Environmental Protection Agency July 2, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

EPA published a notice on April 30, 2009 concerning the applicability of Title XVI, section 1605 of the Recovery Act (``Buy American''), to loans and subgrants that would be made with approximately $40 million in Recovery Act funding the Agency will use to supplement Revolving Loan Fund capitalization grants previously awarded competitively under section 104(k)(3) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). The April 30, 2009 notice stated that ``remediation activities conducted with RLF supplemental funds by private sector developers, non-profit organizations or other non-governmental borrowers or subgrantees, and tribes, are not public buildings or public works for the purposes of the Buy American provision of the Recovery Act as implemented at subpart B of 2 CFR part 176.'' This notice clarifies that statement. If a non-governmental or tribal borrower or subgrantee uses RLF supplemental funds to remediate a public building or public work as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Buy American provision of the Recovery Act will apply to that loan or subgrant.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit the following existing, approved, continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the purpose of renewing the ICRs. Before submitting the ICRs to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the information collections as described below in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

On January 2, 2009, the general permit (GP) regulating activities related to the extraction of oil and gas on the North Slope of the Brooks Range in the state of Alaska expired. This proposed reissuance of a general permit is intended to regulate activities related to the extraction of oil and gas on the North Slope of the Brooks Range in the state of Alaska plus the proposed area expansion described in the Fact Sheet. The proposed general permit would cover the same discharges as the previous general permit except for the domestic wastewater discharges. The covered discharges include gravel pit dewatering, construction dewatering, hydrostatic test water, mobile spill response, and storm water from industrial activities. The proposed reissuance also includes a new outfall designation for the discharge of secondary containment water. When issued, the proposed permit will establish effluent limitations, standards, prohibitions and other conditions on discharges from covered facilities. These conditions are based on existing national effluent guidelines, the state of Alaska's Water Quality Standards and material contained in the administrative record. A description of the basis for the conditions and requirements of the proposed general permit is given in the Fact Sheet. This is also notice of the draft Section 401 Certification provided by the state of Alaska, the Consistency Determination under the Alaska Coastal Management Program, and the termination of administrative extensions as described in the Fact Sheet.