2398 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 10 / Friday, January 14, 2000 / Notices

authorized. This authorization becomes

ineffective, however, if EPA disapproves

the application or withdraws the

program authorization.

III. State Program Description

Summary

The following summary of the State of

Kansas proposed program has been

provided by the applicant.

The Kansas Department of Health and

Environment, Lead Poisoning

Prevention Program certifies lead

professionals, accredits the required

training programs, licenses lead activity

firms, and enforces the work practice

standards for conducting lead-based

paint activities and abatement projects.

The department operates under the

authority of Senate Bill 107 and Kansas

Administrative Regulations (1999) 28–

72–1 to 28–72–22. Together, these

functions fulfill the requirements for an

EPA approved State program and ensure

the quality of lead abatement and leadbased paint activities conducted in

Kansas.

The Lead Poisoning Prevention

Program certifies individuals and

accredits training programs for the

following lead occupations: Lead

inspectors, risk assessors, lead

abatement workers, lead abatement

supervisors, project designers, and lead

abatement contractors. For each

occupation, an applicant for

certification must meet or exceed

education and experience requirements,

successfully complete an appropriate

training program, and score at least 70%

on the national 3rd party examination for

lead inspectors, risk assessors, and lead

abatement supervisors all pursuant to

regulation. An applicant for a lead

abatement contractor has no experience

and education requirements. The

licensed lead abatement contractor’s

application includes a statement that it

will only hire certified individuals to

conduct lead-based paint activities and

that it will follow approved work

practice standards.

Certified lead professionals must

comply with Kansas Work Practice

Standards when conducting lead-based

paint activities on target housing or

child-occupied facilities. These work

practice standards ensure that leadbased paint activities are conducted

reliably, effectively, and safely. The

department has the authority to take

administrative or civil actions or seek

criminal actions against an entity that

violates the work practice standards or

fails to comply with any part of the

licensure, certification, or accreditation

regulations.

The Lead Poisoning Prevention

Program staffing consists of the

following: Barry Brooks, Director, Public

Service Executive; Sue Bowden, Nurse

Consultant, Public Health Nurse; Trent

Roehler, Office/Accounting Specialist;

Wendy Butler, Intern; and Tom Morey,

Health and Environment Consultant.

IV. Federal Overfiling

Section 404(b) of TSCA makes it

unlawful for any person to violate, or

fail or refuse to comply with, any

requirement of an approved State or

Tribal program. Therefore, EPA reserves

the right to exercise its enforcement

authority under TSCA against a

violation of, or a failure or refusal to

comply with, any requirement of an

authorized State or Tribal program.

V. Submission to Congress and the

General Accounting Office

The Congressional Review Act, 5

U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides

that before certain actions may take

effect, the agency promulgating the

action must submit a report, which

includes a copy of the action, to each

House of the Congress and to the

Comptroller General of the United

States. EPA will submit a report

containing this action and other

required information to the U.S. Senate,

the U.S. House of Representatives, and

the Comptroller General of the United

States prior to publication of this

document in the Federal Register. This

action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as defined

by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

List of Subjects

Environmental protection, Hazardous

substances, Lead, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: December 21, 1999.

Dennis D. Grams,

Administrator, Region VII.

[FR Doc. 00–965 Filed 1–13–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–F

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6523–1]

CWA 303(d): Final Notice of EPA’s

Decision To Withdraw the Total

Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for

Copper in the Arthur Kill and Kill Van

Kull and Establish a TMDL for Nickel

in the Hackensack River

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final decision.

SUMMARY: EPA has reached the

following conclusions regarding certain

segments of the New York-New Jersey

Harbor: the applicable water quality

standard for copper in the Arthur Kill

and the Kill van Kull is not likely to be

exceeded (i.e., the waters are not water

quality-limited for copper) and

therefore, no TMDL is necessary for

copper; and the Hackensack River below

the Oradell Dam is water quality-limited

for nickel. Therefore, as part of this

action, EPA is establishing a TMDL for

nickel in the Hackensack River.

EPA is hereby issuing public notice

of: its final decision to withdraw the

Phase I copper TMDL in the Arthur Kill

and Kill Van Kull established by EPA on

January 24, 1996; and its final decision

to establish a TMDL for nickel in the

Hackensack River.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 27, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the

responsiveness summary and relevant

supporting documents may be obtained

by writing to Ms. Rosella O’Connor, Fate

& Effects Team, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency Region 2, 290

Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New

York 10007–1866,

oconnor.rosella@epamail.epa.gov, or by

calling (212) 637–3823.

The administrative record containing

background technical information is on

file and may be inspected at the U.S.

EPA, Region 2 office between the hours

of 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday

through Friday, except holidays.

Arrangements to examine the

administrative record may be made by

contacting Ms. Rosella O’Connor.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Rosella O’Connor, telephone number

(212) 637–3823.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

II. Public Notice of Draft Decision

III. Final Determination

I. Background

A TMDL, or total maximum daily

load, is the maximum amount of a

pollutant that a waterbody can

assimilate and still meet ambient water

quality standards. TMDLs are

established for water quality-limited

segments, which are defined as ‘‘any

segment where it is known that water

quality does not meet applicable water

quality standards, and/or is not

expected to meet applicable water

quality standards, even after the

application of technology-based effluent

limitations * * *’’ (40 CFR 130.2(j)).

On January 24, 1996 (61 FR 1930),

EPA established certain phased TMDLs,

including waste load allocations (WLAs)

and load allocations (LAs) for copper

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 10 / Friday, January 14, 2000 / Notices 2399

and mercury for specific waters of the

New York-New Jersey Harbor. The

Phase I TMDLs established in January

1996 required additional data collection

in the New Jersey Harbor waters before

the establishment, as necessary, of

revised Phase II TMDLs. Phase II

TMDLs were to be established only if

the additional data and/or modeling

indicated that it was necessary to reduce

point and/or nonpoint sources of certain

metals below Phase I levels.

The New Jersey Harbor Dischargers

Group (NJHDG), in cooperation with the

New Jersey Department of

Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and

EPA, agreed to undertake the necessary

additional ambient and load monitoring

and modeling effort necessary to

determining if copper, nickel and lead

exceeded or potentially exceeded

applicable water quality standards in

the following New Jersey Harbor waters:

Newark Bay, Hackensack River below

the Oradell Dam, Passaic River below

the Dundee Dam, Raritan River below

the Fieldville Dam and Raritan Bay.

Based on the results of the monitoring

effort, it was determined that copper

does not exceed the applicable water

quality criteria in any of the abovementioned waters. Therefore, the Phase

I copper TMDLs, for the waters

mentioned above, were withdrawn on

September 19, 1997 (62 FR 49226). It

was also determined that, of all of the

above-mentioned waters, only the

Hackensack and Passaic Rivers are

potentially water quality-limited for

nickel and required further assessment

and, as necessary, the establishment of

TMDLs for nickel. None of the above

waters were water quality-limited for

lead. The Arthur Kill and the Kill Van

Kull were not directly included in this

investigation, therefore the TMDLs for

copper had remained in effect for those

waters. The mercury TMDLs established

in 1996 still remain in effect for those

waters.

In 1997 and 1998, the NJHDG, NJDEP

and EPA completed a monitoring

program and water quality modeling to:

(1) determine if copper is actually water

quality-limiting in the Arthur Kill and

the Kill Van Kull; and (2) establish, as

necessary, nickel TMDLs for the

Hackensack and Passaic Rivers and

Newark Bay. The ambient water quality

data and modeling evaluation contained

in the study entitled, ‘‘Monitoring and

Modeling of Nickel in The Hackensack

and Passaic Rivers and Newark Bay and

Monitoring and Data Analysis for

Copper in The Arthur Kill and Kill Van

Kull’’, indicate that: (1) copper is not

water quality-limiting in the Arthur Kill

and the Kill Van Kull, and therefore, the

Phase I copper TMDLs (established

January 24, 1996) are no longer

necessary; (2) the Hackensack River is

water quality-limited for nickel and

requires the establishment of a TMDL

for nickel; and (3) the Passaic River and

Newark Bay are not water qualitylimited for nickel and, at this time, do

not require TMDLs for nickel.

II. Public Notice of Draft Decision

EPA’s proposed withdrawal for the

copper TMDL in the Arthur Kill and

Kill Van Kull and its proposed

establishment of a nickel TMDL for the

Hackensack River was public noticed in

the Federal Register dated October 28,

1999 (64 FR 58058). A 30-day comment

period followed, during which EPA

received comments from ten

commenters. All comments have been

addressed in a responsiveness summary

which may be obtained by writing or

calling Ms. Rosella O’Connor as

referenced above. None of comments

received during the public comment

period resulted in changes to EPA’s

proposed actions to withdraw the

copper TMDLs in the Arthur Kill and

Kill Van Kull and to establish a TMDL

for nickel in the Hackensack River.

III. Final Determination

EPA is noticing its final decision to:

(1) Withdraw the Phase I copper TMDLs

from the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van

Kull because those waters are not

impaired for copper and effluent

limitations required of point sources

under section 301(b) of the Clean Water

Act are stringent enough to implement

water quality standards for copper

applicable to such waters (i.e, these

waters are not water quality-limited for

copper) and (2) the proposed

establishment of a TMDL for nickel in

the Hackensack River. EPA is

establishing the nickel TMDL in the

Hackensack River at the request of the

New Jersey Department of

Environmental Protection. These actions

are appropriate given the specific

circumstances, original and additional

monitoring data, and management

approach agreed upon by the States of

New Jersey and New York and EPA for

the waters of the New York-New Jersey

Harbor.

The supporting technical

documentation for these actions is

contained in Withdrawal of Total

Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for

Copper in the Arthur Kill and Kill Van

Kull and Establishment of a TMDL for

Nickel in the Hackensack River (EPA,

December 1999) and ‘‘Monitoring and

Modeling of Nickel in The Hackensack

and Passaic Rivers and Newark Bay and

Monitoring and Data Analysis for

Copper in The Arthur Kill and Kill Van

Kull’’ (Great Lakes Environmental

Center, 1998).

The determination that TMDLs for

copper are no longer necessary in the

Arthur Kill and Kill Van Kull is based

on additional monitoring data and

modeling conducted by the NJHDG’s

consultant, with assistance from EPA.

Monitoring and modeling projections

included more recent municipal plant

effluent data and New Jersey storm

water and combined sewer overflow

data. Previous modeling projections and

TMDLs were based on New York storm

water and combined sewer overflow

data. These data were used due to a lack

of data for New Jersey storm water and

combined sewer overflows. The more

recent storm water and combined sewer

overflow data are much lower than the

original estimates. The data and

modeling projections now indicate that

the applicable copper criterion is not

likely to be exceeded in these waters.

Therefore, the Arthur Kill and Kill Van

Kull are not water quality-limited for

copper and do not require TMDLs. EPA

has made a final decision to withdraw

the TMDLs for copper in the Arthur Kill

and Kill Van Kull.

Analysis of ambient data and

modeling projections in the Hackensack

River indicate that the applicable nickel

criterion of 8.2 μg/L (expressed in the

dissolved form) is likely to be exceeded,

and therefore, a TMDL is required.

NJHDG’s consultant developed a water

quality model to facilitate the

development of a TMDL. Modeling

projections indicate that the Hackensack

River is an effluent-dominated river.

The ambient nickel concentration is

driven by the concentration of nickel in

the Bergen County Utilities Authority

(BCUA) discharge. BCUA represents the

largest source of nickel to the River.

Other smaller sources include: North

Bergen Sewage Treatment Plant,

Secaucus Sewage Treatment Plant,

combined sewer overflows (CSOs),

storm water, atmospheric deposition

and background (upstream sources).

Using the calibrated water quality

model, EPA calculated a TMDL of 4.98

lbs/day of nickel which will meet the

applicable nickel criterion, taking into

account seasonal variations and critical

conditions, and including a margin of

safety. The TMDL was allocated to point

sources (waste load allocations) and

nonpoint sources (load allocations). The

existing loads of nickel, waste load

allocations (WLA), and load allocations

(LA) needed to achieve the TMDL are

shown below. The WLA for BCUA

represents a major reduction in nickel

load to the Hackensack River. This

reduction will result in meeting the

applicable water quality criterion for

2400 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 10 / Friday, January 14, 2000 / Notices

nickel. Because the other loads

represent relatively small contributions,

and reducing their load has little or no

impact on receiving water quality, no

other reductions are required at this

time.

TABLE 1.—TMDL/WLAS/LAS FOR

NICKEL IN THE HACKENSACK RIVER.

Source

Existing

load

(lbs/day)

WLA/LA

(lbs/day)

BCUA [NJ0020028] ......... 11.3 1 2.2

North Bergen STP

[NJ0034339] ................ 0.28 2 0.38

Secaucus STP

[NJ0025038] ................ 0.04 3 0.06

CSOs ............................... 0.10 0.10

Storm Water .................... 0.81 0.81

ΣWLAs ......................... .............. 3.55

Atmospheric ..................... 1.06 1.06

Boundary (Background) 4 0.37 0.37

TMDL ........................... .............. 4.98

1The WLA of 2.2 lbs/day is established at

an effluent concentration of 3.6 μg/L (total recoverable) and flow of 75 mgd; if the effluent

flow is 109 mgd, the WLA is 3.3 lbs/day with

an effluent concentration of 3.6 μg/L. 2Based on design flow of 10 mgd and mean

effluent concentration of 4.6 μg/L (total recoverable). 3Based on design flow of 5.12 mgd and

mean effluent concentration of 1.5 μg/L (total

recoverable). 4 Calculated at the boundary condition of the

Hackensack River upstream at the Oradell

Dam.

This action has no effect on the

TMDLs for other pollutants established

for these waters.

Dated: December 27, 1999.

Jeanne M. Fox,

Regional Administrator, Region 2.

[FR Doc. 00–962 Filed 1–13–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6523–5]

Proposed Reissuance of General

NPDES Permits (GP) for Alaskan

Mechanical Placer Mining (Permit

Number AKG–37–0000) and Alaskan

Medium-Size Suction Dredging (Permit

Number AKG–37–1000)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed reissuance of

two general permits.

SUMMARY: On June 30, 1999, two general

permits regulating the activities of

mechanical placer mining and suction

dredge mining for gold placer mining

operations in the State of Alaska

expired. EPA proposes to reissue these

two general permits with minor changes

based on updated information relating

to the impact of such mining activity on

the environment. EPA is proposing to

make these permits effective some time

after the 2000 mining season and at the

same time revoking coverage under the

1994 modified general permits. This is

also notice of EPA’s issuance of a

Finding of No Significant Impact (FNSI)

for NPDES permit AKG–37–0000.

DATES: Interested persons may submit

comments on the proposed reissuance

of the GPs to EPA, Region 10 at the

address below. Comments must be

received by March 14, 2000. Public

Hearings are scheduled in Anchorage

and Fairbanks. The Anchorage hearing

will be held on February 29, 2000, from

6:00 pm until 9:00 pm. The Fairbanks

hearing will be held on March 7, 2000,

from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed

General Permits and the Finding of No

Significant Impact should be sent to

Director, Office of Water; USEPA Region

10; 1200 Sixth Avenue, OW–135;

Seattle, Washington 98101. The

Anchorage public hearing will be held

at the Days Inn Conference Center, 330

E. 4th Avenue. The Fairbanks public

hearing will be held at the Carlson

Center, 2010 Second Avenue, Pioneer

Room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Copies of the Proposed General Permits

and Fact Sheets are available upon

request. The General Permits and Fact

Sheets may be found on the Region 10

website at www.epa.gov/r10earth/

offices/water/npdes.html Requests may

be made to Audrey Washington at (206)

553–0523 or to Cindi Godsey at (907)

271–6561 or electronically mailed to:

washington.audrey@epa.gov or

godsey.cindi@epa.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget

has exempted this action from the

review requirements of Executive Order

12866 pursuant to section 6 of that

order.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

After review of the facts presented in

the notice printed above, I hereby certify

pursuant to the provision of 5 U.S.C.

605(b) that this reissuance of these GPs

will not have a significant impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

Moreover, the permit reduces a

significant administrative burden on

regulated sources.

Dated: January 7, 2000.

Randall F. Smith,

Director, Office of Water, Region 10.

[FR Doc. 00–960 Filed 1–13–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Equal

Employment Opportunity Commission.

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, January 25,

2000 at 2:00 P.M. (Eastern Time).

PLACE: Conference Room on the Ninth

Floor of the EEOC Office Building, 1801

‘‘L’’ Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

20507.

STATUS: The meeting will be closed to

the public.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Closed Session

Review of Pending Litigation.

Note: Any matter not discussed or

concluded may be carried over to a later

meeting: (In addition to publishing notices

on EEOC Commission meetings in the

Federal Register, the Commission also

provides a recorded announcement a full

week in advance on future Commission

sessions.)

Please telephone (202) 663–7100

(voice) and (202) 663–4074 (TTD) at any

time for information on these meetings.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Frances M. Hart, Executive Officer on

(202) 663–4070.

This Notice Issued January 12, 2000.

Frances M. Hart,

Executive Officer, Executive Secretariat.

[FR Doc. 00–1106 Filed 1–12–00; 2:49 pm]

BILLING CODE 6750–06–M

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD

[No. 2000–N–1]

Federal Home Loan Bank Members

Selected for Community Support

Review

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance

Board.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance

Board (Finance Board) is announcing

the Federal Home Loan Bank (Bank)

members it has selected for the 1998–99

eighth quarter review cycle under the

Finance Board’s community support

requirement regulation. This notice also

prescribes the deadline by which Bank

members selected for review must