UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 

OCT 2 3 2013 

MEMORANDUM 

OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT AND 

COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE 

SUBJECT: Extension of Comment Period for Proposed NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule 

I ;) . / ,. 

FROM: John Dombrowski, Director ( ~~· 

Enforcement Targeting and Data sion 

Office of Compliance 

TO: OECA Docket 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is extending the comment period for the NPDES 

Electronic Reporting Rule, published on July 30, 2013 (78 FR 46006). EPA is soliciting public 

comment on a new regulation that would require electronic reporting for current paper-based 

NPDES reports. This action will save time and resources for permittees, states, tribes, territories,. 

and EPA while improving compliance and providing better protection of the Nation's waters. 

The proposed Clean Water Act regulation would require permittees and regulators to use 

existing, available information technology to electronically report information and data related to 

the NPDES permit program in lieu of filing written reports. In response to requests from 

stakeholders, this action extends the comment period for 45 days. EPA is publishing a separate 

Federal Register notice announcing this new due date. 

DATES: Comments on the preliminary plan will be accepted through December 12,2013. 

Comments provided electronically will be considered timely if they are submitted by 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time on December 12,2013. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2009-

0274 by one of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions 

for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: docket.oeca@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2009-0274. 

• Mail: Send the original and three copies of your comments to: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Enforcement and Compliance Docket, Mail 

Code 28221 T, 1200 Pennsylvania A venue, NW, Washington, DC 20460, Attention 

Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2009-0274. In addition, if applicable, please mail a copy 
of your comments on the information collection provisions to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attn: Desk Officer 

for EPA, 725 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20503. 

• Hand Deliver: Deliver your comments to: EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20004, Attention Docket 

ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2009-0274. Such deliveries are only accepted during the EPA 

Docket Center'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-OECA-2009-0274. EPA's 

policy is that all comments received by the deadline will be included in the public docket without 

charge, 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 for which disclosure is restricted by statute. Do 

not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through 

www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov website is an "anonymous access" 

system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide 

it within the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 

going through www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and 

included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and 

other contact information in the body of your comment, and, if applicable, with any disk or CDROM you submit. 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. Electronic files 

should avoid the use of special characters and any form of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket, please visit the EPA Docket 

Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/docketsl 

Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information for 

which disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in hard-copy. Publicly available docket materials are available 

either electronically in www. regulations.gov or in hard-copy at the Enforcement and Compliance 

Docket in the EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 

NW, Washington, DC, 20004. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m., 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading 

Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Docket for the Office of Enforcement 

and Compliance Assurance (OECA) is (202) 566-1752. Docket visitors are required to show 

photographic identification, pass through a metal detector, and sign the EPA visitor log. All 

visitor bags are processed through an X-ray machine and are subject to search. Visitors will be 

provided an EPA visitor's badge that must be visible at all times in the building and returned 

upon departure. The "User Guide to the Docket for the NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule [DCN 

001 0]" is document that provides easy to follow instructions on how to access documents 

through www.regulations.gov. 

Page 2 of2