79176 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 245 / Wednesday, December 21, 2011 / Notices 

Agency should reconsider the data or 

information in the pesticide’s 

registration review. 

As provided in 40 CFR 155.58, the 

registration review docket for each 

pesticide case will remain publicly 

accessible through the duration of the 

registration review process; that is, until 

all actions required in the final decision 

on the registration review case have 

been completed. 

List of Subjects 

Environmental protection, Pesticides 

and pests. 

Dated: December 14, 2011. 

Richard P. Keigwin, Jr., 

Director, Pesticide Re-evaluation Division, 

Office of Pesticide Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2011–32658 Filed 12–20–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–OW–2011–0466; FRL–9609–3] 

Notice of Availability of Draft 

Recreational Water Quality Criteria and 

Request for Scientific Views 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 304(a) of 

the Clean Water Act (CWA), the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

is announcing the availability of the 

draft document Recreational Water 

Quality Criteria (RWQC). The document 

contains the EPA’s draft ambient water 

quality criteria recommendations for 

protecting human health in ambient 

waters that are designated for primary 

contact recreation. CWA Section 304(c) 

water quality criteria recommendations 

are intended as guidance to States and 

authorized Tribes in developing water 

quality standards. The draft RWQC 

document describes the relevant 

scientific findings, explains how these 

findings were used to derive criteria, 

and lists the water quality methods 

associated with the criteria. 

The draft RWQC differs from the 

current 1986 RWQC in the following 

ways: the EPA introduces a new term, 

Statistical Threshold Value (STV), as a 

clarification and replacement for the 

term single sample maximum (SSM); 

there are no longer recommendations for 

different criteria values for beaches used 

with more or less frequency; the EPA 

introduces a rapid analytical technique 

for the detection of enterococci in 

recreational water; the EPA provides 

information on tools for assessing and 

managing recreational waters, such as 

predictive modeling, and for developing 

site-specific criteria. 

The CWA, as amended by the Beaches 

Environmental Assessment and Coastal 

Health (BEACH) Act of 2000, requires 

the EPA to conduct studies associated 

with pathogens and human health 

under Section 104(v), and to publish 

new or revised criteria for pathogens 

and pathogen indicators based on those 

studies under Section 304(a)(9). The 

draft criteria announced today for 

scientific views are the draft new or 

revised criteria that EPA is required to 

publish under Section 304(a)(9) of the 

CWA, as amended by the BEACH Act. 

DATES: Scientific views must be 

received on or before February 21, 2012. 

Comments postmarked after this date 

may not be considered. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your scientific 

views, identified by Docket ID No. EPA– 

HQ–OW–2011–0466, and obtain the 

document (EPA–HQ–OW–2011–0466– 

0002) by one of the following methods: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Email: OW-Docket@epa.gov. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency; EPA Docket Center 

(EPA/DC) Water Docket, MC 28221T; 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, 

1301 Constitution Ave. NW., EPA West, 

Room 3334, Washington, DC. Such 

deliveries are only accepted during the 

Docket’s normal hours of operation, and 

special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2011– 

0466. The EPA’s policy is that all 

comments received will be included in 

the public docket without change and 

may be made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through www.regulations.gov 

or email. The www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, 

which means the EPA will not know 

your identity or contact information 

unless you provide it in the body of 

your comment. If you send an email 

comment directly to the EPA without 

going through www.regulations.gov your 

email address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the public 

docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, the EPA recommends that 

you include your name and other 

contact information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If the EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

the EPA may not be able to consider 

your comment. Electronic files should 

avoid the use of special characters, any 

form of encryption, and be free of any 

defects or viruses. For additional 

information about the EPA’s public 

docket visit the EPA Docket Center 

homepage at http://www.epa.gov/ 

epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: 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, will be publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Office of Water Docket/EPA/DC, 

1301 Constitution Ave. NW., EPA West, 

Room 3334, Washington, DC. This 

Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. 

until 4:30 p.m., EST, Monday through 

Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 

telephone number for the Public 

Reading Room is (202) 566–1744, and 

the telephone number for the Office of 

Water Docket is (202) 566–2426. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions concerning the science 

supporting this criteria, contact Sharon 

Nappier, Health and Ecological Criteria 

Division (4304T), 

nappier.sharon@epa.gov, U.S. EPA, 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460; (202) 566–0740. 

For questions concerning the use of 

EPA’s criteria recommendations, contact 

Tracy Bone, Standards and Health 

Protection Division (4305T), 

bone.tracy@epa.gov, U.S. EPA, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC 20460; (202) 564–5257. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. What are Section 304(a) water quality 

criteria? 

Section 304(a) water quality criteria 

are recommendations developed by EPA 

under authority of section 304(a) of the 

Clean Water Act based on the latest 

scientific information on the 

relationship that the effect of a 

constituent concentration has on 

particular aquatic species and/or human 

health. 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 245 / Wednesday, December 21, 2011 / Notices 79177 

Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water 

Act requires the EPA to develop and 

publish and, from time to time, revise, 

criteria for water quality accurately 

reflecting the latest scientific 

knowledge. Water quality criteria 

developed under section 304(a) are 

based solely on data and scientific 

judgments on the relationship between 

pollutant concentrations and 

environmental and human health 

effects. Section 304(a) criteria do not 

reflect consideration of economic 

impacts or the technological feasibility 

of meeting pollutant concentrations in 

ambient water. 

Section 304(a) criteria provide 

guidance to States and authorized 

Tribes in adopting water quality 

standards that ultimately provide a basis 

for controlling discharges or releases of 

pollutants. The criteria also provide 

guidance to the EPA when promulgating 

federal regulations under section 303(c) 

when such action is necessary. Under 

the CWA and its implementing 

regulations, States and authorized 

Tribes are to adopt water quality criteria 

to protect designated uses (e.g., aquatic 

life, recreational use). The EPA’s water 

quality criteria recommendations are 

not regulations. Thus, the EPA’s 

recommended criteria do not constitute 

legally binding requirements. States and 

authorized Tribes may adopt other 

scientifically defensible water quality 

criteria that differ from these 

recommendations. When adopting new 

or revised water quality standards, the 

States and authorized Tribes must adopt 

criteria that are scientifically defensible 

and protective of the designated uses of 

the bodies of water. States have the 

flexibility to do this by adopting criteria 

based on (1) EPA’s recommended 

criteria, (2) EPA’s criteria modified to 

reflect site-specific conditions, or (3) 

other scientifically defensible methods. 

II. What are the recreational water 

quality criteria recommendations? 

The EPA is today publishing the draft 

Recreational Water Quality Criteria 

(EPA–OW–2011–0466–0002) 

recommendations for protecting human 

health. The EPA evaluated the available 

data and determined that the designated 

use of primary contact recreation would 

be protected if the following criteria 

were adopted into water quality 

standards: 

(a) Fresh Water Criteria 

Magnitude: Culturable E. coli at a 

geometric mean (GM) of 126 colony 

forming units (cfu) per 100 milliliters 

(mL) and a statistical threshold value 

(STV) of 235 cfu per 100 mL measured 

using EPA Method 1603, or any other 

equivalent method that measures 

culturable E. coli; culturable enterococci 

at a GM of 33 cfu per 100 mL and an 

STV of 61 cfu per 100 mL measured 

using EPA Method 1600, or any other 

equivalent method that measures 

culturable enterococci; or both of the 

above criteria. 

Duration: For calculating the GM and 

associated STV, EPA recommends a 

duration between 30 days and 90 days. 

The duration for calculating the GM and 

associated STV should not exceed 90 

days. The duration is a component of a 

water quality criterion, and as such, 

would need to be explicitly included in 

the State’s WQS. The recreational 

season may vary by location depending 

on the length of the beach season. 

Sampling of waterbodies should be 

representative of meteorological 

conditions (e.g., wet and dry weather) 

for the recreational season. 

Frequency: EPA recommends a 

frequency of zero exceedances of the 

GM and ≤ 25 percent exceedance of the 

STV, during the recreation duration 

specified. The frequency of exceedance 

is a component of a water quality 

criterion, and as such, would need to be 

explicitly included in State’s water 

quality standard (WQS). 

(b) Marine Criteria 

Magnitude: Culturable enterococci at 

a GM of 35 cfu per 100 mL and an STV 

of 104 cfu per 100 mL measured using 

EPA Method 1600, or any other 

equivalent method that measures 

culturable enterococci. 

Duration: For calculating the GM and 

associated STV, EPA recommends a 

duration between 30 days and 90 days. 

The duration for calculating the GM and 

associated STV should not exceed 90 

days. The duration is a component of a 

water quality criterion, and as such, 

would need to be explicitly included in 

the State’s WQS. The recreational 

season may vary by location depending 

on the length of the beach season. 

Sampling of waterbodies should be 

representative of meteorological 

conditions (e.g., wet and dry weather) 

for the recreational season. 

Frequency: EPA recommends a 

frequency of zero exceedances of the 

GM and ≤ 25 percent exceedance of the 

STV, during the recreation duration 

specified. The frequency of exceedance 

is a component of a water quality 

criterion, and as such, would need to be 

explicitly included in State’s WQS. 

EPA has also developed a quantitative 

polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) 

method to detect and quantify 

enterococci more rapidly than the 

culture method. For the purposes of 

beach monitoring, alternative sitespecific criteria could be adopted into 

State standards measured by EPA’s 

Enterococcus qPCR method A based on 

a site-specific performance 

characterization. For States interested in 

adopting a value for enterococci using 

EPA’s Enterococcus qPCR method A 

into their WQS, EPA recommends a GM 

criterion of 475 calibrator cell 

equivalent (CCE) per 100 mL and an 

STV criterion of 1,000 CCE per 100 mL 

in freshwaters and marine waters based 

on its epidemiological study data. 

Dated: December 15, 2011. 

Nancy K. Stoner, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. 

[FR Doc. 2011–32651 Filed 12–20–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE 

CORPORATION 

Policy Statement Concerning 

Adjustments to the Insurance 

Premiums and Policy Statement on the 

Secure Base Amount and Allocated 

Insurance Reserves Accounts 

AGENCY: Farm Credit System Insurance 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Policy statements; final 

approval. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit System 

Insurance Corporation (Corporation or 

FCSIC) announces that it has given final 

approval to a new Policy Statement 

Concerning Adjustments to the 

Insurance Premiums and a new Policy 

Statement on the Secure Base Amount 

and Allocated Insurance Reserves 

Accounts (AIRAs). These two policy 

statements, which were earlier 

published with a request for comments, 

reflect amendments to the Farm Credit 

Act of 1971 made by the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, 

and other changed conditions. The 

policy statement concerning premiums 

maintains the Corporation’s semiannual 

review process as a basis for the 

Corporation’s exercise of its discretion 

to adjust premiums in response to 

changing conditions. The policy 

statement concerning the secure base 

amount and AIRAs maintains the 

Corporation’s general approach to 

questions concerning the computation 

of the secure base amount and 

allocation and payment of Allocated 

Insurance Reserves Accounts, with 

modifications to reflect the legislation 

and the Corporation’s recent AIRAs 

payments. 

DATES: The Policy Statements are 

effective on December 8, 2011. 


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