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Public Notice of Proposed Reissuance of 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 8
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: July 3, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 127)]
[Notices]
[Page 36453-36454]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03jy07-59]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8334-1]
Public Notice of Proposed Reissuance of 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 8
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Intent to reissue NPDES general permits and request
for comments.
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SUMMARY: Region 8 of EPA is hereby giving notice of its tentative
determination to reissue 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 reissuance of this
proposed general permit does not conflict with this order, because (1)
the proposed permit would not authorize any point source discharges and
(2) as discussed under the ``Protection of Public Health and The
Environment'' section of the Fact Sheet for the general permits, the
use and/or disposal of sewage sludge in compliance with the conditions
of this permit is not likely to have any adverse effect on any water
body 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 decision otherwise, EPA requests that
this issue be brought to its attention during the public comment period
on this proposed permit. Region 8 is proposing to continue 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
renewal permits are very similar to the previous permits. The
administrative burden for most of the regulated sources is expected to
be less under the general permits than with individual permits, and it
will be much quicker to obtain permit coverage with general permits
than with individual permits. The substantive 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. Facilities/operations that had coverage
under the previous general permit and have submitted a timely request
for coverage under this renewal permit are covered automatically under
this permit unless the permit issuing authority requires the submittal
of a new notice of intent (NOI).
DATES: Public comments on this proposal must be received, in writing,
on or before August 2, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be sent to: Wastewater Unit (8P-W-
WW); Attention: Biosolids Program; U.S. EPA, Region 8; 1595 Wynkoop
Street; Denver, CO 80202-1129.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the draft permit and
Fact Sheet, please write Ellen Bonner at the above address or telephone
(303) 312-6371. Copies of the draft permit and Fact Sheet may also be
downloaded from the EPA Region 8 Web page at
http://www.epa.gov/region08/biosolids. 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 August 2, 2007.
Comments should be sent to: Wastewater Unit (8P-W-WW); Attention:
Biosolids Program; U.S. EPA, REGION 8; 1595 Wynkoop Street; Denver, CO
80202-1129. 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.
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/dispose of sewage sludge. The 503 regulations were amended on
August 4, 1999 (64 FR 42551).
The States of South Dakota and Utah currently are the only States
in Region 8 that have been authorized to administer the biosolids
(sludge) program. It is proposed that EPA general permits be reissued
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.
[[Page 36454]]
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 States of South Dakota and Utah have been authorized permitting
authority for sewage sludge, therefore EPA's general permits will be
reissued 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 9
of EPA. The State of Colorado has not been authorized permitting
authority for Federal facilities, so a general permit is proposed for
Federal facilities not located in Indian country.
Authorization for use/disposal of sewage sludge 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 apply sewage sludge to land on an occasional,
restricted basis. Authorization for use/disposal of sewage sludge 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 for use/disposal of sewage
sludge 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. Sec. 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, 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.
Dated: June 21, 2007.
Stephen S. Tuber,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Partnerships and Regulatory
Assistance.
[FR Doc. E7-12857 Filed 7-2-07; 8:45 am]
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