Notice of Availability of Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Massachusetts Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems General Permit, 92683-92684 [2024-27291]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92683-92684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27291]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R01-OW-2024-0493; FRL-12409-01-R1]


Notice of Availability of Draft National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) Massachusetts Small Municipal Separate Storm 
Sewer Systems General Permit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of Draft NPDES General Permit.

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SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency--Region 1 (EPA), is providing a Notice of Availability for the 
Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 
Massachusetts Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System General 
Permit (MA MS4 GP) for discharges to certain waters of the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts. This Draft NPDES MA MS4 GP (``Draft GP'') establishes 
Notice of Intent (NOI) requirements, permit eligibility requirements, 
and conditions and practices for the management of stormwater 
discharges from small MS4s. The Draft GP is available on EPA Region 1's 
website at https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/massachusetts-small-ms4-general-permit and at www.regulations.gov, Docket No. EPA-R01-OW-2024-
0493. The Fact Sheet for the Draft GP sets forth principal facts and 
the significant technical and legal issues considered in the 
development of the Draft General Permit and is also available at this 
website.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 20, 2025.
    The public comment process and the public hearing will be conducted 
in accordance with 40 CFR part 124, EPA's Procedures for Decision 
making. All persons, including applicants, must raise all reasonably 
ascertainable issues and submit all reasonably available arguments 
supporting their positions on the Draft GP by the close of the public 
comment period, either by submitting written comments as listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this Federal Register, or by submitting written or 
oral comments at the public hearing.
    EPA will hold a virtual public hearing in accordance with 40 CFR 
124.12 and will provide interested parties with the opportunity to 
provide written and/or oral comments for the official draft permit 
record. The virtual public hearing will be held Tuesday, January 28, 
2025 at 6:30 p.m. EPA will begin pre-registering speakers for the 
hearing upon publication of this document in the Federal Register. To 
register to speak at the virtual hearing, please use the online 
registration form available at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/massachusetts-small-ms4-general-permit. On January 27, 2025, EPA will 
post a general agenda for the hearing that will list pre-registered 
speakers in approximate order at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/massachusetts-small-ms4-general-permit.
    In reaching a final decision on this Draft GP, EPA will respond to 
all significant comments and make responses available to the public on 
EPA Region 1's website. All comments must be postmarked or delivered 
electronically by the close of the public comment period.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Draft GP, identified by Docket ID 
No. EPA-R01-OW-2024-0493, may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at https://www.regulations.gov/ (enter Docket ID No. into search 
bar).
    In the event that interested parties cannot access the Portal, 
comments may be emailed to Danielle Gaito at [email protected] or 
provided via mail to: U.S. EPA Region 1, Water Division, Attn: Danielle 
Gaito, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Mail Code 06-4, Boston, 
Massachusetts 02109-3912. If comments are submitted in hard copy form, 
please also email a copy to the EPA contact above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information may be obtained 
from: Danielle Gaito, U.S. EPA Region 1, Water Division, Stormwater 
Permit Section at [email protected] or (617) 918-1297. The 
Administrative Record, including the Draft GP and Fact Sheet, are on 
file and may be inspected between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays, at 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA. 
Requests to view the Administrative Record can made to the EPA contact 
above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA is proposing to reissue three draft 
NPDES general permits for the discharge of stormwater from small MS4s 
to certain waters within the commonwealth of Massachusetts. The three 
permits are:

MAR041000--Traditional cities and towns
MAR042000--Non-traditional state, federal, county and other publicly 
owned systems
MAR043000--Non-traditional transportation systems

    For convenience, EPA grouped these three distinct permits together 
in a single document (referred to as the draft ``permit'' in singular) 
and have provided

[[Page 92684]]

a single fact sheet for all three. The Draft GP, appendices, and fact 
sheet are available at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/massachusetts-small-ms4-general-permit.
    The conditions in the Draft GP are established pursuant to Clean 
Water Act (CWA) section 402(p)(3)(B)(iii) to ensure that pollutant 
discharges from small MS4s are reduced to the Maximum Extent 
Practicable (MEP), protect water quality, and satisfy the appropriate 
requirements of the CWA. The Draft GP applies to small municipal 
separate storm sewer systems in Massachusetts as defined in the 
regulations at 40 CFR 122.26(b)(16). When final, the Draft GP will 
replace the Final Massachusetts MS4 GP issued on April 4, 2016 and 
modified on December 7, 2020. This Draft GP carries forward and builds 
on the requirements of EPA's previous MA small MS4 general permits.
    The non-numeric conditions and limits for stormwater discharges 
authorized under the Draft GP are in the form of best management 
practices (BMPs). The regulations at 40 CFR 122.44(k)(2) provide that 
permits may include BMPs to control or abate the discharge of 
pollutants when authorized under section 402(p) of the CWA for control 
of stormwater discharges. Due to the variability associated with 
stormwater, EPA believes the use of BMPs is currently the most 
appropriate method to regulate discharges of stormwater from municipal 
systems.
    The Draft GP establishes requirements for small MS4s to ``reduce 
the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable (MEP), 
including management practices, control techniques, and system, design 
and engineering methods'' Section 402(p)(3)(B)(iii) of the CWA. The 
Draft GP requires small MS4s to update and continue to implement a 
comprehensive stormwater management program (SWMP) to reduce the 
discharge of pollutants. Part 2.3 of the Draft GP requires small MS4s 
to implement a SWMP that includes the following minimum control 
measures: public education and outreach; public participation; illicit 
discharge detection and elimination; construction stormwater 
management; stormwater management in new development and redevelopment; 
and good housekeeping in municipal operations. EPA views the MEP 
standard in the CWA as an iterative process and, as such, requirements 
should continually adapt to current conditions and BMP effectiveness. 
Accordingly, the Draft GP advances the MEP requirements of the 2016 MA 
MS4 Permit, particularly with respect to implementation of green 
infrastructure and low impact design elements.
    Section 402(p)(3)(B)(iii) of CWA authorizes EPA to include in an 
MS4 permit ``such other provisions as [EPA] determine[s] appropriate 
for control of . . . pollutants.'' Parts 2.1 and 2.2 of the Draft GP 
carry forward water quality-based effluent limitations from the 2016 MA 
MS4 Permit to ensure that discharges do not cause or contribute to 
exceedances of water quality standards. The provisions, expressed in 
the form of additional control measures beyond the minimum control 
measures in the Part 2.3 of the Draft GP, apply specifically to 
stormwater discharges to impaired waterbodies with and without an EPA-
approved total maximum daily load (TMDL). The Draft GP extends these 
requirements to additional waterbodies for which EPA approved a TMDL or 
Alternative Restoration Plan since the issuance of the 2016 MA MS4 
Permit.
    Other Legal Requirements: Endangered Species Act (ESA): The Draft 
GP does not authorize stormwater discharges which adversely affect any 
species listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA or which 
result in the adverse modification or destruction of designated 
critical habitat. EPA has updated the provisions related to the ESA. 
Concurrently with the public notice of the Draft GP, EPA is requesting 
concurrence with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service with EPA's preliminary finding based 
on the results of EPA's assessment of the potential effects to 
endangered and threatened species and their critical habitats as a 
result of the issuance of the Draft MS4 GP.
    Essential Fish Habitat (EFH): In accordance with the 1996 
Amendments (Pub. L. 104-267) to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (1998)), the 
Draft GP does not authorize stormwater discharges whose direct or 
indirect impacts do not prevent or minimize adverse effects on any EFH. 
EPA determined that the permit action will not adversely affect the EFH 
of designated species. 16 U.S.C. 1855(b). Additional mitigation is not 
warranted under section 305(b)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. EPA is 
providing this determination to NOAA Fisheries for their review 
concurrent with the public notice of the Draft GP.
    National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA): The Draft GP does not 
authorize stormwater discharges which adversely affect properties 
listed or eligible for listing in the National Registry of Historic 
Places under the NHPA. Concurrently with the public notice of the Draft 
GP, EPA will initiate consultation under the NHPA related to the 
stormwater management activities under the Draft GP.
    Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA): The CZMA, 16 U.S.C. 1451 et 
seq., and its implementing regulations (15 CFR part 930) require a 
determination that any federally licensed activity affecting the 
coastal zone with an approved Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) is 
consistent with the CZMA. Concurrent with the public notice of the 
Draft GP, EPA is requesting concurrence from the Massachusetts Coastal 
Program (MassCZM) with EPA's Federal consistency review.
    Authority: This action is being taken under the Clean Water Act, 33 
U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

David Cash,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2024-27291 Filed 11-21-24; 8:45 am]
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