20592 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 20, 2010 / Notices 

filed a petition for rate approval 

pursuant to section 284.123(b)(2) of the 

Commission’s regulations. In addition to 

proposing increases to its firm and 

interruptible transportation rates on its 

Mainline and Whistler Spur facilities, 

Bay Gas proposes firm and interruptible 

transportation rates on its newly 

constructed Transco Lateral. 

Any person desiring to participate in 

this rate proceeding must file a motion 

to intervene or to protest this filing must 

file in accordance with Rules 211 and 

214 of the Commission’s Rules of 

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 

and 385.214). Protests will be 

considered by the Commission in 

determining the appropriate action to be 

taken, but will not serve to make 

protestants parties to the proceeding. 

Any person wishing to become a party 

must file a notice of intervention or 

motion to intervene, as appropriate. 

Such notices, motions, or protests must 

be filed on or before the date as 

indicated below. Anyone filing an 

intervention or protest must serve a 

copy of that document on the Applicant. 

Anyone filing an intervention or protest 

on or before the intervention or protest 

date need not serve motions to intervene 

or protests on persons other than the 

Applicant. 

The Commission encourages 

electronic submission of protests and 

interventions in lieu of paper using the 

‘‘eFiling’’ link at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

should submit an original and 14 copies 

of the protest or intervention to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20426. 

This filing is accessible on-line at 

http://www.ferc.gov, using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for 

review in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room in Washington, DC. 

There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the 

Web site that enables subscribers to 

receive e-mail notification when a 

document is added to a subscribed 

docket(s). For assistance with any FERC 

Online service, please e-mail 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call 

(202) 502–8659. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

April 26, 2010. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–8995 Filed 4–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9139–4] 

Notice of Availability of Draft National 

Pollutant Discharge Elimination 

System (NPDES) General Permit for 

Residually Designated Discharges in 

Milford, Bellingham and Franklin, MA; 

and Notice of Availability of Proposed 

Amendments to the Preliminary 

Residual Designation Issued by EPA 

on November 12, 2008 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of draft 

NPDES general permit. 

SUMMARY: The Director of the Office of 

Ecosystem Protection, Environmental 

Protection Agency-Region 1 (EPA), is 

issuing this Notice of Availability of a 

draft NPDES general permit for storm 

water discharges in the Charles River 

watershed within Milford, Bellingham, 

and Franklin, Massachusetts, from sites 

that are proposed for final designation 

for NPDES permitting pursuant to EPA’s 

residual designation authority, so 

called, provided by Section 402(p)(2)(E) 

and (6) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) 

as implemented through regulatory 

provisions at 40 CFR 122.26(a)(9)(i)(C) 

and (D). 

Those sections provide that in states 

where there is no approved state 

program, the EPA Regional 

Administrator may designate a storm 

water discharge as requiring an NPDES 

permit where he determines that: 

‘‘* * * (C) storm water controls are 

needed for the discharge based on 

wasteload allocations that are part of 

total maximum daily loads that address 

the pollutants of concern, or (D) the 

discharge, or category of discharges 

within a geographic area, contributes to 

a violation of a water quality standard 

or is a significant contributor of 

pollutants to waters of the United 

States.’’ The storm water discharges 

subject to the draft permit are proposed 

for final designation for NPDES 

permitting because their control is 

necessary based on wasteload 

allocations in the Lower Charles River 

Phosphorus TMDL (‘‘the TMDL’’) and 

because they are contributing to water 

quality standards violations. 

On November 12, 2008, the Regional 

Administrator for EPA Region 1 made a 

preliminary determination that 

designated discharges, as defined in that 

preliminary designation determination 

and as described below, warranted 

NPDES permit coverage. That 

determination is documented in the 

EPA Region 1 Record of Decision (ROD) 

dated November 12, 2008, that can be 

found on EPA Region 1’s Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/region1/npdes/ 

stormwater. 

At the time of the preliminary 

determination, EPA invited comment on 

its decision until the close of the 

comment period on the permit 

discussed in this notice. 

EPA is today proposing amendments, 

discussed below, to that Preliminary 

Residual Designation. EPA is also 

publishing a draft general permit that 

will cover those designated discharges. 

This draft NPDES general permit 

establishes Notice of Intent (NOI) 

requirements, prohibitions, and storm 

water management practices for storm 

water discharges from designated 

discharge sites. The draft general 

permit, appendices, and fact sheet are 

available at: http://www.epa.gov/ 

region1/npdes/stormwater. 

DATES: The public comment period is 

from April 20, 2010 to June 30, 2010. 

Interested persons may submit 

comments on the draft general permit to 

EPA–Region 1, at the address given 

below, no later than midnight June 30, 

2010. Those comments will be placed in 

the administrative record for the 

designation and permit. The general 

permit shall be effective on the date 

specified in the Federal Register 

publication of the Notice of Availability 

of the final general permit. The final 

general permit will expire five years 

from its effective date. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R01– 

OW–2010–0292 by one of the following 

methods: 

• http://www.regulations.gov: Follow 

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: Voorhees.mark@epa.gov. 

• Mail: Mark Voorhees, US EPA— 

Region 1, 5 Post Office Square—Suite 

100, Mail Code—OEP 06–4, Boston, MA 

02109–3912. 

No facsimiles (faxes) will be accepted. 

The draft permit is based on an 

administrative record available for 

public review at EPA–Region 1, Office 

of Ecosystem Protection, 5 Post Office 

Square—Suite 100, Boston, 

Massachusetts 02109–3912. The 

following SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section sets forth principal facts and the 

significant factual, legal, and policy 

questions considered in the 

development of the draft permit. A 

reasonable fee may be charged for 

copying requests. 

Public Meeting Information: EPA— 

Region 1 will hold a public meeting to 

provide information on the draft general 

permit and its requirements. The public 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 20, 2010 / Notices 20593 

meeting will include a brief 

presentation on the draft general permit 

and a brief question and answer session. 

Written, but not oral, comments will be 

accepted at the public meeting and will 

be placed into the administrative record. 

The public meeting will be held at the 

following time and location: 

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 

Tri-County Regional Vocational School 

Auditorium, 147 Pond Street, 

Franklin, MA 02038. 

Time: 6 p.m.–7 p.m. 

Public Hearing Information: 

Following the public meeting, a public 

hearing will be conducted in accordance 

with 40 CFR 124.12 and will provide 

interested parties with the opportunity 

to provide written and/or oral 

comments for the official draft permit 

record. The public hearing will be held 

at the following time and location: 

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 

Tri-County Regional Vocational School 

Auditorium, 147 Pond Street, 

Franklin, MA 02038. 

Time: 7:30 p.m. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Additional information concerning the 

draft permit may be obtained between 

the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday 

through Friday excluding holidays from: 

Mark Voorhees, Office of Ecosystem 

Protection, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 5 Post Office Square—Suite 

100, Boston, MA 02109–3912; 

telephone: 617–918–1537; e-mail: 

Voorhees.mark@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background of Proposed Permit 

As stated previously, the Director of 

the Office of Ecosystem Protection, 

EPA–Region 1, is proposing to issue a 

National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (‘‘NPDES’’) general 

permit for residually designated 

discharges in the upper portions of the 

Charles River watershed. The permit is: 

MARRD0000—General Permit for 

Designated Discharges in the Charles 

River Watershed within the 

Municipalities of Milford, Bellingham, 

and Franklin, Massachusetts. 

For purposes of the fact sheet and 

draft permit, a designated discharge is 

defined as follows: 

A Designated Discharge is two or 

more acres of impervious surfaces 

located: (1) In the Charles River 

watershed; (2) in part or in whole in the 

municipalities of Milford, Bellingham, 

or Franklin, Massachusetts; and (3) on a 

single lot or two or more contiguous lots 

aggregated as follows: when measuring 

the impervious surfaces to determine if 

they meet the two acre threshold, the 

following impervious surfaces shall not 

be included: 

Any impervious surfaces associated 

solely with any of the following land 

uses: 

a. Sporting and recreational camps; 

b. Recreational vehicle parks and 

campsites; 

c. Manufactured housing 

communities; 

d. Detached single-family homes 

located on individual lots; and 

e. Stand-alone multi-family houses 

with four or fewer units; and 

f. Any property owned by a local, 

state or federal government unit where 

the property discharges wholly into an 

MS4 system operated by that local, state 

or federal government unit that has a 

valid NPDES permit. 

For the purpose of defining 

‘‘designated discharge,’’ a stand-alone 

multi-family house with four or fewer 

units does not include any multi-family 

house that is part of a condominium, 

cooperative, apartment complex, 

townhouse, or other residential or 

mixed-use development with more than 

four dwelling units, or any multi-family 

houses that share private access roads, 

driveways or parking areas with 

contiguous lots containing additional 

dwelling units where the total number 

of units served by the shared access 

road, driveway or parking area is more 

than four. 

When measuring impervious surfaces 

to determine if they meet the two acre 

threshold for a designated discharge, the 

impervious surfaces on contiguous lots 

shall be included provided that: 

(1) The contiguous lots are owned by 

the same person; or 

(2) The footprint of the same building, 

structure, low impact development 

techniques or structural storm water 

best management practice spans the 

contiguous lots owned by different 

persons. 

EPA may require that impervious 

surfaces on contiguous lots that do not 

meet the requirements above be 

included for purposes of determining 

whether they meet the two acre 

threshold for a designated discharge if it 

finds that ownership of the contiguous 

lots asserted to be in separate ownership 

was arranged to circumvent the 

requirements of the permit, including 

evidence that on or after the publication 

date of this notice, two or more owners 

of contiguous lots have acted in concert 

to acquire or dispose of contiguous lots 

to avoid the requirements of the permit. 

For purposes of the draft permit, the 

Charles River watershed includes all 

areas that discharge directly to the 

Charles River or its tributaries or 

indirectly to the Charles River or its 

tributaries through a municipal separate 

storm sewer system (MS4) or other 

private or public conveyance systems, 

including structural storm water best 

management practices. 

On November 12, 2008, EPA issued 

for public comment a document entitled 

‘‘Preliminary Residual Designation.’’ The 

definition of ‘‘designated discharge’’ in 

the preliminary residual designation is 

being amended in the proposed final 

residual designation of today in three 

ways: 

1. The preliminary residual 

designation stated that a designated 

discharge is a storm water discharge 

from two or more acres of impervious 

surfaces that are located on a single lot 

or two or more contiguous lots 

aggregated in accordance with 314 CMR 

21.05. This element of the definition 

was based on draft Massachusetts 

regulations that were under 

development at the time the preliminary 

residual designation was made. 

The proposed final designation issued 

today changes the aggregation rules to 

combine impervious surfaces where 

they are on contiguous lots owned by 

the same person; or where the footprint 

of the same building, structure, low 

impact development techniques or 

structural storm water best management 

practice spans the contiguous lots 

owned by different persons. 

2. The preliminary residual 

designation stated that in aggregating 

impervious surfaces to determine if they 

constitute a designated discharge, 

impervious surfaces owned or operated 

by a local government unit, the 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the 

federal government should not be 

included. The definition of designated 

discharge in today’s proposed final 

designation does not contain that 

exclusion. The proposed final 

designation does, however, exclude any 

property owned by a local, state or 

federal government unit where the 

property discharges wholly into an MS4 

system operated by that local, state or 

federal government unit and that unit 

holds a valid NPDES permit. 

3. The original designation stated that 

where a property containing a 

designated discharge is owned by one 

person but is operated by another 

person, the operator of the property is 

required to obtain the NPDES permit. 

The proposed final designation requires 

any owner of part or all of a designated 

discharge to file an NOI within 180 days 

of the effective date of the permit and 

to obtain authorization to discharge 

under the permit. (A different filing 

schedule applies to designated 

discharges that come into existence after 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
20594 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 20, 2010 / Notices 

the effective date of the permit.) EPA 

expects that in some instances, the 

owner of a designated discharge may 

not control or have the right to control 

all of the activities whose control are 

necessary to assure compliance with the 

permit. In such an instance, the owner 

must identify in its NOI what activities 

it does not control or have the right to 

control, the specific provisions of the 

permit that require their control and the 

identity of each person who has the 

control or the right to control such 

activity. EPA may request that such a 

person submit an NOI or an application 

for an individual permit. EPA may 

subsequently authorize that person to 

discharge subject to its compliance with 

the applicable provisions of the relevant 

permit. Once authorized under this 

permit, that person would be a copermittee. 

The preliminary residual designation 

stated that the comment period on it 

would remain open until the close of 

the comment period on this draft 

permit. EPA is inviting additional 

comment on the proposed final 

designation it is issuing today. The 

agency will respond to all significant 

comments on the designation and the 

draft permit at the close of the comment 

period on this permit. 

EPA’s NPDES Permitting Authority 

Section 301(a) of the CWA prohibits 

the discharge of pollutants into waters 

of the United States except in 

compliance with certain sections of the 

Act, including Section 402 of the Act. 

Section 402 of the Act provides that the 

Administrator of EPA may issue 

National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination (NPDES) permits for 

discharges of any pollutant into waters 

of the United States according to such 

specific terms and conditions as the 

Administrator may require. EPA’s 

regulations provide for the issuance of 

general permits to authorize one or more 

categories or subcategories of 

discharges, including storm water point 

source discharges within a geographic 

area, pursuant to 40 CFR 122.28(a)(1) 

and (2)(i). Section 402 of the CWA also 

authorizes EPA to issue NPDES permits 

allowing discharges that will meet 

certain specified requirements. The 

conditions in the draft permit are 

established pursuant to the CWA and 40 

CFR Parts 122 and 124. 

The draft permit establishes a series of 

storm water control requirements, 

mostly in the form of Best Management 

Practices (BMPs), to assure that storm 

water from a permittee’s designated 

discharge do not cause or contribute to 

violations of Massachusetts water 

quality standards. Due to the variability 

of pollutant loads from different sources 

associated with storm water, EPA 

believes the use of BMPs is the most 

appropriate method to regulate 

discharges of storm water authorized by 

this permit. Pursuant to 40 CFR 

122.44(k), the permit requires the use of 

BMPs, including the development and 

implementation of a comprehensive 

storm water management plan and a 

phosphorus reduction plan, as the 

mechanisms to achieve the required 

pollutant reductions. 

Summary of Permit Conditions 

Obtaining Authorization 

In order to obtain authorization to 

discharge, owners of property on which 

designated discharges are located are 

required to submit a complete and 

accurate NOI to EPA—Region 1. The 

contents of the NOI and the specific 

provisions governing by when and by 

whom an NOI must be filed, including 

in circumstances where a designated 

discharge has more than one owner, are 

provided in Appendix A to the draft 

permit and should be consulted by any 

person having an ownership interest in 

a designated discharge. 

The NOI must be submitted within 

180 days of the effective date of the final 

permit. The effective date of the final 

permit will be specified in the Federal 

Register publication of the Notice of 

Availability of the final permit. An 

owner of a designated discharge must 

meet the eligibility requirements of the 

draft permit prior to submission of its 

NOI. The owner of a designated 

discharge will be authorized to 

discharge under the permit upon 

written notice from EPA. 

EPA—Region 1 will provide an 

opportunity for the public to comment 

on each NOI that is submitted. 

Following public comment, EPA— 

Region 1 will authorize the discharge, 

request additional information, or 

require the discharge owner to apply for 

an alternative permit or an individual 

permit. 

Technology Based Effluent Limitations 

All NPDES permits are required to 

contain technology-based limitations. 

When EPA has not promulgated effluent 

limitation guidelines for an industry, or 

if an operator is discharging a pollutant 

not covered by an effluent guideline, 

permit limitations may be based on the 

best professional judgment (‘‘BPJ’’) of the 

permit writer, pursuant to CWA Section 

402 (a)(1) and 40 CFR 125.3(c). For this 

permit, the technology-based limits are 

based on BPJ because no effluent 

limitation guideline applies. 

The BPJ limits in this permit are in 

the form of non-numeric control 

measures, also referred to as best 

management practices (‘‘BMPs’’). Nonnumeric limits are employed under 

certain circumstances as provided in 40 

CFR 122.44(k). 

Section III of the permit requires the 

permittee to undertake activities to meet 

baseline performance standards. These 

include non-structural best management 

practices such as street sweeping; 

management of snow and deicing 

chemicals; management of solid waste 

and hazardous waste; management of 

landscaped areas and other good 

housekeeping measures. 

Water Quality Based Effluent 

Limitations 

Consistent with the wasteload 

allocation of the Lower Charles River 

Phosphorus TMDL, Part IV and 

Appendix D of the permit establish 

requirements to assure a phosphorus 

load reduction of 65% from each 

designated discharge. The reduction can 

be achieved by any one or combination 

of three methods: (1) Enhanced nonstructural BMPs; (2) structural BMPs; 

and (3) participation in a Certified 

Municipal Phosphorus Program 

(‘‘CMPP’’). A CMPP is an entity that may 

be established by a government unit to 

organize the activities of the permittees 

covered by this permit, with the goal of 

achieving environmental and economic 

efficiencies. The fact sheet discusses 

criteria that EPA may consider in 

approving a CMPP under the permit. 

Appendix D of the permit and its 

attachments provide methods to 

calculate phosphorus loads from a 

designated discharge and the load 

reductions that can be achieved through 

the implementation of structural and 

non-structural BMPs. 

Finally, the permit contains 

provisions requiring the proper 

operation and maintenance of BMPs, the 

submission of Annual Certifications of 

Compliance, and additional water 

quality based requirements, including 

those relating to attainment of 

Massachusetts water quality standards, 

new dischargers, and anti-degradation. 

Dated: April 6, 2010. 

H. Curtis Spalding, 

Regional Administrator, Region 1. 

[FR Doc. 2010–9133 Filed 4–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES