[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 12552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04353]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2019-0174; FRL 10006-01-OW]
National Water Reuse Action Plan: Collaborative Implementation
(Version 1)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
release of the National Water Reuse Action Plan: Collaborative
Implementation (Version 1). The Action Plan seeks to promote the
consideration of water reuse as a tool to improve the resiliency,
security, and sustainability of the Nation's water. The unique features
of the Action Plan include creating new partnerships, catalyzing action
through implementation milestones, and providing an online, transparent
forum to share information, collaborate, and describe progress and
results. This Action Plan aims to leverage the talent and expertise of
industry, agriculture, governments at the federal, state, tribal, and
local levels, and other stakeholders.
The Action Plan is available in two forms: a print version that
identifies action leaders, implementation milestones, and target
completion dates, and a dynamic online platform that will undergo
routine updates on each action's progress.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Ravenscroft, Office of Science
and Technology, Office of Water (Mail Code 3207A), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: (202) 566-1101; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
1. Docket. The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-0174. Publicly available docket materials are
available electronically through www.regulations.gov, posted online on
the EPA's water reuse website (www.epa.gov/waterreuse/water-reuse-action-plan) or in hard copy at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket
Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW,
Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding federal
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.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government Printing Office under the ``Federal
Register'' listings FDsys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. Why develop a water reuse action plan?
Water is critical to our Nation's health, strength, security, and
resilience, yet the solutions available to manage water and its
availability and quality are often complex. A comprehensive approach to
water resource management is critical to ensuring long-term
sustainability of the United States' water supply. Water reuse can be a
tool, when considered as part of integrated water resources planning,
to ensure safe and reliable sources of water at the national, state,
and local level well into the future. This Action Plan seeks to foster
greater consideration of water reuse across the water sector, such as
agriculture, manufacturing, potable water, national security,
environmental restoration, and more. The EPA and federal partners have
facilitated development of the Action Plan across the water sector to
accelerate the consideration of water reuse approaches and build on
existing science, research, policy, technology, and both national and
international experiences.
III. Developing the National Water Reuse Action Plan: Collaborative
Implementation (Version 1)
On February 27, 2019, the EPA announced that the Agency would
facilitate the development of a National Water Reuse Action Plan to
better integrate federal policy and leverage the expertise of both
industry and government to ensure the effective use of the Nation's
water resources. The draft National Water Reuse Action Plan (Draft
Plan) was released in September 2019 for public comment. The Draft Plan
built on decades of water reuse experience and practice and identified
46 potential actions across 10 thematic areas (e.g., policy
coordination, technology development, outreach/communication, and the
workforce). The Draft Plan discussed the business case for water reuse
recognizing five major sources of water--agriculture, industry,
municipal wastewater, stormwater, and oil and gas produced water--that
could be reclaimed by treatment to meet ``fit-for-purpose
specifications'' for a variety of end uses including: Potable water
supplies, non-potable uses, agriculture and irrigation and industrial
processes. Public comment was accepted on the Draft Plan from September
10, 2019 through December 16, 2019. During the public comment period,
the EPA continued stakeholder outreach with water resource managers,
sustainability planners, local, state and federal government agencies,
industry, non-profits, researchers, and others, to inform this version
of the Action Plan.
The public input and comments served several critical purposes:
1. Identification of the actions with the greatest interest;
2. Identification of specific implementation milestones;
3. Identification of willing leaders and partners;
4. Identification of potential new actions; and
5. Contribution of rich perspective and commentary to inform
specific actions.
In addition to a print version, the EPA designed the Action Plan's
corresponding website to visually represent continued progress on
actions from stakeholders. The online platform complements the Action
Plan document by highlighting and expanding upon the array of actions
presented in the Draft Plan and discussed in the public docket.
Dated: February 27, 2020.
David P. Ross,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-04353 Filed 3-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P