50434 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 147 / Monday, August 1, 2016 / Proposed Rules 

tribe has demonstrated that a tribe has 

jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian 

country, the proposed rule does not 

have tribal implications and will not 

impose substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law as 

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 

FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 

Incorporation by reference, 

Intergovernmental relations, Lead, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: July 19, 2016. 

Shaun L. McGrath, 

Regional Administrator, Region 8. 

[FR Doc. 2016–18153 Filed 7–29–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 122 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2016–0376; FRL–9950–07– 

OW] 

Public Notification for Combined 

Sewer Overflows in the Great Lakes; 

Public Listening Session; Request for 

Stakeholder Input 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Request for stakeholder input. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is announcing plans to 

hold a public ‘‘listening session’’ on 

September 14, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois 

to obtain information from the public to 

help inform development of a new 

regulation establishing public 

notification requirements for combined 

sewer overflow discharges in the Great 

Lakes. This rulemaking is in response to 

new requirements included with the 

2016 appropriations. EPA is requesting 

input from the public regarding 

potential approaches for these new 

public notification requirements for 

combined sewer overflow discharges in 

the Great Lakes through participation in 

the public listening session and by 

submitting information in writing at the 

listening sessions or to the agency 

directly through email, fax, or mail. The 

agency is undertaking this outreach to 

help it shape a future regulatory 

proposal intended to provide the 

affected public with information that 

will help better protect public health. 

DATES: The session will be held on 

September 14, 2016. Comments must be 

received on or before September 23, 

2016. 

ADDRESSES: The public listening session 

will be held at the Environmental 

Protection Agency Region 5 Office (Lake 

Erie Room, Floor 12), 77 West Jackson 

Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604–3507. 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2016– 

0378, 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/commentingepa-dockets. For details on the public 

listening session see SUPPLEMENTAL

INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa 

Biddle, Water Permits Division, Office 

of Water (4203M), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone number: 202–566–0350; fax 

number: 202–564–6392; email address: 

biddle.lisa@epa.gov. Also see the 

following Web site for additional 

information regarding the rulemaking: 

https://www.epa.gov/npdes/combinedsewer-overflows-great-lakes-basin. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Public Listening Session 

EPA will hold an informal public 

listening session to afford an 

opportunity for the public to provide 

input on a regulatory action that EPA is 

considering to establish public 

notification requirements for combined 

sewer overflow discharges in the Great 

Lakes. Brief oral comments (three 

minutes or less) and written statements 

will be accepted at the session. The 

listening session will be held on 

September 14, 2016 at 10 a.m. at the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Region 5 Office (Lake Erie Room, Floor 

12), 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

Chicago, IL 60604–3507. The listening 

session will continue until all speakers 

in attendance have had a chance to 

provide comments or 3 p.m., whichever 

comes first. If time allows after all 

comments have been heard, a broader 

discussion may take place regarding 

topics identified under Section III, Input 

on Public Notice Considerations. 

B. Additional Information and Public 

Meeting Registration 

Prior to the public meeting date, EPA 

will post any relevant materials to the 

following Web site: https://

www.epa.gov/npdes/combined-seweroverflows-great-lakes-basin. Information 

posted to the Web site will include any 

handouts that may be provided at the 

meeting as well as a web link that 

participants may use to register for the 

public meeting in advance. Advanced 

registration is not required but is 

requested so that EPA can ensure there 

is sufficient space and time allotted for 

those who wish to participate. 

II. Background 

The Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) will be proposing a rule to 

establish public notification 

requirements for combined sewer 

overflows (CSOs) to the Great Lakes, as 

required by Section 425 of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 

2016 (Pub. L. 114–113) (hereafter, 

referred to as ‘‘Section 425’’). Section 

425 requires EPA to work with the Great 

Lakes states to create these public notice 

requirements, and EPA is also seeking 

public input in the development of 

these requirements. 

Combined Sewer Overflows From 

Municipal Wastewater Collection 

Systems 

Municipal wastewater collection 

systems collect domestic sewage and 

other wastewater from homes and other 

buildings and convey it to wastewater 

treatment plants for proper treatment 

and disposal. The collection and 

treatment of municipal sewage and 

wastewater is vital to the public health 

in our cities and towns. In the United 

States, municipalities historically have 

used two major types of sewer systems. 

Many municipalities collect domestic 

sewage in a sanitary sewer system and 

convey the sewage to a publicly owned 

treatment works (POTW) for treatment. 

These municipalities also have separate 

sewer systems to collect surface 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 147 / Monday, August 1, 2016 / Proposed Rules 50435 

1Section 425 specifies in Section 425(a)(4) that 

the term ‘‘Great Lakes’’ means ‘‘any of the waters 

as defined in the Section 118(a)(3) of the Federal 

Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1292).’’ 

This, therefore, includes Section 118(a)(3)(B), 

which defines ‘‘Great Lakes’’ as ‘‘Lake Ontario, Lake 

Erie, Lake Huron (including Lake St. Clair), Lake 

Michigan, and Lake Superior, and the connecting 

channels (Saint Mary’s River, Saint Clair River, 

Detroit River, Niagara River, and Saint Lawrence 

River to the Canadian Border);’’ and Section 

118(a)(3)(C), which defines ‘‘Great Lakes System’’ as 

‘‘all the streams, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of 

water within the drainage basin of the Great Lakes.’’ 

Collectively, EPA is referring to the Great Lakes and 

the Great Lakes System as the ‘‘Great Lakes Basin.’’ 

drainage and stormwater, known as 

‘‘municipal separate storm sewer 

systems’’ or ‘‘MS4s.’’ Separate sanitary 

sewer systems are not designed to 

collect large amounts of runoff from rain 

or snowmelt or provide widespread 

surface drainage, although they 

typically are built with some allowance 

for higher flows that occur during storm 

events to handle minor amounts of 

stormwater or groundwater that enter 

the system. 

The other type, combined sewer 

systems, is designed to collect both 

sanitary sewage and stormwater runoff 

in a single-pipe system. This type of 

sewer system provides the primary 

means of surface drainage carrying rain 

and snowmelt away from streets, roofs, 

and other impervious surfaces. 

Combined sewer systems were among 

the earliest sewer systems constructed 

in the United States and were built until 

the first part of the 20th century. 

A combined sewer system collects 

rainwater and snowmelt runoff, 

domestic sewage, and industrial 

wastewater into one pipe. Under normal 

conditions, it transports all of the 

wastewater it collects to a sewage 

treatment plant for treatment. The 

volume of wastewater can sometimes 

exceed the capacity of the combined 

sewer system or treatment plant (e.g., 

during heavy rainfall events or 

snowmelt). When this occurs, these 

systems are designed to divert some of 

the combined sewage prior to reaching 

the treatment plant and to discharge 

untreated or partially treated stormwater 

and wastewater directly to nearby 

streams, rivers and other water bodies. 

These discharge events are referred to as 

combined sewer overflows or CSOs. 

CSOs contain untreated or partially 

treated human and industrial waste, 

toxic materials, and debris as well as 

stormwater. CSO events can be 

detrimental to human health and the 

environment because they introduce 

pathogens, bacteria, and other 

pollutants to receiving waters, causing 

beach closures, contaminating drinking 

water supplies and impairing water 

quality. Fish and other aquatic 

populations also can be impacted by the 

depleted oxygen levels that can be 

caused by CSOs. 

Combined sewer systems serve a total 

population of about 40 million people 

nationwide. Most communities with 

CSOs are located in the Northeast and 

Great Lakes regions, particularly in 

Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New 

York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West 

Virginia. Although large cities like New 

York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta have 

combined sewer systems, most 

communities with combined sewer 

systems have fewer than 10,000 people. 

Most combined sewer systems have 

multiple CSO discharge locations or 

outfalls, with some larger communities 

with combined systems having 

hundreds of CSO outfalls. 

Combined Sewer Overflows in the Great 

Lakes 

There are 184 communities with 

combined sewer systems serving 

communities in the United States 

portion of the Great Lakes and the Great 

Lakes System (‘‘Great Lakes Basin’’).1

This includes communities in the states 

of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and 

Wisconsin. EPA recently summarized 

available information on the occurrence 

and volume of discharges from CSOs in 

the Great Lakes Basin during 2014 (see 

Report to Congress: Combined Sewers in 

the Great Lakes (EPA 833–R–16–006)). 

As summarized in this report, seven 

states reported 1,482 events where 

untreated combined stormwater, 

industrial wastewater, and domestic 

sewage was discharged from CSOs in 

the Great Lakes Basin in 2014 and an 

additional 187 CSO events where 

partially treated wastewater were 

discharged. Additional information 

regarding CSOs in the Great Lakes 

Basin, including the Report to Congress, 

is available at https://www.epa.gov/

npdes/combined-sewer-overflows-greatlakes-basin. 

Clean Water Act Regulations That 

Apply to Combined Sewer Systems 

The Clean Water Act establishes 

national goals and requirements for 

maintaining and restoring the nation’s 

waters. CSO discharges are subject to 

the technology-based and water qualitybased requirements of the Clean Water 

Act under National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) permits. 

Technology-based effluent limitations 

for CSO discharges are based on the 

application of best available technology 

economically achievable (BAT) for toxic 

and nonconventional pollutants and 

best conventional pollutant control 

technology (BCT) for conventional 

pollutants. BAT and BCT effluent 

limitations for CSO discharges are 

determined based on ‘‘best professional 

judgment.’’ CSO discharges are not 

subject to permit limits based on 

secondary treatment requirements that 

are applicable to POTWs. Permits 

authorizing discharges from CSO 

outfalls must include more stringent 

water quality-based requirements, when 

necessary, to meet water quality 

standards (WQS). 

CSO Control Policy 

EPA issued the CSO Control Policy on 

April 19, 1994 (59 FR 18688). The CSO 

Control Policy ‘‘represents a 

comprehensive national strategy to 

ensure that municipalities, permitting 

authorities, WQS authorities, and the 

public engage in a comprehensive and 

coordinative effort to achieve costeffective CSO controls that ultimately 

meet appropriate health and 

environmental objectives.’’ The policy 

assigns primary responsibility for 

implementation and enforcement to 

NPDES permitting authorities and WQS 

authorities. 

The policy also established objectives 

for CSO communities to: 1) Implement 

the Nine Minimum Controls and submit 

documentation on their 

implementation; and 2) Develop and 

implement a long-term CSO control 

plan (LTCP) to ultimately result in 

compliance with the Clean Water Act, 

including water quality-based 

requirements. In describing NPDES 

permit requirements for CSO discharges, 

the CSO Control Policy states that the 

BAT/BCT technology-based effluent 

limitations ‘‘at a minimum include[s] 

the nine minimum controls.’’ 59 FR 

18696. One of the nine minimum 

controls is ‘‘Public notification to ensure 

that the public receives adequate 

notification of CSO occurrences and 

CSO impacts.’’ At a minimum, the 

technology based effluent limitations 

applicable to CSOs include the nine 

minimum controls. 

Wet Weather Water Quality Act 

In December 2000, as part of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act for 

Fiscal Year 2001 (Pub. L. 106–554), 

Congress amended the Clean Water Act 

by adding Section 402(q). This 

amendment is commonly referred to as 

the ‘‘Wet Weather Water Quality Act of 

2000.’’ It requires that each permit, 

order, or decree issued pursuant to the 

Clean Water Act after the date of 

enactment for a discharge from a 

municipal combined sewer system shall 

conform to the CSO Control Policy. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
50436 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 147 / Monday, August 1, 2016 / Proposed Rules 

Developing New Requirements for 

Public Notice of CSO Events in the Great 

Lakes Basin 

Section 425 requires EPA to work 

with the Great Lakes states to create 

public notice requirements for 

combined sewer overflow discharges to 

the Great Lakes. Section 425(b)(2) 

provides that the notice requirements 

are to address the method of the notice, 

the contents of the notice, and 

requirements for public availability of 

the notice. Section 425(b)(3)(A) provides 

that at a minimum, the contents of the 

notice are to include the dates and times 

of the applicable discharge; the volume 

of the discharge; and a description of 

any public access areas impacted by the 

discharge. Section 425(b)(3)(B) provides 

that the minimum content requirements 

are to be consistent for all affected 

States. 

Section 425(b)(4)(A) calls for followup notice requirements that provide a 

description of each applicable 

discharge; the cause of the discharge; 

and plans to prevent a reoccurrence of 

a combined sewer overflow discharge to 

the Great Lakes consistent with section 

402 of the Federal Water Pollution 

Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) or an 

administrative order or consent decree 

under such Act. Section 425(b)(4)(B) 

provides for annual publication 

requirements that list each treatment 

works from which the Administrator or 

the affected State receive a follow-up 

notice. 

Section 425(b)(5) requires that the 

notice and publication requirements 

described in Section 425 shall be 

implemented by not later than 

December 18, 2017. However, the 

Administrator of the EPA may extend 

the implementation deadline for 

individual communities if the 

Administrator determines the 

community needs additional time to 

comply in order to avoid undue 

economic hardship. Finally, Section 

425(b)(6) clarifies that ‘‘Nothing in this 

subsection prohibits an affected State 

from establishing a State notice 

requirement in the event of a discharge 

that is more stringent than the 

requirements described in this 

subsection.’’ 

EPA is working with the Great Lakes 

States to identify and evaluate options 

for implementing Section 425. EPA has 

also met with various stakeholder 

groups that represent municipalities, 

industry practitioners, and 

environmental organizations to hear 

each of their perspectives. EPA will 

continue to meet with interested 

stakeholder groups throughout the 

rulemaking process. In addition, the 

public ‘‘listening session’’ on September 

14, 2016 will provide stakeholders and 

other members of the public with an 

opportunity to share their views 

regarding potential new public 

notification requirements for CSOs in 

the Great Lakes Basin. 

III. Input on Public Notice 

Considerations 

EPA and the Great Lake States will 

consider several options for creating 

public notice requirements for CSOs in 

the Great Lakes Basin under Section 

425. In general, EPA and the Great Lake 

States are requesting comment on public 

notice requirements that provide for: 

• Immediate notice of CSO discharge 

events to local public health officials 

and drinking water facilities. This 

notice is intended to alert public health 

officials and drinking water facilities to 

specific CSO discharges and support the 

development of appropriate responses 

to the discharges. 

• Immediate notice of CSO discharge 

events to the public via text alerts, Web 

site notice, or other appropriate means. 

This notice is intended to alert the 

public to CSO discharges which may 

allow them to take steps to reduce their 

potential exposure to pathogens 

associated with the discharges. 

• Immediate notice of CSO discharge 

events to the NPDES permitting 

authority. NPDES permits establish 

requirements to report CSO discharges 

to the NPDES authority. 40 CFR 

122.41(l)(6) provides minimum 

requirements to report certain CSO 

discharges to the NPDES authority 

within 24 hours. 

• Annual CSO notice. The annual 

CSO notice is intended to provide the 

public with a description of the current 

performance of their system as well as 

progress being made to reduce CSOs. 

EPA solicits information from the 

public regarding any aspect of Section 

425 of the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act of 2016, including: 

(1) What means of receiving 

immediate notice of CSO discharge 

events is most helpful to the public? 

(2) What should ‘‘immediate’’ mean in 

this context? How soon after a CSO 

discharge event commences should the 

public and local public health agencies 

be given notice? 

(3) What type of information would be 

most appropriate for immediate notices? 

In addition to the statutorily required 

elements of (i) the dates and times of the 

applicable discharge; (ii) the volume of 

the discharge; and (iii) a description of 

any public access areas impacted by the 

discharge; what other pieces of 

information would be beneficial for the 

public, local public health agencies, 

public drinking water providers, etc. to 

receive as part of the public notice? 

(4) What role should local public 

health agencies have in identifying 

immediate notification requirements? 

(5) How should annual notices be 

made available to the public? 

(6) What information should be 

included in annual notices and who 

should prepare the annual notices? 

(7) Do EPA’s requirements to notify 

NPDES permitting authorities under 40 

CFR 122.41(l)(4), (6) and (7) have a role 

in the new public notice requirements? 

(8) What regulatory framework is most 

appropriate for immediate notification 

requirements? For annual notices? 

In addition to participation in the 

meeting, members of the public may 

share input through written comments 

to the public docket (see ADDRESSES). 

Dated: July 26, 2016. 

Andrew D. Sawyers, 

Director, Office of Wastewater Management. 

[FR Doc. 2016–18133 Filed 7–29–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 160225147–6147–01] 

RIN 0648–BF83 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone off Alaska; Modifications to 

Recordkeeping and Reporting 

Requirements 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a proposed rule 

that would modify the recordkeeping 

and reporting requirements for the 

groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of 

Alaska and the Bering Sea/Aleutian 

Islands management areas. This 

proposed rule is organized into four 

actions. Under the first action, NMFS 

would implement a requirement for 

tender vessel operators to use the 

applications software ‘‘tLandings’’ to 

prepare electronic landing reports. This 

action is necessary to improve 

timeliness and reliability of landing 

reports for catcher vessels delivering to 

tender vessels for use in catch 

accounting and inseason management. 

Under the second action, NMFS would 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS