25474 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 83 / Monday, April 30, 2012 / Notices 

(hamlet of Cementon), via horizontal 

direction drilling (HDD). The HVDC 

underwater cables would be located 

within the Hudson River for 

approximately 67 miles until reaching a 

point north of Haverstraw Bay. As part 

of the revised project route, the cables 

would then exit the Hudson River at the 

Town of Stony Point in Rockland 

County, NY, to allow for a 7.7 mile 

bypass of Haverstraw Bay; this portion 

of the route would include three HDD 

installations under the Stony Point State 

Historic Park Site and Rockland Lake 

State Park. After the HDD under the 

parks, the cables would enter the 

Hudson River via HDD and be buried in 

the river for approximately 20.7 miles to 

the Spuyten Duyvil, where it would 

now extend south-easterly within the 

Harlem River for approximately 6.6 

miles before exiting the water to a 

location along an existing railway ROW 

in the borough of the Bronx, NY. The 

cables would then continue along that 

ROW for approximately 1.1 miles. 

At this point, the revised route would 

enter the East River via HDD, cross the 

East River and make land-fall at Astoria, 

Queens, NY. The cables would 

terminate at a new converter station 

proposed to be located near Luyster 

Creek, north of 20th Avenue, for a total 

length of approximately 330 miles from 

the U.S. border with Canada. The 

converter station would be installed on 

properties owned by Con Edison located 

in an industrial zone in Astoria and is 

proposed to have a total footprint of 

approximately five acres. The converter 

station would interconnect via 

underground circuit with the NYPA 

substation near the site of the Charles 

Poletti Power Project in Queens, NY. 

The substation would be connected to 

Con Edison’s Rainey Substation, located 

in Astoria, via HVAC cables installed 

under New York City streets. A map of 

the proposed Champlain Hudson 

transmission line project route can be 

found at http://chpexpresseis.org. 

Previous Public Scoping 

A public scoping period for the CHPE 

EIS began with the publication of DOE’s 

NOI in the Federal Register on June 18, 

2010. The 45-day public scoping period 

closed on August 2, 2010. DOE received 

scoping comments in the form of 22 

written letters or emails from private 

citizens, government agencies, and 

nongovernmental organizations. DOE 

held public scoping meetings from July 

8, through July 16, 2010, in Bridgeport, 

Connecticut and Manhattan, Yonkers, 

Kingston, Albany, Queensbury, and 

Plattsburg, NY. A total of 33 people gave 

verbal comments at the meetings, and 

their comments were transcribed by 

court stenographers. Commenters requested that the EIS 

establish evidence that the Champlain 

Hudson project is necessary to meet 

electricity demands (either current or 

future) in the project region, as well as 

address concerns over the impact of 

construction on existing transmission 

infrastructure. Commenters expressed 

concerns with regard to sediment 

disturbance and the potential impacts of 

contaminants in the water column on 

humans and wildlife from burying the 

transmission line in Lake Champlain 

and the Hudson River. Commenters also 

requested that the EIS specifically 

analyze potential thermal effects and 

effects of electromagnetic fields on 

aquatic ecosystems, and noted concern 

over impacts to visually important 

resources from construction of the 

transmission line. Commenters noted 

potential environmental and 

socioeconomic impacts from a proposed 

electric converter station in Yonkers, 

NY. Finally, commenters identified 

additional alternatives that they 

believed should be analyzed in the EIS. 

A copy of the Scoping Summary Report 

(December 2010) is available at http:// 

chpexpresseis.org. DOE will address 

these comments, to the extent they are 

still relevant, as well as those submitted 

during the public comment period for 

this Amended NOI, in the CHPE EIS. 

Public Scoping for the Revised 

Applicant Proposal 

Pursuant to the submittal of the Joint 

Proposal, the NY State Public Service 

Commission is holding six public 

statement hearings in April 2012 in a 

variety of locations along the revised 

Champlain Hudson project route, 

including the municipalities of 

Whitehall, Catskill, Ravena, 

Schenectady, Garnerville, and Astoria, 

NY. While DOE does not currently 

intend to hold further public scoping 

meetings, it recognizes that comments 

provided by the public during the 

Commission’s public statement hearings 

may be relevant to DOE’s NEPA process. 

Therefore, DOE intends to review the 

April public statement hearing 

transcripts, in addition to scoping 

comments submitted directly to DOE, 

and will consider them, to the extent 

matters relevant to the federal 

environmental review process arise, as 

scoping comments for purposes of the 

EIS. 

Agency Purpose and Need, Proposed 

Action, and Alternatives 

The purpose and need for DOE’s 

action is to decide whether to grant a 

Presidential permit for the Champlain 

Hudson project. 

The proposed Federal action is the 

granting of the Presidential permit for 

the construction, operation, 

maintenance, and connection of the 

proposed new electric transmission line 

across the U.S.-Canada border in 

northeastern New York State. The EIS 

will analyze potential environmental 

impacts from the proposed action and 

the No Action Alternative. Because the 

proposed action may involve actions in 

floodplains and wetlands, and in 

accordance with 10 CFR part 1022, 

Compliance with Floodplain and 

Wetland Environmental Review 

Requirements, the draft EIS will include 

a floodplain and wetland assessment as 

appropriate, and the final EIS or record 

of decision will include a floodplain 

statement of findings. If granted, the 

Presidential permit would authorize 

only that portion of the line that would 

be constructed, operated and 

maintained wholly within the U.S. 

DOE is seeking comment on the scope 

of the alternatives proposed and 

potential environmental impacts for 

analyses in the EIS and currently 

proposes to analyze the following 

alternatives in detail: (1) the Champlain 

Hudson project, as proposed by the 

Applicant in the Joint Proposal filed 

with the New York Public Service 

Commission on February 24, 2012 and 

submitted to DOE on February 28, 2012 

as an amended application for a 

Presidential permit, and (2) the No 

Action Alternative, which assumes that 

DOE would not grant a Presidential 

permit for the Champlain Hudson 

project and that the proposed line and 

associated facilities would not be 

constructed. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on April 24, 

2012. 

Brian Mills, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Permitting, Siting 

and Analysis, Office of Electricity Delivery 

and Energy Reliability. 

[FR Doc. 2012–10304 Filed 4–27–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9665–2] 

Cross-Media Electronic Reporting: 

Authorized Program Revision 

Approval, State of Florida 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA’s 

approval of the State of Florida’s request 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 83 / Monday, April 30, 2012 / Notices 25475 

to revise/modify certain of its EPAauthorized programs to allow electronic 

reporting. 

DATES: EPA’s approval is effective May 

30, 2012 for the State of Florida’s 

National Primary Drinking Water 

Regulations Implementation program, if 

no timely request for a public hearing is 

received and accepted by the Agency, 

and on April 30, 2012 for the State of 

Florida’s other authorized programs. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Evi 

Huffer, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Office of Environmental 

Information, Mail Stop 2823T, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20460, (202) 566–1697, 

huffer.evi@epa.gov, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Office of 

Environmental Information, Mail Stop 

2823T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20460, or Karen Seeh, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Office of Environmental Information, 

Mail Stop 2823T, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460, 

(202) 566–1175, seeh.karen@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

October 13, 2005, the final Cross-Media 

Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) 

was published in the Federal Register 

(70 FR 59848) and codified as part 3 of 

title 40 of the CFR. CROMERR 

establishes electronic reporting as an 

acceptable regulatory alternative to 

paper reporting and establishes 

requirements to assure that electronic 

documents are as legally dependable as 

their paper counterparts. Subpart D of 

CROMERR requires that state, tribal or 

local government agencies that receive, 

or wish to begin receiving, electronic 

reports under their EPA-authorized 

programs must apply to EPA for a 

revision or modification of those 

programs and obtain EPA approval. 

Subpart D provides standards for such 

approvals based on consideration of the 

electronic document receiving systems 

that the State, Tribe, or local 

government will use to implement the 

electronic reporting. Additionally, 

§ 3.1000(b) through (e) of 40 CFR part 3, 

subpart D provides special procedures 

for program revisions and modifications 

to allow electronic reporting, to be used 

at the option of the State, Tribe or local 

government in place of procedures 

available under existing programspecific authorization regulations. An 

application submitted under the subpart 

D procedures must show that the state, 

tribe or local government has sufficient 

legal authority to implement the 

electronic reporting components of the 

programs covered by the application 

and will use electronic document 

receiving systems that meet the 

applicable subpart D requirements. 

On February 22, 2011, the Florida 

Department of Environmental Protection 

(FDEP) submitted an application titled 

‘‘e-Reporting System Electronic 

Document Receiving System’’ for 

revisions/modifications of its EPAauthorized programs under title 40 CFR. 

EPA reviewed FDEP’s request to revise/ 

modify its EPA-authorized programs 

and, based on this review, EPA 

determined that the application met the 

standards for approval of authorized 

program revisions/modifications set out 

in 40 CFR part 3, subpart D. In 

accordance with 40 CFR 3.1000(d), this 

notice of EPA’s decision to approve 

Florida’s request to modify/revise its 

following EPA-authorized programs to 

allow electronic reporting under 40 CFR 

parts 51, 60, 70, 141, 144, 146, 257–258, 

262–265, 268, and 270–271 is being 

published in the Federal Register: 

Part 52—Approval and Promulgation 

of State Implementation Plans; 

Part 61—National Emission Standards 

for Hazardous Air Pollutants, Subpart 

M—National Emission Standard for 

Asbestos; 

Part 70—State Operating Permit 

Programs; 

Part 142—National Primary Drinking 

Water Regulations Implementation; 

Part 147—State, Tribal, and EPA– 

Administered Underground Injection 

Control Programs; and 

Part 272—Approved State Hazardous 

Waste Management Programs. 

FDEP was notified of EPA’s 

determination to approve its application 

with respect to the authorized program 

listed above. 

Also, in today’s notice, EPA is 

informing interested persons that they 

may request a public hearing on EPA’s 

action to approve the State of Florida’s 

request to revise its authorized public 

water system program under 40 CFR 

part 142, in accordance with 40 CFR 

3.1000(f). Requests for a hearing must be 

submitted to EPA within 30 days of 

publication of today’s Federal Register 

notice. Such requests should include 

the following information: 

(1) The name, address and telephone 

number of the individual, organization 

or other entity requesting a hearing; 

(2) A brief statement of the requesting 

person’s interest in EPA’s 

determination, a brief explanation as to 

why EPA should hold a hearing, and 

any other information that the 

requesting person wants EPA to 

consider when determining whether to 

grant the request; 

(3) The signature of the individual 

making the request, or, if the request is 

made on behalf of an organization or 

other entity, the signature of a 

responsible official of the organization 

or other entity. 

In the event a hearing is requested 

and granted, EPA will provide notice of 

the hearing in the Federal Register not 

less than 15 days prior to the scheduled 

hearing date. Frivolous or insubstantial 

requests for hearing may be denied by 

EPA. Following such a public hearing, 

EPA will review the record of the 

hearing and issue an order either 

affirming today’s determination or 

rescinding such determination. If no 

timely request for a hearing is received 

and granted, EPA’s approval of the State 

of Florida’s request to revise its Part 

142—National Primary Drinking Water 

Regulations Implementation program to 

allow electronic reporting will become 

effective 30 days after today’s notice is 

published, pursuant to CROMERR 

section 3.1000(f)(4). 

Dated: April 16, 2012. 

Andrew Battin, 

Director, Office of Information Collection. 

[FR Doc. 2012–10322 Filed 4–27–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OECA–2012–0331; FRL–9666–9] 

Inquiry To Learn Whether Businesses 

Assert Business Confidentiality Claims 

Regarding Waste Import and Export 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice; request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) receives from time to time 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

requests for documentation received or 

issued by EPA or data contained in EPA 

database systems pertaining to the 

export and import of Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 

hazardous waste from/to the United 

States, the export of cathode ray tubes 

(CRTs) and spent lead acid batteries 

(SLABs) from the United States, and the 

export and import of RCRA universal 

waste from/to the United States. These 

documents and data may identify or 

reference multiple parties, and describe 

transactions involving the movement of 

specified materials in which the parties 

propose to participate or have 

participated. The purpose of this notice 

is to inform ‘‘affected businesses’’ about 

the documents or data sought by these 

types of FOIA requests in order to 

provide the businesses with the 

opportunity to assert claims that any of 

the information sought that pertains to 

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