82 FR 38685 - Release of Interim Final Guidance for State Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Programs; Comment Request

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 156 (August 15, 2017)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of and requests comment on a document titled Coal Combustion Residuals State Permit Program Guidance Document; Interim Final. As a result of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act signed by the President on December 16, 2016, States may submit coal combustion residuals (CCR) programs to EPA for review and approval. This document describes EPA's interpretations of the WIIN Act provisions and the way in which EPA generally intends to review State programs.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38685-38686]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17270]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0458; FRL-9966-52-OLEM]


Release of Interim Final Guidance for State Coal Combustion 
Residuals Permit Programs; Comment Request

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
availability of and requests comment on a document titled Coal 
Combustion Residuals State Permit Program Guidance Document; Interim 
Final. As a result of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the 
Nation (WIIN) Act signed by the President on December 16, 2016, States 
may submit coal combustion residuals (CCR) programs to EPA for review 
and approval. This document describes EPA's interpretations of the WIIN 
Act provisions and the way in which EPA generally intends to review 
State programs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 14, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OLEM-2017-0458; Title: Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) State Permit 
Program Guidance Document (Interim Final) at http://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 
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 http://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Jackson, Materials Recovery and 
Waste Management Division, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery 
(5304P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (703) 308-8453; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 2301 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the 
Nation Act (WIIN) Act amended the Resource Conservation and Recovery 
Act to allow States to submit and EPA to approve State permit (or other 
system of prior approval and conditions) programs for CCR.
    Coal Combustion Residuals State Permit Program Guidance Document; 
Interim Final is designed to provide information about the provisions 
of the 2016 WIIN Act, related to CCR, as well as the process and 
procedures EPA generally intends to use to review and make 
determinations on State CCR Permit Programs. The purpose of this 
document is to provide States guidance for developing and submitting a 
State CCR Permit Program for EPA approval.
    The document has four (4) chapters. The first two are in the form 
of questions and answers. The first chapter provides an overview of the 
provisions of the WIIN Act. The second chapter contains the process and 
procedures EPA is currently planning to use to review and make 
determinations on State CCR programs, as well as the documentation EPA 
generally expects to request from States seeking approval of a program. 
The third and fourth chapters consist of checklists to aid the States 
as they are considering and developing their program submittals. 
Chapter 3 contains a checklist of all the requirements of the current 
CCR rule at 40 CFR part 257 subpart D. Chapter 4 provides a checklist 
of those items EPA generally expects a State would submit when seeking 
approval of its CCR program.
    This guidance describes EPA's statutory interpretations and the way 
in which EPA generally intends to review State programs. As such, EPA 
encourages States to consult this interim final guidance and to use it 
as a technical resource as they develop and submit State CCR Permit 
programs to EPA for review and approval. As provided by Section 2301 of 
the WIIN Act, EPA must provide public notice and an opportunity for 
comment prior to approval of a State program by EPA. Thus, EPA's review 
and approval of a State program will be a separate process from this 
action that will provide for public notice and opportunity for comment 
on each State program.
    The information and procedures in the document are intended as a 
technical resource to States that may be useful in developing and 
submitting a State CCRs Permit Program to EPA for approval. This 
Guidance does not constitute rulemaking by the Agency, and cannot be 
relied on to create a substantive or procedural right enforceable by 
any party in litigation with the United States. As indicated by the use 
of non-mandatory language such as ``may'' and ``should,'' it only 
provides recommendations and does not impose any legally binding 
requirements.
    The guidance document can be found in the docket (Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0458; Title: Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) State 
Permit Program Guidance Document (Interim Final)) at http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, a copy of the guidance document and 
additional resources on CCR can also be found on EPA's Web site: 
www.epa.gov/coalash.


[[Page 38686]]


    Dated: August 9, 2017.
Nigel Simon,
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Land and 
Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2017-17270 Filed 8-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P