Document ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0239-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Mitigation in the Great Lakes and New England Regions, March 29, 2007
Posted Date: 2007-03-29T04:00Z

[Federal Register: March 29, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 60)]
[Notices]               
[Page 14803-14804]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29mr07-85]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0239; FRL-8293-7]

 
A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Climate Change 
on Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Mitigation in the Great Lakes and New 
England Regions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft 
document titled, ``A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of 
Climate Change on Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Mitigation in the Great 
Lakes and New England Regions'' (EPA/600/R-07/033A). The document was 
prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) 
within EPA's Office of Research and Development.
    EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality 
guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It 
does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency 
policy or determination. EPA will consider any public comments 
submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins March 29, 2007, and ends 
April 28, 2007. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by April 28, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The draft ``A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts 
of Climate Change on Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Mitigation in the 
Great Lakes and New England Regions'' is available primarily via the 
Internet on NCEA's home page under the Recent Additions and the Data 
and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of 

paper copies are available from NCEA's Technical Information Staff 
(telephone: 202-564-3261, facsimile: 202-565-0050). If you are 
requesting a paper copy, please provide your name, your mailing 
address, and the document title.
    Comments may be submitted electronically at http://www.regulations.gov
, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/

courier. Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment 
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket; 
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: 
ORD.Docket@epa.gov.

    For technical information, contact Thomas Johnson, NCEA; telephone: 
202-564-3406; facsimile: 202-564-2018; or e-mail: 
Johnson.thomas@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Project/Document

    This report describes the potential scope and magnitude of climate 
change impacts on combined sewer overflow (CSO) events mitigation 
efforts in the Great Lakes Region and New England Region. The report 
describes the extent to which CSO long-term control plans may be under-
designed if planners assume that past precipitation conditions are 
representative of future conditions. Combined sewer systems (CSSs) 
collect and co-treat stormwater and municipal wastewater. During high-
intensity rainfall events, the capacity of CSSs can be exceeded 
resulting in the discharge of untreated storm water and wastewater 
directly into receiving streams. These CSO events can result in high 
concentrations of microbial pathogens, biochemical oxygen demand, 
suspended solids, and other pollutants in receiving waters. Climate 
change in many parts of the country is expected to increase the 
proportion of rainfall occurring in high-intensity events, resulting in 
increased stormwater runoff. Climate change could thus present a risk 
of increased CSO frequency and resulting water quality impairment.

II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0239 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: ORD.Docket@epa.gov.
     Fax: 202-566-1753.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 
202-566-1752.
     Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Avenue, 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. Such deliveries are only accepted during 
the docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should 
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    If you provide comments by mail or hand delivery, please submit one 
unbound original with pages numbered consecutively, and three copies of 
the comments. For attachments, provide an index, number pages 
consecutively with the comments, and submit an unbound original and 
three copies.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2007-0239. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the 
specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will 
be marked ``late,'' and may only be considered if time permits. It is 
EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket 
without change and to make the comments available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 

unless a comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 

The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 

which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your

[[Page 14804]]

comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going 
through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the 
public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an 
electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other 
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or 
CD-ROM you submit. 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. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects 
or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit 
the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm
.

    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the 
http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 

information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA 

Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: March 26, 2007.
David Bussard,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
 [FR Doc. E7-5803 Filed 3-28-07; 8:45 am]

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