[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 97 (Tuesday, May 19, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29878-29879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10582]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 22, 124, and 257
[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2019-0361; FRL-10009-86-OLEM]
RIN 2050-AH07
Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal
Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities; Federal CCR Permit
Program; Extension of Comment Period
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is
extending the comment period on EPA's proposal to establish a Federal
Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) permit program. The document announcing
this proposal was published on February 20, 2020, and the public
comment period was originally scheduled to end on April 20, 2020. In a
document published on April 14, 2020, EPA extended the comment period
30 days, through May 20, 2020. In this document, EPA is extending the
public comment period an additional 60 days, through July 19, 2020.
DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published on February
20, 2020 (85 FR 9940), which was extended on April 14, 2020 (85 FR
20625), is further extended. Comments must be received on or before
July 19, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OLEM-2019-0361; Title: Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System:
Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities; Federal
CCR Permit Program, at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
[[Page 29879]]
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any
comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of
the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stacey Yonce, Materials Recovery and
Waste Management Division, Office of Resource Conservation and
Recovery, Mail code 5304P, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (703)
308-8476; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In December 2016, Congress passed, and the
President signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation
(WIIN) Act, amending section 4005 of the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA). The WIIN Act, among other things, requires the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) to implement a
Federal coal combustion residuals (CCR) permit program in Indian
country and, subject to the availability of appropriations specifically
provided to carry out a program, to implement a Federal CCR permit
program in nonparticipating states. The Fiscal Year 2018 and 2019
Omnibus Appropriations Acts provided appropriations to the EPA to
develop and implement a Federal permit program for the regulation of
CCR in nonparticipating states.
The Agency is proposing to establish a Federal CCR permit program
in accordance with the requirements of the WIIN Act. The EPA is
proposing to establish requirements and procedures to issue Federal
permits for disposal and other solid waste management of CCR in 40 CFR
part 257, subpart E. The proposed permit requirements would include
definitions, compliance deadlines, application requirements, content
and duration, and modification requirements and procedures.
The EPA is also proposing to rely on the general administrative
procedures applicable to several EPA permit programs. These procedures,
which are found in 40 CFR parts 22 and 124, apply to all other RCRA
permits, as well as to certain permits issued under the Clean Water Act
(CWA), the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and the Clean Air Act (CAA).
The EPA is proposing to rely on these general procedures without
substantive modification and is proposing only to modify provisions in
parts 22 and 124 to the extent necessary to ensure they apply to the
Federal CCR permit program.
The document proposing to establish a Federal CCR permit program
was published on February 20, 2020, and the comment period was
scheduled to end on April 20, 2020. See 85 FR 9940. The comment period
was then extended through May 20, 2020. See 85 FR 20625. Since
publication of the document, Navajo Nation has requested an additional
60 days to review the proposal, develop and submit comments, and engage
in government-to-government consultation. After receiving the request
from Navajo Nation and considering numerous requests received
previously for additional time, EPA has decided to further extend the
comment period to address the concerns that were raised. The comment
period is extended until July 19, 2020.
Dated: May 12, 2020.
Peter Wright,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Land and Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2020-10582 Filed 5-18-20; 8:45 am]
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