32208 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 113 / Friday, June 12, 1998 / Notices

provided to previous lease sales for the

OCS to the proposed sales of 1997 to

2002.

ERP No. D–NOA–L90027–AK Rating

*LO, Kackhemak Bay National Estuarine

Research Reserve (KBNERR)

Management Plan, Operations and

Development, Southcentral, AK.

Summary: EPA Region 10 used a

screening tool to conduct a limited

review of this action. Based upon the

screen, EPA does not foresee having any

environmental objections to the

proposed project. Therefore, EPA will

not be conducting a detailed review.

Final EISs

ERP No. F–AFS–K65201–CA Liberty

Forest Health Improvement Project,

Implementation, Tahoe National

Forests, Sierraville Ranger District,

Sierra and Nevada Counties, CA.

Summary: Review of the Final EIS

was not deemed necessary. No formal

comment letter was sent to the

preparing agency.

ERP No. F–FHW–E40751–NC US 70

Goldsboro Bypass Construction, US 70

in the vicinity of NC–1237 to US 70 in

the vicinity of NC–1731, Funding and

COE Permits, Wayne County, NC.

Summary: EPA continues to be

concerned regarding impact related to

noise, relocations, and flood plain

impacts.

ERP No. F–FHW–K50011–CA

Carquinez Bridge Project, Replace/

Retrofit the westbound I–80 between

Cummings Skyway and CA–29,

Funding, US Coast Guard and COE

Section 10 and 404 Funding, Contra

Costa and Solano Counties, CA.

Summary: Review of the Final EIS

was not deemed necessary. No formal

comment letter was sent to the

preparing agency.

Dated: June 9, 1998.

Ken Mittelholtz,

Environmental Specialist, NEPA Compliance

Division, Office of Federal Activities.

[FR Doc. 98–15759 Filed 6–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6110–8]

Proposed Policies Affecting the

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund

(DWSRF) Program and Announcement

of Stakeholder Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to

issue two policy decisions for the

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund

(DWSRF) program. The first would

allow eligible privately-owned public

water systems to be reimbursed for costs

incurred after a State notifies the system

that it will provide a loan, but before the

system actually receives the loan. This

will allow privately-owned systems to

move ahead with construction to take

advantage of construction seasons. The

second policy would allow States to

make loans for projects that are needed

to solve public health problems for

residents currently served by

contaminated ground water wells. This

policy would expand the universe of

eligible loan recipients by allowing

loans to an entity that is not currently

a public water system, but which will

become a public water system upon

completion of the project.

EPA has also developed a proposed

strategy to be used, if necessary, for

implementing withholding of DWSRF

funds in cases where States fail to meet

statutory requirements for ensuring

capacity of new systems commencing

operation after October 1, 1999.

EPA is soliciting comments on these

proposals until July 19, 1998. Comments

in writing should be directed to

Veronica Blette, Implementation and

Assistance Division, Office of Ground

Water and Drinking Water, U.S. EPA,

(4606), 401 M Street SW, Washington,

D.C. 20460, by fax to (202) 260–4656 or

by E-mail to blette.veronica@epa.gov.

EPA is also holding a stakeholders

meeting on July 13, 1998 in Washington,

D.C. to discuss the proposals, and to

provide an opportunity for participants

to comment, ask questions and express

their views.

Background

The DWSRF program was established

by the reauthorized Safe Drinking Water

Act (SDWA) (Pub. L. 104–182), signed

by President Clinton on August 6, 1996.

The SDWA Amendments authorizes

$9.6 billion for the DWSRF program and

related programs from fiscal year 1994

through fiscal year 2003. EPA’s budget

included $1.275 billion for the DWSRF

program and related programs in FY

1997 and $725 million in FY 1998. Final

Guidelines [EPA 816–R–97–005] for the

program were released on February 28,

1997. Funding provided by EPA from

the national DWSRF appropriation is

used by States to establish DWSRF loan

programs. States can also use part of the

funds to support State and local

programs related to source water

protection, operator certification and

drinking water programs.

State DWSRF programs can make

loans to both privately-owned and

publicly-owned community water

systems and not-for-profit noncommunity water systems. A

community water system is a system

that serves at least 15 service

connections used by year-round

residents of the area served by the

system; or regularly serves at least 25

year-round residents. A non-community

water system is a public water system

that is not a community water system.

States have the flexibility to tailor

DWSRF programs to address local needs

as long as the programs meet minimum

Federal requirements. States must

develop a priority system which will be

used to prioritize use of DWSRF funds.

Funding priority must be based on three

criteria: projects needed to protect

public health, achieve or maintain

SDWA compliance, and to help those

systems with the greatest economic

need. States are required annually to

develop, and subject to public review, a

comprehensive priority list of projects

that have applied for funding and a

fundable list, which is a list of the

highest ranked projects which are

expected to receive funding in that year.

Proposals

(1) The Safe Drinking Water Act

(SDWA) contains a provision which

allows State DWSRF programs to

provide loans to municipally owned

systems to refinance debt incurred for

eligible projects. Specifically, section

1452(f)(2) allows States ‘‘to buy or

refinance the debt obligation of a

municipality, intermunicipal or

interstate agency within the State * * *

in any case in which a debt obligation

is incurred after July 1, 1993.’’ However,

the SDWA does not have a similar

provision for privately-owned facilities.

A number of States have expressed

concern that a strict interpretation of

this refinance provision could delay

construction of some privately-owned

projects that are needed to solve public

health problems. States would like the

option of reimbursing eligible privatelyowned systems for debt or costs

incurred by the system after it receives

notification from the State that the State

intends to offer it a loan in the near

future. Costs incurred after the

notification, but before the loan was

made, would be eligible for

reimbursement. This would encourage

systems to move ahead with

construction in order to, for example,

take advantage of seasonal construction

cycles.

EPA believes that projects which have

been approved for funding from the

DWSRF, but move ahead with

construction prior to the actual award,

should be able to include these short
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 113 / Friday, June 12, 1998 / Notices 32209

term construction costs in the DWSRF

loan under certain conditions. In these

cases, where a privately-owned project

incurs a cost prior to receiving a loan,

even if by means of a short term debt,

that debt will be treated as a previously

incurred cost that is eligible for loan

assistance.

The Agency is proposing that any

project that has been given approval,

authorization to proceed, or any similar

action by the State prior to the actual

project construction will be eligible for

reimbursement of construction expenses

incurred after such State action,

provided that the project meets all of the

requirements of the DWSRF program.

Such a project must be on the State’s

fundable list, developed using a priority

system approved by EPA. A project on

the comprehensive list which is funded

when a project on the fundable list is

bypassed using the State’s bypass

procedures may also be eligible for

reimbursement of costs incurred after

the system has been informed that it

will receive funding. These

requirements would apply regardless of

whether the system financed costs using

a short-term debt instrument or internal

capital.

Projects receiving reimbursement of

incurred costs would be subject to all

other Federal requirements required of a

recipient of Federal funds, including an

environmental review which must

consider the impacts of the project

based on the preconstructing site

conditions. Failure to comply with the

State’s environmental review process

cannot be justified on the grounds that

costs had already been incurred,

environmental impacts had already

been caused, or contractual obligations

had been made prior to the binding

commitment.

(2) Section 1452(a)(2) of the SDWA

Amendments states that ‘‘financial

assistance under this section may be

used by a public water system only for

expenditures * * * which * * * will

facilitate compliance with national

primary drinking water regulations

* * *.’’ The Act defines a public water

system (PWS) as a ‘‘system * * * (of)

pipes or other constructed

conveyances’’ which regularly serves at

least 15 service connections or at least

25 individuals. Several States have

indicated that a strict interpretation of

this provision would prevent them from

providing funds to an entity (e.g.,

homeowners’ association) that has a

public health problem and is not

currently a PWS, but which would

become a PWS upon construction of a

piped system. States want the flexibility

to provide DWSRF funds to these

entities in order to solve public health

problems posed by contaminated wells.

While the SDWA does allow States to

lend funds to an existing PWS to extend

lines to solve these types of public

health problems, not all of these

situations have an existing PWS nearby

that is willing or able to help.

EPA believes that the statute permits

the DWSRF to create a federally

regulated PWS in limited circumstances

to solve the public health problems

intended to be addressed by the statute;

for example, health risks faced by

homeowners currently served by

individual wells. The conditions which

would have to be met are: (a) upon

completion of the project, the entity

responsible for the loan must meet the

definition of a Federal community

public water system; (b) funding is

limited to projects on the State’s

fundable list where an actual public

health problem with serious risks exists;

(c) the project must be limited in scope

to the specific geographic area affected

by contamination; (d) the project can

only be sized to accomodate a

reasonable amount of growth expected

over the life of the facility—growth

cannot be a substantial portion of the

project; and (e) the project must meet

the same technical, financial and

managerial capacity requirements that

the SDWA requires of all DWSRF

assistance recipients.

(3) Section 1452(a)(1)(g) of the SDWA

Amendments requires the Administrator

to withhold 20% of a State’s DWSRF

allotment unless the State has the legal

authority or other means to ensure that

all new community water systems and

new nontransient, noncommunity water

systems commencing operation after

October 1, 1999 demonstrate technical,

managerial, and financial capacity with

respect to each drinking water

regulation in effect, or likely to be in

effect, on the date operations commence

(section 1420(a)). EPA proposes that for

award of FY99 funds, a State will

receive 100% of its allotment if it has

the statutory authority and has

completed or is in the process of a

scheduled administrative rulemaking or

equivalent approach with the realistic

expectation that the State will have a

fully functional program as of 10/1/99.

States failing to meet this will have 20%

of their allotment held back. If a State

subsequently meets these requirements

by 9/30/99 the held back funds will be

released. If the State fails to meet the

requirements by 9/30/99 the funds will

be permanently withheld and reallotted

to other States.

For FY2000 funds and beyond, EPA is

proposing to withhold and reallot 20%

of the State’s allotment if the State fails

to demonstrate that it has, and is

implementing, a fully functional

program to ensure that new systems

have capacity. The assessment will be

performed as part of the capitalization

grant application review, but will be

based on the status of the State program

as of October 1 of the fiscal year that the

funds were allotted to the State.

DATES: A Stakeholder meeting to

address these proposals and other

implementation issues associated with

the DWSRF program has been

scheduled for July 13, 1998 from 1 p.m.

to 5 p.m. The meeting will be held at the

Washington Information Center (WIC) at

EPA Headquarters, 401 M Street SW,

Washington, DC 20460.

To register for the meeting, contact

the Safe Drinking Water Act Hotline,

telephone (800) 426–4791. Interested

parties who cannot attend the meeting

may participate via conference call and

should register with the Safe Drinking

Water Hotline by July 6, 1998 to

guarantee availability.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

Safe Drinking Water Act Hotline,

telephone (800) 426–4791. Information

about the DWSRF program, including

program guidelines and State contact

information, is available from the EPA

Office of Ground Water and Drinking

Water Web Site at the URL address

‘‘http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW.’’

Dated: June 5, 1998.

Cynthia C. Dougherty,

Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking

Water.

[FR Doc. 98–15738 Filed 6–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[OPP–00245; FRL–5798–1]

EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening

and Testing Advisory Committee;

Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the final

meeting of the Endocrine Disruptor

Screening and Testing Advisory

Committee (EDSTAC), a committee

established under the provisions of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act

(FACA) to advise EPA on developing a

strategy to screen and test chemicals,

including pesticides, for their potential

to disrupt endocrine functions in

humans, fish, and other wildlife.

DATES: The final meeting of the EDSTAC

will be held on Wednesday, June 17,

1998, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and