPA to take such action.
DATES: Written comments on the
proposed consent decree must be
received by June 12, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID number EPA–
HQ–OGC–2014–0368 online at
www.regulations.gov (EPA’s preferred
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
13MYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27303-27304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10963]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135; FRL--9910-81-OW]
Updated National Recommended Water Quality Criteria for the
Protection of Human Health
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of draft updated national
recommended water quality criteria for the protection of human health
for the purpose of obtaining public comments. EPA has updated its
national recommended water quality criteria for human health for
ninety-four chemical pollutants to reflect the latest scientific
information and current EPA policies. This draft update is based on
EPA's current methodology for deriving human health criteria as
described in ``Methodology for Deriving Ambient Water Quality Criteria
for the Protection of Human Health (2000)'' and does not establish new
policy. EPA's recommended water quality criteria provide technical
information for States and authorized Tribes to establish water quality
standards under the Clean Water Act to protect human health.
DATES: The public comment period begins on May 13, 2014 and ends on
July 14, 2014. Technical comments should be submitted to the public EPA
docket by July 14, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2014-0135, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency,
28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135.
Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, EPA WJC
West Building Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC,
20004, Attention Docket EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135. Deliveries to the docket
are accepted only during their normal hours of operation: 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. For access
to docket materials, call (202) 566-2426, to schedule an appointment.
Email: ow-docket@epa.gov; Attention Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2014-0135. To ensure that EPA can properly respond to comments,
commenters should cite the section(s) or chemical(s) in draft updates
to which each comment refers. Commenters should use a separate
paragraph for each issue discussed, and must submit any references
cited in their comments. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA
recommends that you include your name and other contact information in
the body of your comment. Electronic files should avoid any form of
encryption and should be free of any defects or viruses.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2014-
0135. 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. 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 email 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.
Docket: 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, 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 3334, 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: Heidi Bethel at U.S. EPA, Office of
Water, Health and Ecological Criteria Division (Mail Code 4304T), 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 566-
2054; or email: bethel.heidi@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
In preparation for submitting comments for EPA on this action,
please review the draft chemical-specific support documents EPA is
publishing (1) in the public docket for this action under Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135, or (2) on EPA's Web site https://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/current/hhdraft.cfm. Provide EPA
with comments regarding scientific views related to the draft updated
national recommended water quality criteria for protecting human
health. Include any recommended references for data or other scientific
information to be considered by EPA.
II. What are recommended water quality criteria?
EPA's recommended water quality criteria are scientifically derived
numeric values that protect aquatic life or human health from the
deleterious effects of pollutants in ambient water.
[[Page 27304]]
Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires EPA to
develop and publish and, from time to time, revise, criteria for
protection of water quality and human health that accurately reflect
the latest scientific knowledge. Water quality criteria developed under
section 304(a) are based solely on data and scientific judgments on the
relationship between pollutant concentrations and environmental and
human health effects. Section 304(a) criteria do not reflect
consideration of economic impacts or the technological feasibility of
meeting pollutant concentrations in ambient water.
EPA's recommended Section 304(a) criteria provide technical
information to States and authorized Tribes in adopting water quality
standards that ultimately provide a basis for assessing water body
health and controlling discharges or releases of pollutants. Under the
CWA and its implementing regulations, States and authorized Tribes are
to adopt water quality criteria to protect designated uses (e.g.,
public water supply, aquatic life, recreational use, or industrial
use). EPA's recommended water quality criteria do not substitute for
the CWA or regulations, nor are they regulations themselves. Thus,
EPA's recommended criteria do not impose legally binding requirements.
States and authorized Tribes have the discretion to adopt, where
appropriate, other scientifically defensible water quality criteria
that differ from these recommendations.
III. What are the updated criteria?
Today, EPA is publishing draft updated national recommended water
quality criteria for the protection of human health for ninety-four
chemical pollutants. These revisions are based on EPA's current
methodology for deriving human health criteria (See: Methodology for
Deriving Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human
Health (2000), EPA-822-B-00-004, October 2000). The methodology
describes EPA's current approach for deriving national recommended
water quality criteria for the protection of human health.
The revision of these criteria represents a systematic update of
EPA's national recommended 304(a) criteria. EPA has previously
described its process for publishing revised criteria [see National
Recommended Water Quality Criteria--Correction (64 FR 19781; or EPA
822-Z-99-001) or the Federal Register Notice for EPA's 2000 Methodology
(65 FR 66444)]. EPA is announcing the availability of the updated human
health criteria in today's Notice in order to solicit scientific views.
EPA has updated the draft human health criteria using information
sources and models that have previously undergone external peer review.
A fact sheet and a summary of updated input parameters (e.g., cancer
slope factor, reference dose, and bioaccumulation factors) used to
derive the updated criteria was prepared to assist reviewers. EPA has
also developed chemical-specific support documents for each of the
ninety-four chemical pollutants. The support documents detail the
latest scientific information supporting the updated draft human health
criteria, particularly the updated toxicity and exposure input values.
All of these documents are available in the docket (EPA-HQ-OW-2014-
0135) and on EPA's Web site https://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/current/hhdraft.cfm.
IV. What is the relationship between the draft national recommended
water quality criteria and your state or tribal water quality
standards?
As part of the water quality standards triennial review process
defined in section 303(c)(1) of the CWA, the States and authorized
Tribes are responsible for maintaining and revising water quality
standards. Water quality standards consist of designated uses, water
quality criteria to protect those uses, a policy for antidegradation,
and may include general policies for application and implementation.
Section 303(c)(1) requires States and authorized Tribes to review and
modify, if appropriate, their water quality standards at least once
every three years.
States and authorized Tribes must adopt water quality criteria that
protect designated uses. Protective criteria are based on a sound
scientific rationale and contain sufficient parameters or constituents
to protect the designated uses. Criteria may be expressed in either
narrative or numeric form. States and authorized Tribes have four
options when adopting water quality criteria for which EPA has
published section 304(a) criteria. They can:
(1) Establish numerical values based on recommended section 304(a)
criteria;
(2) Adopt section 304(a) criteria modified to reflect site specific
conditions;
(3) Adopt criteria derived using other scientifically defensible
methods; or
(4) Establish narrative criteria where numeric criteria cannot be
determined (40 CFR 131.11).
EPA believes that it is important for States and authorized Tribes
to consider any new or updated 304(a) criteria as part of their
triennial review to ensure that state or tribal water quality standards
reflect current science and protect applicable designated uses. These
updated criteria recommendations may change based on scientific views
shared in response to this notice, but once final they would supersede
EPA's previous recommendations.
Consistent with 40 CFR 131.21, new or revised water quality
criteria adopted into law or regulation by States and authorized Tribes
on or after May 30, 2000 are in effect for CWA purposes only after EPA
approval.
Dated: April 29, 2014.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2014-10963 Filed 5-12-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P