14370 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Notices 

Docket Nos. 

Enbridge Massif du Sud Wind Project GP Inc ............................................................................................................... FC15–2–000 

Enbridge Saint Robert Bellarmin Wind Project GP I ...................................................................................................... FC15–3–000 

FuelCell Energy, Ltd ....................................................................................................................................................... FC15–4–000 

Take notice that during the months of 

January and February 2015, the status of 

the above-captioned entities as Exempt 

Wholesale Generators or Foreign Utility 

Companies became effective by 

operation of the Commission’s 

regulations. 18 CFR 366.7(a). 

Dated: March 12, 2015. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06205 Filed 3–18–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9923–75–Region 5] 

Sole Source Aquifer Designation of the 

Mahomet Aquifer System in EastCentral Illinois 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of final determination. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act 

(SDWA) Section 1424(e) and in 

response to a petition by a coalition of 

cities, a town, villages, and a public 

university in east-central Illinois, the 

Regional Administrator for Region 5 of 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) has determined that a portion of 

the Mahomet Aquifer System in eastcentral Illinois is a sole or principal 

source of drinking water and if 

contaminated, would create a significant 

hazard to public health. As a result of 

this action, all projects receiving Federal 

financial assistance are subject to review 

by EPA regarding whether such projects 

may contaminate the designated aquifer 

system through a recharge zone so as to 

create a significant hazard to public 

health. 

DATES: This determination is effective 

immediately. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Spaulding, EPA Region 5, 

Water Division, Ground Water and 

Drinking Water Branch, by mail at 77 W. 

Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604; 

by telephone at (312) 886–9262; or by 

email at spaulding.william@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Section 1424(e) of the SDWA provides 

as follows: 

If the Administrator determines, on his 

own initiative or upon petition, that an area 

has an aquifer which is the sole or principal 

drinking water source for the area and which, 

if contaminated, would create a significant 

hazard to public health, he shall publish 

notice of that determination in the Federal 

Register. After the publication of any such 

notice, no commitment for Federal financial 

assistance (through a grant, contract, loan 

guarantee, or otherwise) may be entered into 

for any project which the Administrator 

determines may contaminate such aquifer 

through a recharge zone so as to create a 

significant hazard to public health, but a 

commitment for Federal financial assistance 

may, if authorized under another provision of 

law, be entered into to plan or design the 

project to assure that it will not so 

contaminate the aquifer. 

42 U.S.C. 300h–3(e). The authority to 

designate an aquifer under this section 

has been delegated to the Regional 

Administrator. 

EPA in general considers a ‘‘sole or 

principal source’’ or sole source aquifer 

(SSA) to be an aquifer or aquifer system 

that is needed to supply fifty percent or 

more of the drinking water ‘‘for the 

aquifer service area,’’ and for which 

there is no reasonably available 

alternative source or sources that could 

physically, legally, and economically 

supply those dependent upon the 

aquifer. See U.S. EPA, 1987, Sole Source 

Aquifer Designation Decision Process, 

Petition Review Guidance (‘‘EPA 

Petition Review Guidance’’). A portion 

of an aquifer can be designated if it is 

hydrogeologically separate from the rest 

of the aquifer. Id. at 6. Similarly, a 

system of hydrogeologically connected 

aquifers can be designated as an SSA. 

Id. 

On December 12, 2012, EPA received 

a petition to designate a portion of the 

Mahomet Aquifer System in east-central 

Illinois as an SSA from the City of 

Champaign and several partners, 

including the Cities of Urbana, Delavan, 

and Gilman; the Town of Normal; the 

Villages of Savoy, Mansfield, and 

Mahomet; and the University of Illinois 

at Urbana-Champaign. Following receipt 

of the petition, additional entities 

expressed support for the petition, 

including Champaign and DeWitt 

Counties; the Cities of Clinton and 

Watseka; the Villages of Armington and 

Waynesville; and the Illinois-American 

Water Company. 

In response to the petition, EPA 

published a notice of its intent to 

designate a portion of the Mahomet 

Aquifer System in east-central Illinois as 

an SSA and announced two Public 

Hearings in Champaign, Illinois on May 

13, 2014, and in Morton, Illinois on May 

14, 2014. This notice was published in 

two newspapers of general circulation 

in the area: The Champaign News 

Gazette and Peoria Journal Star, on 

March 12, 2014. This notice also 

announced the request for written 

comments during the public comment 

period from March 13, 2014 to June 12, 

2014. 

The public comments received by 

EPA generally support designation. EPA 

also received significant comments and 

additional scientific studies on the 

geology of the Mahomet Aquifer System 

during the comment period. These 

comments and additional studies 

required extensive evaluation and 

consideration. EPA has responded to the 

public comments in a document titled: 

‘‘Responsiveness Summary—Sole 

Source Aquifer Petition for the 

Mahomet Aquifer System in EastCentral Illinois—March 2015.’’ The 

Responsiveness Summary and other 

relevant documents are available for 

public inspection during normal 

business hours at the following 

locations: Champaign Public Library, 

200 W. Green St., Champaign, Illinois; 

Bloomington Public Library, 205 E. 

Olive St., Bloomington, Illinois; Pekin 

Public Library, 301 S. Fourth St., Pekin, 

Illinois; Havana Public Library, 201 W. 

Adams St., Havana, Illinois; Watseka 

Public Library, 201 S. 4th St., Watseka, 

Illinois; U.S. EPA’s Region 5 Office 

Library, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, 

Illinois. 

II. Description of Mahomet Aquifer 

System in East-Central Illinois 

The Mahomet Aquifer is located in 

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and possibly 

West Virginia. This SSA designation is 

for a hydraulically and 

hydrogeologically distinct portion of the 

aquifer system in east-central Illinois 

bounded in the east by the Iroquois 

River and the North Fork of the 

Vermilion River and in the west by the 

Illinois River. Within the SSA area, 

deposits of saturated sand or sand and 

gravel found within the Quaternary 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Notices 14371 

1The findings that support designation are set out 

more fully in an EPA publication titled: ‘‘Support 

Document for Proposed Designation of the 

Mahomet Aquifer System as a Sole Source.’’ This 

document is available to the public at the locations 

identified above. 

deposits are aquifers that provide most 

(approximately 94 percent) of the water 

used in this region. These Quaternary 

deposits directly overlie the bedrock 

and bury features on the bedrock 

surface. As a result of geological 

processes that have shaped the region, 

the hydrogeology is very complex. 

To define the boundary of the 

designated Mahomet Aquifer System, 

EPA verified that the 500-foot contour 

line and saturated thicknesses of the 

Mahomet Aquifer best represent the 

buried valleys that contain enough sand 

and gravel to be significant sources of 

groundwater. The Mahomet Aquifer has 

been mapped by studies that used 

boreholes to penetrate into the top 

surface of the Mahomet sand, providing 

greater accuracy on the extent of the 

aquifer than the bedrock surface alone. 

Recharge of the Mahomet Aquifer 

occurs throughout the designated SSA 

area. While much of the eastern portion 

of the SSA area is confined by lowpermeability glacial till, studies 

demonstrate that recharge of the 

principal aquifer is occurring in this 

area, even though it may be occurring at 

a low rate. Recharge of the Mahomet 

Aquifer occurs at a much greater rate in 

the western portion of the SSA area. In 

addition, there are studies documenting 

connections between the aquifer zones 

in the shallower formations, namely the 

Glasford Formation, and the Mahomet 

Aquifer within the SSA area. For these 

reasons and those explained in more 

detail in the Responsiveness Summary, 

EPA is designating the entire aquifer 

system within the SSA area. 

III. Basis for Determination 

In accordance with Section 1424(e) of 

the SDWA, 42 U.S.C. 300h–3(e), the 

Regional Administrator considered the 

following factors to determine whether 

the petition should be granted: (1) 

Whether the Mahomet Aquifer System 

in east-central Illinois is the area’s sole 

or principal source of drinking water; 

and (2) whether contamination of the 

aquifer system would create a 

significant hazard to public health. 

Based on information available to EPA, 

the Regional Administrator makes the 

following findings 1 in favor of 

designating the Mahomet Aquifer 

System in east-central Illinois as an 

SSA: 

(1) The Mahomet Aquifer System 

provides approximately 94 percent of 

the drinking water to the service area 

today. This exceeds the 50 percent 

usage criteria for SSA designation in 

EPA’s guidance. EPA Petition Review 

Guidance at 8. Moreover, demand on 

this aquifer system is expected to 

increase in the future. The Mahomet 

Aquifer System currently provides an 

estimated 53 million gallons per day 

(mgd) of drinking water to 

approximately 120 public water 

supplies and thousands of rural wells, 

together serving over 500,000 people. 

There currently are no intakes from 

surface waters for public water supplies 

within the aquifer service area. 

(2) Over 50 percent of the population 

in the Mahomet Aquifer System service 

area would be unable to find either a 

physically available or economically 

feasible alternative source of drinking 

water should the aquifer system become 

contaminated. Potential alternative 

sources of drinking water near the 

proposed aquifer service area include: 

(1) Sand and gravel aquifers outside the 

SSA area; (2) bedrock aquifers; (3) 

reservoirs; and (4) free-flowing streams 

and rivers. Due to low potential yields 

and poor water quality, bedrock aquifers 

are not a viable alternative source of 

drinking water. Similarly, nearby water 

supply reservoirs lack enough 

additional capacity to serve as viable 

alternative drinking water sources. 

Finally, for over 70 percent of the 

communities that are near enough to use 

sand and gravel aquifers outside the 

SSA area or free-flowing streams and 

rivers to deliver drinking water of the 

same or better quality, it would be 

economically infeasible to do so. 

(3) Contamination of the Mahomet 

Aquifer System would create a 

significant hazard to public health for 

east-central Illinois. The Mahomet 

Aquifer System is a significant water 

resource that is critically important to 

the safety and economic development of 

the area. It is the primary source of 

drinking water for over 100 

communities and tens of thousands of 

rural homeowners located within 14 

Illinois counties. In addition, the 

Mahomet Aquifer System furnishes 

water to many self-supplied 

agricultural, industrial, institutional, 

and commercial users that rely upon it 

for cooling, process water, and row-crop 

irrigation, providing an estimated 170 

mgd to these users. 

IV. Information Relevant to the 

Designation 

The information referenced to make 

this designation is available to the 

public and may be inspected during 

normal business hours at EPA Region 5 

Library, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

Chicago, Illinois 60604. In addition, 

documents related to this designation 

are available at area public libraries 

listed above. 

V. Project Review 

Following publication of this 

determination, ‘‘no commitment for 

Federal financial assistance (through a 

grant, contract, loan guarantee, or 

otherwise) may be entered into for any 

project which the Administrator 

determines may contaminate such 

aquifer through a recharge zone so as to 

create a significant hazard to public 

health, but a commitment for Federal 

financial assistance may, if authorized 

under another provision of law, be 

entered into to plan or design the 

project to assure that it will not so 

contaminate the aquifer.’’ 42 U.S.C. 

300h–3(e). EPA may review any such 

proposed projects and, where possible, 

make suggestions or recommendations 

to plan or design the project to ensure 

it will not contaminate the aquifer 

system so as to create a significant 

hazard to public health. Proposed 

projects that are funded entirely by 

state, local, or private concerns are not 

subject to SSA review by EPA. 

The project review area for this SSA 

consists of the designated SSA area plus 

three watersheds adjacent to the 

designated SSA area that provide 

recharge to the Mahomet Aquifer 

System. These watersheds are the Sugar 

Creek, the Sangamon River near Fisher, 

and the Tributary to the Middle Fork 

Vermilion River. A map of both the SSA 

area and the project review area can be 

found at the locations listed above. 

VI. Conclusion 

Today’s action designates the 

Mahomet Aquifer System in east-central 

Illinois as an SSA. The designated SSA 

area and project review area are located 

in the following counties in Illinois: 

Cass, Champaign, DeWitt, Ford, 

Iroquois, Livingston, Logan, Macon, 

Mason, McLean, Menard, Piatt, 

Tazewell, Vermilion, and Woodford. 

Maps depicting the designated SSA and 

project review areas are available to the 

public at the locations listed above. 

Dated: March 11, 2015. 

Susan Hedman, 

Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06365 Filed 3–18–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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