44932 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 146 / Friday, July 30, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

B. Administrator’s ‘‘Determination’’ 

The CWA provides that the 

Administrator may determine that a 

revised or new standard is necessary to 

meet the requirements of the CWA. 

Section 303(c)(4)(B). If such a 

determination is made, EPA must 

promptly propose a revised or new 

federal standard to augment or replace 

the state’s or authorized tribe’s water 

quality standards, and promulgate the 

proposed standard within 90 days of 

proposal. See CWA 303(c)(4). Since this 

provision was enacted by Congress in 

1972, there have been recurring 

instances of confusion or 

misunderstanding about what 

constitutes such a determination. EPA is 

considering clarifying in the water 

quality standards regulation that an 

Administrator’s determination must be 

signed by the Administrator or his/her 

duly authorized designee, and must 

include a statement that the document 

constitutes a determination under 

section 303(c)(4)(B) of the CWA. In the 

listening sessions, EPA will invite views 

from the public on these changes. 

C. Designated Uses 

Section 101(a)(2) of the Act 

establishes a goal, wherever attainable, 

of water quality that provides for the 

protection and propagation of fish, 

shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in 

and on the water. The water quality 

standards regulation requires that the 

state or authorized tribe perform a use 

attainability analysis (that is, a 

structured scientific assessment of 

factors affecting attainment of 

designated uses) and submit this 

assessment to EPA in order to remove 

certain designated uses, including any 

designated use that is specified as a 

national goal in section 101(a)(2) of the 

CWA. See 40 CFR 131.10. The 

regulation does not, however, specify 

which uses, if any, must be adopted to 

replace the use that is being removed. 

EPA is considering clarifying that 

designated uses reflecting the CWA 

101(a)(2) goals of the CWA are 

presumed attainable unless otherwise 

demonstrated and that states and 

authorized tribes must designate such 

uses unless they have conducted a use 

attainability analysis to support a lesser 

designated use and EPA has approved 

that action. EPA is also considering 

clarifying that the highest attainable 

use(s) closest to the section 101(a)(2) 

goal must be adopted if a CWA 101(a)(2) 

goal use is unattainable. In the listening 

sessions, EPA will invite views from the 

public on these changes. 

D. Variances 

The current regulation allows states 

and authorized tribes to adopt variances 

as general policies for applying and 

implementing their water quality 

standards. See 40 CFR 131.13. The 

regulation does not provide a definition 

of, a description of, or any requirements 

for the use of variances. EPA is 

considering establishing regulatory 

requirements for variances to ensure 

proper use of variances and reduce the 

possibility of inappropriate use. In the 

listening sessions, EPA will invite views 

from the public on these clarifications, 

and what the regulatory requirements 

should include. 

E. Triennial Reviews 

The CWA and the current water 

quality standards regulation require 

states and authorized tribes to review 

their water quality standards at least 

once every three years, and modify 

standards or adopt new standards as 

appropriate. CWA 303(c); 40 CFR 

131.20. EPA is considering revising the 

regulatory requirements to clarify that 

states and authorized tribes must solicit 

and consider public comments in 

determining the scope of each such 

triennial review. EPA is also 

considering establishing a new triennial 

review requirement that states and 

authorized tribes must evaluate whether 

their existing water quality criteria 

continue to be protective of designated 

uses, taking into consideration any new 

information, including EPA’s most 

recent national recommended CWA 

304(a) water quality criteria, that has 

become available since the state or tribal 

criteria were adopted or last revised. In 

the listening sessions, EPA will invite 

views from the public on these changes. 

F. Updates To Reflect Court Decisions 

EPA is considering making three 

clarifications to the water quality 

standards regulation to codify the 

results of court decisions over the years. 

First, EPA is considering revising the 

definition of ‘‘water quality standards’’ 

in 40 CFR 131.3 to reflect the results of 

and EPA’s actions on remand from 

Florida Public Interest Research Group 

Citizen Lobby, Inc., Save our Suwannee, 

Inc., et al. v. EPA, et al., 386 F.3d 1070 

(11th Cir. 2004) concerning Florida’s 

Impaired Water Rule (IWR). That court 

decision and EPA’s response to it more 

clearly define which of state or tribal 

provisions constitute water quality 

standards that need to be submitted to 

EPA for review and approval. EPA is 

considering revising 40 CFR part 131 to 

reflect these developments. 

Second, EPA is considering specifying 

that authorizing provisions for 

compliance schedules for implementing 

water quality-based effluent limits in 

NPDES permits must be adopted as part 

of a state’s or tribe’s water quality 

standards, and therefore be submitted to 

EPA for review and approval. See In the 

Matter of Star-Kist Caribe, Inc., 1990 WL 

324290 (EPA), 3 EAD 172 (April 16, 

1990). 

Third, EPA is considering clarifying 

that states and authorized tribes must 

submit to EPA records of public 

participation that has occurred in 

reviewing and revising state or tribal 

water quality standards. These records 

would include public comments, and 

the state’s or tribe’s responses to the 

comments. This change would reflect 

the results of City of Albuquerque v. 

Browner, 97 F.3d 415 (10th Cir. 1996). 

In the listening sessions, EPA will 

invite views from the public on these 

changes. 

IV. Other EPA Outreach 

EPA expects to conduct outreach with 

additional stakeholders as well as local, 

state, and tribal governments before 

proposing any revisions to the water 

quality standards regulation. This 

outreach includes discussions and 

consultation with federally-recognized 

Indian tribes, consistent with Executive 

Order 13175 (Tribal Consultation); 

consultation with representatives of 

elected officials of state and local 

government, consistent with Executive 

Order 13132 (Federalism); and 

consultation with state water quality 

program officials as co-regulators. EPA 

will continue outreach efforts prior to 

finalizing any revisions. 

Dated: July 22, 2010. 

Ephraim S. King, 

Director, Office of Science and Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2010–18557 Filed 7–29–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 300 

[EPA–HQ–SFUND–1986–0005; FRL–9183–1] 

National Oil and Hazardous 

Substances Pollution Contingency 

Plan; National Priorities List: Intent To 

Delete the SMS Instruments, Inc. 

Superfund Site 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA), Region 2, is issuing a 

Notice of Intent to Delete the SMS 

Instruments, Inc. Superfund Site (Site), 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 146 / Friday, July 30, 2010 / Proposed Rules 44933 

located in Deer Park, New York, from 

the National Priorities List (NPL) and 

requests public comments on this 

proposed action. The NPL, promulgated 

pursuant to Section 105 of the 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation, and Liability 

Act (CERCLA) of 1980, is an Appendix 

of the National Oil and Hazardous 

Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 

(NCP). The EPA and the State of New 

York, through the New York State 

Department of Environmental 

Conservation, have determined that all 

appropriate remedial actions under 

CERCLA have been completed. 

However, this deletion does not 

preclude future actions under 

Superfund. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

August 30, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID no. EPA–HQ– 

SFUND–1986–0005, by one of the 

following methods: 

Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Follow the on-line instructions for 

submitting comments. 

E-mail: dannenberg.mark@epa.gov. 

Fax: To the attention of Mark 

Dannenberg at 212–637–3966. 

Mail: To the attention of Mark 

Dannenberg, Remedial Project Manager, 

Emergency and Remedial Response 

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 20th 

Floor, New York, NY 10007–1866. 

Hand Delivery: Superfund Records 

Center, 290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New 

York, NY 10007–1866 (telephone: 212– 

637–4308). Such deliveries are only 

accepted during the Records Center’s 

normal hours of operation (Monday to 

Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID no. EPA–HQ–SFUND–1986– 

0005. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the Docket 

without change and may be made 

available online at http:// 

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 CBI or otherwise protected 

through http://www.regulations.gov or 

via e-mail. The http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your 

comments. If you send comments to 

EPA via e-mail, your e-mail address will 

be included as part of the comment that 

is placed in the Docket and made 

available on the Web site. If you submit 

electronic comments, EPA recommends 

that you include your name and other 

contact information in the body of your 

comments and with any disks or CD– 

ROMs that you submit. If EPA cannot 

read your comments due to technical 

difficulties and cannot contact you for 

clarification, EPA may not be able to 

consider your comments. Electronic 

files should avoid the use of special 

characters and any form of encryption 

and should be free of any defects or 

viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the Docket 

are listed in the http:// 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in hard 

copy. Publicly available Docket 

materials can be viewed electronically 

at http://www.regulations.gov or 

obtained in hard copy at: 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 2, Superfund Records Center, 

290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York, 

NY 10007–1866, Phone: 212–637– 

4308, Hours: Monday to Friday from 

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

and 

New York State Department of 

Environmental Conservation, Region 

1, SUNY @ Stony Brook, 50 Circle 

Road, Stony Brook, New York 11790, 

Phone: 631–444–0240. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Dannenberg, Remedial Project 

Manager, by mail at Emergency and 

Remedial Response Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 2, 290 Broadway, 20th floor, 

New York, NY 10007–1866; telephone 

at 212–637–4251; fax at 212–637–3966; 

or e-mail at dannenberg.mark@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

‘‘Rules and Regulations’’ Section of 

today’s Federal Register, we are 

publishing a direct final Notice of 

Deletion of the SMS Instruments, Inc. 

Superfund Site without prior Notice of 

Intent to Delete because we view this as 

a noncontroversial revision and 

anticipate no adverse comment. We 

have explained our reasons for this 

deletion in the preamble to the direct 

final Notice of Deletion, and those 

reasons are incorporated herein. If we 

receive no adverse comment(s) on this 

deletion action, we will not take further 

action on this Notice of Intent to Delete. 

If we receive adverse comment(s), we 

will withdraw the direct final Notice of 

Deletion and it will not take effect. We 

will, as appropriate, address all public 

comments in a subsequent final 

Deletion Notice based on this Notice of 

Intent to Delete. We will not institute a 

second comment period on this Notice 

of Intent to Delete. Any parties 

interested in commenting must do so at 

this time. 

For additional information, see the 

direct final Notice of Deletion which is 

located in the ‘‘Rules’’ section of this 

Federal Register. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Chemicals, hazardous 

waste, Hazardous substances, 

Intergovernmental relations, Natural 

resources, Oil pollution, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Superfund, Water 

pollution control, Water supply. 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 

9601–9657; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 CFR, 

1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923, 

3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 193. 

Dated: July 20, 2010. 

Judith A. Enck, 

Regional Administrator, EPA, Region 2. 

[FR Doc. 2010–18775 Filed 7–29–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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