Environmental Protection Agency July 31, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Director of the Office of Water and Watersheds, EPA Region 10, is publishing notice of the availability of two draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permits (numbers AK-G70-0000 and AK-G70-1000) to provide Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) authorization for log transfer facilities (LTFs) operating in Alaska. General permit (GP) AK-G70-0000 (the ``Pre-1985'' GP) includes section 402 modifications to section 404 permits issued to LTFs prior to October 22, 1985, in accordance with section 407 of the Water Quality Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-4). All other LTFs can apply to be authorized to discharge under AK-G70-1000 (the ``Post-1985'' GP) if they meet eligibility requirements. The draft Post-1985 GP is a reissuance of a previously issued LTF GP that became effective on March 21, 2000, and was subsequently modified on April 27, 2004 (69 FR 19417). The Post-1985 GP expired on March 21, 2005, and has been administratively extended since that time. The draft Pre-1985 GP contains additional modifications to section 404 permits issued to LTFs prior to October 22, 1985. The modifications implemented by the Pre-1985 GP became effective as of April 27, 2004, and did not expire because the section 404 permits had no expiration date. New LTFs or existing LTFs not currently authorized to discharge, and which meet the eligibility criteria under the Post-1985 permit, must submit a written Notice of Intent (NOI) to be covered at least 60 days prior to the anticipated commencement of in-water log storage or transfer operations. For existing LTFs that are operating under an administratively extended permit pursuant to 40 CFR 122.6, NOIs were to be submitted 180 days prior to the expiration of the permit (i.e., September 22, 2004). If changes have occurred since that time that require a revised NOI to be submitted, such revised NOIs must be submitted no later than 60 days from the effective date of the final GP. Pre-1985 LTFs seeking coverage or continued coverage under GP No. AK-G70-0000 must submit written Notification within 90 days of the effective date of the final Pre-1985 permit if they have not already done so. Facility operators which received a section 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers prior to October 22, 1985, but who did not provide Notification under the Pre-1985 GP and who fail to submit a timely written Notification in accordance with the proposed 2007 modifications, must seek coverage under the Post-1985 permit prior to commencing discharges of bark and wood debris. In order to be authorized to discharge under the Post-1985 GP, owners or operators of an LTF must: (1) Submit a NOI as described in Part V to EPA and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC); (2) develop and implement a Pollution Prevention Plan (PPP); (3) receive written authorization for a project area zone of deposit (ZOD) from ADEC; and, (4) receive written authorization to discharge bark and wood debris from EPA. In order to be able to discharge in compliance with the Pre-1985 GP modifications, owners or operators of an LTF must: (1) Submit a Notification to EPA and ADEC; (2) develop and implement a PPP; (3) receive written authorization for a project area ZOD from ADEC; and, (4) receive a NPDES number from EPA. A fact sheet has been prepared which sets forth the principle factual, legal, policy, and scientific information considered in the development of the general permits. Both GPs contain a combination of technology-based requirements and water quality-based effluent limits, standards, or conditions. Public Comment and Public Hearing: Interested persons may submit written comments on the draft GPs to the attention of Kai Shum at the address below. Copies of the draft GPs and fact sheet are available upon request. The permits and fact sheet may also be downloaded from the Region 10 Web site at: https://www.epa.gov/r10earth/waterpermits.htm (click on ``draft permits'', then ``Alaska''). All comments should include the name, address, and telephone number of the commenter and a concise statement of comment and the relevant facts upon which it is based. Comments of either support or concern which are directed at specific, cited permit requirements are appreciated. The EPA and ADEC will host a public hearing to present information relevant to the LTF GPs, to answer questions, and to receive verbal comments on the draft general permits. The hearing is scheduled as follows: Thursday, September 6, 2007, 7 p.m.-11 p.m.; Centennial Hall and Convention Center; 101 Eagan Drive; Juneau, Alaska 99801. After the expiration date of the Public Notice on September 25, the Director, Office of Water and Watersheds, EPA Region 10, will make a final determination with respect to issuance of the permits. Response to comments will be published with the final permits. The proposed requirements contained in the draft GPs will become final 30 days after publication of the final permits in the Federal Register.

On March 26, 2007, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) submitted a request for EPA approval of a redesignation of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby Counties (the Central Indiana Area) to attainment of the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). IDEM also requested EPA approval of an ozone maintenance plan for this area as a revision of the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP). EPA proposes to determine that the Central Indiana Area has attained the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA proposes to approve Indiana's request to redesignate the Central Indiana Area to attainment of the 8- hour ozone NAAQS and to approve the State's ozone maintenance plan for this area as a revision of the Indiana SIP. Finally, EPA proposes to approve Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the Central Indiana Area, as supported by the ozone maintenance plan for this area, for purposes of transportation conformity determinations.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to renew an existing approved Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2007. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

EPA is proposing to approve state implementation plans submitted by the States of Arizona and Nevada that address interstate transport with respect to the 8-hour ozone and fine particulate matter national ambient air quality standards. In so doing, EPA has determined that the plans submitted by Arizona and Nevada and approved herein satisfy requirements under Clean Air Act section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) for each State to submit a plan containing adequate provisions to prohibit interstate transport with respect to the standards for 8-hour ozone and fine particulate matter. EPA is proposing this action pursuant to those provisions of the Clean Air Act that obligate the Agency to take action on submittals of state implementation plans. The effect of this proposal would be to approve the Arizona and Nevada state implementation plans addressing interstate transport with respect to the 8-hour ozone and fine particulate standards and to eliminate obligations on the Agency to promulgate Federal Implementation Plans for these States addressing this same requirement.

EPA is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove a revision to the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted on June 19, 2007. This revision incorporates provisions related to the implementation of EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), promulgated on May 12, 2005, and subsequently revised on April 28, 2006, and December 13, 2006, and the CAIR Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) which concerns sulfur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOX) annual, and NOX ozone season emissions for the State of Wisconsin, promulgated on April 28, 2006, and subsequently revised December 13, 2006. EPA is not proposing to make any changes to the CAIR FIP, but is proposing, to the extent EPA approves Wisconsin's SIP revision, to amend the appropriate appendices in the CAIR FIP trading rules simply to note that approval. The SIP revision that EPA is proposing to approve is an abbreviated SIP revision that addresses the methodology to be used to allocate annual and ozone season NOX allowances under the CAIR FIP, except for allowances in the compliance supplement pool. The portions of Wisconsin's submittal (those associated with the compliance supplement pool and Superior Environmental Performance) that EPA is proposing to disapprove are inconsistent with CAIR and/or otherwise inappropriate to include in a CAIR SIP and must, therefore, be disapproved.