Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2020-0673-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Program
Posted Date: 2020-12-10T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 238 (Thursday, December 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 79489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27121]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2020-0673; FRL-10018-43-OW]

Applying the Supreme Court's County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife 
Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant 
Discharge Elimination System Permit Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft guidance and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a draft 
memorandum to provide guidance to the regulated community and 
permitting authorities on applying the recent decision of the United 
States Supreme Court in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. 
Ct. 1462 (2020), in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant 
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program for point source 
discharges that travel through groundwater before reaching waters of 
the United States. Consistent with EPA Guidance; Administrative 
Procedures for Issuance and Public Petitions, published in the Federal 
Register on October 19, 2020, EPA is soliciting public comments on the 
draft memorandum for thirty days. The Agency may pursue a future 
rulemaking action to provide greater regulatory certainty concerning 
discharges subject to the NPDES permit program. This draft guidance 
document does not have the force and effect of law and it does not bind 
the public in any way. By issuing this draft guidance memorandum, the 
Agency intends only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing 
requirements under the law or Agency policies.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 11, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2020-0673, at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from regulations.gov. 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 https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epadockets.
    Due to the public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA 
Docket Center (EPA/DC) and Reading Room is closed to visitors with 
limited exceptions. The staff continues to provide remote customer 
service via email and telephone. For the latest status information on 
EPA/DC services and docket access, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Wilson, Office of Wastewater 
Management, Water Permits Division (MC4203M), Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: (202) 564-6087; email address: wilson.js@epa.gov.

A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

    You may access this document electronically at https://www.epa.gov/npdes/releases-point-source-groundwater or at https://www.federalregister.gov. EPA has established an official public docket 
for receiving comments under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2020-0673 which is 
accessible electronically at http://www.regulations.gov that will also 
contain copies of this Federal Register notice. The public docket does 
not include CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by 
statute. The telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.

    Dated: December 4, 2020.
David P. Ross,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2020-27121 Filed 12-9-20; 8:45 am]
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