[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49983-49984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20809]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6852-4]
Regulatory Reinvention (XLC) Pilot Projects; Project XLC Phase I
(Planning) Project Agreement: Clermont County, OH.
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of Project XLC Phase I (Planning) Project Agreement.
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SUMMARY: EPA is requesting comments on a proposed Project XLC Phase I
(Planning) Project Agreement (PA) for Clermont County (hereafter
``Clermont''). The PA is a voluntary agreement developed
collaboratively by Clermont, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
(OEPA), and EPA. Project XLC, announced in the Federal Register on
November 1, 1995, (60 FR 55569), gives regulated sources the
flexibility to develop alternative strategies that will replace or
modify specific regulatory requirements on the condition that they
produce greater environmental benefits.
[[Page 49984]]
Clermont County is one of the fastest developing counties in Ohio,
located just east of Cincinnati. The County is experiencing significant
changes in population density and rural demographics. The Clermont
County XLC Project focuses on the East Fork of the Little Miami River
(EFLMR) watershed. The specific waters within the County considered
under this Agreement include the EFLMR mainstream and tributaries, and
Harsha Lake, which is located centrally within the EFLMR basin. The
EFLMR is a major tributary to the Little Miami River, which is a
designated State and National Scenic River and is the State of Ohio's
largest Exceptional Warmwater Habitat stream.
Clermont County proposes a comprehensive watershed management plan
for the EFLMR. The major goal of this watershed plan is to address
environmental management of its resources with an aggressive and
innovative approach so that it can maintain a balance between economic
growth and the preservation of its rural character and environment, and
where possible strive to improve the environment and protection of the
area's natural resources. The County will work in partnership with the
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and EPA to design and
implement a plan to maintain and improve water quality, land use and
economic development in the County. The development of this watershed
plan will empower the local community to work with the County to review
current water quality standards and establish meaningful measures of
environmental conditions that are based on the specific characteristics
of the EFLMR and its tributaries. Once the water quality goals are
established for the watershed, the primary responsibility for achieving
those goals will be at the local level. The command and control
regulatory framework will be replaced with a collaborative goal setting
approach. As part of the watershed management plan, Clermont County
will develop a sampling and monitoring program, and a County
Environmental Protection Plan that will enable the County to compile
data on existing watershed environmental conditions. New findings from
the sampling program pertaining to the chemical and biological
characteristics of the EFLMR will be used in computer-based simulations
to make predictions regarding point and non-point source pollution. The
plan will also use the information to identify which policy and capital
changes regarding the land management policies must be made in order to
attain the County's water quality goals in the watershed. In addition,
the County anticipates using an effluent trading system in which
pollution credits may be exchanged among point and non-point sources.
No regulatory flexibility is needed for the initial planning phase
of this Project. More specific details regarding regulatory flexibility
will be identified in the development of subsequent phases that will
implement the planning developed during the initial phase. This multi-
phased approach is expected to achieve superior environmental
performance through greater local responsibility and management of
point and nonpoint sources. The Project is comprehensive in scope and
will include development issues closely tied to water quality such as
land use, development procedures, open space and farmland preservation,
and economic development. Most importantly, the County is being
proactive-investing in watershed management controls not currently
regulated by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
permits and much sooner than would otherwise be required under a waste
load allocation and Total Maximum Daily Loads developed by OEPA.
Because the watershed is rapidly developing and degraded water quality
is expected if existing regulations and practices are continued, the
baseline for this proactive approach to superior environmental
performance is defined as no adverse trends in water quality
indicators.
DATES: The period for submission of comments ends on August 30, 2000.
ADDRESSES: All comments on the proposed Phase I (Planning) Project
Agreement should be sent to: Mr. Christopher Murphy, US EPA, Region 5
Water Division (WA-16J), 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604,
or Ms. Lisa Reiter US EPA, Ariel Rios Building, Mail Code 1802, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20460. Comments may also be
faxed to Christopher Murphy (312) 886-0168 or Lisa Reiter (202) 260-
3125. Comments may also be received via electronic mail sent to:
[email protected] or [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain a copy of the Project Fact
Sheet or the proposed Phase I (Planning) Project Agreement, contact:
Christopher Murphy, US EPA, Region 5 Water Division (WA-16J), 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604, or Ms. Lisa Reiter, US EPA, Ariel
Rios Building, Mail Code 1802, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20460. The PA and related documents are also available
via the Internet at the following location: http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL. In addition, a hard copy of the proposed PA will be
available at Clermont County's Office of Environmental Quality,
Clermont County, 2379 Clermont Center Drive, Batavia, OH 45103--contact
Paul Braasch, Clermont County Project XLC Coordinator for a copy: (513)
732-7745.
Questions to EPA regarding the documents can be directed to
Christopher Murphy at (312) 886-0172 or Lisa Reiter at (202) 260-9041.
To be included on the Clermont County Project XLC mailing list about
future public meetings, XLC progress reports and other mailings from
Clermont County on the XLC project, contact Paul Braasch, Clermont
County Project XLC Coordinator, Office of Environmental Quality,
Clermont County, 2379 Clermont Center Drive, Batavia, OH 45103. For
information on all other aspects of the XLC Program, contact
Christopher Knopes at the following address: Office of Environmental
Policy Innovation, US EPA, Mail Code 1802, Ariel Rios Building, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20460. Additional information
on Project XLC, including documents referenced in this notice, other
EPA policy documents related to Project XLC, Regional XLC contacts,
application information, and descriptions of existing XLC projects and
proposals, is available via the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL.
Dated: August 10, 2000.
Elizabeth A. Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Innovation.
[FR Doc. 00-20809 Filed 8-15-00; 8:45 am]
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