This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

28567 

Vol. 80, No. 96 

Tuesday, May 19, 2015 

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN 

COMMISSION 

18 CFR Part 410 

Proposed Amendments to the Rules of 

Practice and Procedure To Allow Each 

Signatory Party and the DRBC To 

Administer a Single Process for the 

Review and Adjudication of Projects 

AGENCY: Delaware River Basin 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public 

hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will hold a 

public hearing to receive comments on 

proposed amendments to its 

Administrative Manual Part III—Rules 

of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR part 

401) to provide for DRBC and each of 

the parties to the Delaware River Basin 

Compact (United States Public Law 87– 

328, Approved September 27, 1961, 75 

Statutes at Large 688; 53 Delaware Laws, 

Chapter 71, Approved May 26, 1961; 

New Jersey Laws of 1961, Chapter 13, 

Approved May 1, 1961; New York Laws 

of 1961, Chapter 148, Approved March 

17, 1961; and Pennsylvania Acts of 

1961, Act No. 268, Approved July 7, 

1961 (‘‘the Compact’’)—Delaware, New 

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and the 

federal government (‘‘Signatory 

Parties’’)—to coordinate and collaborate 

in the administration of a single process 

for the review and adjudication of 

projects. The program, called ‘‘One 

Process/One Permit,’’ (also herein, ‘‘the 

Program’’) will allow DRBC and 

administrative agencies of the Signatory 

Parties participating in the Program to 

incorporate the requirements and 

determinations of both DRBC and the 

Signatory Party agency into a single 

permit or other approval instrument. 

DATES: The public hearing will start on 

or around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 

2015, during the Commission’s regularly 

scheduled public hearing. The hearing 

will continue until all those wishing to 

testify have had an opportunity to do so. 

Depending upon the number of people 

wishing to speak, the hearing officer 

may impose time limits on speakers. 

Written comments will be accepted by 

any of the means described below and 

must be received by 5:00 p.m. on 

Wednesday, July 1, 2015. More 

information regarding the procedures 

for the hearing and comments is set 

forth in the section ‘‘Oral Testimony 

and Written Comments.’’ 

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be 

held at the Washington Crossing 

Historic Park Visitor’s Center at 1112 

River Road in Washington Crossing, 

Pennsylvania. Please check 

washingtoncrossingpark.org/contact/ for 

directions, as Internet mapping services 

provide unreliable directions to this 

location. 

Oral Testimony and Written 

Comments: Persons wishing to testify at 

the hearing are asked to register in 

advance by contacting Paula Schmitt at 

609–883–9500, ext. 224 or 

paula.schmitt@drbc.state.nj.us. Written 

comments may be submitted as follows: 

If by email (preferred), to 

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

to Commission Secretary at 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. 

Comments also may be delivered by 

hand at any time during DRBC’s regular 

office hours (Monday through Friday, 

8:30 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. except on 

national holidays) until the close of the 

comment period. In all cases, please 

include the commenter’s name, address 

and affiliation, if any, in the comment 

document and ‘‘One Process/One 

Permit’’ or ‘‘OPOP’’ in the subject line. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

rule text is available on the DRBC Web 

site, DRBC.net. Also posted to the Web 

site are an extensive FAQ document; 

DRBC Resolution No. 2015–4, 

authorizing the Executive Director to 

initiate rulemaking and enter into an 

administrative agreement with the New 

Jersey Department of Environmental 

Protection (NJDEP) for demonstration of 

the Program; and the administrative 

agreement between DRBC and the 

NJDEP to provide for the demonstration 

program, which includes provisions for 

fully implementing One Process/One 

Permit once a final rule has been 

adopted. Detailed procedures of the 

DRBC for public hearings, public 

meetings and ‘‘Public Dialogue’’ are 

available on the web at: http://

www.state.nj.us/drbc/library/

documents/procedures120414.pdf. For 

further information, please contact 

Commission Secretary Pamela M. Bush, 

609–477–7203. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Because DRBC and its Signatory 

Parties share common water resource 

management objectives, sponsors of 

many water resource-related projects in 

the Delaware River Basin are currently 

required to apply to both the DRBC and 

a state agency, among others, for 

approvals. The proposed rule provides 

for DRBC and the administrative 

agencies of the Signatory Parties to 

identify regulatory programs that by 

mutual agreement will be managed 

through a single process resulting in one 

decision or approval. Agreements 

between DRBC and federal agencies are 

possible under the rule, but none are 

currently contemplated. 

One Process/One Permit is intended 

to promote interagency cooperation and 

collaboration on shared mission 

objectives, achieve regulatory program 

efficiencies, avoid unnecessary 

duplication of effort, and reduce the 

potential for confusion on the part of 

regulated entities and the public. The 

regulatory standards and authorities of 

the DRBC and each of its Signatory 

Parties are expressly preserved by the 

Program, including in the proposed 

rule. The more protective of the 

applicable DRBC or Signatory Party 

agency’s requirements will be included 

in each permit or approval issued under 

the Program. 

The proposed rule provides for DRBC 

and each Signatory Party agency 

choosing to implement One Process/

One Permit to enter into an 

administrative agreement that identifies 

the types of projects and approvals to be 

covered. Initially, the Program is 

expected to be implemented for (a) 

withdrawals of basin waters subject to 

both DRBC review and state allocation 

programs; and (b) wastewater discharges 

subject to DRBC review and the stateadministered National Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 

program. For water withdrawals, the 

lead agency under One Process/One 

Permit may be the state or the DRBC, 

depending upon current state programs. 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
28568 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 96 / Tuesday, May 19, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

The delegated state environmental 

agencies will be lead agencies for the 

review of wastewater discharges. Other 

regulatory programs, such as programs 

relating to floodplain management, 

could be included in the future. All 

administrative agreements between 

DRBC and agencies of the Signatory 

Parties for implementing One Process/

One Permit will be subject to 

Commission approval following a 

public hearing. 

Authority 

Sections 1.5 and 3.9 of the Compact 

and existing DRBC rules allow and 

encourage the Commission to use the 

agencies of the Signatory Parties 

wherever feasible and advantageous 

consistent with the Compact. 

Accordingly, under the proposed rule, 

permits issued by Signatory Party 

agencies may include a finding required 

by Section 3.8 of the Compact. 

Specifically, after the rule and amended 

agreements are in place, based on the 

appropriate level of review and a 

recommendation by the DRBC staff, 

approvals issued under the Program 

may include the finding that when 

operated in accordance with the terms 

and conditions of the approval, the 

activities regulated by the approval will 

not substantially impair or conflict with 

DRBC’s comprehensive plan. 

Operation of the Program 

Under the proposed rule, an 

application for initial approval, renewal 

or revision of project activities subject to 

the One Process/One Permit program 

will be filed only with the lead agency. 

This does not mean that the DRBC or 

others will not be involved in the 

review of applications for new and 

renewal water withdrawal and 

discharge projects. Rather, DRBC and 

the Signatory Party agency will follow a 

single process, and reviews will be 

performed more efficiently and more 

collaboratively. 

Consistent with the proposed rule, the 

agreements between DRBC and 

Signatory Party agencies will provide 

for a level of DRBC review appropriate 

to the circumstances. Some reviews, 

such as those for simple and standard 

renewals of existing permits, may be 

significantly streamlined or subject to 

inter-agency notifications only. Others, 

including to implement standards for 

which the DRBC staff have special 

expertise, will involve substantial DRBC 

staff effort. For example, under the 

wastewater discharge program, DRBC 

staff will continue to perform modeling 

to determine ‘‘No Measurable Change’’ 

requirements for the Commission’s 

Special Protection Waters program and 

to calculate an alternative mixing zone 

for a discharge of treated industrial 

wastewater to the Delaware Estuary. For 

certain projects, DRBC staff also will 

continue to identify conditions of 

approval to ensure that projects subject 

to review under the Compact and 

implementing regulations do not impair 

or conflict with the Commission’s 

comprehensive plan. The purpose of 

One Process/One Permit is to eliminate 

unnecessary effort, not to eliminate 

effort needed to fully review a project 

under all applicable standards and 

rules. Under the Program, each party 

continues to recognize the authority of 

the other to promulgate rules, 

regulations and standards. The rule does 

not change that authority. 

Notably, a separate DRBC review and 

decision for water withdrawal and 

discharge activities will still be required 

in certain cases, such as when a new 

project must be incorporated into the 

Commission’s comprehensive plan. 

Both parties also will retain the right to 

act separately, such as in the instances, 

anticipated to be rare, where the parties 

cannot agree on the terms and 

conditions of approval. Certain 

categories of projects that are subject to 

DRBC review will not be covered by the 

Program, and the Executive Director and 

Commissioners will have the ability to 

remove a project from the Program. 

However, the objective of One Process/ 

One Permit is to encompass most, if not 

all, elements of the review and approval 

for covered projects. 

The proposed rule does not modify 

the existing project review fee schedule 

of the DRBC or that of any Signatory 

Party agency. Although One Process/

One Permit is expected to improve 

process efficiency, in many instances as 

described above, the DRBC will devote 

significant resources and work effort to 

review projects and support its 

regulatory programs. Accordingly, the 

DRBC regulatory program will continue 

for the present to be supported by its 

existing regulatory program fees. The 

Commission’s fee schedule set forth in 

Resolution No. 2009–2 will remain in 

effect unless and until the Commission 

amends it through rulemaking or a 

comparable public process. Under One 

Process/One Permit, all DRBC fees 

applicable under current practices will 

continue to be paid directly to the 

Commission. 

The proposed rule provides that 

persons aggrieved by the final action of 

a state agency on behalf of the 

Commission under One Process/One 

Permit must exhaust their 

administrative remedies under the law 

of the Signatory Party agency that issued 

the decision. 

New Jersey Demonstration Program 

By Resolution No. 2015–4 approved 

by the Commission on March 11, 2015, 

DRBC and NJDEP have agreed to 

‘‘practice’’ using new collaborative 

processes between the two agencies for 

the review of wastewater discharge 

applications, pending the adoption of a 

new rule such as the one proposed 

today. The agreement between DRBC 

and NJDEP provides for the 

demonstration program and sets forth 

provisions needed to fully implement 

One Process/One Permit once a final 

rule has been adopted. In the event that 

a project reviewed under the New Jersey 

Demonstration Program reaches the 

stage where it is ready for final approval 

before DRBC has adopted a final rule, 

the application will be acted upon by 

DRBC and the NJDEP independently. As 

explained above, additional information 

about the New Jersey Demonstration 

Program is available on the 

Commission’s Web site. 

Preservation of the 1954 Supreme Court 

Decree 

In accordance with Sections 3.3(a) 

and 3.5 of the Compact, the proposed 

rule expressly provides that it does not 

grant authority to any Signatory Party 

agency to impair, diminish or otherwise 

adversely affect the diversions, 

compensating releases, rights, 

conditions, obligations and provisions 

for administration thereof provided in 

the United States Supreme Court decree 

in New Jersey v. New York, 347 U.S. 995 

(1954) (‘‘Decree’’). The rule further 

reiterates that any such action may be 

taken only by the Commission with the 

unanimous consent of the parties to the 

Decree or upon unanimous consent of 

the members of the Commission 

following a declaration of a state of 

emergency in accordance with Section 

3.3(a) of the Compact. 

No Effect on Section 401 State Water 

Quality Certification Programs 

The proposed rule also does not affect 

the authority of Signatory Party states to 

issue water quality certifications under 

Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. 

Dated: May 13, 2015. 

Pamela M. Bush, 

Commission Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–12076 Filed 5–18–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6360–01–P 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS