Document ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0657-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Planning for Natural Disaster Debris and Related Guidance
Posted Date: 2018-04-27T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 82 (Friday, April 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18558-18560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08969]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0657; FRL-9977-18-OLEM]
RIN 2050-ZA11

Planning for Natural Disaster Debris and Related Guidance

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making 
available for public comment three draft documents: Planning for 
Natural Disaster Debris; Pre-incident All-hazards Waste Management Plan 
Guidelines: Four-step Waste Management Planning Process; and All-
hazards Waste Management Decision Diagram. The Planning for Natural 
Disaster Debris guidance is intended to assist communities in planning 
for debris management before a natural disaster occurs (also referred 
to as ``pre-incident debris management planning''). This guidance 
revises EPA's existing guidance document on planning for natural 
disaster debris that was published in 2008 under the same name. The 
other two documents describe, respectively, the pre-incident waste 
management planning process for all hazards and the waste management 
decision-making process during an all-hazards incident. Pre-incident 
planning can significantly aid decision-making during a response and 
enhance a community's resiliency. Pre-incident planning can also help 
communities recover faster, spend less money on cleanup and debris/
waste management, and use fewer resources to rebuild and recover.

DATES: Comments received by June 26, 2018 will be considered in the 
development of the final guidance.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OLEM-2017-0657, at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The 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

[[Page 18559]]

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). 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melissa Kaps, Office of Resource 
Conservation and Recovery (5304P), Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 
703-308-6787; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

A. Planning for Natural Disaster Debris Guidance

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) draft Planning 
for Natural Disaster Debris Guidance provides planning suggestions and 
considerations to assist the whole community (i.e., all governmental, 
private, nonprofit, community, and other stakeholders) in preparing for 
debris management before a natural disaster occurs. Communities that 
may benefit from the advice presented in this document include those 
that are currently without a debris management plan, are in the 
beginning stages of the debris management planning process, or have 
existing debris management plans that are not comprehensive or have not 
been updated with new information. Plans should be updated regularly to 
keep the information current (e.g., record reductions in existing 
disposal capacity, include innovative reuse or recycling 
opportunities), and plans should also be exercised (i.e., activities 
should be conducted to test or evaluate components of the plan) to 
ensure that the whole community remains familiar with their roles and 
responsibilities in the implementation of the disaster debris plan.
    Updating the 2008 version of EPA's Planning for Natural Disaster 
Debris, this guidance adds information drawn from communities' 
experiences with natural disasters, including hurricanes, earthquakes, 
tornadoes, volcanoes, floods, wildfires, and winter storms, and 
provides more planning recommendations, resources, and lessons learned 
for managing natural disaster debris. Also, this guidance walks through 
EPA's pre-incident debris management planning process. This process has 
four steps to help prepare communities for effective debris management: 
(1) Conduct pre-planning activities; (2) develop a comprehensive pre-
incident debris management plan; (3) keep the debris management plan 
updated; and (4) implement the debris management plan during a natural 
disaster.
    Natural disasters generate large amounts of debris that communities 
must manage to fully recover from the disaster. Debris management is 
often one of the biggest costs for a response, and recovery is not 
complete until all debris has been managed. Pre-incident debris 
management planning can significantly aid decision-making during a 
natural disaster by allowing important analyses and considerations to 
be made in advance, i.e., not during a disaster response. Pre-incident 
planning can also enhance a community's resiliency by, for example, 
identifying (and mitigating) potential debris sources in advance. In 
the event of a disaster, a more resilient community generates less 
debris to manage and contains fewer hazardous materials that may pose 
an increased risk to human health and the environment if released. 
Resilient communities recover faster, spend less money on cleanup and 
debris management, and use fewer resources to rebuild and recover. 
Effective planning addresses source reduction and hazard mitigation 
activities to reduce the amount and toxicity of debris generated by a 
natural disaster; strategies for reuse and recycling of materials to 
minimize the environmental and economic impact of debris management 
activities; and issues and considerations beyond initial debris 
removal. Such considerations include characterizing and processing 
(e.g., volume reduction, refrigerant removal) debris for proper 
management, tracking debris to its final destination, and communicating 
with the public about debris collection and other management 
activities. For these reasons, EPA believes it is critical that 
communities include debris management planning in their overall 
preparation for natural disasters.
    EPA invites comment on this document from the public, especially 
from persons who are engaged in those aspects of natural disaster 
debris management planning that are addressed in this draft guidance. 
EPA is also interested in lessons learned or success stories from 
communities that may further illustrate the importance of pre-incident 
debris management planning. EPA is particularly interested in receiving 
information on communities' experiences with the 2017 hurricanes and 
wildfires and requests lessons learned from those natural disasters. 
Finally, EPA is interested in any examples where communities have 
tracked debris from collection to its final destination. EPA will 
review any public comments submitted by the deadline and determine 
whether and how to revise the document, as appropriate, for the 
intended scope and use of this guidance. A copy of this guidance can be 
found on EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/homeland-security-waste/comment-period-open-draft-update-planning-natural-disaster-debris-guidance.

B. Related Documents on All-Hazards Waste Management

    EPA's Pre-incident All-hazards Waste Management Plan Guidelines: 
Four-step Waste Management Planning Process describes the cyclical and 
ongoing process of waste management planning for all hazards, including 
natural disasters. It breaks down the planning process into four steps 
that cover the initiation, creation, maintenance, and implementation of 
a waste/debris management plan. It contains a suggested pre-incident 
waste management plan outline that can be used to prepare for all types 
of homeland security incidents and identifies potential issues, 
resources, and tips to help with plan development. Its companion 
document, the All-hazards Waste Management Decision Diagram, describes 
the waste management decision-making process during homeland security 
incidents, including natural disasters. It provides information to 
consider when making decisions during an incident response and 
identifies areas where pre-incident waste management planning can be 
useful.
    EPA invites comment on these documents from the public, especially 
from persons who are engaged in those aspects of waste management 
planning that are addressed in these documents. EPA will review any 
public comments submitted by the deadline and determine whether and how 
to revise the documents, as appropriate, for the intended scope and use 
of these documents. Copies of these documents can be found on EPA's 
website at https://www.epa.gov/homeland-security-waste/comment-period-open-draft-update-planning-natural-disaster-debris-guidance.

[[Page 18560]]

    Dated: April 18, 2018.
Barnes Johnson,
Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery.
[FR Doc. 2018-08969 Filed 4-26-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P