Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 215 / Monday, November 6, 2000 / Notices 66539

organizations) as part of the proposed

approach.

• Cost effectiveness of the proposal.

• Compliance with directions for

submittal contained in this notice.

EPA may consider applications even

if all criteria are not fully met, provided

the proposed projects meet the

applicable statutory and regulatory

requirements and funds are available for

such projects.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants for assistance

agreements under section 104(b)(3) of

the Clean Water Act are State water

pollution control agencies, Tribal

governments, interstate agencies, and

other public or non-profit private

agencies, institutions, and

organizations.

Application Procedure

Electronic transmittal of pre-proposals

is preferred to facilitate the review

process. Hard copies are acceptable.

Please send three copies of the preproposal if it is not electronically

transmitted.

Schedule of Activities

This is the estimated schedule of

activities for review of proposals and

notification of selections:

November 27, 2000—Pre-proposals

due to EPA.

December 18, 2000—Initial approvals

identified and sponsors of projects

selected for funding will be requested to

submit a formal application package.

Dated: October 26, 2000.

Michael B. Cook,

Director, Office of Wastewater Management.

[FR Doc. 00–28017 Filed 11–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6897–7]

National Environmental Justice

Advisory Council; Notification of

Meeting and Public Comment Period(s)

Open Meetings

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory

Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92–

463, we now give notice that the

National Environmental Justice

Advisory Council (NEJAC), along with

the various subcommittees, will meet on

the dates and times described below. All

times noted are Eastern Standard Time.

All meetings are open to the public. Due

to limited space, seating at the NEJAC

meeting will be on a first-come basis.

Documents that are the subject of

NEJAC reviews are normally available

from the originating EPA office and are

not available from the NEJAC. The

NEJAC and the subcommittee meetings

will take place at the Hyatt Regency

Crystal City Hotel, 2700 Jefferson Davis

Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202.

The meeting dates are as follows:

December 11, 2000 through December

14, 2000. This is the third in a series of

focused policy issue meetings for the

NEJAC. To help prepare for this specific

focused policy issue meeting the

following background information is

provided:

Request

The Charter for the National

Environmental Justice Advisory Council

(NEJAC) states that NEJAC shall provide

independent advice to the

Administrator on areas relating to

environmental justice including, among

other things, ‘‘advice for improving how

EPA and others participate, cooperate,

and communicate within the Agency

and between other Federal agencies,

State, or local governments, Federally

recognized Tribes, EJ leaders, interest

groups, and the public.’’ The Agency,

through the Office of Environmental

Justice (OEJ), requests that the NEJAC

convene a focused and issue-oriented

public meeting in Arlington, VA to

receive comments, discuss, and analyze

a major public policy issue. The

Agency, furthermore, requests that the

NEJAC produce a comprehensive report

on the differing views, interests,

concerns, and perspectives expressed by

the stakeholder participants on the

issue, and provide advice and

recommendations for the Agency’s

review and consideration.

Issue

What progress has the Federal

government made towards integrating

environmental justice into its policies,

programs, and activities consistent with

existing laws and Executive Order

12898?

Background

Developing integrated strategies plays

a vital role for achieving environmental

justice for all Federal agencies and is

consistent with the missions of those

agencies. Executive Order 12898,

‘‘Federal Actions to Address

Environmental Justice in Minority

Populations and Low-Income

Populations,’’ represents an important

first step towards realizing the goal of

achieving environmental justice

throughout the Federal government.

The Executive Order requires that

each Federal agency shall, to the

greatest extent practicable and

permitted by law, make achieving

environmental justice part of its mission

by identifying and addressing, as

appropriate, disproportionately high

and adverse human health or

environmental effects on minority and

low-income populations. Specifically,

the Executive Order directs Federal

agencies to:

(1) Develop a strategic plan to

integrate environmental justice into

their activities;

(2) Conduct activities in a manner that

ensures that they do not have the effect

of excluding people and groups from

public participation opportunities or the

benefits of such activities;

(3) Include diverse segments of the

population in studies involving human

health and environmental hazards;

(4) Collect, maintain and analyze

information on consumption patterns of

populations who rely principally on fish

and wildlife for subsistence;

(5) Enhance public participation

opportunities and the accessibility of

meetings and documents; and,

(6) Develop interagency model

projects on environmental justice that

evidence cooperation among Federal

agencies.

Purpose

Much can be gained from an

examination of the successes, failures

and challenges encountered by Federal

agencies in integrating environmental

justice during the past 61⁄2 years. While

there have been significant

accomplishments and important

initiatives, attempts to integrate

environmental justice also have

encountered tremendous barriers and

challenges. A thoughtful examination

will prove invaluable for understanding

how future strategies for integrating

environmental justice can be made more

effective.

NEJAC’s examination of

environmental justice implementation

throughout the Federal government

should be forward-looking. The analysis

should identify lessons learned from

implementation of the Executive Order

and make recommendations for future

efforts to address environmental justice.

Since issues of environmental justice

are often complex, multi-faceted and

cross-cutting, they require new

approaches on the part of the Federal

government. Coordinated interagency

strategies are critical, including the

development of community-based

interagency demonstration projects.

NEJAC will examine interagency

environmental justice implementation

in two basic areas: (1) Progress and

lessons gained from individual agency

66540 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 215 / Monday, November 6, 2000 / Notices

implementation; and, (2) development

of collaborative interagency strategies.

Meeting

Registration for the NEJAC meeting

will begin on Monday, December 11,

2000 at 8 a.m. The full NEJAC will

convene Monday, December 11, 2000,

and Tuesday, December 12, 2000 from

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Business will include

a series of panels with expert testimony

on the focused policy issue, a review of

ongoing NEJAC activities and a

discussion of new business items. A

public comment period dedicated to the

focused policy issue is scheduled for

Monday evening, December 11, 2000,

from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. On Tuesday

evening, December 12, 2000, a second

public comment period for overall

environmental justice issues is

scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The following Subcommittees will meet

on Wednesday, December 13, 2000,

from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Air and Water;

Enforcement; Health and Research;

Indigenous Peoples; International; and

Waste and Facility Siting. The full

NEJAC will reconvene Thursday,

December 14, 2000, from 9 a.m. to 5

p.m. to wrap up all business requiring

Executive Council action. All times

shown are Eastern Time.

Any member of the public wishing

additional information on the

subcommittee meetings should contact

the specific Designated Federal Official

at the telephone number listed below.

Subcommittee Federal Official and

Telephone Number

Enforcement .................................................................................................................................................. Ms. Shirley Pate 202/564–2607

Health & Research ....................................................................................................................................... Ms. Brenda Washington 202/564–

6781

Ms. Aretha Brockett 202/260–3810

International .................................................................................................................................................. Ms. Wendy Graham 202/564–6602

Indigenous Peoples ...................................................................................................................................... Mr. Danny Gogal 202/564–2576

Waste/Facility Siting ..................................................................................................................................... Mr. Kent Benjamin 202/260–2822

Air & Water ................................................................................................................................................... Mr. Wil Wilson 202/564–1954

Ms. Alice Walker 202/260–1919

Members of the public who wish to participate in one of the public comment periods should pre-register by December

1, 2000. Individuals or groups making oral presentations during the public comment period will be limited to a total

time of five minutes. Only one representative from a community, organization, or group will be allowed to speak.

Any number of written comments can be submitted for the record. The suggested format for individuals making public

comment should be as follows:

Request To Make Public Comment Speaker’s Template

NAME OF SPEAKER: lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

NAME OF ORGANIZATION/COMMUNITY: llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

ADDRESS/PHONE/FAX/EMAIL: lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

DESCRIPTION OF CONCERN: lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

RECOMMENDATIONS/DESIRED OUTCOME: lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

If you wish to submit written

comments of any length (at least 50

copies), they should also be received by

December 1, 2000. Comments received

after that date will be provided to the

Council as logistics allow. All

information should be sent to the

address or fax number cited below.

Registration

Pre-registration for all attendees is

recommended. To receive a registration

form, call the number listed below or

visit the web site. Correspondence

concerning registration should be sent

to Ms. Victoria Robinson of Tetra Tech

Environmental Management, Inc. at:

1881 Campus Commons, Suite 200,

Reston, VA 20191, phone: 703/390–

0641 or fax: 703/391–5876. Hearingimpaired individuals or non-English

speaking attendees wishing to arrange

for a sign language or foreign language

interpreter, may make appropriate

arrangements using these numbers also.

In addition, NEJAC offers a toll-free

Registration Hotline at 1–888/335–4299.

For on-line registration, you may visit

the Internet site: http://es.epa.gov/oeca/

main/ej/nejac/index.html.

Dated: October 31, 2000.

Charles Lee,

Designated Federal Official, National

Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

[FR Doc. 00–28420 Filed 11–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6896–6]

Regulatory Reinvention (XL) Pilot

Projects

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final

Project Agreements and Response to

comments for the Metropolitan Water

Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

and the Louisville and Jefferson County

Metropolitan Sewer District.

SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the

signing of the Project XL Final Project

Agreement (FPA) for the Metropolitan

Water Reclamation District of Greater

Chicago and Louisville and Jefferson

County Metropolitan Sewer District.

DATES: The FPA for the Metropolitan

Water Reclamation District of Greater

Chicago was signed on August 30, 2000

and the FPA for the Louisville and

Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer

District was signed on September 28,

2000.

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies or to make

inquiries about the Final Project

Agreements, Fact Sheets, or public

comments received contact the

following individuals: Matthew

Gluckman, 312–8986–6089, U.S. EPA

Region V, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,

Chicago, IL 60604

(gluckman.matthew@epa.gov) for the

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District

of Greater Chicago; and Melinda

Mallard-Greene, 404–562–9771, U.S.

EPA Region IV, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–3104

(mallard.melinda@epa.gov) for the

Louisville and Jefferson County

Metropolitan Sewer District. In

addition, public files on each of the

projects are located at each of the EPA