Request for Public Comment on the Draft EPA-USGS Technical Report: Protecting Aquatic Life From Effects of Hydrologic Alteration, 10620-10621 [2016-04448]

Download as PDF 10620 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 1, 2016 / Notices to the DFO at the contact information above via email (preferred) or in hard copy with original signature. Submitters are requested to provide a signed and unsigned version of each document because the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents with signatures on its Web sites. Members of the public should be aware that their personal contact information, if included in any written comments, may be posted to the SAB Web site. Copyrighted material will not be posted without explicit permission of the copyright holder. Accessibility: For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, please contact Mr. Carpenter at the phone number or email address noted above, preferably at least ten days prior to the meeting, to give the EPA as much time as possible to process your request. Dated: February 22, 2016. Christopher Zarba, Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office. [FR Doc. 2016–04451 Filed 2–29–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0335; FRL–9943–13– OW] Request for Public Comment on the Draft EPA–USGS Technical Report: Protecting Aquatic Life From Effects of Hydrologic Alteration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and United States Geological Survey (USGS). ACTION: Notice of availability. AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Geological Survey are releasing a draft technical report: Protecting Aquatic Life from Effects of Hydrologic Alteration, for a 60-day public comment period. This report was developed because hydrologic alteration can be a contributor of impairment for water bodies that are designated to support aquatic life. Stresses on aquatic life associated with hydrologic alteration may be further exacerbated through climate change. Recent climate trends have included the change in frequency and duration of extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, which can have an impact on flow and affect aquatic life. The report is a nonprescriptive framework with information to help states, tribes, territories, water resource managers, and other stakeholders asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 20:18 Feb 29, 2016 Jkt 238001 responsible for the maintenance of hydrologic flow regime to quantify flow targets for the preservation of aquatic life and habitat. This report also provides information on the relationship between hydrologic condition and water quality and gives examples of what some states and authorized tribes have done to address flow concerns using the Clean Water Act. The framework can also be used to translate narrative criteria and develop flow targets to protect aquatic life and habitat. DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 2, 2016. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– OW–2015–0335, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https:// www2.epa.gov/dockets/commentingepa-dockets. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Eignor, Health and Ecological Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566–1143; email address: eignor.diana@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. General Information A. How can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related Information? 1. 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 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 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 additional information about EPA’s public docket, visit EPA Docket Center homepage at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/ dockets.htm. II. How will this document be used? This draft report is a nonprescriptive framework that can be used to help quantify targets for flow regime components that are protective of aquatic life and their habitats. Flow targets can help states, tribes, and territories to prepare for changes in historic flow patterns. Maintaining flow targets may help increase a stream’s resilience to climate change by reducing or avoiding intensification of existing stresses. This document, even after issued in final form, is not a rule, and it is therefore not mandatory for states and authorized tribes to adopt this framework into their water quality standards. Once the comment period has ended, EPA and the USGS will consider the comments, revise the document, as appropriate, and then publish a final document that will serve as a source of information for states, tribes, territories, and other stakeholders. III. Solicitation of Scientific Views EPA and USGS are soliciting additional scientific views, data, and information regarding the science and technical approach used in the derivation of this draft technical document on hydrologic alteration. IV. Additional Information EPA and USGS each conducted internal peer reviews of the report, and EPA managed a contractor-led independent external peer review of the Draft EPA–USGS Technical Report: Protecting Aquatic Life from Effects of Hydrologic Alteration. EPA will make the external peer review comments and Agency responses to these comments available in the docket with the revised draft technical document at https:// www.regulations.gov. E:\FR\FM\01MRN1.SGM 01MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 1, 2016 / Notices Dated: February 22, 2016. Joel Beauvais, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water. [FR Doc. 2016–04448 Filed 2–29–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request (3064– 0189) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). ACTION: Notice and request for comment. AGENCY: The FDIC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the renewal of an existing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. On December 15, 2015, (80 FR 77631), the FDIC requested comment for 60 days on a proposal to renew the information collection described below. No comments were received. The FDIC hereby gives notice of its plan to submit to OMB a request to approve the renewal of this collection, and again invites comment on this renewal. DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 31, 2016. ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to the FDIC by any of the following methods: • https://www.FDIC.gov/regulations/ laws/federal/. • Email: comments@fdic.gov Include OMB control number ‘‘3064–0189’’ in the subject line of the message. • Mail: Gary A. Kuiper (202.898.3877), Counsel, Room MB– 3016, or Manuel E. Cabeza, (202.898.3767), Counsel, Room MB– 3105, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20429. • Hand Delivery: Comments may be hand-delivered to the guard station at the rear of the 17th Street Building (located on F Street), on business days between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. All comments should refer to OMB control number ‘‘3064–0189.’’ A copy of the comments may also be submitted to the OMB desk officer for the FDIC: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503. asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 20:18 Feb 29, 2016 Jkt 238001 Gary A. Kuiper or Manuel E. Cabeza, at the FDIC address above. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposal to renew the following currentlyapproved collection of information: 1. Title: Annual Stress Test Reporting; Over $50 Billion Templates. OMB Number: 3064–0189. Affected Public: Insured state nonmember banks. Frequency of Response: Annually. Estimated Number of Respondents: 4. Estimated Number of Responses: 1. Estimated Time per Response: 1,114 hours. Total Annual Burden: 4,456 hours. General Description: Section 165(i)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (‘‘DoddFrank Act’’) requires certain financial companies, including state nonmember banks and state savings associations, to conduct annual stress tests and requires the primary financial regulatory agency of those financial companies to issue regulations implementing the stress test requirements. A state nonmember bank or state savings association is a ‘‘covered bank’’ and therefore subject to the stress test requirements if its total consolidated assets are more than $10 billion. Under section 165(i)(2), a covered bank is required to submit to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (‘‘Board’’) and to its primary financial regulatory agency a report at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the primary financial regulatory agency shall require. The revisions to the DFAST–14A reporting templates consist of clarifying instructions, adding data items, deleting data items, and redefining existing data items. The proposed revisions also include a shift of the as-of date in accordance with modifications to the FDIC’s stress testing rule.1 These revisions also reflect the implementation of the final Basel III regulatory capital rule. On July 9, 2013, the FDIC approved an interim final rule that will revise and replace the FDIC’s risk-based and leverage capital requirements to be consistent with agreements reached by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in ‘‘Basel III: A Global Regulatory Framework for More Resilient Banks and Banking Systems’’ (Basel III).2 The final rule was published in the Federal Register on April 14, 2014 (‘‘Revised Capital Framework’’).3 The revisions include implementation of a new FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 1 See 79 FR 69365 (November 21, 2014). FR 55340 (September 10, 2013). 3 79 FR 20754 (April 14, 2014). 2 78 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 10621 definition of regulatory capital, a new common equity tier 1 minimum capital requirement, a higher minimum tier 1 capital requirement, and, for banking organizations subject to the Advanced Approaches capital rules, a supplementary leverage ratio that incorporates a broader set of exposures in the denominator measure. In addition, the rule will amend the methodologies for determining risk weighted assets. All banking organizations that are not subject to the Advanced Approaches Rule were required to comply with the Revised Capital Framework, as of January 1, 2015. The proposed changes would (1) increase consistency between the DFAST–14A with the FR Y–14A, CALL Report, FFIEC 101, and FFIEC 102; (2) remove the requirement to calculate tier 1 common capital and the tier 1 common ratio; and (3) shift the as-of dates by one quarter in accordance with the modifications to the stress test rules. Furthermore, the FDIC understands that the Board is currently collecting information for the Summary Schedule via XML technology, and the FDIC would use a similar format to enhance consistency and reduce regulatory burden. Technical details on these forms would be provided separately. Schedule A (Summary)—A.1.c.1 (General RWA) This schedule would be removed in accordance with the proposed revisions to eliminate use of the tier 1 common ratio, effective for the 2016 DFAST submission. Schedule A (Summary)—Revisions to Schedule A.1.c.2 (Standardized RWA) This schedule would be modified to increase consistency with the FFIEC 102. Specifically, the items of the existing market risk-weighted asset portion would be replaced with the appropriate items from the FFIEC 102. Schedule A (Summary)—Revisions to Schedule A.1.d (Capital) The FDIC removed certain items related to tier 1 common capital, effective for the 2016 DFAST submission. Additionally, the FDIC added one item that captures the aggregate non-significant investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions in the form of common stock and breaking out two items related to deferred tax assets into the amount before valuation allowances and the associated valuation allowance. The additional information from these changes would result in two existing items converting to derived items based E:\FR\FM\01MRN1.SGM 01MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10620-10621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04448]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0335; FRL-9943-13-OW]


Request for Public Comment on the Draft EPA-USGS Technical 
Report: Protecting Aquatic Life From Effects of Hydrologic Alteration

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and United States 
Geological Survey (USGS).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United 
States Geological Survey are releasing a draft technical report: 
Protecting Aquatic Life from Effects of Hydrologic Alteration, for a 
60-day public comment period. This report was developed because 
hydrologic alteration can be a contributor of impairment for water 
bodies that are designated to support aquatic life. Stresses on aquatic 
life associated with hydrologic alteration may be further exacerbated 
through climate change. Recent climate trends have included the change 
in frequency and duration of extreme weather events, such as droughts 
and floods, which can have an impact on flow and affect aquatic life.
    The report is a nonprescriptive framework with information to help 
states, tribes, territories, water resource managers, and other 
stakeholders responsible for the maintenance of hydrologic flow regime 
to quantify flow targets for the preservation of aquatic life and 
habitat. This report also provides information on the relationship 
between hydrologic condition and water quality and gives examples of 
what some states and authorized tribes have done to address flow 
concerns using the Clean Water Act. The framework can also be used to 
translate narrative criteria and develop flow targets to protect 
aquatic life and habitat.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 2, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2015-0335, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. EPA 
may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the 
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish 
to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents 
located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or 
other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full 
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia 
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please 
visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Eignor, Health and Ecological 
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (202) 566-1143; email address: eignor.diana@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

A. How can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related Information?

    1. 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 additional information about EPA's public 
docket, visit EPA Docket Center homepage at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.

II. How will this document be used?

    This draft report is a nonprescriptive framework that can be used 
to help quantify targets for flow regime components that are protective 
of aquatic life and their habitats. Flow targets can help states, 
tribes, and territories to prepare for changes in historic flow 
patterns. Maintaining flow targets may help increase a stream's 
resilience to climate change by reducing or avoiding intensification of 
existing stresses. This document, even after issued in final form, is 
not a rule, and it is therefore not mandatory for states and authorized 
tribes to adopt this framework into their water quality standards. Once 
the comment period has ended, EPA and the USGS will consider the 
comments, revise the document, as appropriate, and then publish a final 
document that will serve as a source of information for states, tribes, 
territories, and other stakeholders.

III. Solicitation of Scientific Views

    EPA and USGS are soliciting additional scientific views, data, and 
information regarding the science and technical approach used in the 
derivation of this draft technical document on hydrologic alteration.

IV. Additional Information

    EPA and USGS each conducted internal peer reviews of the report, 
and EPA managed a contractor-led independent external peer review of 
the Draft EPA-USGS Technical Report: Protecting Aquatic Life from 
Effects of Hydrologic Alteration. EPA will make the external peer 
review comments and Agency responses to these comments available in the 
docket with the revised draft technical document at https://www.regulations.gov.


[[Page 10621]]


    Dated: February 22, 2016.
Joel Beauvais,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2016-04448 Filed 2-29-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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