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Public Notice of Draft 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
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 4, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 3)]
[Notices]
[Page 793-795]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04ja01-54]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6929-2]
Public Notice of Draft 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 intent to issue NPDES general permits and request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: Region VIII of EPA is hereby giving notice of its tentative
determination to issue 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 in the States of CO, MT, ND, SD, WY
and UT (except for the Goshute Indian Reservation and the Navajo Indian
Reservation).
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. (The orders were issued in the lawsuit Friends of the Wild
Swan, Inc., et al., v. U.S. E.P.A., et al., CV 97-35-M-DWM, District of
Montana, Missoula Division.) EPA finds that the issuance of these
proposed general permits does not conflict with this order, because (1)
the proposed permits would 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. If any member of the public believes that EPA
should interpret the District Court's order otherwise, EPA requests
that this issue be brought to its attention during the public comment
period on these proposed permits.
Region VIII is proposing to use general permits instead of
individual permits for permitting such sewage sludge related activities
in order to reduce the Region's administrative burden of issuing
separate individual permits. The administrative burden for the
regulated sources is expected to be about the same under the general
permits as with individual permits, but it will be much quicker to
obtain permit coverage with general permits than with individual
permits. The permit requirements would be essentially the same with an
individual permit or under the general permit. Facilities or operations
that incinerate sewage sludge are not eligible for coverage under these
general permits and must apply for an individual 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. 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.
DATES: Public comments on this proposal must be received, in writing,
on or before March 5, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be sent to: State Assistance Program
(8P-SA); Attention: NPDES Permits; U.S. EPA, Region VIII; 999 18th
Street, Suite 300; Denver, CO 80202-2466.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the draft permit and
Fact Sheet, please write William Kennedy at the above address or
telephone (303) 312-6285. Copies of the draft permit and Fact Sheet may
also be downloaded from the EPA Region VIII web page at http://
www.epa.gov/region08/water/wastewater/biohome/biohome.html. Questions
regarding the specific permit requirements may be directed to Bob
Brobst, telephone (303) 312-6129.
Public Comment Period
Public comments are invited. Comments must be written and must be
received by no later than March 5, 2001. Comments should be sent to:
State Assistance Program (8P-SA); Attention: NPDES Permits; U.S. EPA,
Region VIII; 999 18th Street, Suite 300; Denver, CO 80202-2466. Each
comment should cite the page number and, where possible, the section(s)
and/or paragraph(s) in the draft permit or Fact Sheet to which each
comment refers. Commenters should use a separate paragraph for each
issue discussed.
[[Page 794]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 19, 1993, (58 FR 9248) the EPA
promulgated ``Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge'' (40
CFR part 503) and made revisions to the NPDES regulations to include
the permitting of facilities/operations that generate, treat, and/or
use/disposal of sewage sludge. The 503 regulations were amended on
August 4, 1999 (64 FR 42551). The State of Utah currently is the only
State in Region VIII that has been authorized to administer the
biosolids (sludge) program. However, the State of South Dakota has
applied for authorization to administer the biosolids program and
Region VIII has public noticed (65 FR 59385) its intent to approve the
application. Since the State's application is being processed, Region
VIII does not plan to issue a general permit for South Dakota unless
the State's application is denied. It is proposed that general permits
be issued for facilities or operations that generate, treat, and/or
use/dispose of sewage sludge by means of land application, landfill,
and surface disposal within the following areas:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
in New Mexico and in
Utah.
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 in 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
in 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
in Nebraska, and
Indian country
located in North
Dakota within the
former boundaries of
the Lake Traverse
Indian Reservation.
Utah.......................... UTG651000 Indian country within
the State of Utah
except for the
Goshute Indian
Reservation, Navajo
Indian Reservation,
and Ute Mountain
Indian Reservation
(which is covered
under permit
COG651000).
Wyoming....................... WYG650000 State of Wyoming
except for Indian
country.
WYG651000 Indian country within
the State of
Wyoming.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The State of Utah has been delegated permitting authority for
sewage sludge and the State of South Dakota has applied for that
authority, 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 delegated permitting authority for Federal facilities, so
a general permit is proposed for Federal facilities not located in
Indian country.
Authorization 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. Authorization under the
general permit will be limited to one of the three categories, but
authorization may be granted to one or more subcategories under
Category 2. In applying for authorization under the general permit, the
applicant will be required to specify under which category or
subcategory(s) authorization is being requested. However, the permit
issuing authority will have the final determination as to which
category or subcategory(s) the authorization will be granted. The
requirements in the permit for the use/disposal of sewage sludge are
based primarily on 40 CFR part 503.
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 will not be requested.
Economic Impact (Executive Order
12866): EPA has determined that the issuance of this general permit is
not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the terms of Executive
Order 12866 (58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993)) 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 proposed 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), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., as amended
by the Small Business regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA): The
RFA requires that EPA prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for
rules subject to the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) that have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. The
permit proposed today, however, is not a ``rule'' subject to the
requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) and is 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'' defined
to be the same as ``rules'' subject to the RFA on tribal state, and
local, governments and the private sector. The permit proposed today,
however, is not a ``rule'' subject to the RFA and is therefore not
subject to the requirements of the UMRA.
Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
[[Page 795]]
Dated: December 22, 2000.
Kerrigan G. Clough,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Partnerships and Regulatory
Assistance.
[FR Doc. 01-220 Filed 1-3-01; 8:45 am]
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