Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 98 /Thursday, May 21, 1998 / Notices 27957

delegation is granted upon Federal

promulgation of a standard, amendment

or revision).

If the Administrator determines that

Pennsylvania cannot adequately

implement or enforce the requirements

of 40 CFR part 63, this delegation may

be revoked in whole or in part.

EPA hereby notifies the public that it

has partially delegated the authority for

implementation and enforcement of the

NESHAPs, pursuant to 40 CFR part 63,

as outlined above, to the Pennsylvania

Department of Environmental

Protection.

The Office of Management and Budget

has exempted this action informing the

public of partial delegation of NESHAPS

to PADEP, as outlined above, from

Executive Order 12688 review. This

notice is issued under the authority of

sections 101, 110, 112 and 301 of the

Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C.

7401, 7410, 7412, 7601).

Dated: March 18, 1998.

Thomas Voltaggio,

Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region

III.

[FR Doc. 98–13618 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6100–1]

Interim Policy for Addressing Public

Health and Welfare Impacts Caused by

Wildland and Prescribed Fires in the

Nation’s Wildlands

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

the EPA has issued an ‘‘Interim Air

Quality Policy on Wildland and

Prescribed Fires.’’ The policy addresses

public health and welfare impacts

caused by wildland and prescribed fires

in the Nation’s wildlands (areas with

little development, such as forests and

grasslands). The policy applies to all

wildland and prescribed fires managed

to achieve resource benefits on public,

Indian and privately owned wildlands,

regardless of the cause of ignition (e.g.,

lightning, land management decision,

accidental, etc.) or purpose of the fire

(e.g., resource management, hazard

reduction, etc.). The policy does not

apply to other open burning activities,

such as burning at residential,

commercial or industrial sites; open

burning of land-clearing waste or

construction debris. It also does not

apply to open burning of agricultural

waste, crop residue or land in the U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Conservation Reserve Program.

This is an interim policy for two

reasons. First, EPA expects

recommendations from the USDA based

on input from USDA’s Air Quality Task

Force on how to address public health

and welfare impacts caused by

agricultural burning. Those

recommendations may affect the

Agency’s understanding of fires in the

wildlands versus agricultural fires.

Second, until the final rules for

implementing EPA’s regional haze

program are promulgated, it is not

possible to formulate final policy with

respect to the impact of wildland and

prescribed fires on regional haze.

The policy was issued in response to

plans by some Federal, tribal and State

wildland owners/managers to

significantly increase the use of

wildland and prescribed fires to achieve

resource benefits. The absence of fire

effects, due to past management

practices, has allowed plant species

(e.g., trees and shrubs) that would

normally be eliminated by fires to

proliferate, vegetation to become dense

and insect infestations to go unchecked.

In response, wildland owners/managers

plan to significantly increase their use

of fires to correct these unhealthy

conditions and to reduce the risk of

wildfires to public and fire fighter

safety. The policy integrates two public

policy goals: (1) to allow fire to

function, as nearly as possible, in its

natural role in maintaining healthy

wildland ecosystems; and (2) to protect

public health and welfare by mitigating

the impacts of air pollutant emissions

on air quality and visibility.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

specific questions on the policy, contact

Mr. Kenneth Woodard, U.S. EPA, MD–

15, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711,

telephone (919) 541–5697, or Mr. Gary

Blais, U.S. EPA, MD–15, Research

Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone

(919) 541–3223.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA

does not directly regulate the use of fire

within a State or on Indian lands. The

EPA’s authority is to enforce the Clean

Air Act requirements to attain and

maintain the national ambient air

quality standards (NAAQS) adopted to

protect public health and welfare. This

policy recommends that States/tribes

implement smoke management

programs (SMP’s) to mitigate the public

health and welfare impacts of fires

managed for resource benefits. The goals

of SMP’s are to mitigate the nuisance

and public safety hazards (e.g., on

roadways and at airports, etc.) posed by

smoke intrusions into populated areas;

to prevent deterioration of air quality

and NAAQS violations; and to address

visibility impacts in mandatory Class I

Federal areas. The SMP’s establish

procedures and requirements for

minimizing air pollutant emissions and

managing smoke dispersion.

Electronic Availability

A World Wide Web site has been

developed for policy and guidance

issued by the Office of Air and

Radiation. The Uniform Resource

Location for the home page of the web

site is http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg.

For assistance, the TTN Helpline is

(919) 541–5384. For those persons

without electronic capability, a copy

may be obtained from Ms. Virginia

Wyatt, MD–15, Air Quality Strategies

and Standards Division, RTP NC 27711,

telephone (919) 541–5628.

Dated: May 15, 1998.

Jeffrey S. Clark,

Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning

and Standards.

[FR Doc. 98–13616 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6100–4]

Public Water System Supervision

Program Revision for the State of Ohio

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Public notice is hereby given

in accordance with the provision of

section 1413 of the Safe Drinking Water

Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.,

and 40 CFR part 142, subpart B, the

National Primary Drinking Water

Regulations (NPDWR), that the State of

Ohio is revising its approved Public

Water System Supervision (PWSS)

primacy program. The Ohio

Environmental Protection Agency

(OEPA) has adopted new analytical

methods, withdrawn outdated analytical

methods, and updated older analytical

methods for regulated drinking water

contaminants. The OEPA has also

removed legally obsolete or redundant

rules from its regulations, and has

adopted technical amendments to

correct typographical errors and clarify

regulatory language. These regulations

correspond to the NPDWRs promulgated

by the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (U.S. EPA) on June 30, 1994, (59

FR 33860–33864); on July 1, 1994, (59

FR 34320–34325); on June 29, 1995, (60
27958 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 98 /Thursday, May 21, 1998 / Notices

FR 33926–33932); and, on December 5,

1994, (59 FR 62456–62471), as amended

on June 29, 1995, (60 FR 34084–34086).

The U.S. EPA has completed its review

of Ohio’s PWSS primacy program

revision.

The U.S. EPA has determined that the

Ohio rule revision meets the

requirements of the Federal rule.

Therefore, the U.S. EPA is proposing to

approve the OEPA’s rule revision.

All interested parties are invited to

submit written comments on these

proposed determinations, and may

request a public hearing on or before

June 22, 1998. If a public hearing is

requested and granted, the

corresponding determination shall not

become effective until such time

following the hearing, at which the

Regional Administrator issues an order

affirming or rescinding this action.

Frivolous or insubstantial requests for a

hearing may be denied by the Regional

Administrator.

Requests for public hearing should be

addressed to: William Spaulding (WD–

15J), U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson

Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.

Any request for a public hearing shall

include the following: (1) The name,

address, and telephone number of the

individual, organization, or other entity

requesting a hearing. (2) A brief

statement of the requesting person’s

interest in the Regional Administrator’s

determinations and of information that

the requesting person intends to submit

at such hearing. (3) The signature of the

individual making the request; or, if the

request is made on behalf of an

organization or other entity, the

signature of a responsible official of the

organization or other entity.

Notice of any hearing shall be given

not less than fifteen (15) days prior to

the time scheduled for the hearing. Such

notice will be made by the Regional

Administrator in the Federal Register

and in newspapers of general

circulation in the State of Ohio. A notice

will be sent to the person(s) requesting

the hearing as well as to the State of

Ohio. The hearing notice will include a

statement of purpose, information

regarding the time and location, and the

address and telephone number where

interested persons may obtain further

information. The Regional

Administrator will issue an order

affirming or rescinding his

determination upon review of the

hearing record. Should the

determination be affirmed, it will

become effective as of the date of the

order.

Should no timely and appropriate

request for a hearing be received, and

should the Regional Administrator not

elect to hold a hearing on his own

motion, these determinations shall

become effective on June 22, 1998.

Please bring this notice to the attention

of any persons known by you to have an

interest in these determinations.

All documents related to these

determinations are available for

inspection between the hours of 8:30

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through

Friday, at the following offices:

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency,

Division of Drinking and Ground

Waters, 1800 WaterMark Drive, P.O.

Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43215–

1099, State Docket Officer: Mr. Bernie

Clark, (614) 644–2752.

Safe Drinking Water Branch, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,

Chicago, Illinois 60604.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Spaulding, Region 5, Safe

Drinking Water Branch at the Chicago

address given above, telephone 312/

886–9262.

(Section 1413 of the Safe Drinking Water Act,

as amended (1986), and 40 CFR 142.10 of the

National Primary Drinking Water

Regulations)

Dated: May 11, day of May 1998.

David A. Ullrich,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

[FR Doc. 98–13608 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6100–2]

Common Sense Initiative Council

(CSIC)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notification of public advisory

for the CSI council meeting, an open

meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal

Advisory Committee Act, Public Law

92–463, notice is hereby given that the

CSI Council will meet on the dates and

times described below. The meeting is

open to the public. Seating at the

meeting will be on a first-come basis

and limited time will be provided for

public comment. For further

information, please contact the

individual listed below.

Common Sense Initiative Council

Meeting—June 9, 1998

The Common Sense Initiative Council

will hold an open meeting on Tuesday,

June 9, 1998, from 8:30a.m. EST to

5:30p.m. EST. The meeting will be held

at the Crystal City Sheraton, 1800

Jefferson-Davis Highway, Arlington,

Virginia, 703–486–1111 or 1–800–325–

3535.

The Council Agenda will focus on a

variety of topics including: Discussion

of five issue papers on Sector-Based

Environmental Protection (SBEP) which

will form the basis for the SBEP Action

Plan, a Stakeholder Involvement

Workgroup report, an update on the

PrintSTEP project from the Printing

Sector Subcommittee, recommendations

from the Computer and Electronics

Sector Subcommittee, discussion of

Reinventing Environmental Information

issues concerning data gaps, data

quality, and burden reduction, and

performance measures for CSI.

For further information concerning

this Common Sense Initiative Council

meeting, contact Kathleen Bailey,

Designated Federal Officer, on (202)

260–7417, or email:

bailey.kathleen@epamail.epa.gov.

INSPECTION OF SUBCOMMITTEE

DOCUMENTS: Documents relating to

the above Sector Subcommittee

announcement will be publicly

available at the meeting. Thereafter,

these documents, together with the

official minutes for the meeting, will be

available for public inspection in room

3802M of EPA Headquarters, Common

Sense Initiative Staff, 401 M Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20460, telephone

number 202–260–7417. Common Sense

Initiative information can be accessed

electronically on our web site at http./

/www.epa.gov/commonsense.

Gregory Ondich,

Acting Designated Federal Officer.

[FR Doc. 98–13615 Filed 5–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6100–8]

Public Meeting To Discuss Adverse

Environmental Impacts Resulting From

Cooling Water Intake Structures

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public meeting

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency will hold a public meeting to

discuss issues associated with defining

and measuring adverse environmental

impacts from cooling water intake

structures. The purpose of this meeting

is to facilitate an exchange of

information that will assist EPA in

developing regulatory options for