53494 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 200 / Monday, October 19, 2009 / Notices 

Dated: October 8, 2009. 

Lisa Schlosser, 

Director, Office of Information Collection. 

[FR Doc. E9–25124 Filed 10–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8970–1, EPA–HQ–OW–2008–0238] 

Modification to 2008 National Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) General Permit for 

Stormwater Discharges From 

Construction Activities 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: EPA Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 

8, 9, and 10 today are proposing for 

public comment a modification to the 

2008 National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) general 

permits for stormwater discharges 

associated with construction activity in 

order to extend by one-year the 

expiration date of the permit. 

Hereinafter, these NPDES general 

permits will be referred to as ‘‘permit’’ 

or ‘‘2008 construction general permit’’ 

or ‘‘2008 CGP.’’ The 2008 CGP was 

originally issued for a period not to 

exceed two (2) years. Today, EPA 

proposes to modify the CGP in order to 

extend the 2 year term of the 2008 CGP 

by one year so that it expires on June 30, 

2011, instead of June 30, 2010. If EPA 

finalizes this action, the 2008 CGP will 

be in effect for a period of three (3) 

years. By Federal law, no NPDES permit 

may be issued for a period that exceeds 

five (5) years. 

DATES: Comments on EPA’s proposal, 

including the draft permit, must be 

postmarked by November 18, 2009. If 

finalized as proposed, EPA would be 

extending the expiration date of the 

2008 CGP until midnight June 30, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted electronically, by mail, or 

through hand delivery/courier. To send 

comments directly to the docket for this 

notice, go to the Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) at http:// 

www.Regulations.gov and enter Docket 

ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2008–0238 in the 

Search Box under ‘‘Comment or 

Submission.’’ Comments may be sent by 

electronic mail (e-mail) to owdocket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OW–2008–0238. To send 

comments by mail in hard copy or via 

a Disk or CD/ROM, use the following 

address: Water Docket, Environmental 

Protection Agency, mailcode: 2822T, 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460, Attention 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2008– 

0238. To send comments by hand 

delivery or courier, deliver your 

comments to: Public Reading Room, 

Room B102, EPA West Building, 1301 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20004, Attention Docket ID No. 

EPA–HQ–OW–2008–0238. Further 

instructions for submitting comments 

are provided in Section I.C. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg 

Schaner, Water Permits Division, Office 

of Wastewater Management (Mail Code: 

4203M), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW., EPA East, Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone number: (202) 564–0721; fax 

number: (202) 564–6431; e-mail address: 

schaner.greg@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does This Action Apply to Me? 

If a discharger chooses to apply to for 

coverage under the 2008 CGP, the 

permit provides specific requirements 

for preventing contamination of 

stormwater discharges from the 

following construction activities: 

Category Examples of affected entities 

North American 

Industry Classification System 

(NAICS) Code 

Industry ...................... Construction site operators disturbing 1 or more acres of land, or less than 1 acre but part of a larger common plan of 

development or sale if the larger common plan will ultimately disturb 1 acre or more, and performing the following 

activities: 

Building, Developing and General Contracting .............................................................................. 233 

Heavy Construction ........................................................................................................................ 234 

EPA does not intend the preceding 

table to be exhaustive, but provides it as 

a guide for readers regarding entities 

likely to be regulated by this action. 

This table lists the types of activities 

that EPA is now aware of that could 

potentially be affected by this action. 

Other types of entities not listed in the 

table could also be affected. To 

determine whether your facility is 

affected by this action, you should 

carefully examine the definition of 

‘‘construction activity’’ and ‘‘small 

construction activity’’ in existing EPA 

regulations at 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14)(x) 

and 122.26(b)(15), respectively. If you 

have questions regarding the 

applicability of this action to a 

particular entity, consult the person 

listed for technical information in the 

preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

Eligibility for coverage under the 2008 

CGP is limited to operators of ‘‘new 

projects’’ or ‘‘unpermitted ongoing 

projects.’’ A ‘‘new project’’ is one that 

commences after the effective date of 

the 2008 CGP. An ‘‘unpermitted ongoing 

project’’ is one that commenced prior to 

the effective date of the 2008 CGP, yet 

never received authorization to 

discharge under the 2003 CGP or any 

other NPDES permit covering its 

construction-related stormwater 

discharges. This permit is effective only 

in those areas where EPA is the 

permitting authority. A list of eligible 

areas is included in Appendix B of the 

2008 CGP. 

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 ID No. EPA–HQ–OW– 

2008–0238. The official public docket is 

the collection of materials that is 

available for public viewing at the Water 

Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/ 

DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. Although all documents in 

