57010 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 184 / Thursday, September 23, 2004 / Notices 

883–9500, extension 224. Written 

comments will be accepted through 

Tuesday, November 30, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be 

held in the Kirby Auditorium of the 

National Constitution Center, 525 Arch 

Street, Independence Mall, 

Philadelphia. Written comments should 

be addressed to the Commission 

Secretary as follows: by e-mail to 

paula.schmitt@drbc.state.nj.us; by fax to 

Commission Secretary—dial 609–883–

9522; by U.S. Mail to Commission 

Secretary, DRBC, P.O. Box 7360, West 

Trenton, NJ 08628–0360; or by 

overnight mail to Commission 

Secretary, DRBC, 25 State Police Drive, 

West Trenton, NJ 08628–0360.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

full text of the draft resolution 

containing the proposed rule change, a 

map illustrating the proposed stream 

classifications for the Lower Delaware, a 

map illustrating the Wild and Scenic 

Rivers System designations in the Lower 

Delaware, and reports about the Lower 

Delaware will be posted no later than 

October 1, 2004, on the Commission’s 

Web site, http://www.drbc.net. The 

Commission will hold two 

informational meetings on the proposed 

rulemaking. One meeting will be held 

on Thursday, October 14, 2004, from 7 

to 9 p.m. at the Delaware and Raritan 

Canal Commission office at the 

Prallsville Mills Complex, 33 Risler 

Street (Route 29) in Stockton, New 

Jersey. Another will be held on 

Wednesday, October 20, 2004, from 7 to 

9 p.m. in Room 315 of the Acopian 

Engineering Building at Lafayette 

College, located on High Street in 

Easton, Pennsylvania. Directions to the 

meeting locations will be posted on the 

Commission’s Web site, http://

www.drbc.net, in advance of the 

meeting dates. Please contact 

Commission Secretary Pamela Bush, 

609–883–9500 ext. 203, with questions 

about the proposed rule or the 

rulemaking process.

Dated: September 17, 2004. 

Pamela M. Bush, 

Commission Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–21350 Filed 9–22–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6360–01–P

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; 

Proposed Amendment of the Water 

Quality Regulations, Water Code and 

Comprehensive Plan To Establish 

Pollutant Minimization Plan 

Requirements for Point and Non-Point 

Source Discharges of Toxic Pollutants

AGENCY: Delaware River Basin 

Commission.

SUMMARY: The Delaware River Basin 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’ or 

‘‘DRBC’’) will hold a public hearing to 

receive comments on a proposed 

amendment to the Commission’s Water 

Quality Regulations, Water Code and 

Comprehensive Plan to establish 

pollutant minimization plan 

requirements for point and non-point 

source discharges of toxic pollutants 

following issuance of a total maximum 

daily load (TMDL) under section 303(d) 

of the Clean Water Act (CWA) by either 

a member state or the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), or issuance of an assimilative 

capacity determination by the 

Commission. 

A TMDL establishes the maximum 

loading of a pollutant that a water body 

can receive without causing an 

impairment of the water quality 

standard, which includes designated 

uses, water quality criteria calculated to 

protect those uses, and antidegradation 

requirements. When water quality 

standards are not attained, despite the 

technology-based control of industrial 

and municipal wastewater (point 

sources), the CWA requires that the 

impaired waters be identified on the 

state’s Section 303(d) list and that a 

TMDL be developed for the pollutant or 

pollutants causing the impairment. A 

determination of the assimilative 

capacity of a water body for a given 

pollutant under Section 4.30.7 of the 

Commission’s Water Quality 

Regulations is similar to the 

establishment of maximum total loading 

for a water body in a TMDL. The 

Commission may issue an assimilative 

capacity determination whenever a 

stream quality objective (the 

Commission’s term for a numeric water 

quality criterion) is not being attained. 

A TMDL or assimilative capacity 

determination does not in and of itself 

result in any improvement in water 

quality. Rather, the total loading or 

assimilative capacity must be allocated 

among the various sources contributing 

to the water quality impairment, and 

each discharger must reduce its 

discharge to achieve its allocated load. 

For point source discharges, the 

individual load allocation typically is 

converted to an effluent limitation in a 

National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) permit 

issued under section 402 of the Clean 

Water Act. For non-point sources, the 

load allocation typically is achieved 

through Best Management Practices 

(BMPs). 

For certain toxic pollutants in water 

bodies within the Delaware River Basin, 

ambient and/or effluent monitoring 

shows that loadings are many times 

higher than the levels required to ensure 

that water quality standards are met. 

Substantial reductions in loadings of 

such pollutants from all point and nonpoint sources are needed to protect the 

designated uses. However, the process 

of developing and allocating a total load 

or determining the assimilative capacity 

of the water body for the pollutant may 

take the regulatory agencies many years. 

As has become apparent in the case of 

the TMDL for polychlorinated biphenyls 

(PCBs) in the Delaware Estuary, issued 

by EPA on December 15, 2003 on behalf 

of the states of Delaware, New Jersey, 

and Pennsylvania, it may be many more 

years before the states are able to 

incorporate implementing provisions 

into NPDES permits for point sources 

and require implementing BMPs for 

non-point sources. For PCBs, and 

possibly for other persistent 

bioaccumulative toxic chemicals, still 

more time—in some cases decades—

will be needed before dischargers 

achieve sufficient load reductions to 

achieve the water quality standards. The 

proposed rule is intended to accelerate 

real improvements in water quality by 

authorizing the Commission to require 

point and non-point source dischargers 

to initiate load reduction efforts sooner. 

No numeric targets are proposed. 

Rather, the rule is based on concepts of 

pollution prevention and sustainability 

and the recognition that dischargers that 

are familiar with their own operations 

may be best situated to identify 

opportunities for achieving prompt 

loading reductions in a cost-effective 

manner. To comply with the rule, 

dischargers must plan and implement 

measures for achieving the maximum 

practicable reduction of pollutant 

discharges to the air, soil, and water. 

The proposed rule is primarily a gapfilling measure. For point sources, it 

will cease to apply to any discharge 

upon the next issuance by the state or 

EPA of a NPDES permit or permit 

renewal with respect to that discharge. 

For non-point discharges, the 

Commission’s intention is to apply the 

rule only where existing state and 

federal programs will not ensure 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 184 / Thursday, September 23, 2004 / Notices 57011

implementation of the TMDL or 

assimilative capacity determination. 

The rule has four principal parts. 

Section A addresses the scope of the 

rule—both the pollutants and the 

entities intended to be regulated. 

Section B sets forth procedures for 

submission, review, implementation, 

and continuation of Pollutant 

Minimization Plans (‘‘PMPs’’ or 

‘‘plans’’) required under the rule, 

including the relationship of the rule to 

the NPDES permit program. Section C 

lists the elements required to be 

included in a PMP, and Section D sets 

forth the requirement that dischargers 

submit a report annually, quantifying 

changes in pollutant loadings since 

initiation of the PMP and describing 

measures under way or completed to 

reduce loadings. Additional sections 

include a waiver provision and a 

provision for the development of 

guidance to assist dischargers in 

developing PMPs under the rule.

Scope of the Proposed Rule. The 

scope of the proposed rule is limited to 

toxic chemicals listed in Section A.1 of 

the rule. The proposed rule lists one 

pollutant—PCBs—for which the EPA 

issued a TMDL for the Delaware Estuary 

on December 15, 2003. Additional 

pollutants may be added to the rule only 

through notice and comment 

rulemaking. 

Classes of dischargers or individual 

dischargers proposed to be subject to the 

rule may be added by amendment or by 

a directive of the Commission’s 

Executive Director, upon approval by 

the Commission. Two classes of PCB 

dischargers are initially proposed to be 

included: those listed in Group 1 of 

Tables 3–2 through 3–5 of Appendix 3 

of the document, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency Regions II and III, 

Total Maximum Daily Loads for 

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) for 

Zones 2–5 of the Tidal Delaware River 

(December 15, 2003); and those listed in 

Group 2 of the same tables in the event 

that the presence of PCB congeners is 

confirmed through monitoring in 

accordance with the requirements set 

forth in Appendix 3 of the same 

document. 

Procedures for Submission, Review, 

Implementation and Continuation of 

PMPs. The proposed rule requires 

dischargers to submit a PMP to the 

Commission and the permitting agency, 

if any, within three months of 

publication of a final rule or issuance of 

a directive by the Executive Director. 

The Commission staff, in consultation 

with the permitting agency staff (if 

applicable), will review each PMP for 

completeness, and the Executive 

Director will issue a completeness 

determination, either confirming that a 

PMP contains all components required 

by the rule, or identifying deficiencies 

in the PMP. Where a deficiency is 

identified, a discharger has 30 days to 

submit a revised PMP reflecting a good 

faith effort to cure the deficiency. The 

rule sets forth procedures for 

subsequent revisions if necessary, and 

allows the Executive Director to seek 

penalties against a discharger for 

repeated failure to comply, or grant a 

waiver from a requirement of the rule 

for good cause shown. The discharger 

must commence implementation of its 

plan as submitted within 60 days of 

receipt of a determination of 

completeness. 

Upon issuance of a final new or 

renewed NPDES permit by EPA or a 

member state after the imposition of a 

PMP requirement under the proposed 

rule, the permit supersedes any 

provisions of the PMP that relate to the 

NPDES-permitted discharge. 

PMPs for point source discharges will 

receive a thorough substantive review at 

the time of NPDES permit issuance or 

reissuance. Due to limited agency 

resources, earlier substantive review of 

PMPs by the Commission or the member 

states is authorized but not required. 

The rule provides that if the 

Commission determines at any time that 

a PMP is not likely to achieve the 

maximum practicable reduction of 

pollutant discharges to the air, soil, or 

water, it may require the discharger to 

submit a revised PMP to more 

aggressively reduce pollutant loading. 

The initial term of the PMP is to be 

five years. The term of any PMP that is 

not superseded by a NPDES permit 

within five years may be extended by 

the Executive Director, following a 

review by the Commission staff in 

consultation with the staff of the 

appropriate state environmental agency. 

Plan Elements. Interested parties are 

referred to the text of the rule for the 

required elements of a PMP. Notably, 

these elements include strategies for 

tracking down unknown sources of the 

pollutant, as well as for minimizing 

releases of the pollutant where sources 

are found. Plans also must include a 

description of the procedures to be used 

to measure, demonstrate and report 

progress in reducing potential and 

actual discharges of the pollutant, 

including annual sampling and analysis 

of discharges using a prescribed 

analytical method if one is listed in the 

rule. In the case of PCBs, dischargers are 

required to measure loadings annually 

using EPA Method 1668, Revision A. 

Dischargers are encouraged to use less 

complex and expensive analytical 

methods where possible for purposes of 

screening or identifying pollutant 

sources. 

Annual Report. Annual sampling and 

reporting using a uniform method are 

required in order for dischargers and 

regulators to determine the effectiveness 

of a PMP in reducing pollutant loadings 

to a waterway.

DATES: The public hearing will be held 

on October 27, 2004 at 11 a.m. as part 

of the Commission’s regularly 

scheduled business meeting. The 

hearing will end 60 to 90 minutes later, 

at the discretion of the Commission 

chair. If necessary, the hearing will be 

continued at a date and location 

announced by the Commission chair, 

until all those who wish to testify are 

afforded an opportunity to do so. 

Persons wishing to testify at the hearing 

are asked to register in advance with the 

Commission Secretary by phoning (609) 

883–9500, extension 224. Written 

comments will be accepted through 

Friday, November 19, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The full text of the 

proposed rule will be posted no later 

than October 1, 2004 on the 

Commission’s Web site, http://

www.drbc.net. The public hearing will 

be held in the Kirby Auditorium at the 

National Constitution Center, 525 Arch 

Street, Independence Mall, 

Philadelphia. Written comments should 

be addressed to the Commission 

Secretary as follows: by e-mail to 

paula.schmitt@drbc.state.nj.us; by fax to 

(609) 883–9522; by U.S. Mail to 

Commission Secretary, DRBC, PO Box 

7360, West Trenton, NJ 08628–0360; or 

by overnight mail to Commission 

Secretary, DRBC, 25 State Police Drive, 

West Trenton, NJ 08628–0360.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Please contact Commission Secretary 

Pamela Bush, (609) 883–9500 ext. 203, 

with questions about the proposed rule 

or the rulemaking process.

Dated: September 17, 2004. 

Pamela M. Bush, 

Commission Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–21351 Filed 9–22–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6360–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Postsecondary Education 

Overview Information; International 

Research and Studies Program; Notice 

Inviting Applications for New Awards 

for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.017A. 

Dates:

Applications Available: September 

24, 2004.