82 FR 19043 - Draft NPDES General Permit for Discharges From the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category to Coastal Waters in Texas (TXG330000)

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 78 (April 25, 2017)

EPA Region 6 today proposes a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit regulating discharges from oil and gas wells in the Coastal Subcategory in Texas which discharge into coastal waters in Texas.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 78 (Tuesday, April 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19043-19044]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08255]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9960-17-Region 6]


Draft NPDES General Permit for Discharges From the Oil and Gas 
Extraction Point Source Category to Coastal Waters in Texas (TXG330000)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposal of NPDES general permit renewal.

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SUMMARY: EPA Region 6 today proposes a National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) general permit regulating discharges from 
oil and gas wells in the Coastal Subcategory in Texas which discharge 
into coastal waters in Texas.

DATES: Comments must be received by June 9, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Comment: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. 
EPA-R06-OW-2017-0160 to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Evelyn Rosborough, Region 6, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-
2733. Telephone: (214) 665-7515.
    A complete draft permit and a fact sheet more fully explaining the 
proposal may be obtained online from the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
accessing the Docket listed above or from Ms. Rosborough. In addition, 
the Agency's current administrative record on the proposal is available 
for examination at the Region's Dallas offices during normal working 
hours after providing Ms. Rosborough 24 hours advance notice.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The permit prohibits the discharge of 
drilling fluid, drill cuttings, produced sand and well treatment, 
completion and workover fluids. Discharges of dewatering effluents from 
reserve pits are also proposed to be prohibited. Produced water 
discharges are prohibited. The discharge of deck drainage, formation 
test fluids, sanitary waste, domestic waste and miscellaneous 
discharges is authorized. More stringent requirements are proposed to 
regulate discharges to water quality-impaired waterbodies. Pursuant to 
the section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), monitoring 
requirements for cooling water intake structures for new facilities are 
also proposed in this permit. Proposed changes include clarification of 
miscellaneous discharges and electronic reporting requirements. 
Rationales for those changes are described in the fact sheet. To obtain 
discharge authorization, operators of such facilities must submit a new 
Notice of Intent (NOI). To determine whether your facility, company, 
business, organization, etc. is regulated by this action, you should 
carefully examine the applicability criteria in Part I, Section A.1 of 
this permit.
    If you have questions regarding the applicability of this action to 
a particular entity, consult the person listed in the preceding FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

Other Legal Requirements

    State certification under section 401 of the CWA; consistency with 
the Texas Coastal Management Program; and

[[Page 19044]]

compliance with National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species 
Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Historic 
Preservation Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, and Regulatory Flexibility 
Act requirements are discussed in the fact sheet to the proposed 
permit.

    Dated: March 2, 2017.
William K. Honker,
Director, Water Division, EPA Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2017-08255 Filed 4-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P