the docket are listed in an index, some 

information is not publicly available, 

i.e., Confidential Business Information 

(CBI) or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Publicly available docket materials are 

available electronically through 

www.regulations.gov and in hard copy 

at the EPA Docket Center Public 

Reading Room, open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. The telephone 

number for the Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744 and the telephone 


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number for the Water Docket is (202) 

566–2426. 

2. Electronic Access. You may access 

this Federal Register document 

electronically through the EPA Internet 

under the Federal Register listings at 

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. Electronic 

versions of the final permit and fact 

sheet are available at EPA’s stormwater 

Web site http://www.epa.gov/npdes/ 

stormwater. 

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.regulations.gov/ 

fdmspublic/component/main 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. Once in the 

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

appropriate docket identification 

number. 

Certain types of information will not 

be placed in the EPA Dockets. 

Information claimed as CBI and other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute, which is not 

included in the official public docket, 

will not be available for public viewing 

in EPA’s electronic public docket. EPA 

policy is that copyrighted material will 

not be placed in EPA’s electronic public 

docket but will be available only in 

printed, paper form in the official public 

docket. 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 Section I.B.1. 

Submitting CBI. Do not submit this 

information to EPA through 

regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark 

all of the information that you claim to 

be CBI. For CBI information on 

computer disks mailed to EPA, mark the 

surface of the disk as CBI. Also identify 

electronically the specific information 

contained in the disk or that you claim 

is CBI. In addition to one complete 

version of the specific information 

claimed as CBI, you must submit a copy 

that does not contain the information 

claimed as CBI for inclusion in the 

public document. Information so 

marked will not be disclosed except in 

accordance with procedures set forth in 

40 CFR Part 2. 

For public commenters, it is 

important to note that EPA’s policy is 

that public comments, whether 

submitted electronically or in paper, 

will be made available for public 

viewing in EPA’s electronic public 

docket as EPA receives them and 

without change, unless the comment 

contains copyrighted material, CBI, or 

other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. When EPA 

identifies a comment containing 

copyrighted material, EPA will provide 

a reference to that material in the 

version of the comment that is placed in 

EPA’s electronic public docket. The 

entire printed comment, including the 

copyrighted material, will be available 

in the public docket. 

Public comments submitted on 

computer disks that are mailed or 

delivered to the docket will be 

transferred to EPA’s electronic public 

docket. Public comments that are 

mailed or delivered to the docket will be 

scanned and placed in EPA’s electronic 

public docket. Where practical, physical 

objects will be photographed, and the 

photograph will be placed in EPA’s 

electronic public docket along with a 

brief description written by the docket 

staff. 

C. How and to Whom Do I Submit 

Comments? 

You may submit comments 

electronically, by mail, or through hand 

delivery/courier. To ensure proper 

receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate 

docket identification number in the 

subject line on the first page of your 

comment. To ensure that EPA can read, 

understand, and therefore properly 

respond to comments, the Agency 

would prefer that commenters cite, 

where possible, the paragraph(s) or 

section in the fact sheet or permit to 

which each comment refers. Please 

ensure that your comments are 

submitted within the specified comment 

period. Comments received after the 

close of the comment period will be 

marked ‘‘late.’’ EPA is not required to 

consider these late comments. 

1. Electronically. If you submit an 

electronic comment as prescribed 

below, EPA recommends that you 

include your name, mailing address, 

and an e-mail address or other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment. Also include this contact 

information on the outside of any disk 

or CD–ROM you submit, and in any 

cover letter accompanying the disk or 

CD–ROM. This ensures that you can be 

identified as the submitter of the 

comment and allows EPA to contact you 

in case EPA cannot read your comment 

due to technical difficulties or needs 

further information on the substance of 

your comment. EPA’s policy is that EPA 

will not edit your comment, and any 

identifying or contact information 

provided in the body of a comment will 

be included as part of the comment that 

is placed in the official public docket, 

and made available in EPA’s electronic 

public docket. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. 

i. EPA Dockets. Your use of EPA’s 

electronic public docket to submit 

comments to EPA electronically is 

EPA’s preferred method for receiving 

comments. The system is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity, 

e-mail address, or other contact 

information unless you provide it in the 

body of your comment. 

ii. E-mail. In contrast to EPA’s 

electronic public docket, EPA’s e-mail 

system is not an ‘‘anonymous access’’ 

system. If you send an e-mail comment 

directly to the Docket without going 

through EPA’s electronic public docket, 

EPA’s e-mail system automatically 

captures your e-mail address. E-mail 

addresses that are automatically 

captured by EPA’s e-mail system are 

included as part of the comment that is 

placed in the official public docket, and 

made available in EPA’s electronic 

public docket. 

iii. Disk or CD–ROM. These electronic 

submissions will be accepted in 

Microsoft Word or ASCII file format. 

Avoid the use of special characters and 

any form of encryption. 

2. By mail. Send the original and three 

copies of your comments. 

3. By Hand Delivery or Courier. Such 

deliveries are only accepted during the 

Docket’s normal hours of operation as 

identified in Section I.B. 

D. Public Hearings 

EPA has not scheduled any public 

hearings to receive public comment 

concerning the proposed permit. All 

persons will continue to have the right 

to provide written comments during the 

public comment period. However, 

interested persons may request a public 

hearing pursuant to 40 CFR 124.12 

concerning the proposed permit. 

Requests for a public hearing must be 

sent or delivered in writing to the same 

address as provided above for public 

comments prior to the close of the 

comment period. Requests for a public 

hearing must state the nature of the 

issues proposed to be raised in the 

hearing. Pursuant to 40 CFR 124.12, 

EPA shall hold a public hearing if it 

finds, on the basis of requests, a 

significant degree of public interest in a 

public hearing on the proposed permit. 

If EPA decides to hold a public hearing, 

a public notice of the date, time and 

place of the hearing will be made at 

least 30 days prior to the hearing. Any 

person may provide written or oral 


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statements and data pertaining to the 

proposed permit at the public hearing. 

E. Finalizing This Action 

This action will not be finalized until 

after all significant public comments 

have been considered and addressed. 

EPA’s response to public comments 

received will be included in the docket 

as part of the final action. Once the final 

permit becomes effective, operators of 

new and unpermitted ongoing 

construction projects may seek 

authorization under the new 2008 CGP 

prior to the midnight June 30, 2011 

expiration date. 

C. Who Are the EPA Regional Contacts 

for This Permit? 

For EPA Region 1, contact Jessica 

Hing at tel.: (617) 918–1560 or e-mail at 

hing.jessica@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 2, contact Stephen 

Venezia at tel.: (212) 637–3856 or e-mail 

at venezia.stephen@epa.gov, or for 

Puerto Rico, contact Sergio Bosques at 

tel.: (787) 977–5838 or e-mail at 

bosques.sergio@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 3, contact Garrison 

Miller at tel.: (215) 814–5745 or e-mail 

at miller.garrison@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 5, contact Brian Bell 

at tel.: (312) 886–0981 or e-mail at 

bell.brianc@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 6, contact Brent 

Larsen at tel.: (214) 665–7523 or e-mail 

at: larsen.brent@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 7, contact Mark 

Matthews at tel.: (913) 551–7635 or 

e-mail at: matthews.mark@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 8, contact Greg Davis 

at tel.: (303) 312–6314 or e-mail at: 

davis.gregory@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 9, contact Eugene 

Bromley at tel.: (415) 972–3510 or 

e-mail at bromley.eugene@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 10, contact Dick 

Hetherington at tel.: (206) 553–1941 or 

e-mail at hetherington.dick@epa.gov. 

