[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 2, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44460-44462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-16272]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7238-7]
Public Notice of Final NPDES General Permits for Facilities/
Operations That Generate, Treat, and/or Use/Dispose of Sewage Sludge by
Means of Land Application, Landfill, and Surface Disposal in EPA Region
VIII
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of issuance of NPDES general permits.
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SUMMARY: Region VIII of EPA is hereby giving notice of its issuance of
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general
permits for facilities or operations that generate, treat, and/or use/
dispose of sewage sludge by means of land application, landfill, and
surface disposal in the States of CO, MT, ND, and WY and in Indian
country, as defined at 18 U.S.C. 1151, in the States of CO, MT, ND, SD,
WY and UT (except for the Goshute Indian Reservation and the Navajo
Indian Reservation). The effective date of the general permits is
August 16, 2002.
The NPDES permit numbers and the areas covered by each general
permit are listed below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area covered by the
State Permit No. general permit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado...................... COG650000 State of Colorado
except for Federal
Facilities and
Indian country
COG651000 Indian country within
the State of
Colorado and the
portions of the Ute
Mountain Indian
Reservation located
within the States of
New Mexico and Utah.
[[Page 44461]]
COG652000 Federal Facilities in
the State of
Colorado, except
those located in
Indian country,
which are covered
under permit
COG51000.
Montana....................... MTG650000 State of Montana
except for Indian
country.
MTG651000 Indian country within
the State of
Montana.
North Dakota.................. NDG650000 State of North Dakota
except for Indian
country.
NDG651000 Indian country within
the State of North
Dakota (except for
Indian country
located within the
former boundaries of
the Lake Traverse
Indian Reservation,
which are covered
under permit
SDG651000) and that
portion of the
Standing Rock Indian
Reservation located
within the State of
South Dakota.
South Dakota.................. SDG651000 Indian country within
the State of South
Dakota (except for
the Standing Rock
Indian Reservation,
which is covered
under permit
NDG651000, that
portion of the Pine
Ridge Indian
Reservation located
within the State of
Nebraska, and Indian
country located
within the State of
North Dakota within
the former
boundaries of the
Lake Traverse Indian
Reservation).
Utah.......................... UTG651000 Indian country within
the State of Utah
except for the Ute
Mountain Indian
Reservation (which
is covered under
permit COG651000),
the Goshute Indian
Reservation, and the
Navajo Indian
Reservation.
Wyoming....................... WYG650000 State of Wyoming
except for Indian
country.
WYG651000 Indian country within
the State of
Wyoming.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coverage under the general permits may be for one of the following
three categories: Category 1--Facilities/operations that generate and/
or partially treat sewage sludge, but do not use/dispose of sewage
sludge; Category 2--Facilities/operations that use/dispose of sewage
sludge and may also generate and/or treat sewage sludge; and Category
3--Wastewater lagoon systems that need to land apply sewage sludge on
an occasional, restricted basis. Coverage under the general permit will
be limited to one of the three categories, but coverage may be granted
to one or more subcategories under Category 2. In applying for coverage
under the general permit, the applicant will be required to specify
under which category or subcategory(s) coverage is being requested.
However, the permit issuing authority will have the final determination
as to which category or subcategory(s) the coverage will be granted.
Facilities or operations that incinerate sewage sludge are not eligible
for coverage under these general permits and must apply for an
individual permit. The requirements in the permit for the use/disposal
of sewage sludge are based primarily on 40 CFR 503.
The deadlines for applying for coverage under the general permits
are given in the permits and the Fact Sheet. For most facilities/
operations, the deadline is 90 days after the effective date of the
permit. Wastewater lagoon systems that are not using/disposing of
sewage sludge do not need to apply for permit coverage unless notified
by the permit issuing authority.
DATES: The general permits become effective on August 16, 2002 and will
expire five years from that date. For appeal purposes, the 120 day time
period for appeal to the U.S. Federal Courts will begin August 16,
2002.
ADDRESSES: The public record is located at EPA Region 8, and is
available upon written request. Requests for copies of the public
record, including a complete copy of response to comments, a list of
changes made from the draft permit to the final permit, the general
permit, and the fact sheet for the general permit, should be addressed
to William Kennedy,: NPDES PERMITS TEAM (8P-W-P); U.S. EPA, REGION
VIII; 999 18TH STREET, SUITE 300; DENVER, CO 80202-2466 or telephone
(303) 312-6285. Copies of the general permit, fact sheet, response to
comments, and a list of changes from the draft permit to the final
permit may also be downloaded from the EPA Region VIII web page at
http://www.epa.gov/region08/water/wastewater/biohome/biohome.html.
Please allow approximately one week after this notice for documents to
be posted on the web page.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the specific
permit requirements may be directed to Bob Brobst, telephone (303) 312-
6129 or E-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Region VIII proposed and solicited comments
on the general permits at 66 FR 793 (January 4, 2001). In addition,
notices and copies of the draft general permit and Fact Sheet were sent
to most publicly owned treatment works in Region VIII that would likely
have to apply for coverage under the general permit. Comments were
received from six facilities/operations that generate, treat, and/or
use/dispose of sewage sludge. The comments covered a wide range of
issues. Many of the issues were addressed in the final permit. The
response to comments is included as part of the public record. Also,
the public record includes a list of the changes made from the draft
permit to the final permit. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not
have any comments.
The States of South Dakota and Utah have been authorized as the
permit authority for sewage sludge, therefore general permits will be
issued only for Indian country in those States. The general permit for
Indian country in Utah does not include the portions of the Goshute
Indian Reservation and the Navajo Indian Reservation in Utah because
the permitting activities for these reservations are done by Region IX
of EPA. The State of Colorado has not been authorized as the permit
authority for Federal facilities. Therefore, a separate general permit
is being issued for Federal facilities in Colorado that are not located
in Indian country.
On June 21, 2000 and September 21, 2000, U.S. District Judge Donald
W. Molloy issued orders stating that until all necessary total maximum
daily loads under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act are established
for a particular water quality limited segment, the EPA is not to issue
any new permits or increase permitted discharges under the NPDES
program. (See Friends of the Wild Swan, Inc. v. EPA, 130 F. Supp. 2nd
1199 (D. Mont. 2000); 130 F. Supp 2nd 1204 (D. Mont. 2000)) EPA finds
that the issuance of these general permits does not conflict with this
order, because (1) the permits do not authorize any point source
discharges into waters of the United States and (2) as discussed under
the ``Protection of Public Health and The Environment'' section of the
Fact Sheet, the use and/or disposal of sewage sludge in compliance with
the conditions of these permits is not likely to have any adverse
effect on any waterbody in Montana that has been listed under section
303(d) of the Clean Water Act.
[[Page 44462]]
Since these permits do not involve discharges to waters of the
United States, certification under section 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water
Act is not necessary for the issuance of these permits and
certification was not requested.
Appeal of Permit
Any interested person may appeal the ``NPDES General Permit for
Facilities/Operations That Generate, Treat, Use/Dispose of Sewage
Sludge By Means of Land Application, Landfill, and Surface Disposal''
in the Federal Court of Appeals in accordance with section 509(b)(1) of
the Clean Water Act. This appeal must be filed within 120 days of the
effective date of the permit. Persons affected by a general NPDES
permit may not challenge the conditions of the permit as a right of
further EPA proceedings. Instead, they may either challenge the permit
in court or apply for an individual permit and then request a formal
hearing on the issuance or denial on an individual permit.
Executive Order 12866: Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735
(Oct. 4, 1993)), the EPA must determine whether its regulatory actions
are ``significant'' and therefore subject to review by the OMB. The EPA
has determined that the issuance of these general permits is not a
``significant regulatory action'' under the terms of Executive Order
12866 and is therefore not subject to formal OMB review prior to
proposal.
Paperwork Reduction Act: EPA has reviewed the requirements imposed
on regulated facilities in these general permits under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1980, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. The information
collection requirements of these permits have already been approved by
the Office of Management and Budget in submissions made for the NPDES
permit program under the provisions of the Clean Water Act.
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA): The RFA, as amended by the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), 5 U.S.C.
601 et seq, generally requires an agency to prepare a regulatory
flexibility analysis of any rule subject to the notice and comment
rulemaking requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) or any other statute, unless
the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The permits issued
today, however, are not a ``rule'' subject to the requirements of 5
U.S.C. 553(b) and are therefore not subject to the RFA.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: Section 201 of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act (UMRA), Public Law 104-4, generally requires Federal
agencies to assess the effects of their ``regulatory actions'' on
tribal, state, and local governments and the private sector.
``Regulatory actions'' are defined as ``rules'' subject to the RFA. The
permits issued today are not ``rules'' subject to the RFA; therefore,
they are not subject to the requirements of the UMRA.
Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
Dated: June 19, 2002.
Kerrigan G. Clough,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Partnerships and Regulatory
Assistance, Region VIII.
[FR Doc. 02-16272 Filed 7-1-02; 8:45 am]
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