41100 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN 

COMMISSION 

18 CFR Part 410 

Proposed Amendments to the Water 

Quality Regulations, Water Code and 

Comprehensive Plan To Revise the 

Human Health Water Quality Criteria 

for PCBs in the Delaware Estuary, To 

Apply the PCB Human Health Water 

Quality Criterion to Delaware Bay, and 

To Provide for the Use of Compliance 

Schedules To Implement Stream 

Quality Objectives Established by the 

Commission; Proposed Rulemaking 

and Public Hearing 

AGENCY: Delaware River Basin 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public 

hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Delaware River Basin 

Commission (DRBC or ‘‘Commission’’) 

will hold a public hearing to receive 

comments on proposed amendments to 

the Commission’s Water Quality 

Regulations, Water Code and 

Comprehensive Plan to revise the 

human health water quality criteria for 

polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the 

Delaware Estuary (DRBC Water Quality 

Management Zones 2 through 5), extend 

application of the DRBC’s PCB human 

health water quality criterion to 

Delaware Bay (DRBC Water Quality 

Zone 6) and provide for the use of 

compliance schedules where 

implementation of a stream quality 

objective established by the Commission 

requires a reduction of the pollutant 

concentration or loading of a discharge 

to Basin waters. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed revised human health water 

quality criterion for PCBs and 

accompanying implementation plan 

will be accepted and must be received 

by 5 p.m. on Monday, October 19, 2009. 

The public hearing will be held at 1:30 

p.m. on Thursday, October 8, 2009. The 

hearing will continue until all those 

wishing to testify have had an 

opportunity to do so. Two informational 

meetings will be held in late September, 

2009. The informational meeting dates 

will be posted on the Commission’s 

Web site, http://DRBC.net, on or before 

August 17, 2009. 

For more information regarding the 

procedures for the written comments 

and hearing, see SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be 

held at the Commission’s office building 

located at 25 State Police Drive, West 

Trenton, NJ. As Internet mapping tools 

are inaccurate for this location, please 

use the driving directions posted on the 

Commission’s Web site. The locations of 

the two informational meetings will be 

posted on the Commission’s Web site, 

http://DRBC.net, on or before August 17, 

2009. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Persons 

wishing to testify at the hearing are 

asked to register in advance by phoning 

Ms. Paula Schmitt at 609–883–9500, ext. 

224. Written comments may be 

submitted as follows: If by e-mail, to 

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

to Commission Secretary at 609–883– 

9522; if by U.S. Mail, to Commission 

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

Trenton, NJ 08628–0360; or if by 

overnight mail, to Commission 

Secretary, DRBC, 25 State Police Drive, 

West Trenton, NJ 08628–0360. In all 

cases, please include the commenter’s 

name, address and affiliation, if any, in 

the comment document and ‘‘PCB 

Rulemaking’’ in the subject line. 

Background. The current DRBC water 

quality criteria for PCBs in the Delaware 

Estuary were established in 1996. They 

pre-date the collection of site-specific 

bioaccumulation data for the Delaware 

Estuary and Bay and site-specific fishconsumption data for Zones 2 through 

4 that are relevant to the development 

of human health water quality criteria. 

They are also inconsistent with current 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) guidance for the development of 

such criteria, and they vary by water 

quality zone. One consequence of the 

current varied criteria is that in order to 

ensure that the current water quality 

criterion of 7.9 picograms per liter in the 

downstream portion of Zone 5 can be 

achieved, the allowable PCB loading to 

Zones 2 and 3, where the applicable 

criterion currently is 44.4 picograms per 

liter, must be even lower than would be 

required if the proposed uniform 

criterion were in place. DRBC currently 

has no PCB water quality criteria for the 

Delaware Bay, a shared interstate water 

for which the States of New Jersey and 

Delaware have established a criterion of 

64 picograms per liter. 

By Resolution No. 2003–11 on March 

19, 2003 the Commission directed its 

executive director to initiate rulemaking 

on a proposal to revise the 

Commission’s human health water 

quality criteria, including those for 

PCBs, to reflect site-specific data on fish 

consumption, site-specific 

bioaccumulation factors, and current 

EPA guidance on development of 

human health criteria. Rulemaking was 

delayed, however, pending the 

completion of an effort by the 

Commission’s Toxics Advisory 

Committee (TAC) to revise the criterion 

for PCBs and a separate effort to develop 

recommendations for achieving 

reductions in PCB loadings to the river 

that could be issued in conjunction with 

the criterion. 

Rigorously applying the most current 

available data and methodology, 

including site-specific data on fish 

consumption, site-specific 

bioaccumulation factors, and the current 

EPA methodology for the development 

of human health criteria for toxic 

pollutants (see United States 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Methodology for Deriving Ambient 

Water Quality Criteria for the Protection 

of Human Health (2000), EPA–822–B– 

00–004, October 2000), the TAC in July 

2005 completed development of a 

revised human health water quality 

criterion for PCBs for the Delaware 

Estuary and Bay of 16 picograms per 

liter. Accordingly, by Resolution No. 

2005–19 on December 7, 2005, the 

Commission directed the executive 

director to proceed with rulemaking to 

establish the new criterion in DRBC 

Water Quality Zones 2 through 6. 

Elevated levels of PCBs in the tissues 

of fish caught in the Delaware Estuary 

and Bay currently prevent the 

attainment of the designated uses 

‘‘maintenance and propagation of 

resident fish and other aquatic life’’ 

(Zone 2, Zone 5 below River Mile 70 

and Zone 6), ‘‘passage of anadromous 

fish’’ (Zones 2 through 6), and 

‘‘maintenance of resident fish and other 

aquatic life’’ (Zones 3, 4 and 5 above 

River Mile 70). (See DRBC Water 

Quality Regulations (WQR), Art. 3, sec’s 

3.30.2 B.2, 3.30.3 B.2, 3.30.4 B.2, 3.30.5 

B.2 and 3.30.6 B.2 for Zones 2 through 

6, respectively). These uses are 

commonly referred to collectively as 

‘‘fishable’’ and are deemed to include 

human consumption of resident fish. 

Accordingly, these waters are listed by 

the bordering States as impaired under 

Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act 

(CWA), which requires that a total 

maximum daily load (TMDL) be 

established for them. A TMDL expresses 

the maximum amount of a pollutant that 

a water body can receive and still attain 

water quality standards. Once the load 

is calculated, it is allocated to all 

sources in the watershed—point and 

nonpoint—which may not discharge 

loads in excess of the share allocated to 

them in order to achieve and maintain 

the water quality standards. EPA 

established TMDLs for PCBs in 

December of 2003 for the Delaware 

Estuary and in December of 2006 for the 

Delaware Bay (‘‘Stage 1 TMDLs’’). It is 

anticipated that EPA will establish 

revised TMDLs (‘‘Stage 2 TMDLs’’) for 

the Delaware Estuary and Bay to attain 

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Proposed Rules 41101 

the revised PCB human health water 

quality criterion if approved. 

When the Commission directed the 

executive director in 2005 to initiate 

rulemaking on updated PCB criteria, in 

accordance with a recommendation of 

the TAC, it also asked her to work with 

State regulatory agencies and EPA 

(collectively, ‘‘co-regulators’’) to 

develop recommendations for 

implementing criteria for 

bioaccumulative toxic pollutants such 

as PCBs that would be ‘‘consistent with 

the existing Clean Water Act National 

Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) framework while * * * 

reflecting principles of adaptive 

management’’ and to solicit public 

comment on these recommendations 

(DRBC Resolution No. 2005–19 par’s. 

3–4). It is expected that Stage 2 TMDLs 

issued by EPA will include as an 

appendix a TMDL implementation plan 

developed by DRBC and its coregulators. The implementation plan, 

which will take the form of a guidance 

document, will explain how the load 

allocations assigned by the TMDL to 

nonpoint sources and the wasteload 

allocations assigned to point sources 

can be achieved consistent with the 

Clean Water Act and principles of 

adaptive management. 

According to the 2003 and 2006 

TMDLs, actual loadings of PCBs to the 

Delaware Estuary and Bay respectively 

are in some cases orders of magnitude 

above those needed to allow attainment 

of the designated use. The EPA’s 2003 

Delaware Estuary TMDL report projects 

that ‘‘due to the scope and complexity 

of the problem that has been defined 

through these TMDLs, achieving the 

estuary water quality standards for PCBs 

will take decades.’’ (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, p. xiii). As required 

by Section 4.30.9 of the DRBC Water 

Quality Regulations, adopted by DRBC 

Resolution No. 2005–9 on May 18, 2005, 

the largest point source dischargers of 

PCBs to the Delaware Estuary and Bay 

have already undertaken pollutant 

minimization plans designed to locate 

the sources of PCBs entering their 

wastewater and stormwater systems and 

contain or remove them. The TMDL 

implementation plan developed by the 

co-regulators recognizes that many point 

source dischargers already have reduced 

their PCB loadings in an effort to meet 

their TMDL wasteload allocations 

assigned by the Stage 1 TMDLs. Some 

point source dischargers are expected to 

achieve their required reductions soon; 

however, others will require an 

extended period of time, including in 

some instances decades, to achieve the 

PCB loading reductions needed to meet 

their assigned wasteload allocations. 

