[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88762-88764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25746]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0446; FRL-12398-01-OAR]


Notice of Pending Approval for Other Use of Phosphogypsum; 
Extension of Public Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA or the Agency) 
continues to seek public comment on its pending approval of a request 
for a Small-scale Road Pilot Project on Private Land in Florida 
submitted by Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC in March 2022, and updated by the 
Revised Request for Approval of Use of Phosphogypsum in Small-scale 
Pilot Project, submitted in August 2023. The Agency's review found that 
Mosaic's request is complete per the requirements of EPA's National 
Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants under the Clean Air 
Act, and that the potential radiological risks from conducting the 
pilot project meet the regulatory requirement that the project is at 
least as protective of public health as maintaining the phosphogypsum 
in a stack. On October 1, 2024, the EPA issued a pending approval of 
the request subject to certain conditions, and also opened a 30-day 
public comment period. With this notice, the Agency is soliciting 
public comments for an additional 15 days.

[[Page 88763]]


DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before November 23, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2024-0446 by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    <bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#43226e222d276e316e072c20282637032633226d242c35"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="66074b0708024b144b2209050d03122603160748010910">[email protected]</span></a>. Include Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2024-0446 in the subject line of the message.
    <bullet> U.S. Postal Service Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, EPA Docket Center, Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West 
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. 
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 
Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0446. Comments received may be posted without 
change to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal 
information provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, 
see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Copies of 
Mosaic's request, supporting materials, and the EPA's analysis are 
available on the EPA's phosphogypsum website at https://www.epa.gov/radiation/phosphogypsum#aaup.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Walsh, Radiation Protection 
Division, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, Mail Code 6608T, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20460; 202-343-9238; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2b7c4a475843056144454a5f434a456b4e5b4a054c445d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d88fb9b4abb0f692b7b6b9acb0b9b698bda8b9f6bfb7ae">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-
0446, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the 
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section.
    Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the 
docket. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. 
Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. The written comment is considered 
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you 
wish to make. The EPA generally will not consider comments or their 
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, 
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission 
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    <bullet> Identify the notice by docket number, subject heading, 
Federal Register date, and page number.
    <bullet> Provide a brief description of yourself and your role or 
organization.
    <bullet> Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
    <bullet> Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
    <bullet> Illustrate your concerns with specific examples and 
suggest alternatives.
    <bullet> Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
    <bullet> Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Background

    Phosphogypsum is the waste byproduct of wet acid phosphorous 
production. It contains elevated concentrations of the radionuclide 
radium, which decays to form radon gas. The EPA's regulations under the 
Clean Air Act at 40 CFR part 61, subpart R (hereafter ``Subpart R'') 
require that phosphogypsum must be disposed of in engineered piles, 
called stacks, to limit public exposure to its radioactive components. 
Subpart R allows the removal of phosphogypsum from stacks for outdoor 
agricultural purposes and indoor research and development, subject to 
conditions and restrictions. Any other use of phosphogypsum requires 
prior approval from the EPA. The EPA may approve a request for a 
specific use of phosphogypsum if it determines that the proposed use is 
at least as protective of public health as placement of phosphogypsum 
in a stack. The processes for requesting such an approval are described 
in 40 CFR 61.206.
    Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC submitted a request for a Small-scale Road 
Pilot Project on Private Land in Florida in March 2022, and submitted a 
Revised Request for Approval of Use of Phosphogypsum in Small-scale 
Pilot Project in August 2023. Mosaic has proposed to construct a small-
scale pilot project at its New Wales facility in Polk County, Florida. 
Mosaic's plan is to construct four sections of test road having varying 
mixtures of phosphogypsum (PG) in the road base ``to demonstrate the 
range of PG road construction designs that meet the Florida Standard 
Specifications for Road and Bridge construction.'' The pilot project 
will be constructed in the place of an existing facility road near the 
phosphogypsum stack, and the study will be conducted in conjunction 
with researchers from the University of Florida.
    The EPA has performed a complete review of Mosaic's request, 
documented in Review of the Small-scale Road Pilot Project on Private 
Land in Florida Submitted by Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC. The Agency's 
review found that Mosaic's request is complete per the requirements of 
40 CFR 61.206(b). Further, the review found that Mosaic's risk 
assessment is technically acceptable, and that the potential 
radiological risks from the proposed project meet the regulatory 
requirements of 40 CFR 61.206(c); that is, the project is at least as 
protective of public health as maintaining the phosphogypsum in a 
stack. Therefore, the Agency has issued a pending approval of the 
small-scale pilot project per 40 CFR 61.206. The pending approval and 
all supporting documentation are available via the regulations.gov 
website (www.regulations.gov; Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0446). This 
approval initially was pending a 30-day public comment period; with 
today's notice, the Agency is extending the comment period by an 
additional 15 days. Approval by the Agency is specific to the pilot 
project as described in the Mosaic request and indicates only that this 
project meets the approval requirements of Subpart R.

III. Request for Comments

    The Agency is continuing to solicit public comment on its pending 
approval until November 23, 2024. Upon receipt of public comments, the 
EPA will review them for relevance to the pending design and determine 
if they contain information that would lead to a concern for human 
health or environmental impacts not previously considered. Comments 
must be specific to the small-scale pilot project as it is described in 
Mosaic's request and the EPA's pending approval. Should the EPA receive 
significant adverse comments on aspects of this specific

[[Page 88764]]

pilot project, the Agency will give the applicant the opportunity to 
amend the analysis or request. If the comments can be successfully 
addressed, the EPA will publish a response to comments and notify the 
public. The Agency's decision to approve or deny a request for other 
use under 40 CFR 61.206 is not a rulemaking. The EPA's complete process 
of soliciting and addressing comments is described in Section 2.4 of 
Applying to EPA for Approval of Other Uses of Phosphogypsum: Preparing 
and Submitting a Complete Petition Under 40 CFR 61.206, A Workbook.
    Electronic copies of the application, the EPA's review, and 
relevant background materials are available in the public docket \1\ 
and on the EPA phosphogypsum website.\2\ Physical copies of the Mosaic 
request and the Agency's technical evaluation have been placed for 
public review in the Mulberry Public Library, 905 NE 5th Street, 
Mulberry, FL 33860.
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    \1\ Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0446.
    \2\ https://www.epa.gov/radiation/phosphogypsum#aaup.

Jonathan D. Edwards,
Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air.
[FR Doc. 2024-25746 Filed 11-7-24; 8:45 am]
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