[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 203 (Friday, October 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61972-61973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17570]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2005-0026; FRL-8232-9]
Final Section 106 Tribal Grant Guidance
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This document provides notice of the final Guidance on Awards
of Grants to Indian Tribes under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act:
For Fiscal Year 2007 and Future Years. This Guidance provides the
Environmental Protection Agency and Tribes with a consistent framework
of procedures and guidelines for awarding and administering grants to
federally recognized Tribes under the authority of Section 106 of the
Clean Water Act. Specifically, this Guidance will assist Tribal water
quality program managers, staff, and other Tribal environmental
decision-makers in designing and implementing an effective and
successful water quality program utilizing Section 106 funds. The
Section 106 Tribal Guidance focuses on Tribal water quality programs at
all levels of sophistication and development. For new programs, it
explains how to successfully initiate and develop a water quality
program. For Tribes with well-established programs, it contains
information on expanding a water quality program. To meet the needs of
Tribes at all levels of development, this Guidance presents the basic
steps a Tribe would take to collect the information it will need to
make effective decisions about its program, its goals, and its future
direction. This final Guidance will take effect for grants issued by
the Environmental Protection Agency's Regional Offices in fiscal year
2007. This action affects all Tribal environmental programs that
receive Section 106 Tribal grants.
DATES: This final Guidance is effective on October 20, 2006.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2005-0026. All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, is publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
[[Page 61973]]
the Water Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave.,
NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the
telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of
operation, for people who wish to visit the Public Reading Room to
view documents. Consult EPA's Federal Register Notice at 71 FR 38147
(July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on docket status, locations, and
telephone numbers.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lena Ferris, Office of Water, Office
of Wastewater Management, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 4201M, Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 564-8831; fax number: (202) 501-2399; e-mail address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
Affected Entities: Tribes that are eligible to receive grants under
Section 106 of the Clean Water Act.
II. Background
Over the past 10 years, funding available for Section 106 grants to
Indian Tribes has increased from $3 million to $25 million per year.
This Guidance more clearly defines expectations and requirements for
Tribal Section 106 grant recipients and provides a framework for
evaluating program results. This document is an effort to provide
unified guidance that helps Tribes develop and implement water quality
programs and defines what EPA expects from Tribal programs. It provides
an overview of all programmatic and technical requirements, discusses
common considerations across programs and links to technical resources
available to develop Tribal programs. This document outlines new
reporting requirements and data management expectations for all Tribal
programs receiving Section 106 funds. Data collected as a result of the
new reporting requirements will help EPA measure environmental results
of the Section 106 Tribal Program and comply with the Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and other Federal mandates. EPA
published a Notice of Availability regarding a draft version of this
Guidance on April 27, 2006 (71 FR 24852). The Agency provided a sixty-
day public comment period, in which more than two-hundred comments were
received. These comments encompassed four major areas: (1) Monitoring/
data reporting (including STORET-related issues); (2) funding
(including EPA's future plans with respect to linking Section 106
funding to the various Tribal program activity levels outlined within
the Guidance document); (3) training/technical assistance; and (4)
miscellaneous comments (i.e., Guidance implementation issues and
aligning the Guidance to the Agency's Strategic Plan). As a result of
these comments, various communication efforts were undertaken in order
to effectively and efficiently provide resolution. Responding to these
comments, EPA made minor changes to the actual Guidance text. The
Agency has developed a comprehensive Response to Comments (RTC)
document outlining details of submitted comments and their associated
responses. This document also provides specific locations of the actual
Guidance text that have been modified and outlines the exact
modifications that were made. This RTC document and final Guidance can
be found at the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/106tgg07.htm, or by contacting the
point of contact listed under the section entitled FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and is therefore not
subject to OMB review. Because this grant action is not subject to
notice and comment requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act
or any other statute, it is not subject to the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et.) or sections 202 and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act of 1999 (UMRA) (Pub. L. 104-4). In addition, this action
does not significantly or uniquely affect small governments. Although
this action does not generally create new binding legal requirements,
where it does, such requirements do not substantially and directly
affect Tribes under Executive Order 13175 (63 FR 67249, November 9,
2000). Informal consultation has been conducted with Tribes, and a
formal comment period was also provided. This action will not have
federalism implications, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR
43255, August 10, 1999). This action is not subject to Executive Order
13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations that Significantly Affect
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001),
because it is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order
12866. This action does not involve technical standards; thus, the
requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This action
does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). The
Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., generally provides that
before certain actions may take effect, the agency promulgating the
action must submit a report, which includes a copy of the action, to
each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United
States. Since this grant action contains legally binding requirements,
it is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and EPA will submit this
final Guidance in its report to Congress under the Act.
Dated: October 13, 2006.
Benjamin H. Grumbles,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. E6-17570 Filed 10-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P