The implementation plan developed by 

the co-regulators will accommodate 

these dischargers through the use of 

compliance schedules consistent with 

the Clean Water Act and applicable 

regulations. It is understood that those 

dischargers who cannot achieve their 

wasteload allocations within a single 

five-year permit cycle notwithstanding 

good faith efforts to do so as soon as 

possible will be given additional time, 

even if this requires compliance 

schedules extending well beyond a 

single five-year permit cycle. 

Subjects on which Comment is 

Expressly Solicited. Public comment is 

solicited on all aspects of the proposed 

rule. Without limiting the foregoing, the 

Commission has identified certain 

subject matters on which it expressly 

seeks comment. First, comments are 

solicited on the assumptions applied in 

developing the criterion, including the 

appropriate cancer risk level. (See DRBC 

Resolution No. 2005–19, par. 2). In 

accordance with current DRBC 

regulations, that level is 10¥6, or one 

additional cancer in every one million 

humans exposed for 70 years. (See 

WQR, § 3.10.3 D.4). The assumptions 

applied in developing the revised PCB 

criterion of 16 picograms per liter are set 

forth in a basis and background 

document that is available on the DRBC 

Web site, http://DRBC.net. The second 

area on which the Commission 

expressly seeks comment is best 

approaches for implementing water 

quality criteria for bioaccumulative 

pollutants consistent with the NPDES 

framework and principles of adaptive 

management. (See DRBC Resolution No. 

2005–19, par. 4). The third is the 

implementation plan developed by the 

co-regulators, which is posted on the 

Commission’s Web site, http:// 

DRBC.net. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

text of the proposed rule, relevant DRBC 

resolutions, the basis and background 

document and the co-regulators’ 

implementation plan for the proposed 

criterion will be available on the DRBC 

Web site, http://DRBC.net, on or before 

August 17, 2009. For further 

information, please contact Commission 

Secretary Pamela M. Bush, 609–883– 

9500 ext. 203. 

Dated: August 4, 2009. 

Pamela M. Bush, 

Commission Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–19028 Filed 8–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6360–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

28 CFR Part 58 

[Docket No: EOUST 103] 

RIN 1105–AB16 

Procedures Governing Administrative 

Review of a United States Trustee’s 

Decision To Deny a Chapter 12 or 

Chapter 13 Standing Trustee’s Claim of 

Actual, Necessary Expenses 

AGENCY: Executive Office for United 

States Trustees (‘‘EOUST’’), Justice. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This notice of proposed 

rulemaking (‘‘rule’’) sets forth the 

procedures for a chapter 12 or chapter 

13 standing trustee (‘‘trustee’’) to obtain 

administrative review of a United States 

Trustee’s decision to deny a trustee’s 

claim that certain expenses are actual 

and necessary for the administration of 

bankruptcy cases. Section 1231(b) of the 

Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and 

Consumer Protection Act of 2005 

(‘‘BAPCPA’’), codified at 28 U.S.C. 

586(e), requires that: Trustees exhaust 

all administrative remedies pertaining 

to a denial of a claim of actual, 

necessary expenses before seeking 

judicial review; and the Attorney 

General prescribe procedures for 

administrative review of such denials. 

This rule ensures that the process for 

administratively reviewing a United 

States Trustee’s denial of a trustee’s 

request for expenses is fair and effective. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

October 13, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the rule may 

be submitted via http:// 

www.regulations.gov, by telefax to (202) 

307–2397, or by postal mail to EOUST, 

20 Massachusetts Ave., NW., 8th Floor, 

Washington, DC 20530. To ensure 

proper handling of comments, please 

reference ‘‘Docket No. EOUST 103— 

Trustee Expenses’’ on all written and 

electronic correspondence. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ramona D. Elliott, General Counsel, or 

Larry Wahlquist, Office of General 

Counsel, at (202) 307–1399 (not a tollfree number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Posting of Public Comments 

Please note that all comments 

received are considered part of the 

public record and made available for 

public inspection online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Such information 

includes personal identifying 

information (such as your name, 

address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by 

the commenter. If you want to submit 

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