[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9825-9826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-4626]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7629-5; Docket ID No. RCRA-2004-0001]
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response; Announcement of
Listening Sessions
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: EPA will hold listening sessions on March 23, 2004, in State
College, Pennsylvania; April 13, 2004, in Dallas, Texas; and April 22,
2004, in Vincennes, Indiana. These three listening sessions are
opportunities for interested parties to provide EPA with information on
the practices of placing coal combustion byproducts in coal mines and
at surface impoundments and landfills, including non-coal mine sites.
EPA is interested in obtaining information on benefits and problems
associated with the practices. Placement of coal combustion byproducts
at coal mines is currently regulated under any of three scenarios: (1)
Regulated by federal or State agencies operating under authority of the
federal Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act (SMCRA) administered
by the U.S. Department of the Interior; (2) regulated by State agencies
operating under State mining or solid waste laws; or (3) a combination
of these. EPA is in the process of considering whether Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) subtitle D or SMCRA authorities or
some combination of both are most appropriate to regulate placement at
coal mines. For placement of coal combustion byproducts at surface
impoundments and landfills, including non-coal mine sites, EPA is in
the process of developing regulations under subtitle D of RCRA. At
these listening sessions, officials from the U.S. Department of the
Interior and State mining and solid waste agencies will be present,
along with EPA officials.
DATES: The listening session dates are:
1. March 23, 2004, in State College, Pennsylvania.
2. April 13, 2004, in Dallas, Texas.
3. April 22, 2004, in Vincennes, Indiana.
[[Page 9826]]
ADDRESSES: The listening session locations are:
1. State College, Pennsylvania--the Nittany Lion Inn, 200 West Park
Ave., State College, PA.
2. Dallas, Texas--Fairmont Hotel, 1717 N. Akard St., Dallas, TX.
3. Vincennes, Indiana--Quality Inn Vincennes, 600 Old Wheatland
Rd., Vincennes, IN.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie Robinson, Office of Solid
Waste, Mail Code 5306W, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number (703)
308-8429; fax number (703) 308-8686; e-mail address:
Robinson.Bonnie@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does This Action Apply to Me?
This action is directed to the public in general; however, persons
may be interested who work or live at or near facilities at which coal
combustion byproducts are generated or placed, or persons who are
concerned about implementation of the Federal Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) or the Federal Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act (SMCRA).
B. How Can I Obtain Related Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this
action under Docket ID No. RCRA-2004-0001. The official public docket
consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action, any
public comments received, and other information related to this action.
Although a part of the official docket, the public docket does not
include Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. The official public docket
is the collection of materials that is available for public viewing at
the OSWER Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., 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, and the telephone number for the
OSWER Docket is (202) 566-0270.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet under the Federal Register
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
An electronic version of the public docket is available through
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to view public comments,
access the index listing of the contents of the official public docket,
and to access those documents in the public docket that are available
electronically. Although not all docket materials may be available
electronically, you may still access any of the publicly available
docket materials through the docket facility identified above. Once in
the system, select ``search,'' then key in the appropriate docket ID
number.
You may access EPA information electronically at the EPA Web site
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/other/fossil/index.htm.
II. Background
For placement of coal combustion byproducts at coal mines, EPA is
in the process of considering whether RCRA subtitle D or SMCRA
authorities or some combination of both are most appropriate to ensure
protection of human health and the environment. For placement of coal
combustion byproducts at surface impoundments and landfills, including
non-coal mine sites, EPA is in the process of developing regulations
under RCRA subtitle D. These EPA actions and the background for them
were initially described in EPA's Notice of Regulatory Determination on
Wastes From the Combustion of Fossil Fuels (65 FR 32214-32237, May 22,
2000). This Regulatory Determination, an associated Report to Congress,
and other related documents may be accessed at the Web site identified
above. In this process EPA has contacted State and Federal regulatory
agencies, the coal mining and coal combustion industries, and the
public to learn of issues associated with the several practices. These
three listening sessions are further opportunity for the public to
provide EPA with information on these practices involving coal
combustion byproducts.
To register to speak at one of these three listening sessions, you
should contact the person listed above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. To speak at one of the listening sessions, you should register
no later than seven calendar days prior to the listening session. At
each listening session, speakers' speaking time will be limited
according to the number of persons registering to speak. If you are
unable to register to speak, EPA will attempt to accommodate you after
the registered speakers have spoken. There is no limitation on the
amount of written material which can be provided to EPA at the
listening sessions. EPA plans for each listening session to begin at
6:30 p.m. and end at 9 p.m. If the number of registered speakers
indicates the need to extend to a later hour, EPA will do so.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6901-6991i.
Dated: February 23, 2004.
Robert Springer,
Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 04-4626 Filed 3-1-04; 8:45 am]
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