27304 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 92 / Tuesday, May 13, 2014 / Notices 

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

Act (CWA) requires EPA to develop and 

publish and, from time to time, revise, 

criteria for protection of water quality 

and human health that accurately reflect 

the latest scientific knowledge. Water 

quality criteria developed under section 

304(a) are based solely on data and 

scientific judgments 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 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. Thus, 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 are the updated criteria? 

Today, EPA is publishing draft 

updated national recommended water 

quality criteria for the protection of 

human health for ninety-four chemical 

pollutants. These revisions are based on 

EPA’s current methodology for deriving 

human health criteria (See: Methodology 

for Deriving Ambient Water Quality 

Criteria for the Protection of Human 

Health (2000), EPA–822–B–00–004, 

October 2000). The methodology 

describes EPA’s current approach for 

deriving national recommended water 

quality criteria for the protection of 

human health. 

The revision of these criteria 

represents a systematic update of EPA’s 

national recommended 304(a) criteria. 

EPA has previously described its 

process for publishing revised criteria 

[see National Recommended Water 

Quality Criteria—Correction (64 FR 

19781; or EPA 822–Z–99–001) or the 

Federal Register Notice for EPA’s 2000 

Methodology (65 FR 66444)]. EPA is 

announcing the availability of the 

updated human health criteria in 

today’s Notice in order to solicit 

scientific views. EPA has updated the 

draft human health criteria using 

information sources and models that 

have previously undergone external 

peer review. A fact sheet and a summary 

of updated input parameters (e.g., 

cancer slope factor, reference dose, and 

bioaccumulation factors) used to derive 

the updated criteria was prepared to 

assist reviewers. EPA has also 

developed chemical-specific support 

documents for each of the ninety-four 

chemical pollutants. The support 

documents detail the latest scientific 

information supporting the updated 

draft human health criteria, particularly 

the updated toxicity and exposure input 

values. All of these documents are 

available in the docket (EPA–HQ–OW– 

2014–0135) and on EPA’s Web site 

http://water.epa.gov/scitech/

swguidance/standards/criteria/current/

hhdraft.cfm. 

IV. What is the relationship between 

the draft national recommended water 

quality criteria and your state or tribal 

water quality standards? 

As part of the water quality standards 

triennial review process defined in 

section 303(c)(1) of the CWA, the States 

and authorized Tribes are responsible 

for maintaining and revising water 

quality standards. Water quality 

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 water quality 

standards 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 

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 determined 

(40 CFR 131.11). 

EPA believes that it is important for 

States and authorized Tribes to consider 

any new or updated 304(a) criteria as 

part of their triennial review to ensure 

that state or tribal water quality 

standards reflect current science and 

protect applicable designated uses. 

These updated criteria 

recommendations may change based on 

scientific views shared in response to 

this notice, but once final they would 

supersede EPA’s previous 

recommendations. 

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, 

2000 are in effect for CWA purposes 

only after EPA approval. 

Dated: April 29, 2014. 

Nancy K. Stoner, 

Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of 

Water. 

[FR Doc. 2014–10963 Filed 5–12–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9910–78–OGC] 

Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air 

Act Citizen Suit 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Consent 

Decree; Request for Public Comment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 

113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended 

(‘‘CAA’’ or the ‘‘Act’’), notice is hereby 

given of a proposed consent decree to 

address a lawsuit filed by WildEarth 

Guardians in the United States District 

Court for the District of Colorado: 

WildEarth Guardians v. McCarthy, Civil 

Action No. 1:13–cv–03457–JLK (D. 

Colo.). On December 23, 2013, Plaintiffs 

filed a complaint alleging that Gina 

McCarthy, in her official capacity as 

Administrator of the United States 

Environmental Protection Agency 

(‘‘EPA’’), failed to take action on an 

application for an Operating Permit 

under Title V of the CAA, and EPA’s 

implementing regulations for the 

Deseret Bonanza coal-fired power plant, 

which is located in Uintah County in 

northeastern Utah, within the Uintah 

and Ouray Indian Reservation, in the 

timeframe required. The proposed 

consent decree would establish 

deadlines for EPA to take such action. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed consent decree must be 

received by June 12, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID number EPA– 

HQ–OGC–2014–0368 online at 

www.regulations.gov (EPA’s preferred 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 92 / Tuesday, May 13, 2014 / Notices 27305 

method); by email to 

oei.docket@epa.gov; by mail to EPA 

Docket Center, Environmental 

Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460–0001; or by 

hand delivery or courier to EPA Docket 

Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. Comments on a disk or CD– 

ROM should be formatted in Word or 

ASCII file, avoiding the use of special 

characters and any form of encryption, 

and may be mailed to the mailing 

address above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristi M. Smith, Air and Radiation Law 

Office (2344A), Office of General 

Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 

564–3068; fax number: (202) 564–5603; 

email address: smith.kristi@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Additional Information About the 

Proposed Consent Decree 

The proposed consent decree would 

resolve a lawsuit filed by WildEarth 

Guardians (‘‘Guardians’’) seeking to 

compel the Administrator to take action 

on an application for an Operating 

Permit under Title V of the CAA, 42 

U.S.C. 7661—7661f, and EPA’s 

implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 

71 (‘‘Title V Permit’’), for the Deseret 

Bonanza coal-fired power plant 

(‘‘Deseret Bonanza Power Plant’’), which 

is located in Uintah County in 

northeastern Utah, within the Uintah 

and Ouray Indian Reservation. Under 

the terms of the proposed consent 

decree, on or before August 29, 2014, 

EPA will issue a final Title V permit 

decision for the Deseret Bonanza Power 

Plant and provide notice to Guardians 

in accordance with 40 CFR 71.11(i). In 

addition, the proposed consent decree 

arranges for payment to the Plaintiffs for 

the costs of litigation, including attorney 

fees. 

For a period of thirty (30) days 

following the date of publication of this 

notice, the Agency will accept written 

comments relating to the proposed 

consent decree from persons who are 

not named as parties or intervenors to 

the litigation in question. EPA or the 

Department of Justice may withdraw or 

withhold consent to the proposed 

consent decree if the comments disclose 

facts or considerations that indicate that 

such consent is inappropriate, 

improper, inadequate, or inconsistent 

with the requirements of the Act. Unless 

EPA or the Department of Justice 

determines that consent to this consent 

decree should be withdrawn, the terms 

of the consent decree will be affirmed. 

II. Additional Information About 

Commenting cn the Proposed Consent 

Decree 

A. How can I get a copy of the consent 

decree? 

The official public docket for this 

action (identified by Docket ID No. 

EPA–HQ–OGC–2014–0368 contains a 

copy of the proposed consent decree. 

The official public docket is available 

for public viewing at the Office of 

Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 

in the EPA Docket Center, EPA West, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. 

NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket 

Center 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 OEI 

Docket is (202) 566–1752. 

An electronic version of the public 

docket is available through 

www.regulations.gov. You may use 

www.regulations.gov to submit or view 

public comments, access the index 

listing of the contents of the official 

public docket, and access those 

documents in the public docket that are 

available electronically. Once in the 

system, key in the appropriate docket 

identification number then select 

‘‘search’’. 

It is important to note that EPA’s 

policy is that public comments, whether 

submitted electronically or in paper, 

will be made available for public 

viewing online at www.regulations.gov 

without change, unless the comment 

contains copyrighted material, CBI, or 

other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Information 

claimed as CBI and other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute 

is not included in the official public 

docket or in the electronic public 

docket. EPA’s policy is that copyrighted 

material, including copyrighted material 

contained in a public comment, will not 

be placed in EPA’s electronic public 

docket but will be available only in 

printed, paper form in the official public 

docket. Although not all docket 

materials may be available 

electronically, you may still access any 

of the publicly available docket 

materials through the EPA Docket 

Center. 

B. How and to whom do I submit 

comments? 

You may submit comments as 

provided in the ADDRESSES section. 

Please ensure that your comments are 

submitted within the specified comment 

period. Comments received after the 

close of the comment period will be 

marked ‘‘late.’’ EPA is not required to 

consider these late comments. 

If you submit an electronic comment, 

EPA recommends that you include your 

name, mailing address, and an email 

address or other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. This 

ensures that you can be identified as the 

submitter of the comment and allows 

EPA to contact you in case EPA cannot 

read your comment due to technical 

difficulties or needs further information 

on the substance of your comment. Any 

identifying or contact information 

provided in the body of a comment will 

be included as part of the comment that 

is placed in the official public docket, 

and made available in EPA’s electronic 

public docket. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. 

Use of the www.regulations.gov Web 

site to submit comments to EPA 

electronically is EPA’s preferred method 

for receiving comments. The electronic 

public docket system is an ‘‘anonymous 

access’’ system, which means EPA will 

not know your identity, email address, 

or other contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

In contrast to EPA’s electronic public 

docket, EPA’s electronic mail (email) 

system is not an ‘‘anonymous access’’ 

system. If you send an email comment 

directly to the Docket without going 

through www.regulations.gov, your 

email address is automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the official public 

docket, and made available in EPA’s 

electronic public docket. 

Dated: May 5, 2014. 

Lorie J. Schmidt, 

Associate General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2014–10979 Filed 5–12–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

Information Collection Being Reviewed 

by the Federal Communications 

Commission 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork burdens, and as 

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