II. Background of Permit 

A. Statutory and Regulatory History 

The Clean Water Act (‘‘CWA’’) 

establishes a comprehensive program 

‘‘to restore and maintain the chemical, 

physical, and biological integrity of the 

Nation’s waters.’’ 33 U.S.C. 1251(a). The 

CWA also includes the objective of 

attaining ‘‘water quality which provides 

for the protection and propagation of 

fish, shellfish and wildlife.’’ 33 U.S.C. 

1251(a)(2)). To achieve these goals, the 

CWA requires EPA to control discharges 

through the issuance of National 

Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 

(‘‘NPDES’’) permits, which may be 

issued for fixed terms that may not 

exceed five (5) years. 33 U.S.C. 

1342(b)(1)(B). 

Section 405 of the Water Quality Act 

of 1987 (WQA) added section 402(p) of 

the Clean Water Act (CWA), which 

directed EPA to develop a phased 

approach to regulate stormwater 

discharges under the NPDES program. 

EPA published a final regulation in the 

Federal Register on the first phase of 

this program on November 16, 1990, 

establishing permit application 

requirements for ‘‘storm water 

discharges associated with industrial 

activity.’’ See 55 FR 47990. EPA defined 

the term ‘‘storm water discharge 

associated with industrial activity’’ in a 

comprehensive manner to cover a wide 

variety of facilities. Construction 

activities, including activities that are 

part of a larger common plan of 

development or sale, that ultimately 

disturb at least five acres of land and 

have point source discharges to waters 

of the U.S. were included in the 

definition of ‘‘industrial activity’’ 

pursuant to 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14)(x). 

Phase II of the stormwater program was 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 8, 1999, and required NPDES 

permits for discharges from construction 

sites disturbing at least one acre, but 

less than five acres, including sites that 

are part of a larger common plan of 

development or sale that will ultimately 

disturb at least one acre but less than 

five acres, pursuant to 40 CFR 

122.26(b)(15)(i). See 64 FR 68722. EPA 

is proposing to extend the expiration 

date of the 2008 CGP under the statutory 

and regulatory authority cited above. 

NPDES permits issued for 

construction stormwater discharges are 

required under Section 402(a)(1) of the 

CWA to include conditions for meeting 

technology-based effluent limits 

established under Section 301 and, 

where applicable, Section 306. Once an 

effluent limitations guideline or new 

source performance standard is 

promulgated in accordance with these 

sections, NPDES permits are required to 

incorporate limits based on such 

limitations and standards. See 40 CFR 

122.44(a)(1). Prior to the promulgation 

of national effluent limitations and 

standards, permitting authorities 

incorporate technology-based effluent 

limitations on a best professional 

judgment basis. CWA section 

402(a)(1)(B); 40 CFR 125.3(a)(2)(ii)(B). 

B. Summary of 2008 CGP 

EPA announced the issuance of the 

2008 CGP on July 14, 2008. See 73 FR 

40338. Construction operators choosing 

to be covered by the 2008 CGP must 

certify in their notice of intent (NOI) 

that they meet the requisite eligibility 

requirements, described in Part 1.3 of 

the permit. If eligible, operators are 

authorized to discharge under this 

permit in accordance with Part 2. 

Permittees must install and implement 

control measures to meet the effluent 

limits applicable to all dischargers in 

Part 3, and must inspect such 

stormwater controls and repair or 

modify them in accordance with Part 4. 

The permit in Part 5 requires all 

construction operators to prepare a 

stormwater pollution prevention plan 

(SWPPP) that identifies all sources of 

pollution, and describes control 

measures used to minimize pollutants 

discharged from the construction site. 

Part 6 details the requirements for 

terminating coverage under the permit. 

The 2008 CGP permit provides 

coverage for discharges from 

construction sites that occur in areas not 

covered by an approved State NPDES 

program. EPA Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 

8, 9, and 10 issued the 2008 CGP to 

replace the expired 2003 CGP for 

operators of new and unpermitted 

ongoing construction projects. The 

geographic coverage and scope of the 

2008 CGP is listed in Appendix B of the 

permit. 

C. What Is EPA’s Rationale for the 

Modification of the 2008 CGP for a OneYear Extension of the Expiration Date? 

As stated, EPA proposes to modify the 

2008 CGP by extending, by one year, the 

expiration date of the 2008 CGP. This 

proposed action is necessary due to 

EPA’s schedule for finalizing effluent 

limitations guidelines (ELG) and new 

source performance standards (NSPS) 

(hereinafter, ELG) for the construction 

and development (C&D) point source 

category, and the anticipated timeframes 

associated with issuing a new CGP that 

incorporates the substantive 

requirements of the C&D ELG. The 

permit modification for the proposed 

one-year extension of the 2008 CGP is 

based on actions and initiatives the 

Agency is undertaking or planning to 

undertake and the resulting resource 

demands they are placing on EPA’s 

NPDES stormwater program. The 

cumulative impact of these new 

initiatives will limit the Agency’s ability 

to meet a current seven-month 

timeframe to incorporate the 

requirements of the C&D ELG into a new 

CGP before midnight June 30, 2010. 

EPA is required by court order to 

publish and promulgate proposed ELGs 

and NSPSs for the C&D point source 

category by December 1, 2008 and 

publish and promulgate final ELGs for 

the C&D point source category by 

December 1, 2009. See NRDC, et al. v. 

U.S. EPA, No CV–0408307 (C.D. Cal.) 

(Permanent Injunction and Judgment, 

December 5, 2006). Any NPDES permit 


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issued after the effective date of the C&D 

ELG, whether issued by EPA or an 

authorized state, must incorporate the 

substantive technology-based 

requirements of the ELG into the permit. 

The expiration of the 2008 CGP on 

midnight June 30, 2010, currently gives 

EPA approximately seven months to 

propose and finalize a new CGP, which 

incorporates the C&D ELG requirements, 

before midnight June 30, 2010. For a 

number of reasons, EPA needs more 

time to incorporate the C&D ELG into a 

new CGP and to finalize the permit by 

midnight June 30, 2010. 

The current seven-month timeframe 

to propose and finalize a new permit is 

impracticable based on EPA’s past 

experience in issuing stormwater 

general permits, in general, and with the 

construction general permit specifically. 

In the past, EPA required an estimated 

eighteen months to propose and finalize 

the 2003 CGP, and a similar amount of 

time for the previous construction 

general permits. While EPA does not 

believe the 2008 Multi-Sector General 

Permit (MSGP) for stormwater 

discharges associated with industrial 

activities is typical, that permit required 

almost three years to finalize. Beyond 

incorporating updated modifications to 

the permit based on changes to the 

technology-based and water qualitybased effluent limitations into the 

permit, EPA is required to conduct 

many additional tasks that are 

automatically required of final Federal 

actions, such as conducting 

consultations under the Endangered 

Species Act and National Historic 

Properties Act, obtaining CWA section 

401 certifications for the permit from 

States and Indian Country lands, 

providing the public with an 

opportunity to comment, and 

responding to all comments received 

during the public comment period. 

Separately, these tasks have historically 

required more than seven months. The 

combined effect of these tasks that are 

each necessary to issue a general permit 

on EPA’s schedule for permit issuance 

is to make a seven-month permit 

issuance timeframe impracticable. 

EPA is undertaking or planning to 

undertake actions that are putting new 

demands on the Agency’s resources in 

the NPDES stormwater program. These 

new required actions and initiatives will 

compete for the Agency’s resources 

needed to issue a new CGP. The Agency 

did not expect these additional required 

actions or initiatives when the 2008 

CGP was issued in July 2008. For 

instance, in October 2008, the National 

Research Council (NRC) of the National 

Academy of Sciences released its report 

on EPA’s national stormwater program 

(Urban Stormwater Management in the 

United States, October 2008) (available 

at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/ 

nrc_stormwaterreport.pdf), which 

recommended a number of fundamental 

changes to the way in which EPA’s 

stormwater program under the CWA is 

effectuated. The NRC report states that 

stormwater discharges from the built 

environment remains one of the greatest 

challenges of modern water pollution 

control, ‘‘as this source of 

contamination is a principal contributor 

to water quality impairment of 

waterbodies nationwide.’’ The NRC 

found that the current regulatory 

approach by EPA under the CWA is not 

adequately controlling all sources of 

stormwater discharge that are 

contributing to waterbody impairment. 

NRC recommended that EPA address 

stormwater discharges from impervious 

land cover and promote practices that 

harvest, infiltrate, and evapotranspirate 

stormwater to prevent it from being 

discharged, which is critical to reducing 

the volume and pollutant loading to our 

Nation’s waters. Since the release of the 

NRC report, EPA has devoted significant 

resources to the consideration of the 

report’s recommendations and to a 

determination of the best ways to 

strengthen controls on stormwater 

discharges nationwide. EPA anticipates 

expending significant resources in both 

the short and long term in addressing 

the NRC’s recommendations. The 

resource demands on the Agency that 

are necessary to respond to the report’s 

recommendations were not present 

when EPA issued the final 2008 CGP, 

and were not fully factored into the 

anticipated timeline for issuing a CGP 

that incorporates the C&D ELG by 

midnight June 30, 2010. 

In addition, on May 12, 2009, 

President Obama signed Executive 

Order (E.O.) 13508, Chesapeake Bay 

Protection and Restoration (available at, 

http:// 

executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net/ 

default.aspx). The President’s E.O., 

under section 202(a), directed EPA to 

define the next generation of tools and 

actions to restore water quality in the 

Chesapeake Bay and describe the 

changes to be made to regulations, 

programs, and policies to implement 

these actions. EPA issued a draft 202(a) 

Report on September 9, 2009. EPA will 

finalize the section 202(a) Report in 

November 2009 and issue a final 

strategy for protecting and restoring the 

Chesapeake Bay on May 12, 2010. The 

completion of these tasks and any 

resulting regulatory or programmatic 

actions that are necessary to carry out 

the E.O. are a high priority for the 

federal government, and will consume 

resources that will not be available to 

issue a new CGP by midnight June 30, 

2010. 

For the reasons discussed above, EPA 

proposes to modify the 2008 CGP in 

order to extend the current midnight 

June 30, 2010 expiration date by one 

year to midnight June 30, 2011. This 

will give EPA approximately the same 

time period, eighteen months, which the 

Agency required to issue the 2003 CGP. 

EPA requests comments on this 

proposed modification of the 2008 CGP 

to extend the expiration date to 

midnight June 30, 2011. 

EPA believes it is imperative that EPA 

has sufficient time to incorporate the 

C&D ELG into the CGP and issue a new 

CGP prior to the existing permit’s 

expiration date. If EPA does not issue a 

new CGP before expiration of the 

existing permit, no new construction 

projects may be permitted under the 

CGP, leaving individual NPDES permits 

as the only available option for 

permitting new projects. The sole 

reliance on individual permits will 

mean that discharge authorizations will 

be delayed due to the greater amount of 

time and Agency resources that are 

required for developing and issuing 

individual permits. In turn, construction 

projects that need to begin construction 

activity on or after midnight June 30, 

2010 will be delayed for an uncertain 

amount of time until EPA can review 

their individual permit application and 

issue the necessary permits. Rather than 

risk detrimental delays to new 

construction projects, with no clear 

benefit to our nation’s surface waters, 

EPA has decided that it is advisable to 

instead modify the 2008 CGP to extend 

the expiration date by 1 year to 

midnight June 30, 2011. 

D. EPA’s Authority To Modify NPDES 

Permits 

EPA regulations establish when the 

permitting authority may make 

modifications to existing NPDES 

permits. In relevant part, EPA 

regulations state that ‘‘[w]hen the 

Director receives any information * * * 

he or she may determine whether or not 

one or more of the causes listed in 

paragraph (a) * * * of this section for 

modification * * * exist. If cause exists, 

the Director may modify * * * the 

permit accordingly, subject to the 

limitations of 40 CFR 124.5(c).’’ 40 CFR 

122.62. For purposes of this Federal 

Register notice, the relevant cause for 

modification is at 40 CFR 122.62(a)(2), 

which states a permit may be modified 

when ‘‘[t]he Director has received new 

information’’ and that information was 

not available at the time of permit 


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issuance * * * and would have 

justified the application of different 

permit conditions at the time of 

issuance.’’ Pursuant to EPA regulations, 

‘‘[w]hen a permit is modified, only the 

conditions subject to the modification 

are reopened.’’ 40 CFR 122.62. 

In the case of the 2008 CGP, a permit 

modification is justified based on the 

new information EPA has received since 

issuance of the 2008 CGP in July 2008, 

described above in Section II.C, EPA is 

undertaking or planning to undertake 

actions that are putting new demands 

on the Agency’s resources in the NPDES 

stormwater program. The contents and 

the resulting resource demands of the 

NRC Report and the Chesapeake Bay 

E.O. were not available at the time of 

issuance of the 2008 CGP. Meeting these 

new demands while implementing new 

effluent guidelines and new source 

performance standards is not practical 

in a seven-month time period. If this 

information was available at the time of 

permit issuance, it would have justified 

EPA establishing an expiration date for 

the 2008 CGP later than midnight June 

30, 2010. As a result, cause exists under 

EPA regulations to justify modification 

of the 2008 CGP to extend the expiration 

date of the permit from midnight June 

30, 2010 to midnight June 30, 2011. 

Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 

et seq. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Ira Leighton, 

Acting Regional Administrator, EPA 

Region 1. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Jose C. Font, 

Acting Division Director, Caribbean 

Environmental Protection Division, EPA 

Region 2. 

Dated: October 8, 2009. 

Kevin Bricke, 

Acting Division Director, Division of 

Environmental Planning & Protection, EPA 

Region 2. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Jon M. Capacasa, 

Director, Water Protection Division, EPA 

Region 3. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Tinka G. Hyde, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 5. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Bill Luthans, 

Acting Director, Water Quality Protection 

Division, EPA Region 6. 

Dated: October 8, 2009. 

Karen A. Flournoy, 

Acting Director, Wetlands and Pesticides 

Division, EPA Region 7. 

Dated: October 8, 2009. 

Stephen S. Tuber, 

Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of 

Partnerships & Regulatory Assistance, EPA 

Region 8. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Alexis Strauss, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 9. 

Dated: October 9, 2009. 

Christine Psyk, 

Acting Director, Office of Water and 

Watersheds, EPA Region 10. 

[FR Doc. E9–25123 Filed 10–16–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2008–0699; FRL–8969–1] 

Review of the National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards for Ozone 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Availability of draft document 

for public review and comment. 

SUMMARY: On or about October 1, 2009, 

the National Center for Environmental 

Assessment (NCEA) and the Office of 

Air Quality Planning and Standards 

(OAQPS) of EPA is making available for 

public review and comment a draft 

document titled Integrated Review Plan 

for the Ozone National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards Review—External 

Review Draft. 

This document contains the plans for 

the new periodic review of the air 

quality criteria for ozone (O3)-related 

effects on public health and public 

welfare and the current O3 standards or 

any revised standards that may result 

from the reconsideration of the 2008 O3 

standards. This draft Integrated Review 

Plan (IRP) is being released for the 

purpose of consulting with the Clean 

Air Scientific Advisory Committee 

(CASAC) of EPA’s Science Advisory 

Board 1 and obtaining public comment 

on the Agency’s plans. The final IRP 

will be informed by comments received 

from the CASAC and the public. The 

draft IRP will be posted on the Agency’s 

Technology Transfer Network (TTN) 

Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/ 

naaqs/standards/ozone/ 

s_o3_index.html. The draft IRP may be 

accessed in the ‘‘Documents from 

Current Review’’ section under 

‘‘Planning Documents.’’ 

1For purposes of this review, the 7- 

member CASAC has been supplemented by 

additional scientific experts collectively 

referred to as the CASAC O3 NAAQS Review 

Panel. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

on or before November 6, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2008–0699, by one of the 

following methods: 

b www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

b E-mail: a-and-r-Docket(epa.gov). 

b Fax: 202–566–9744. 

b Mail: EPA–HQ–OAR–2008–0699, 

Environmental Protection Agency, Mail 

code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., 

NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please 

include a total of two copies. 

Hand Delivery: Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA West, Room 

3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC. Such deliveries are 

only accepted during the Docket’s 

normal hours of operation, and special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2008– 

0699. The EPA’s policy is that all 

comments received will be included in 

the public docket without change and 

may be made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through www.regulations.gov 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES