Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 230 / Tuesday, December 1, 2015 / Notices 75097 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Notice of Commission Staff 

Attendance 

The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission hereby gives notice that 

members of the Commission’s staff may 

attend the following meetings related to 

the transmission planning activities of 

the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM): 

PJM Planning Committee 

December 3, 2015, 9:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. 

(EST) 

PJM Transmission Expansion Advisory 

Committee 

December 3, 2015, 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. 

(EST) 

The above-referenced meetings will 

be held at: PJM Conference and Training 

Center, PJM Interconnection, 2750 

Monroe Boulevard, Audubon, PA 

19403. 

The above-referenced meetings are 

open to stakeholders. 

Further information may be found at 

www.pjm.com. 

The discussions at the meetings 

described above may address matters at 

issue in the following proceedings: 

Docket No. ER14–972, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. ER14–1485, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket Nos. ER13–1957, et al., ISO New 

England, Inc., et. al. 

Docket Nos. ER13–1944, et al., PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C., et al. 

Docket No. ER15–1344, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. ER15–1387, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. and Potomac 

Electric Power Company 

Docket No. ER15–2648, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. ER15–2562, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. ER15–2563, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. EL15–18, Consolidated 

Edison Company of New York, Inc. v. 

PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. EL15–41, Essential Power 

Rock Springs, LLC, et. al. v. PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. ER13–1927, et al., PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C., et al. 

Docket No. ER15–2114, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. and 

Transource West Virginia, LLC 

Docket No. EL15–79, TransSource, LLC 

v. PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. EL15–95, Delaware Public 

Service Commission, et. al., v. PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C., et. al. 

Docket No. EL15–67, Linden VFT, LLC 

v. PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. 

Docket No. EL05–121, PJM 

Interconnection, L.L.C. 

For more information, contact the 

following: 

Jonathan Fernandez, Office of Energy 

Market Regulation, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, (202) 502– 

6604, Jonathan.Fernandez@ferc.gov. 

Alina Halay, Office of Energy Market 

Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, (202) 502–6474, 

Alina.Halay@ferc.gov. 

Dated: November 24, 2015. 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–30400 Filed 11–30–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0753; FRL–9939–57– 

OW] 

Request for Scientific Views on the 

Draft Recommended Aquatic Life 

Ambient Water Quality Criteria for 

Cadmium—2015 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is announcing its draft 

recommended aquatic life water quality 

criteria for cadmium for public 

comment. EPA is updating its national 

recommended ambient water quality 

criteria for cadmium in order to reflect 

the latest scientific information, and 

current EPA policies and methods. 

Following closure of this public 

comment period, EPA will consider 

scientific views from the public on this 

draft document as well as any new data 

or information received. EPA will then 

publish a Federal Register notice 

announcing the availability of the final 

cadmium criteria. Once finalized, EPA’s 

water quality criteria for cadmium will 

provide recommendations to states and 

tribes authorized to establish water 

quality standards under the Clean Water 

Act. In adopting water quality 

standards, states set exposure 

protections for aquatic life; chronic 

exposure to cadmium negatively 

impacts growth, development, behavior, 

reproduction, and immune and 

endocrine systems in aquatic life. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before February 1, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2015–0753, to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or withdrawn. 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. Multimedia 

submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 

accompanied by a written comment. 

The written comment is considered the 

official comment and should include 

discussion of all points you wish to 

make. EPA will generally not consider 

comments or comment 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 http://www2.

epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epadockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mike Elias, Health and Ecological 

Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail 

Code 4304T), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: (202) 566–0120; email address: 

elias.mike@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. How can I get copies of this 

document and other related 

information? 

1. 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 whose 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 EPA–HQ–OW– 

2015–0753 Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. 

NW., Washington, DC. The Public 

Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.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 EPA–HQ–OW–2015– 

0753 Docket is (202) 566–2426. For 

additional information about EPA’s 

public docket, visit EPA Docket Center 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
75098 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 230 / Tuesday, December 1, 2015 / Notices 

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

epahome/dockets.htm. 

II. What are EPA’s recommended water 

quality criteria? 

EPA’s recommended water quality 

criteria are scientifically derived 

numeric values that protect aquatic life 

or human health from the deleterious 

effects of pollutants in ambient water. 

Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act 

(CWA) directs EPA to develop and 

publish and, from time to time, revise 

criteria for protection of aquatic life and 

human health that accurately reflect the 

latest scientific knowledge. Water 

quality criteria developed under section 

304(a) are based solely on data and the 

latest scientific knowledge on the 

relationship between pollutant 

concentrations and environmental and 

human health effects. Section 304(a) 

criteria do not reflect consideration of 

economic impacts or the technological 

feasibility of meeting pollutant 

concentrations in ambient water. 

EPA’s recommended section 304(a) 

criteria provide technical information to 

states and authorized tribes in adopting 

water quality standards (WQS) that 

ultimately provide a basis for assessing 

water body health and controlling 

discharges or releases of pollutants. 

Under the CWA and its implementing 

regulations, states and authorized tribes 

are to adopt water quality criteria to 

protect designated uses (e.g., public 

water supply, aquatic life, recreational 

use, or industrial use). EPA’s 

recommended water quality criteria do 

not substitute for the CWA or 

regulations, nor are they regulations 

themselves. EPA’s recommended 

criteria do not impose legally binding 

requirements. States and authorized 

tribes have the discretion to adopt, 

where appropriate, other scientifically 

defensible water quality criteria that 

differ from these recommendations. 

III. What is cadmium and why is EPA 

concerned about it? 

Cadmium is a relatively rare, 

naturally occurring metal found in 

mineral deposits and distributed 

ubiquitously at low concentrations in 

the environment. Cadmium’s primary 

industrial uses are for the 

manufacturing of batteries, pigments, 

plastic stabilizers, metal coatings, alloys 

and electronics. Recently, cadmium has 

been used in manufacturing 

nanoparticles (quantum dots) for use in 

solar cells and color displays. Cadmium 

is a non-essential metal with no 

biological function in aquatic life. 

Chronic exposure leads to adverse 

effects on growth, reproduction, 

immune and endocrine systems, 

development and behavior in aquatic 

organisms. 

IV. Information on the Draft Aquatic 

Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for 

Cadmium 

EPA prepared an update of the 

chronic aquatic life criteria document 

for cadmium based on the latest 

scientific information and current EPA 

policies and methods, including EPA’s 

Guidelines for Deriving Numerical 

National Water Quality Criteria for the 

Protection of Aquatic Organisms and 

Their Uses (1985) (EPA/R–85–100) and 

Guidelines for Ecological Risk 

Assessment (1998) (EPA/630/R–95/

002F). The draft 2015 updated criteria 

include new data for 70 species and 49 

genera not previously represented. The 

draft freshwater acute criterion was 

derived to be protective of endangered 

species and further lowered to protect 

the commercially and recreationally 

important rainbow trout, consistent 

with procedures described in EPA’s 

current aquatic life criteria guidelines; 

the freshwater acute value is 

approximately the same as the 2001 

acute criterion for dissolved cadmium. 

The draft freshwater chronic criterion is 

slightly higher (i.e., less stringent) 

compared to the 2001 criterion for 

dissolved cadmium; this increase is 

primarily due to the inclusion of new 

data. 

The draft estuarine/marine acute 

criterion for dissolved cadmium is 

slightly more stringent than the 2001 

recommended criterion, which is 

primarily due to the addition of data. 

Draft changes in suggested values 

between 2001 and 2015 can be found in 

Table 1 below. 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF 2001 AND 2015 DRAFT AQUATIC LIFE AWQC FOR CADMIUM

2015 AWQC Update 2001 AWQC 

Acute 

(1-hour, dissolved Cd)c

Chronic 

(4-day, dissolved Cd) 

Acute 

(1-day, dissolved Cd) 

Chronic 

(4-day, dissolved Cd) 

Freshwater (Total Hardness = 

100 mg/L as CaCO3) a.

2.1 μg/L b .......................... 0.73 μg/L .......................... 2.0 μg/L b .......................... 0.25 μg/L. 

Estuarine/marine .................... 35 μg/L ............................. 8.3 μg/L ............................ 40 μg/L ............................. 8.8 μg/L. 

aFreshwater acute and chronic criteria are hardness-dependent and were normalized to a hardness of 100 mg/L as CaCO3 to allow the presentation of representative criteria values. b Lowered to protect the commercially and recreationally important species (rainbow trout), as per the 1985 Guidelines, Stephen et al. (1985). 

cThe duration of the 2015 acute criteria was changed to 1-hour to reflect the 1985 Guidelines-based recommended acute duration. 

EPA will consider the public 

comments, revise the document as 

necessary, and issue a final updated 

cadmium criteria document. This draft 

criteria document does not represent 

and should not be construed to 

represent any final EPA policy, 

viewpoint, or determination. 

V. What is the relationship between the 

draft chronic water quality criterion 

and your state or tribal water quality 

standards? 

As part of the WQS triennial review 

process defined in section 303(c)(1) of 

the CWA, the states and authorized 

tribes are responsible for maintaining 

and revising WQS. Standards consist of 

designated uses, water quality criteria to 

protect those uses, a policy for 

antidegradation, and may include 

general policies for application and 

implementation. Section 303(c)(1) 

requires states and authorized tribes to 

review and modify, if appropriate, their 

WQS at least once every three years. 

States and authorized tribes must 

adopt water quality criteria that protect 

designated uses. Protective criteria are 

based on a sound scientific rationale 

and contain sufficient parameters or 

constituents to protect the designated 

uses. Criteria may be expressed in either 

narrative or numeric form. States and 

authorized tribes have four options 

when adopting water quality criteria for 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 230 / Tuesday, December 1, 2015 / Notices 75099 

which EPA has published section 304(a) 

criteria. They can: 

(1) Establish numerical values based 

on recommended section 304(a) criteria; 

(2) Adopt section 304(a) criteria 

modified to reflect site-specific 

conditions; 

(3) Adopt criteria derived using other 

scientifically defensible methods; or 

(4) Establish narrative criteria where 

numeric criteria cannot be established 

or to supplement numerical criteria (40 

CFR 131.11(b)). 

EPA’s regulation at 40 CFR 131.20(a) 

states that if a state does not adopt new 

or revised criteria parameters for which 

EPA has published new or updated 

recommendations, then the state shall 

provide an explanation when it submits 

the results of its triennial review to the 

Regional Administrator consistent with 

CWA section 303(c)(1). The 

recommendations in the draft cadmium 

criteria document may change based on 

scientific views shared in response to 

this notice. Upon finalization, the 

updated cadmium criteria would 

supersede EPA’s previous 304(a) criteria 

for cadmium. Consistent with 40 CFR 

131.21, new or revised water quality 

criteria adopted into law or regulation 

by states and authorized tribes on or 

after May 30, 2 000 are applicable water 

quality standards for CWA purposes 

only after EPA approval. 

VI. Solicitation of Scientific Views 

EPA is soliciting additional scientific 

views, data, and information regarding 

the science and technical approach used 

by the Agency in the derivation of this 

draft criteria for cadmium. The Agency 

is also interested in obtaining 

information regarding new toxicity tests 

on Hyalella azteca (amphipod); latent 

acute effects of cadmium following 

short exposures; and new estuarine 

marine chronic toxicity tests. 

VII. Additional Information 

EPA conducted a contractor-led and 

independent external peer review of the 

draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water 

Quality Criteria for Cadmium document 

in October 2015. EPA will make the 

external peer review comments and 

Agency responses to these comments 

available in the docket with the revised 

draft cadmium criteria document at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Dated: November 24, 2015. 

Joel Beauvais, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office 

of Water. 

[FR Doc. 2015–30493 Filed 11–30–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0667; FRL–9939–56– 

OW] 

Extension of Public Comment Period 

for the National Wetland Condition 

Assessment 2011 Draft Report 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice; extension of comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is extending the comment 

period for the draft report on the 

National Wetland Condition Assessment 

(NWCA 2011). In response to 

stakeholder requests, the comment 

period will be extended for an 

additional 30 days, from December 7, 

2015 until January 6, 2016. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 6, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2015–0667, to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or withdrawn. 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. Multimedia 

submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 

accompanied by a written comment. 

The written comment is considered the 

official comment and should include 

discussion of all points you wish to 

make. EPA will generally not consider 

comments or comment 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 http://www2.

epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epadockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregg Serenbetz, Wetlands Division, 

Office of Water (4502T), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone number: 202–566–1253; 

email address: serenbetz.gregg@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

November 5, 2015, EPA announced the 

availability of the draft report, National 

Wetland Condition Assessment 2011: A 

Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s 

Wetlands, and opened a 30-day public 

review and comment period to seek 

comment on the information contained 

in the draft report, the reasonableness of 

the conclusions, and the clarity with 

which the information is presented. 

The original deadline to submit 

comments on the draft report was 

December 7, 2015. This action extends 

the comment period for 30 days. Written 

comments must now be received by 

January 6, 2016. The draft report and 

other supporting materials may also be 

viewed and downloaded from EPA’s 

Web site at http://www2.epa.gov/

national-aquatic-resource-surveys/

national-wetland-condition-assessment. 

Dated: November 24, 2015. 

Benita Best-Wong, 

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and 

Watersheds. 

[FR Doc. 2015–30505 Filed 11–30–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9939–40–OAR] 

Stratospheric Protection Division; 

Teleconference on the Clean Air Act 

Section 608 Technician Certification 

Program Test Bank 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of Section 608 

Technician Certification Program Test 

Bank teleconference. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Stratospheric Protection Division 

will hold a public teleconference on 

December 9, 2015 on the Section 608 

Technician Certification Test Bank. The 

teleconference will be an opportunity 

for stakeholders and members of the 

public to provide feedback on updating 

Test Bank questions. For further 

information regarding the 

teleconference, please contact Robert 

Burchard at the number and email 

below. 

DATES: The Stratospheric Protection 

Division will hold a public 

teleconference on December 9, 2015 

from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Standard 

Time. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: Under the authority of 

Section 608 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

of 1990, as amended, the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) established a 

technician certification program for 

persons (‘‘technicians’’) who perform 

maintenance, service, repair, or disposal 

activities on appliances (with some 

enumerated exceptions) that could be 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES