Environmental Protection Agency January 8, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a Clean Air Act (CAA) section 111(d)/129 plan (the ``plan'') submitted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) on July 14, 2017. The plan would allow for the implementation of emissions guidelines for existing commercial and industrial solid waste incineration (CISWI) units within the jurisdiction of the State of Colorado. The plan creates new enforceable emissions limits and operating procedures for existing CISWI units within the State of Colorado in accordance with the requirements established by the revised CISWI new source performance standards (NSPS) and emission guidelines (EG), promulgated by the EPA on March 21, 2011, with subsequent final amendments to the rule promulgated on February 7, 2013. This proposed plan approval rulemaking is being taken in accordance with the requirements of sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA and the relevant parts and subparts of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a rule to implement section 425 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, which requires EPA to work with the Great Lakes States to establish public notification requirements for combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges to the Great Lakes. The requirements address signage, notification of local public health departments and other potentially affected public entities, notification to the public, and annual notice. The rule includes a two-stage approach with requirements that apply directly to existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permittees authorized to discharge from a CSO to the Great Lakes Basin, beginning on August 7, 2018 and a requirement that the public notification provisions be incorporated into NPDES permits when these permits are issued or reissued after February 7, 2018, unless the permit has been proposed prior to February 7, 2018 in which case the requirements would be incorporated into the next permit renewal. This rule protects public health by ensuring timely notification to the public and to public health departments, public drinking water facilities and other potentially affected public entities, including Indian tribes. It provides additional specificity beyond existing public notification requirements to ensure timely and consistent communication to the public regarding CSO discharges to the Great Lakes Basin. Timely notice may allow the public and affected public entities to take steps to reduce the public's potential exposure to pathogens associated with human sewage, which can cause a wide variety of health effects, including gastrointestinal, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and wound infections.