[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41417-41419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-15329]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7232-9]
Proposed Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2002/2003
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed Effluent Guidelines Program Plan; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: Today's notice presents and invites comment on EPA's proposed
Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2002/2003. Under the Clean Water
Act (CWA), EPA establishes national regulations, termed ``effluent
guidelines,'' to reduce pollutant discharges from industrial facilities
to surface waters and publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). The
proposed Effluent Guidelines Program Plan describes the Agency's
ongoing effluent guidelines development efforts.
DATES: EPA must receive comments on the proposed effluent guidelines
plan by July 18, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Ms. Patricia Harrigan at the
following address: Office of Water, Engineering and Analysis Division
(4303T), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460.
Comments submitted via hand delivery or Federal Express may be sent to
the following address: U.S. EPA, EPA West, Room 6221, 1301 Constitution
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For additional information on how to
submit comments, see ``How to Submit Comments'' in the Supplementary
Information section of this notice.
The public record for this proposed plan has been established under
docket number W-01-12 and is located in EPA's Water Docket, East Tower
Basement (Room EB 57), 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460. The
record is available for inspection from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. For access to docket
materials, call (202) 260-3027 to schedule an appointment. You may have
to pay a reasonable fee for copying.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Harrigan at (202) 566-1666 or
[email protected], or Jan Matuszko at (202) 566-1035 or
[email protected].
How To Submit Comments
EPA encourages submission of comments using e-mail. Please send
comments via e-mail to [email protected]. Electronic comments
must specify docket number W-01-12 and must be submitted as an ASCII,
Word or WordPerfect file avoiding the use of special characters or any
form of encryption. No confidential business information (CBI) should
be sent via e-mail.
If you elect to mail your comments, please send an original and 3
copies of your comments and enclosures (including references).
Commenters who want EPA to acknowledge receipt of their comments should
enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. No facsimilies (faxes) will
be accepted.
I. Regulated Entities
Today's proposed Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2002/2003
does not contain regulatory requirements. It identifies industrial
categories for which EPA expects to develop or revise effluent
limitations guidelines and standards and sets forth the schedules for
those rulemakings. Entities that could be affected by regulations
developed under this Plan, as proposed, are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1.--Entities Potentially Affected by Forthcoming Effluent Guidelines Regulations
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Category of entity Examples of potentially affected entities
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Industrial, Commercial, or Agricultural................ Metal Products and Machinery (including electroplating,
metal finishing); builders and developers engaged in
construction, development, and redevelopment; Feedlots
(swine, poultry, dairy and beef cattle); Aquatic
Animal Production (fish hatcheries and farms); and
Meat Products (slaughtering, rendering, packing,
processing of red meat and poultry); and Pulp and
Paper (dissolving mills).
Federal Government..................................... Metal Products and Machinery (including electroplating,
metal finishing); builders and developers engaged in
construction, development, and redevelopment.
State Government....................................... Metal Products and Machinery (including electroplating,
metal finishing); builders and developers engaged in
construction, development, and redevelopment.
Local Government....................................... Metal Products and Machinery (including electroplating,
metal finishing); builders and developers engaged in
construction, development, and redevelopment.
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II. Legal Authority
Today's notice is published under the authority of section 304(m)
of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1314(m).
III. Effluent Guidelines Program Background
The CWA directs EPA to promulgate effluent limitations guidelines
and standards that, for most pollutants, reflect the level of pollutant
control achievable by the best available technologies economically
achievable for categories or subcategories of industrial point sources.
See CWA sections 301(b)(2), 304(b), 306, 307(b), and 307(c). For point
sources that introduce pollutants directly into the Nation's waters
(i.e., direct dischargers), the limitations and standards promulgated
by EPA are implemented in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permits. See CWA sections 301(a), 301(b), and 402. For
sources that discharge to POTWs (i.e., indirect dischargers), EPA
promulgates pretreatment standards that apply directly to those sources
and are enforced by POTWs backed by State and Federal authorities. See
CWA sections 307(b) and (c).
Section 304(m) requires EPA to publish a Plan every two years that
consists of three elements. First, under section 304(m)(1)(A), EPA is
required to establish a schedule for the annual review and revision of
existing effluent guidelines in accordance with section 304(b). Section
304(b) applies to effluent limitations guidelines for direct
dischargers and requires EPA to revise such regulations as appropriate.
Second,
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under section 304(m)(1)(B), EPA must identify categories of sources
discharging toxic or nonconventional pollutants for which EPA has not
published effluent limitations guidelines under section 304(b)(2) or
new source performance standards (NSPS) under section 306. Finally,
under section 304(m)(1)(C), EPA must establish a schedule for the
promulgation of effluent limitations guidelines under section 304(b)(2)
and NSPS for the categories identified under subparagraph (B) not later
than three years after being identified in the section 304(m) plan.
Section 304(m) does not apply to pretreatment standards for indirect
dischargers, which EPA promulgates pursuant to sections 307(b) and
307(c) of the CWA.
On October 30, 1989, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., and
Public Citizen, Inc., filed an action against EPA in which they
alleged, among other things, that EPA had failed to comply with CWA
section 304(m). Plaintiffs and EPA agreed to a settlement of that
action in a Consent Decree entered on January 31, 1992. The consent
decree, which has been modified several times, established a schedule
by which EPA will propose and take final action for eleven point source
categories identified by name in the decree, see Consent Decree, pars.
2(a) and 4(a), and for eight other point source categories identified
only as new or revised rules, numbered 5 through 12, see Consent Decree
par. 5(a). The Decree also established deadlines for EPA to complete
studies of eight identified and three unidentified point source
categories. See Consent Decree, par. 3(a).
The last date for EPA action under the Decree, as modified, is June
2004. The Decree provides that the foregoing requirements shall be set
forth in EPA's section 304(m) plans. See Consent Decree, pars. 3(a),
4(a), 5(a). The Consent Decree provides that section 304(m) plans
issued subsequent to the decree that are consistent with its terms
shall satisfy EPA's obligations under section 304(m) with respect to
the publication of such plans. See Consent Decree, par. 7(b).
IV. Proposed Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2002/2003
Today's proposed Plan describes EPA's current effluent guidelines
rulemaking activities. It is the last Effluent Guidelines Program Plan
to be developed while EPA is operating under the 1992 Consent Decree
described in Section III above.
Table 2 identifies the new or revised effluent guidelines currently
under development and the schedules for proposal and final action.
Table 2.--Effluent Guidelines Currently Under Development
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Federal Register citation (date) or
Category deadline for proposal Final action date
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Metal Products and Machinery............. 66 FR 424 (Jan. 3, 2001)............. 12/02
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations 66 FR 2959 (Jan. 12, 2001)........... 12/15/02
(poultry, swine, beef, and dairy
subcategories).
Meat Products............................ 67 FR 8581 (Feb. 25, 2002)........... 12/03
Construction and Development............. 05/15/02............................. 03/04
Aquatic Animal Production................ 08/02................................ 06/04
Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard (dissolving 58 FR 44078 (Dec. 17, 1993).......... 09/04
kraft (Subpart A) and dissolving sulfite
(Subpart D)).
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In previous Effluent Guideline Plans, EPA had indicated its
intention to take final action on its 1993 proposal to revise effluent
guidelines for eight subcategories of the pulp, paper, and paperboard
industry (Subparts C and F through L). At this time, however, EPA is
not planning to revise effluent guidelines for these subcategories for
a variety of reasons. For example, it appears that more stringent
conventional pollutant limitations for these subcategories would not
pass the Best Conventional Pollutant Control Technology ``cost-
reasonableness'' test, which is explained at 51 FR 24974 (July 1986).
In addition, EPA does not see the need at this time to promulgate
national categorical best management practices to control spills and
leaks of pulping liquors for these subcategories; permitting
authorities can continue to impose best management practices on a case-
by-case basis, as appropriate, under 40 CFR 122.44(k). As with all
currently regulated industries, EPA will make the decision to move
forward with data collection and analysis for all of these subparts
(including possible guidelines revisions) using a broader priority-
setting process the Agency is developing for its future effluent
guidelines planning evaluations.
V. Future of the Effluent Guidelines Program
For the past ten years, the 1992 Consent Decree has greatly
influenced EPA's management of the effluent guidelines program and has
required the Agency to develop or revise a specified number of effluent
guidelines within specified schedules. June 2004 is the last Consent
Decree deadline for taking final action on an effluent guideline
started under the Decree. The 1992 Consent Decree will terminate when
this obligation is satisfied.
The termination of the Consent Decree offers EPA, interested
stakeholders, and the public the chance to evaluate the existing
program and to consider how national industrial regulations can best
meet the needs of the broader National Clean Water Program in the years
ahead. EPA is drafting a strategy setting forth a planning process by
which EPA will conduct the review of national effluent guidelines and
establish priorities to address the water quality challenges of the
21st century.
Integral to any planning process is the need to efficiently
allocate scarce resources among competing priorities. This is
particularly the case for a governmental agency such as EPA, which has
the responsibility to assure that both public and private funds for
regulatory compliance are spent to address the highest risks to human
health and the environment. EPA also believes that its process for
setting priorities must be completely transparent. In keeping with
these goals, the draft strategy will describe how EPA will work with
other interested parties to assess the risks posed by industrial
discharges and to identify the best approach to address these risks
(i.e., through effluent guidelines or other tools).
EPA expects that development and implementation of this strategy
will require a significant Agency investment in research, planning, and
outreach. EPA plans to publish this draft strategy later this year, and
will seek to engage a broad range of interested parties in a
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discussion on the draft strategy. EPA intends to first use the process
described in the strategy as the basis for its 2004/2005 Effluent
Guidelines Program Plan.
VI. Request for Comment
EPA invites public comment on the proposed Effluent Guidelines
Program Plan for 2002/2003 and on all other aspects of today's notice.
Dated: June 11, 2002.
G. Tracy Mehan, III,
Assistant Administrator for Water.
[FR Doc. 02-15329 Filed 6-17-02; 8:45 am]
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