Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 240 / Friday, December 13, 2024 / Proposed Rules 100929 

identified as RC may be deviated from using 

accepted methods in accordance with the 

operator’s maintenance or inspection 

program without obtaining approval of an 

AMOC, provided the instructions identified 

as RC can be done and the airplane can be 

put back in an airworthy condition. Any 

substitutions or changes to instructions 

identified as RC require approval of an 

AMOC. 

(k) Additional Information 

For more information about this AD, 

contact Dan Rodina, Aviation Safety 

Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 

410, Westbury, NY 11590; phone: 206–231– 

3225; email: Dan.Rodina@faa.gov. 

(l) Material Incorporated by Reference 

(1) The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference of 

the material listed in this paragraph under 5 

U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. 

(2) You must use this material as 

applicable to do the actions required by this 

AD, unless this AD specifies otherwise. 

(i) European Union Aviation Safety Agency 

(EASA) AD 2024–0092R1, dated July 10, 

2024. 

(ii) [Reserved]. 

(3) For EASA material identified in this 

AD, contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 

50668 Cologne, Germany; telephone +49 221 

8999 000; email ADs@easa.europa.eu; 

website easa.europa.eu. You may find this 

material on the EASA website at 

ad.easa.europa.eu. 

(4) You may view this material at the FAA, 

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Safety Branch, 2200 South 216th St., Des 

Moines, WA. For information on the 

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ibr-locations or email fr.inspection@nara.gov. 

Issued on December 9, 2024. 

Peter A. White, 

Deputy Director, Integrated Certificate 

Management Division, Aircraft Certification 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29356 Filed 12–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 122 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2021–0169; FRL–12219–01– 

OW] 

Modification to 2022 National Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) Construction General Permit 

(CGP) for Stormwater Discharges From 

Construction Activities 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notification; request for public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing a narrow 

modification to its 2022 CGP to expand 

the list of areas eligible for coverage to 

include construction projects in Lands 

of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction. This 

modification is necessary because the 

EPA is the permitting authority in Lands 

of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction, and 

when the CGP was issued on February 

17, 2022, the permit did not specifically 

provide eligibility for all of these areas. 

The proposed modification would also 

clarify the CGP requirements that apply 

to projects that discharge to receiving 

waters within Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction. The EPA seeks 

comment only on the proposed permit 

revisions and the accompanying fact 

sheet. The fact sheet and proposed 

permit modification can be found at 

https://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwaterdischarges-construction-activities. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

permit modification must be received 

on or before January 13, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2021–0169, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, 

Office of Water, Docket, Mail Code 

28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: EPA 

Docket Center, WJC West Building, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket 

Center’s hours of operations are 8:30 

a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday—Friday 

(except Federal Holidays). 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the Docket ID No. for this 

rulemaking. Comments received may be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including 

personal information provided. For 

detailed instructions on sending 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

‘‘Public Participation’’ heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg 

Schaner, EPA Headquarters, Office of 

Water, Office of Wastewater 

Management at (202) 564–0721 or by 

email at schaner.greg@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

section is organized as follows: 

Table of Contents 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

B. Public Participation 

C. Finalizing the Proposed Permit 

Modification 

D. Who are the EPA Regional Contacts for 

This Permit? 

II. Permit Modification Background 

A. Permitting of Stormwater Discharges 

From Construction Activities 

B. Background on Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction 

C. Why is a Modification to the 2022 CGP 

Necessary 

III. Summary of Proposed Permit Changes 

IV. Public Notice of Clean Water Act Section 

401 Certification for Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction 

V. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

VI. 2022 CGP Incremental Cost Analysis 

VII. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 14094: Modernizing Regulatory 

Review 

VIII. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions 

To Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low-Income 

Populations and Executive Order 14096: 

Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment 

to Environmental Justice for All 

IX. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and 

Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

X. Executive Order 13211: Actions That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

XI. Compliance With the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the 

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination 

System (NPDES) General Permit for 

Discharges from Construction Activities 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

This proposed permit modification 

covers the following entities, as 

categorized in the North American 

Industry Classification System (NAICS), 

where they are conducting construction 

activities in Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction: 


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TABLE 1—ENTITIES COVERED BY THIS PROPOSED PERMIT

Category Examples of affected entities 

North American Industry 

Classification System 

(NAICS) code 

Industry .................. Construction site operators disturbing one or more acres of land, or less than one acre but part of a larger common plan 

of development or sale if the larger common plan will ultimately disturb one acre or more, and performing the following activities: 

Construction of Buildings .......................................................................................................... 236 

Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction ............................................................................... 237 

The EPA does not intend the 

preceding table to be exhaustive but 

provides it as a guide for readers 

regarding the types of activities the EPA 

is now aware of that could potentially 

be affected by this action. Other types of 

entities not listed in the table could also 

be affected. To determine whether your 

site is covered by this action, you 

should carefully examine the definition 

of ‘‘construction activity’’ and ‘‘small 

construction activity’’ in the existing 

EPA regulations at 40 CFR 

122.26(b)(14)(x) and (b)(15), 

respectively. If you have questions 

regarding the applicability of this action 

to a particular entity, consult one of the 

persons listed for technical information 

in the preceding FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

B. Public Participation 

1. Written Comments 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2021– 

0169, at https://www.regulations.gov 

(our preferred method), or the other 

methods identified in the ADDRESSES

section. Once submitted, comments 

cannot be edited or removed from the 

docket. The EPA may publish any 

comment received to its public docket. 

Do not submit to the EPA’s docket at 

https://www.regulations.gov any 

information you consider to be 

Confidential Business Information (CBI), 

Proprietary Business Information (PBI), 

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. The 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). Please visit 

https://www.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets for additional 

submission methods; the full EPA 

public comment policy; information 

about CBI, PBI, or multimedia 

submissions; and general guidance on 

making effective comments. 

2. Will public hearings be held on this 

action? 

The EPA has not scheduled any 

public hearings to receive public 

comment concerning the proposed 2022 

CGP modification. However, interested 

persons may request a public hearing 

concerning the proposed 2022 CGP 

modification pursuant to 40 CFR 124.12. 

Requests for a public hearing must be 

sent or delivered in writing to the same 

address as provided above for public 

comments prior to the close of the 

comment period. Requests for a public 

hearing must state the nature of the 

issues proposed to be raised in the 

hearing. Pursuant to 40 CFR 124.12, the 

EPA shall hold a public hearing if it 

finds, on the basis of requests, a 

significant degree of public interest in a 

public hearing on the proposed 2022 

CGP modification. If the EPA decides to 

hold a public hearing, a public notice of 

the date, time, and place of the hearing 

will be made at least 30 days prior to the 

hearing. Any person may provide 

written or oral statements and data 

pertaining to the proposed 2022 CGP 

modification at any such public hearing. 

C. Finalizing the Proposed Permit 

Modification 

After the comment period closes, the 

EPA intends to issue a final 

modification to the 2022 CGP sometime 

in early 2025. The EPA’s responses to 

public comments received will be 

included in the docket as part of the 

final permit issuance. Once the final 

modification becomes effective, eligible 

operators of construction projects 

within Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction may obtain coverage under 

the 2022 CGP. 

D. Who are the EPA regional contacts 

for this permit? 

For EPA Region 1, contact Meridith 

Finegan: Email at finegan.meridith@

epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 2, contact Sieglinde 

Pylypchuk: Email at 

pylypchuk.sieglinde@epa.gov, or for 

Puerto Rico, contact Sergio Bosques: 

Email at bosques.sergio@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 3, contact Shana 

Stephens: Email at stephens.shana@

epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 4, contact Michael 

Mitchell: Email at mitchell.michael@

epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 5, contact Krista 

McKim: Email at mckim.krista@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 6, contact Suzanna 

Perea: Email at: perea.suzanna@epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 7, contact Mark 

Matthews: Email at: matthews.mark@

epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 8, contact Amy 

Maybach: Email at: maybach.amy@

epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 9, contact Eugene 

Bromley: Email at bromley.eugene@

epa.gov. 

