Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 152 / Thursday, August 7, 1997 / Notices 42553

EPA will accept written comments

relating to this Agreement for sixty (60)

days from the date of publication of this

Notice. As noted above, the United

States and PADEP may withdraw their

consent to the Agreement if comments

received during this period disclose

facts or considerations which indicate

that the Agreement is inappropriate,

improper or inadequate. In addition,

pursuant to Section 7003(d) of the Solid

Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6973(d),

any person may request a public

meeting in the area affected by the

Agreement. EPA’s response to any

comments received will be available for

public inspection at the offices of the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Region III, 841 Chestnut Building,

Philadelphia, PA 19107.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Yvette Hamilton-Taylor (3RC32), Senior

Assistant Regional Counsel, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 841

Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, PA

19107, (215) 566–2636.

Dated: July 18, 1997.

Thomas Voltaggio,

Acting Regional Administrator, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region III.

[FR Doc. 97–20825 Filed 8–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5871–5]

Extension of Comment Period for

Waste Minimization Software and

Documents

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Extension of comment period

for a draft software package and other

draft documents pertaining to priorities

for waste minimization.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) is extending the comment

period for a draft software package and

other draft documents pertaining to

priorities for waste minimization. The

notice of availability for these materials

appeared in the Federal Register on

June 23, 1997 (62 FR 33868). This

extension is necessary to allow

commenters time to review additional

materials placed in the docket after the

comment period began and to provide

adequate opportunity for commenters to

fully evaluate and prepare comments on

the draft software package and other

draft documents.

DATES: EPA will continue to accept

written comments on the draft software

package and other draft documents

pertaining to priorities for waste

minimization until October 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies: Copies of

the software package and the documents

cited in this notice can be obtained by

calling the RCRA/Superfund/CERCLA

Hotline at (800) 424–9346, TDD (800)

553–7672 (hearing impaired), or (703)

412–9810 in the Washington, DC

metropolitan area, from 9 a.m. until 6

p.m. Eastern time.

The software package and documents

are also available in electronic format on

the Internet, and can be obtained by

accessing:

WWW: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/

hazwaste/minimize.

FTP: ftp.epa/gov

Login: anonymous

Password: your Internet address

Files are located in /pub/gopher/

OSWRCRA.

TO SUBMIT COMMENTS: Please send an

original and two copies of comments,

referencing docket number F–97-MPCAFFFFF, to: RCRA Docket Information

Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G),

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Headquarters (EPA, HQ), 401 M Street,

SW, Washington, DC 20460. Hand

deliveries of comments should be made

to the Arlington, VA, address listed

below. Comments may also be

submitted electronically by sending

electronic mail through the Internet to:

rcra-docket@epamail.epa.gov.

Comments in electronic format should

also be identified by the docket number

F–97–MPCA–FFFFF. All electronic

comments must be submitted as an

ASCII file avoiding the use of special

characters and any form of encryption.

Commenters should not submit

electronically any confidential business

information (CBI). An original and two

copies of CBI must be submitted under

separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document

Control Officer, Office of Solid Waste

(5305W), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, S.W.,

Washington, DC 20460.

Public comments and supporting

materials are available for viewing in

the RCRA Information Center (RIC),

located at Crystal Gateway I, First Floor,

1235 Jefferson Davis Highway,

Arlington, VA. The RIC is open from 9

a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,

excluding federal holidays. To review

docket materials, it is recommended

that the public make an appointment by

calling (703) 603–9230. The public may

copy a maximum of 100 pages from any

regulatory docket at no charge.

Additional copies cost $0.15/page.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general questions pertaining to waste

minimization, or questions pertaining to

specific aspects of this notice, contact

the RCRA/Superfund/EPCRA Hotline at

the telephone numbers cited above, or

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Office of Solid Waste, Waste

Minimization Branch, 401 M Street,

S.W.(5302W), Washington, DC 20460;

telephone: (703) 308–8402, fax: (703)

308–8433.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On June 23, 1997, EPA announced the

availability of a beta-test version of a

software package which will prioritize

chemicals according to their

persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity,

and quantity; a draft list of chemicals

derived from the software and ranked

according to persistence,

bioaccumulation, and toxicity; and a

crosswalk identifying which RCRA

waste codes are likely to contain these

chemicals. These materials have been

prepared in order to assist hazardous

waste generators, government agencies,

technical assistance centers, and others

involved in waste minimization in

making progress towards the goals of

EPA’s 1994 Waste Minimization

National Plan, which calls for a fifty

percent reduction in the presence of the

most persistent, bioaccumulative, and

toxic chemicals in hazardous wastes by

the year 2005. See 62 FR 33868 (June 23,

1997) for a more detailed explanation of

the materials which were made

available.

II. Extension of the Comment Period

EPA has received at least six written

requests to extend the comment period

by 60 days or more to allow adequate

time for commenters to fully evaluate

and prepare comments on the software

and accompanying written materials. In

requesting an extension, the requestors

generally cite the complexity of the

technical issues associated with EPA’s

screening methodology, the difficulty of

determining the sources of information

used to evaluate specific chemicals, and

the quantity of information and

materials to be reviewed. Requestors

also pointed out that certain materials

provided in the docket were incomplete

and therefore could not be reviewed at

the beginning of the comment period.

EPA has examined the materials in

the docket and has determined that two

documents, the Waste Minimization

National Plan and the Chemical Use

Clusters Scoring Methodology, were

incomplete or partially illegible. As of

July 29, 1997, EPA replaced both

documents with complete, fully legible

versions. EPA points out that Appendix

D of the Chemical Use Clusters Scoring
42554 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 152 / Thursday, August 7, 1997 / Notices

Methodology ends at page D–6, which is

a placeholder for a table which was

never developed in final form for

inclusion in Appendix D. EPA is

assembling some of the information that

was intended for inclusion in that table

and will make it available in the docket

by August 7, 1997.

Additionally, EPA is developing

materials to assist reviewers in

identifying the underlying sources of

data used as the basis for scoring

chemicals, beyond the explanations

already provided in Appendices B and

C of the draft Waste Minimization

Prioritization Tool (Beta Test Version

1.0): User’s Guide and System

Documentation (EPA530–R–97–019).

EPA intends to place these additional

materials in the docket by August 7,

1997. EPA determined that it needed to

extend the comment period by a total of

60 days to allow commenters to review

these additional materials and to

provide an adequate opportunity for

public participation in the review of this

waste minimization prioritization

software and accompanying documents.

Dated: July 31, 1997.

Matthew Hale,

Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.

[FR Doc. 97–20822 Filed 8–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[OW–FRL–5872–5]

Water Quality Criteria; Ambient Water

Quality Criteria

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Ambient Water

Quality Criteria Document for

Tributyltin (TBT) and Request for

Comments.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) announces the

availability for public comment of an

ambient water quality criteria document

for tributyltin (TBT). This document

contains ambient water quality criteria

for the protection of aquatic organisms

and their uses. These criteria are

guidance to States and others, and in

themselves have no binding legal effect.

When published in final form, these

criteria may form the basis for

enforceable State water quality

standards. These TBT criteria are

published pursuant to Section 304(a)(1)

of the Clean Water Act.

DATES: Written comments should be

submitted to the person listed directly

below by October 6, 1997.

ADDRESSES: This notice contains a

summary of the criteria document for

tributyltin (TBT). Copies of the

complete document may be obtained

from: U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency , National Center for

Environmental Publications and

Information, 11029 Kenwood Road,

Cincinnati, Ohio 45242, phone (513)

489–8190 fax (513) 489–8695.

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Comments should be sent to: Dr. Frank

Gostomski, Health and Ecological

Criteria Division (4304), Office of

Science and Technology, Office of

Water, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, 401 M Street SW, Washington,

DC 20460.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 304 (a) (1) of the Clean Water

Act [33 U.S.C. 1314 (a) (1)] requires EPA

to publish and periodically update

ambient water quality criteria. These

criteria are to reflect the latest scientific

knowledge on the identifiable effects of

pollutants on public health and welfare,

aquatic life and recreation. When

published in final form, EPA water

quality criteria may form the basis for

enforceable State water quality

standards.

Criteria Document

EPA previously issued an ambient

water quality criteria document for TBT

for public comment on June 1, 1989 [54

FR 23529]. EPA also issued a notice of

availability of additional toxicity data

for TBT on October 25, 1989 [54 FR

43482]. Today’s ambient water quality

criteria document for TBT was

developed by EPA after consideration of

public comment on the 1989 draft

criteria and an updated literature search

that EPA conducted in January, 1997.

EPA intends to issue a final TBT

ambient water quality criteria document

after consideration of public comment.

Dated: August 1, 1997.

Robert Perciasepe,

Assistant Administrator for Water.

Appendix A—Summary of Ambient Water

Quality Criteria for TBT

Freshwater Aquatic Life

The procedures described in the

‘‘Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National

Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of

Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses’’ indicate

that, except possibly where a locally

important species is very sensitive,

freshwater aquatic life and their uses should

not be affected unacceptably if the four-day

average concentration of tributyltin does not

exceed 0.063 μg/L more than once every

three years on the average and if the one-hour

average concentration does not exceed 0.46

μg/L more than once every three years on the

average.

Saltwater Aquatic Life

The procedures described in the

‘‘Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National

Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of

Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses’’ indicate

that, except where a locally important

species is very sensitive, saltwater organisms

and their uses should not be affected

unacceptably if the four-day average

concentration of tributyltin does not exceed

0.010 μg/L more than once every three years

on the average and if the one-hour average

concentration does not exceed 0.37 μg/L

more than once every three years on the

average.

Implementation

As discussed in the Water Quality

Standards Regulation (40 CFR Part 131; 48

FR 51400), a water quality criterion for

aquatic life has regulatory effect only after it

has been adopted in State water quality

standards. Such a criterion for a pollutant is

to be set at a level protective of a particular

designated use. With the approval of EPA,

States designate one or more uses for each

body of water or segment thereof and adopt

criteria that are protective of the use[s]. In

each standard, a State may adopt the national

recommended criterion, if one exists, or if

adequately justified, a site-specific criterion.

Site-specific criteria may include not only

site-specific criterion concentrations, but also

site-specific, and possibly pollutant-specific,

durations of averaging periods and

frequencies of allowed excursions. The

averaging periods of ‘‘one hour’’ and ‘‘four

days’’ were selected by EPA on the basis of

data concerning how rapidly some aquatic

species react to increases in the

concentrations of some pollutants.

It is EPA’s best scientific judgment that

aquatic ecosystems should not be exposed to

contaminants in excess of the criterion more

often than once every three years. However,

various species and ecosystems react and

recover at greatly differing rates. Therefore, if

adequate justification is provided, sitespecific and/or pollutant-specific

concentrations, durations, and frequencies

may be higher or lower than those given in

national water quality criteria for aquatic life.

Use of criteria, which have been adopted in

state water quality standards, for developing

water quality-based permit limits and for

designing waste treatment facilities requires

selection of an appropriate wasteload

allocation model. Although dynamic models

are preferred for the application of these

criteria, limited data or other considerations

might require the use of a steady-state model.

Guidance on mixing zones and the design of

monitoring programs is also available

through EPA.

[FR Doc. 97–20975 Filed 8–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P