Document ID: EPA_FRDOC_0001-30162
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Preliminary Designation of Certain Stormwater Discharges within Two Watersheds: Los Angeles County, CA under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System of the Clean Water Act
Posted Date: 2023-11-02T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 211 (Thursday, November 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75282-75283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24249]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-11427-01-R9]

Notice of Availability of Preliminary Designation of Certain 
Stormwater Discharges Within Two Watersheds in Los Angeles County, 
California Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System of 
the Clean Water Act

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) Region 9 is providing notice of availability and 
soliciting comment on the preliminary designation of stormwater 
discharges from certain commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) 
sites in two watersheds in Los Angeles County, California for 
regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. This action, if 
finalized by EPA, will regulate stormwater discharges that contribute 
to a water quality standard violation or that are a significant 
contributor of pollutants to waters of the United States. EPA intends 
to make a final decision after consideration of all comments submitted.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 4, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted via email to the following 
address: [email protected] and include ``Comments on the 2023 Preliminary 
Designation'' in the subject line. Documents and further instructions 
for submitting comments related to this preliminary designation are 
available for public inspection online at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/residual-designation-authority-address-stormwater-quality-problems-epas-pacific. If there are issues accessing the website, 
please contact EPA via the contact information below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugene Bromley, EPA Region 9, Water 
Division, NPDES Permits Section; telephone (415) 972-3510; email 
address: [email protected].
    Administrative Record: The preliminary designation and other 
related documents in the administrative record are on file and may be 
inspected between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays, at the following address: U.S. EPA Region 9, NPDES 
Permits Section, Water Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105-3901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Does this action apply to me?

    Entities potentially regulated by this action include a wide 
variety of privately owned CII facilities such as shopping centers, 
supermarkets, office complexes, hotels, warehouses, manufacturers, 
cargo and trucking terminals, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. 
Entities potentially regulated by this action also include privately 
operated CII facilities at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. 
Entities affected by this action are located within either of two 
watersheds in Los Angeles County, in California: the Los Cerritos 
Channel/Alamitos Bay Watershed or the Dominquez Channel/Los Angeles/
Long Beach Harbor Watershed. This description of affected activities is 
not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers 
regarding entities likely to be affected by this action. This 
description of affected activities includes the types of entities that 
EPA is now aware could potentially be affected by this action. Other 
types of entities not included could also be affected. To determine 
whether your entity is affected by this action, you should also review 
the description of EPA's action in documents online at the website 
listed in the ADDRESSES section above. If you have questions regarding 
the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the 
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

B. Summary of Preliminary Designation

    CWA section 402(p)(2)(E) and (6) and EPA's implementing regulations 
at 40 CFR 122.26(a)(9)(i) authorize EPA to designate stormwater 
discharges for regulation under the NPDES permitting program. Those 
provisions authorize the Agency to regulate stormwater discharges that 
contribute to a water quality standard violation or that are a 
significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the United States, 
or where controls are needed based on wasteload allocations that are 
part of total maximum daily loads. This authority is often referred to 
as ``residual designation authority'' or RDA. EPA is providing notice 
of and soliciting comment on its preliminary designation for NPDES 
permitting of unregulated stormwater discharges from certain 
commercial, industrial and institutional (CII) facilities in the Los 
Cerritos Channel/Alamitos Bay and Dominquez Channel/Los Angeles/Long 
Beach Harbor Watersheds in Los Angeles County, including privately 
operated CII facilities at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. EPA 
is also taking comment on whether privately operated CII facilities at 
municipal airports located within the watersheds should be included.
    This preliminary designation is in response to a 2018 District 
Court order in Los Angeles Waterkeeper v. Pruitt, as well as two 
September 15, 2015 petitions entitled ``Petition For A Determination 
That Stormwater Discharges From Commercial, Industrial, And 
Institutional Sites Contribute To Water Quality Standards Violations in 
Dominguez Channel and the Los Angeles/Long Beach Inner Harbor (Los 
Angeles County, California) and Require Clean Water Act Permits,'' and 
``Petition For A Determination That Stormwater Discharges From 
Commercial, Industrial, And Institutional Sites Contribute To Water 
Quality Standards Violations in the Alamitos Bay/Los Cerritos Watershed 
(Los Angeles County, California) And Require Clean Water Act Permits.''

C. How can I submit comments?

    Submit comments by the deadline identified in this Federal Register 
notice. Information on how to submit comments and documents related to 
this preliminary designation are available for public inspection online 
at ADDRESSES above. If you need assistance in a language other than 
English or if you are a person with disabilities who needs a reasonable 
accommodation at no cost to you, please reach out by email or telephone 
to the FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT listed above in this notice.
    Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the 
administrative record. The EPA may publish any comment received as part 
of documentation (e.g., response to comments document) associated with 
its final decision. Do not submit in your comment any information you 
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), Proprietary 
Business Information (PBI), or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video,

[[Page 75283]]

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. 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).

    Dated: October 25, 2023.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9.
[FR Doc. 2023-24249 Filed 11-1-23; 8:45 am]
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