For EPA Region 10, contact Jill Seale: 

Email at seale.jill@epa.gov. 

II. Permit Modification Background 

A. Permitting of Stormwater Discharges 

From Construction Activities 

Stormwater discharges from certain 

construction activities are required 

under authority of section 402(p)(2) and 

(p)(6) of the Clean Water Act and 40 

CFR 122.26(a)(1)(ii) and (a)(9)(i)(B) of 

EPA’s regulations to be covered by a 

state or EPA-issued NPDES permit. 

More specifically, NPDES permits are 

required for discharges from projects 

that cause one or more acres of land 

disturbance, and smaller land 

disturbances that are part of a common 

plan of development or sale if they will 

ultimately disturb one or more acres of 

land. Under these authorities, the EPA 

issues an NPDES Construction General 

Permit for stormwater discharges from 

construction activities (referred to as the 

‘‘CGP’’). The CGP provides permit 

coverage in areas where the EPA is the 

permitting authority, which include 

three states (Massachusetts, New 

Hampshire, New Mexico); the District of 

Columbia; Federal facilities in four 

states (Washington, Colorado, Delaware, 

and Vermont); all U.S. territories except 

the U.S. Virgin Islands; all Indian 

Country, except in Maine; and Denali 


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National Park. The EPA is also the 

permitting authority for stormwater 

discharges from regulated construction 

activities that take place on ‘‘Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction.’’ Refer to 

section II.B of this document for further 

explanation of Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction. 

Most recently, the EPA issued its 2022 

CGP on February 17, 2022. The 2022 

CGP provides coverage for stormwater 

discharges from regulated construction 

activities that are located in the specific 

areas identified in Appendix B of the 

permit. 

B. Background on Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction 

1. Definition of Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction 

Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction are lands in the U.S. where 

the Federal Government retains 

exclusive jurisdiction in relevant 

respects. Not all Federal lands are Lands 

of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction. 

Rather, exclusive Federal jurisdiction is 

established only under limited 

circumstances pursuant to the Enclave 

Clause of the U.S. Constitution, article 

1, section 8, clause 17. These 

circumstances include (1) where the 

Federal Government purchases land 

with state consent to jurisdiction, 

consistent with article 1, section 8, 

clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution; (2) 

where a state chooses to cede 

jurisdiction to the Federal Government; 

and (3) where the Federal Government 

reserved jurisdiction upon granting 

statehood. See Paul v. United States, 

371 U.S. 245, 263–65 (1963); Collins v. 

Yosemite Park Co., 304 U.S. 518, 529– 

30 (1938); James v. Dravo Contracting 

Co., 302 U.S. 134, 141–42 (1937); 

Surplus Trading Company v. Cook, 281 

U.S. 647, 650–52 (1930); Fort 

Leavenworth Railroad Company v. 

Lowe, 114 U.S. 525, 527 (1895). 

2. Where are Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction located? 

Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction, as defined in section II.B.1 

of this document, are all land where the 

Federal Government has exclusive 

Federal jurisdiction in relative respects. 

The EPA does not maintain a map or list 

of all Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction. The reason for this is that 

the jurisdictional status of Federal lands 

is tracked by multiple Federal land 

management agencies and the 

jurisdictional status of Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction may 

change over time. Individual Federal 

land management agencies may have 

such maps or lists, but the EPA is 

unaware of a comprehensive listing of 

all current Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction across all agencies. Notably, 

however, 16 U.S.C. chapter 1 identifies 

the following U.S. National Park Service 

properties as containing Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction: Denali 

National Park, Mount Rainier National 

Park, Olympic National Park, Hot 

Springs National Park, Hawai’i 

Volcanoes National Park, Yellowstone 

National Park, Yosemite National Park, 

Sequoia National Park, Crater Lake 

National Park, Glacier National Park, 

Rocky Mountain National Park, Mesa 

Verde National Park, Lassen Volcanic 

National Park, Great Smoky Mountains 

National Park, Mammoth Cave National 

Park, and Isle Royale National Park. 

3. The EPA’s NPDES Authority in Lands 

of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

The Clean Water Act provides the 

EPA at 33 U.S.C. 1342(a) with the 

authority to establish and implement 

the NPDES permitting program, while 

also establishing for states and Tribes at 

33 U.S.C. 1342(b) procedures to request 

authorization from the EPA to 

administer the program within their 

jurisdiction. Lands of Exclusive Federal 

jurisdiction in relevant respects present 

a case where states lack authority for 

administering the NPDES program, as 

states lack legislative jurisdiction in 

these areas absent specific congressional 

action. See Paul, 371 U.S. at 263 

(finding precedent establishes ‘‘that the 

grant of ‘exclusive’ legislative power to 

Congress over enclaves that meet the 

requirements of Art. I, s 8, cl. 17, by its 

own weight, bars state regulation 

without specific congressional action.’’). 

Congress did not take specific action in 

the Clean Water Act to grant authority 

to states to administer the NPDES 

program in Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction in relevant respects. Due to 

the Federal Government’s unique 

jurisdictional authority within Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction, and the 

absence of specific congressional action 

within the Clean Water Act providing 

otherwise, the EPA has authority to 

administer the NPDES permitting 

program on these lands. Therefore, 

where NPDES-regulated discharges, 

including stormwater discharges from 

regulated construction activities, will 

occur within a Land of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction, the discharger 

must obtain permit coverage under an 

EPA-issued permit. 

C. Why is a modification to the 2022 

CGP necessary? 

The 2022 CGP and prior CGPs did not 

include eligibility for all Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction in the 

U.S. The effect of this omission would 

leave construction projects scheduled to 

commence during the remaining 

effective period of the 2022 CGP (i.e., 

the general permit expires on February 

17, 2027) without the ability to obtain 

coverage under this permit. For 

example, the U.S. National Park Service 

and Federal Highway Administration 

are scheduled to commence 

construction projects in 2025 in 

Olympic and Rocky Mountain National 

Parks, both containing Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction, among 

other locations, all of which require 

NPDES permit coverage. The EPA 

anticipates the most effective way to 

provide such permit coverage would be 

through the availability of a general 

permit, such as the 2022 CGP. 

The EPA is proposing this permit 

modification to ensure that construction 

projects within any Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction in the U.S. are 

eligible for coverage under the 2022 

CGP. The EPA notes that this change 

will not disrupt permit coverage that is 

already provided for in the 2022 CGP for 

construction activities within Denali 

National Park because of its designation 

as a Land of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction, as well as any Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction that may 

exist within the states of Washington, 

Colorado, Delaware, and Vermont since 

the permit provides coverage for Federal 

Facilities and operators in those states. 

This permit modification is proposed 

under and consistent with the authority 

of the NPDES regulations for 

modifications, specifically 40 CFR 

122.62(a)(2). The Federal Government’s 

(including the EPA’s) authority within 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

pre-dates the 2022 CGP. However, the 

EPA only became aware of the gap 

regarding the coverage of the CGP for all 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

in the U.S. following the issuance of the 

2022 CGP. The agency learned of the 

need for broader coverage for Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction following 

requests made in 2024 to the EPA for 

permit coverage in U.S. National Park 

Service properties identified as 

containing exclusive Federal 

jurisdiction in 16 U.S.C. chapter 1. 

Modifying the 2022 CGP to expand the 

area of coverage to accommodate 

projects within all Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction in the U.S. 

appeared to the EPA to be the most 

reasonable approach to address this 

oversight. 

Prior to moving forward with this 

proposed modification, the EPA 

considered the alternative option of 

issuing individual permits for projects 

within Lands of Exclusive Federal 


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Jurisdiction at least in the interim 

period prior to the reissuance of the 

CGP in 2027. While this remains an 

alternative available for any specific 

project even if the proposed 

modification is finalized, relying solely 

on individual permits would not be the 

most efficient way of authorizing 

discharges from these projects, given the 

longer timelines typically associated 

with the application and permit 

development process for individual 

permits compared to the more 

streamlined authorization approach of 

the CGP. Moreover, the EPA is not 

currently certain how many projects 

may be planned within Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction before 

February 2027, making it hard to 

estimate how long the individual 

permitting process could take for all of 

these projects. This could potentially 

result in unnecessary construction 

delays in Lands of Exclusive 

Jurisdiction, such as for critical 

infrastructure projects in certain U.S. 

National Park Service properties that 

may have limited construction seasons. 

After considering all of these factors, the 

EPA concluded that proposing to 

modify the current CGP would be the 

most effective way to provide permit 

coverage for these projects. 

The EPA also considered whether to 

issue a standalone general permit for 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

or to reissue the full CGP prior to its 

expiration in February 2027. A 

standalone general permit may provide 

a means to narrowly target the 

permitting of projects in these areas. 

The EPA is concerned, however, that 

issuing a new general permit would take 

significantly longer than the proposed 

modification, so that a final permit 

might not be available to provide 

coverage for the projects that may be 

scheduled to begin in early 2025, and 

therefore unnecessarily impede 

construction projects. The EPA also has 

concerns about full permit reissuance 

because it could disrupt the typical fiveyear cycle for reissuing the CGP; this 

could raise additional implementation 

questions about the need to provide 

coverage for already permitted projects. 

Similar to the standalone general permit 

option, the EPA also is concerned that 

it would take longer to reissue the full 

CGP than finalize the proposed 

modification. Given these concerns, the 

EPA is proposing the more narrow 

modification to the 2022 CGP. 

III. Summary of Proposed Permit 

Changes 

The following section describes the 

modifications that are proposed to the 

2022 CGP. These changes are also 

discussed in the accompanying fact 

sheet. 

• Expanded CGP eligibility for all 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

(CGP Appendix B)—The EPA proposes 

to expand the permit eligibility in 

Appendix B to include coverage for 

construction projects taking place 

within any Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction in the U.S. This proposed 

expansion would cover projects within 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

in any of EPA’s 10 Regions. The EPA 

notes that any projects that are already 

covered under the 2022 CGP for 

construction activities within Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction (i.e., 

Denali National Park, Federal facilities 

in the states of Colorado, Delaware, and 

Vermont, and construction carried out 

by Federal operators in the state of 

Washington) are not affected by the 

proposed modification, including not 

being subject to the proposed new Part 

10 requirements (discussed under 

Clarification of requirements for projects 

discharging to receiving waters within 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

in this section). 

• New definition of Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction (CGP 

Appendix A)—The EPA is including a 

proposed new definition of Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction in 

Appendix A of the 2022 CGP. 

• Clarification of requirements for 

projects discharging to receiving waters 

within Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction (CGP Part 10)—The EPA 

proposes to clarify that operators of 

projects discharging to receiving waters 

within Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction should be held to the same 

type of discharge requirements that are 

used in the CGP for discharges to 

sensitive waters, including Tier 3 

outstanding national resource waters. 

The reasons for this proposed change 

are severalfold. As the EPA has 

mentioned in this notice, the EPA does 

not maintain a comprehensive map or 

list of Lands of Exclusive Federal 

Jurisdiction, and for this reason relies 

on and bases its permitting decisions on 

the information it does have about the 

location of such lands. The EPA’s best 

available information indicates that 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

are within certain national parks 

established under 16 U.S.C. chapter 1. 

In addition, the waters that flow through 

these areas have the potential to be 

afforded strong protections consistent 

with Tier 3-designated waters under the 

EPA’s regulations at 40 CFR 

131.12(a)(3), which cite ‘‘waters of 

National . . . parks’’ as examples of 

potential Tier 3 waters. Under the 

current 2022 CGP requirements, projects 

that discharge to waters that are 

designated as ‘‘Tier 3’’ waters, and 

therefore ‘‘sensitive waters,’’ are 

required to conduct more frequent 

inspections, comply with more rapid 

stabilization timeframes, and, in some 

cases, conduct turbidity monitoring of 

dewatering discharges. Relying on the 

linkage in the regulations at 40 CFR 

131.12(a)(3) between waters flowing 

through national parks and their 

potential designation as Tier 3 waters, 

for the purposes of this permit, the EPA 

proposes to apply the same protections 

for waters within Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction that are established 

for Tier 3 waters under the CGP. For this 

reason, the EPA believes it is reasonable 

to apply these same requirements to 

projects discharging to receiving waters 

located within Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction. Adopting this 

approach means that the EPA would 

assume that all waters within Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction are 

worthy of treatment as a sensitive water, 

regardless of whether the waters flow 

through a national park or other Tier 3 

water. Additionally, the EPA 

acknowledges that applying the same 

sensitive water requirements to all 

discharges to waters within Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction may be, 

in some instances, overly protective 

given that some of these waters in some 

locations may not be of the same high 

water quality as others. Given that the 

EPA does not have a complete list of all 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction, 

however, the agency believes that 

requiring treatment of all waters within 

these areas as sensitive is reasonable 

based on the best information currently 

available to the agency. 

The EPA notes that additional 

conforming changes are also proposed 

to the corresponding sections of the 

permit to help clarify which 

requirements apply to discharges to 

receiving waters within Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction. See 

proposed revisions to Parts 2.2.14.b.iv 

and 4.3.1. 

Under the proposed modification, the 

EPA is also clarifying in Part 10.4 which 

discharge conditions would be 

considered triggers for Part 5.2 

corrective action. 

• Clarification of eligibility 

requirements related to endangered 

species (CGP Appendix D)—During the 

development of this proposed 

modification, the EPA met with the U.S. 

National Park Service, among other 

Federal agencies, to better understand, 

among other things, their agencies’ 

typical practices related to compliance 

with the Endangered Species Act for 

construction projects. Based on these 


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conversations, it is the EPA’s 

understanding that these agencies 

complete their Section 7 Endangered 

Species Act consultations for these 

projects prior to commencing 

construction. Consistent with this 

understanding, the EPA is proposing to 

restrict the permit eligibility under 

Appendix D for construction within 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

by any Federal entities and associated 

contractors to the current eligibility 

criterion that requires completion of 

Section 7 consultation prior to NOI 

submittal (Criterion E). 

IV. Public Notice of Clean Water Act 

Section 401 Certification for Lands of 

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

The EPA acts as the certifying 

authority for the purposes of Clean 

Water Act section 401 certification on 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction. 

The EPA is providing notice under 40 

CFR 121.17(a) that EPA’s Regions are 

requesting certification as of the date of 

signature of this publication for the 

proposed 2022 CGP modification. The 

EPA will act on this certification request 

by either: (1) granting certification; (2) 

granting certification with conditions; 

(3) denying certification; or (4) expressly 

waiving certification consistent with 

CWA section 401 and the EPA’s 

implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 

121. 

V. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

Pursuant to the PRA, the current 

information collection request (ICR) for 

the 2022 CGP (EPA ICR Number 

2686.03, OMB Control Number 2040– 

0305) expires on February 28, 2025. In 

a separate Federal Register notice, the 

EPA is soliciting comment on the 

proposed renewal of the current 2022 

CGP ICR. Information collected from 

construction projects permitted under 

the proposed modification would be 

covered by the renewed 2022 CGP ICR. 

VI. 2022 CGP Incremental Cost 

Analysis 

The EPA conducted a cost analysis for 

the final 2022 CGP, which monetized 

and quantified certain incremental cost 

impacts of the final permit changes as 

compared to the 2017 CGP. The 

objective of this incremental cost 

analysis was to show where or to what 

extent the final 2022 CGP requirements 

imposed an incremental increase in 

administrative and compliance costs 

(such as the cost to conduct site 

inspections or to prepare compliance 

reports) on operators in relation to costs 

that were already accounted for in the 

2017 CGP. A copy of the EPA’s 

incremental cost analysis, titled, 

‘‘Incremental Cost Impact Analysis for 

the 2022 Construction General Permit 

(CGP),’’ is available in the docket for the 

final permit (Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2021–0169). Projects that would be 

eligible under the proposed inclusion of 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction 

would be subject to the same set of 

permit requirements that already apply 

to projects located in other areas. The 

proposed modification provides 

clarification on which inspection, 

stabilization, and corrective action 

requirements would apply to projects 

covered by the modification that 

discharge to receiving waters within 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction, 

but these do not alter the incremental 

costs for operators who will be covered 

under the 2022 CGP. As a result, the 

EPA does not expect there to be 

calculable changes to the CGP 

Incremental Cost Analysis resulting 

from the expansion of eligibility in the 

2022 CGP to include for construction 

activities within Lands of Exclusive 

Federal Jurisdiction. For this reason, the 

EPA expects the costs associated with 

the modification to be already captured 

by the analysis that was completed for 

the full permit. 

VII. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 14094: Modernizing Regulatory 

Review 

The proposed permit modification is 

not a significant regulatory action as 

defined in Executive Order 12866, as 

amended by Executive Order 14094, and 

was therefore not subject to a 

requirement for Executive Order 12866 

review. 

VIII. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations and Executive 

Order 14096: Revitalizing Our Nation’s 

Commitment to Environmental Justice 

for All 

When issuance of the 2022 CGP was 

published in the Federal Register, the 

EPA made the determination that the 

final action ‘‘does not have 

disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects 

on minority populations, low-income 

populations and/or indigenous peoples, 

as specified in Executive Order 12898.’’ 

87 FR 3532 (January 24, 2022). For the 

same reasons, the EPA is making the 

preliminary determination that this 

proposed permit modification would 

similarly not have disproportionately 

high and adverse human health or 

environmental effects on communities 

with environmental justice concerns. 

This determination is based on the view 

that the requirements in the permit 

modification would apply equally to all 

construction projects occurring within 

Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction, 

and the discharge control requirements 

that permittees would be held to 

increase the level of environmental 

protection for all affected populations. 

The EPA requests comment on this 

preliminary determination and/or any 

modifications that the EPA could make 

to the proposed permit to address 

environmental justice concerns. 

IX. Executive Order 13175: 

Consultation and Coordination With 

Indian Tribal Governments 

In compliance with Executive Order 

13175, the EPA completed consultation 

with tribal officials on the 2022 CGP 

and included a summary report on the 

EPA’s outreach activities and comments 

received during the consultation in the 

docket for the final permit. The Tribal 

consultation summary can be accessed 

at https://www.epa.gov/dockets in the 

docket for this permit (refer to Docket 

No. EPA–HQ–OW–2021–0169). A 

formal consultation with Tribal officials 

is not required for this proposed action 

since it is limited to proposing the 

described narrow modifications to the 

2022 CGP. The EPA has, however, 

notified Tribes of this proposed 

modification and invited those 

interested to provide the agency with 

comments or to request further 

coordination or consultation. The EPA 

will address comments submitted by 

Tribal officials as part of the final 

modification. 

X. Executive Order 13211: Actions That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This action is not subject to Executive 

Order 13211, because it is not a 

significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866. 

XI. Compliance With the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for 

the National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) General 

Permit for Discharges From 

Construction Activities 

Pursuant to NEPA, the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s NEPA 

regulations, and the EPA’s regulations 

for implementing NEPA (40 CFR part 6), 

the EPA made the determination on 

January 9, 2022, that the reissuance of 

the EPA’s 2022 CGP was eligible for a 

categorical exclusion requiring 

documentation under 40 CFR 

6.204(a)(1)(iv). See ‘‘Revised Categorical 

Exclusion: Modification of the EPA 

2022 National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) General 


khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS
100934 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 240 / Friday, December 13, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

Permit for Discharges from Construction 

Activities,’’ Document Number 

N2022001 at https://cdxapps.epa.gov/ 

cdx-enepa-II/public/action/nepa/ 

details?nepaId=355222. The EPA has 

reviewed the proposed modification and 

has found that it does not affect the 

EPA’s prior categorical exclusion 

determination for the permit, including 

that it does not involve any 

extraordinary circumstances listed in 40 

CFR 6.204(b)(1) through (10). The EPA 

has documented these findings as part 

of a revised categorical exclusion 

memorandum that is available to the 

public at https://cdxnodengn.epa.gov/ 

cdx-enepa-public/action/nepa/search. If 

new information or changes to the 

proposed permit involve or relate to at 

least one of the extraordinary 

circumstances or otherwise indicate that 

the permit may not meet the criteria for 

categorical exclusion, the EPA will 

prepare an Environmental Assessment 

(EA) or Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS). 

Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 

et seq. 

David Cash, 

Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1. 

Javier Laureano Perez, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 2. 

Carmen Guerrero Perez, 

Director, Caribbean Environmental Protection 

Division, EPA Region 2. 

Michelle Price-Fay, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 3. 

Kathlene Butler, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 4. 

Tera Fong, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 5. 

Troy Hill, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 6. 

Jeffery Robichaud, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 7. 

Stephanie DeJong, 

Manager, Clean Water Branch, EPA Region 

8. 

Tomas Torres, 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 9. 

Mathew Martinson 

Director, Water Division, EPA Region 10. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28867 Filed 12–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2024–0152; 

FXES1111090FEDR–256–FF09E21000] 

RIN 1018–BH79 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Endangered Species 

Status for Eastern Hellbender 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), propose to 

list the eastern hellbender 

(Cryptobranchus alleganiensis 

alleganiensis), a salamander subspecies 

from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, 

Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, 

Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North 

Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 

Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, 

as an endangered species under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). This determination also 

serves as our 12-month finding on a 

petition to list the eastern hellbender. 

After a review of the best available 

scientific and commercial information, 

we find that listing the subspecies is 

warranted. If we finalize this rule as 

proposed, it would add this subspecies 

to the List of Endangered and 

Threatened Wildlife and extend the 

Act’s protections to the subspecies. We 

have determined that designation of 

critical habitat for the eastern 

hellbender is not prudent. 

DATES: We will accept comments 

received or postmarked on or before 

February 11, 2025. Comments submitted 

electronically using the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES, 

below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. 

eastern time on the closing date. We 

must receive requests for a public 

hearing, in writing, at the address 

shown in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT by January 27, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by one of the following methods: 

(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: https://

www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, 

enter FWS–R3–ES–2024–0152, which is 

the docket number for this rulemaking. 

Then, click on the Search button. On the 

resulting page, in the panel on the left 

side of the screen, under the Document 

Type heading, check the Proposed Rule 

box to locate this document. You may 

submit a comment by clicking on 

‘‘Comment.’’ 

(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail 

to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: 

FWS–R3–ES–2024–0152, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 

Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041– 

3803. 

We request that you send comments 

only by the methods described above. 

We will post all comments on https:// 

www.regulations.gov. This generally 

means that we will post any personal 

information you provide us (see 

Information Requested, below, for more 

information). 

Availability of supporting materials: 

Supporting materials, such as the 

species status assessment report, are 

available on the Service’s website at 

https://fws.gov/species/easternhellbender-cryptobranchusalleganiensis-alleganiensis, at https://

www.regulations.gov at Docket No. 

FWS–R3–ES–2024–0152, or both. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin 

Knoll, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, Ohio Ecological 

Services Field Office, 4625 Morse Road, 

Suite 104, Columbus, OH 43230; 

telephone 614–528–9704. Individuals in 

the United States who are deaf, 

deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 

speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. Please see 

Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2024–0152 on 

https://www.regulations.gov for a 

document that summarizes this 

proposed rule. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Summary 

Why we need to publish a rule. The 

Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) defines a 

‘‘species’’ as including any subspecies 

of fish or wildlife or plants, and any 

distinct population segment of any 

species of vertebrate fish or wildlife 

which interbreeds when mature. Under 

the Act, a species warrants listing if it 

meets the definition of an endangered 

species (in danger of extinction 

throughout all or a significant portion of 

its range) or a threatened species (likely 

to become an endangered species within 

the foreseeable future throughout all or 

a significant portion of its range). If we 

determine that a species warrants 

listing, we must list the species 

promptly and designate the species’ 

critical habitat to the maximum extent 

prudent and determinable. We have 

determined that the eastern hellbender 

meets the Act’s definition of an 


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