Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 6661

telephone: (402) 437–5080, fax: (402) 

323–9079, e-mail: tice.john@epa.gov. 

EPA Region VIII (Colorado, Montana, 

North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, 

Wyoming). Margaret Collins, EPA 

Region VIII, 999 18th St., (8P P3T), 

Denver, CO 80202–2466, telephone: 

(303) 312–6023, fax: (303) 312–6116, email: collins.margaret@epa.gov. 

EPA Region IX (Arizona, California, 

Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, Guam). Marcy Katzin, EPA 

Region IX, 75 Hawthorne St., (CMD 5), 

San Francisco, CA 94105, telephone: 

(415) 947–4215, fax: (415) 947–3583, 

katzin.marcy@epa.gov. 

EPA Region X (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, 

Washington). Theresa Pimentel, EPA 

Region X, 1200 Sixth Avenue, (ECO084), Seattle, WA 98101, telephone: 

(206) 553–0257, fax: (206) 553–1775, email: pimentel.theresa@epa.gov. 

2. Notification process. Regions will 

notify their respective applicants of the 

selections. Those applicants not 

awarded funds may request an 

explanation for the lack of award from 

EPA regional staff. 

V. Post Selection Activity 

Selected applicants must formally 

apply for funds through the appropriate 

EPA regional office. In addition, 

selected applicants must negotiate a 

final work plan, including reporting 

requirements, with the designated EPA 

regional project officer. For more 

general information on post award 

requirements and the evaluation of 

grantee performance, see 40 CFR part 

31. 

VI. Submission to Congress and the 

Comptroller General 

Grant solicitations such as this are 

considered rules for the purpose of the 

Congressional Review Act (CRA). The 

CRA, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by 

the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 

(SBREFA), generally provides that 

before a rule may take effect, the agency 

promulgating the rule must submit a 

rule report, which includes a copy of 

the rule, to each House of the Congress 

and to the Comptroller General of the 

United States. EPA will submit a report 

containing this rule and other required 

information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. 

House of Representatives, and the 

Comptroller General of the United 

States prior to publication of the rule in 

the Federal Register. This rule is not a 

‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2).

List of Subjects 

Environmental protection, Pesticides, 

Tribes.

Dated: February 5, 2004. 

William H. Sanders, 

Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of 

Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.

[FR Doc. 04–2955 Filed 2–6–04; 2:07 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[OPP–2004–0021; FRL–7343–7] 

Tribal Pesticide Program Council; 

Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Tribal Pesticide Program 

Council (TPPC) will hold a 3–day 

meeting, beginning on March 10, 2004, 

and ending on March 12, 2004, 

including a closed session from 1:15 

p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday and 

Thursday. This notice announces the 

location and times for the meeting and 

sets forth the tentative agenda topics.

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Wednesday, March 10, 2004, and 

Thursday, March 11, 2004, from 9 a.m. 

to 5 p.m., and Friday, March 12, 2004, 

from 9 a.m. to noon.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Doubletree Hotel-Crystal City, 300 

Army-Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Georgia A. McDuffie, Field and External 

Affairs Division (7506C), Office of 

Pesticide Programs, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460–

0001; telephone number: (703) 605–

0195; fax number: (703) 308–1850; email address: mcduffie.georgia@epa.gov

or 

Lillian Wilmore, TPPC Facilitator, 

P.O. Box 470829, Brookline Village, MA 

02447–0829; telephone number: (617) 

232–5742; fax: (617) 277–1656; e-mail 

address: naecology@aol.com.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this Action Apply to Me? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you are interested in 

TPPC’s information exchange 

relationship with EPA regarding 

important issues related to human 

health, environmental exposure to 

pesticides, and insight into EPA’s 

decision-making process. All parties are 

invited and encouraged to attend the 

meetings and participate as appropriate. 

Potentially affected entities may 

include, but are not limited to those 

persons who are or may be required to 

conduct testing of chemical substances 

under the Federal Food, Drug, and 

Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), or the Federal 

Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide 

Act (FIFRA). Since other entities may 

also be interested, the Agency has not 

attempted to describe all the specific 

entities that may be affected by this 

action. If you have any questions 

regarding the applicability of this action 

to a particular entity, consult either 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

B. How Can I Get Copies of this 

Document and Other Related 

Information? 

1. Docket. EPA has established an 

official public docket for this action 

under docket identification (ID) number 

OPP–2004–0021. The official public 

docket consists of the documents 

specifically referenced in this action, 

any public comments received, and 

other information related to this action. 

Although a part of the official docket, 

the public docket does not include 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. The official public 

docket is the collection of materials that 

is available for public viewing at the 

Public Information and Records 

Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Rm. 119, 

Crystal Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis 

Hwy., Arlington, VA. This docket 

facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The docket telephone number 

is (703) 305–5805. 

2. Electronic access. You may access 

this Federal Register document 

electronically through the EPA Internet 

under the‘‘Federal Register’’ listings 

athttp://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. 

An electronic version of the public 

docket is available through EPA’s 

electronic public docket and comment 

system, EPA Dockets. You may use EPA 

Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/

to view public comments, access the 

index listing of the contents of the 

official public docket, and to access 

those documents in the public docket 

that are available electronically. 

Although not all docket materials may 

be available electronically, you may still 

access any of the publicly available 

docket materials through the docket 

facility identified in Unit I.B.1. Once in 

the system, select ‘‘search,’’ then key in 

the appropriate docket ID number. 

6662 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

II. Tentative Agenda 

This unit provides the tentative 

agenda for the meeting. 

1. TPPC state of the Council Report. 

2. Presentation and questions and 

answers by EPA’s Office of Pesticide 

Programs Field and External Affairs 

Division. 

3. Reports from working groups and 

TPPC participation in other 

meetings:Forum on State and Tribal 

Toxic Actions (FOSTTA); Pesticide 

Program Dialogue Committee; Western 

Region; Tribal Operations Committee, 

Tribal Customary & Traditional 

Lifeways; 7th National Forum on 

Contaminants in Fish; and other reports 

or presentations. 

4. Tribal caucus (2). 

5. EPA’s Office of Prevention, 

Pesticides and Toxic Substances 

(OPPTS) tribal strategy update. 

6. Dialogue and discussion on 

development of a tribal pesticide 

program. 

7. Discussion on TPPC’s participation 

on the Worker Protection Working 

Group. 

8. National issues on noxious weeds 

for tribes. 

9. Homeland Security--tribal and 

other farms and pesticide storage issues. 

10. Discussion on the involvement of 

tribes in the Strategic Ag Initiative. 

11. Update on the Federal Inspector 

Credentials Criteria and opportunity for 

discussion. 

12. Tribal West Nile Virus concerns 

and to include a discussion on National 

Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) issues. 

13. Update on Lifeline. 

14. Endangered species issues. 

15. Half-day training session.

List of Subjects 

Environmental protection.

Dated: February 2, 2004. 

Jay Ellenberger, 

Acting Director, Field and External Affairs 

Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 04–2815 Filed 2–10–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–7620–1] 

Guidelines on Awarding Section 319 

Grants to Indian Tribes in FY 2004; 

Request for Grant Proposals for 

Watershed Projects

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: EPA has developed guidelines 

for awarding Clean Water Act section 

319 nonpoint source grants to Indian 

Tribes in FY 2004. As has been the case 

for the past four fiscal years, EPA 

anticipates Congress will authorized 

EPA to award nonpoint source pollution 

control grants to Indian Tribes under 

section 319 of the Clean Water Act in 

FY2004 in an amount that exceeds the 

statutory cap (in section 518(f) of the 

Clean Water Act) of 1⁄3 of 1% of the total 

319 appropriation. These guidelines are 

intended to assist all Tribes that have 

approved nonpoint source assessments 

and management programs and also 

have ‘‘treatment-as-a-state’’ status to 

receive section 319 funding to help 

implement those programs. The 

guidelines describe the process for 

awarding base funding to Tribes in FY 

2004, including submissions of 

proposed work plans. The guidelines 

also describe the process and schedule 

to award, through a grants competition, 

additional funds for selected watershed 

implementation projects for FY 2004 

funding, including the schedule for 

submissions of watershed project 

summaries and the selection criteria for 

funding watershed projects.

DATES: The guidelines are effective 

February 11, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Persons requesting 

additional information or a complete 

copy of the document should contact Ed 

Drabkowski at (202) 566–1198; e-mail at 

drabkowski.ed@epa.gov; or by mail at 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(4503T), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Persons requesting additional 

information or complete copy of the 

document should contact Ed 

Drabkowski at (202) 566–1198; or by email at drabkowski.ed@epa.gov; or by 

mail at U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (4503T), 1200 Pennsylvania 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The full 

text of the Guidelines on Awarding 

Section 319 Grants to Indian Tribes in 

FY 2004 is also available on the 

Nonpoint Source Control Branch 

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

nps.

Dated: January 30, 2004. 

Diane C. Regas, 

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and 

Watersheds.

Memorandum 

Subject: Guidelines on Awarding Section 319 

Grants to Indian Tribes in FY 2004; 

Request for Grant Proposals for Watershed 

Projects 

From: Diane C. Regas, Director, Office of 

Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds. 

To: EPA Regional Water Division Directors, 

Regional Tribal Coordinators/Program 

Managers, Tribal Caucus, EPA Tribal 

Operations Committee. 

EPA anticipates that Congress will, for the 

fifth year in a row, authorize EPA to award 

nonpoint source pollution control grants to 

Indian Tribes under Section 319 of the Clean 

Water Act (‘‘CWA’’) in FY 2004 in an amount 

that exceeds the statutory cap (in Section 

518(f) of the CWA) of 1⁄3 of 1% of the total 

319 appropriation. This will enable all of the 

Tribes that have approved nonpoint source 

assessments and management programs and 

‘‘treatment-as-a-State’’ (‘‘TAS’’) status 

(hereinafter referred to as ‘‘approved Tribes’’) 

by January 7, 2004, to be eligible to receive 

Section 319 funding to help implement those 

programs. 

The repeated allowance of increased 

funding for Tribal nonpoint source (‘‘NPS’’) 

programs in FY 2004 reflects Congress’ 

continuing recognition that Indian Tribes 

need and deserve increased financial support 

to implement nonpoint source programs that 

address critical water quality concerns on 

tribal lands. EPA shares this view and will 

continue to work closely with the Tribes to 

assist them in developing and implementing 

effective Tribal nonpoint source pollution 

programs. To date, EPA has already approved 

eighty-four (84) Tribal nonpoint source 

management programs, covering more than 

40 million acres of land (representing 

approximately 74% of all Indian country), 

and we expect to approve additional 

programs in FY 2004. 

As was the case last year, the new 

authorization to exceed 1⁄3 of 1% applies only 

to the current year (FY 2004). As in the past, 

EPA will work with the Tribes to continue 

to demonstrate that increased 319 funds for 

Tribes can be used effectively to achieve 

water quality improvement. We were pleased 

by the high quality of the Tribes’ work plans 

that formed the basis of the grants awarded 

to Tribes in FY 2003, which included base 

grants awarded to seventy-one (71) Tribes as 

well as grants for specific watershed projects 

awarded to twenty-seven (27) Tribes through 

a competitive process. We believe that the 

Tribes and EPA succeeded in directing the 

FY 2003 grants towards high-priority 

activities that will produce on-the-ground 

results that provide improved water quality. 

We believe that this success warrants 

continued substantial investment of 319 

grant dollars in FY 2004 to address the 

extensive NPS control needs throughout 

Indian country, as discussed below. In 

recognition of this fact, we are awarding a 

total of $7,000,000 to Tribes for FY 2004. 

Summary of Process for FY 2004 Grants to 

Tribes

In FY 2004, we will set aside $7,000,000 

for Tribal nonpoint source grants. This 

amount is based on the same three factors as 

were used last year: 

1. We will continue to support all eligible 

Tribes with base grants. 

2. We will award base funding to eligible 

Tribes as follows: