Environmental Protection Agency August 3, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces EPA's approval of the Commonwealth of Kentucky's request to revise certain of its EPA-authorized programs to allow electronic reporting.

EPA Region 4 is modifying the expiration date of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit authorizing the discharge of stormwater from construction activities on Tribal Lands within the states of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and North Carolina. This modification will extend the NPDES construction general permit (CGP), hereinafter referred to as ``the Region 4 CGP,'' so that it expires on September 1, 2012 instead of August 31, 2011. The purpose of extending the expiration date is to ensure that there is no lapse in permit coverage prior to the effective date of the issuance of a new permit, hereinafter referred to as ``the new National CGP,'' which was proposed as draft for public review and comment on April 25, 2011. The Region 4 CGP was issued on September 1, 2009, and the modification of the expiration date makes it a three-year permit. By Federal law, no NPDES permit may be issued for a period that exceeds five years. The extension complies with this restriction.

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to Clean Water Act, Section 312(f)(3) (33 U.S.C. 1322(f)(3)), the State of New York has determined that the protection and enhancement of the quality of the Jamaica Bay in the New York City metropolitan area requires greater environmental protection, and has petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, for a determination that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for those waters, so that the State may completely prohibit the discharge from all vessels of any sewage, whether treated or not, into such waters. The New York State Department of Conservation (NYSDEC) on behalf of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) has proposed to establish a Vessel Waste No-Discharge Zone (NDZ) for the Jamaica Bay that covers an area of approximately 20,000 acres (17,177 acres of open water and 2,695 acres of upland islands and salt marshes). It is bounded on the west and northwest by Brooklyn, on the north and northeast by Queens. The northeastern and southeastern corners of the Bay are bordered by Nassau County. The northern shore of the Rockaway Peninsula, a part of Queens, forms the southern boundary. The Bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Rockaway Inlet and has a tidal range of approximately 5 to 6 feet. It measures approximately 10 miles at its widest point east to west and approximately 4 miles at its widest point north to south. The mean depth of the Bay is approximately 13 feet with maximum depths reaching 30 to 50 feet in navigation channels and borrows pit areas. Eight tributaries empty into Jamaica BaySheepshead Bay, Paerdegat Basin, Fresh Creek, Hendrix Creek, Spring Creek, Shellbank Basin, Bergen Basin, and Thurston Basin.

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, entitled: ``Pre-Manufacture Review Reporting and Exemption Requirements for New Chemical Substances and Significant New Use Reporting Requirements for Chemical Substances'' and identified by EPA ICR No. 0574.15 and OMB Control No. 2070-0012, is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2011. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection.