[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 243 (Monday, December 19, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 78599-78601]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32472]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 9 and 122
[EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0188; FRL-9608-3]
RIN 2040-AF22
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Reporting Rule; Extension
of Comment Period
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of public comment period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On October 21, 2011 (76 FR 65431) (FRL-9481-7) EPA published a
proposed rule entitled, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Reporting Rule. As
initially published in the Federal Register, written comments on the
proposal were to be submitted to EPA on or before December 20, 2011 (a
60-day public comment period). Since publication, EPA has received
several requests for additional time to submit comments. Therefore, the
public comment period is being extended for 30 days and will now end on
January 19, 2012.
DATES: Comments may be submitted until January 19, 2012.
ADDRESSES:
Comments: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2011-0188, by one of the following methods: http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
Email: ow-docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-
0188.
Fax: (202) 566-9744.
Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode:
28221T, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0188, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. In addition, please mail a copy of your
comments on the information collection provisions to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), Attn: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th St. NW., Washington, DC
20503.
Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OW-2011-0188. Such deliveries are accepted only during the Docket
Center's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be
made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-
0188. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in
the public docket without change and could be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which
means that EPA will not know your identity or contact information
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email
comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your
email address will be automatically captured and included as part of
the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on
the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that
you include your name and other contact information in the body of your
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your
comment because of technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA might not be able to consider your comment.
Electronic files should avoid the use of
[[Page 78600]]
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects
or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit
the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. For additional instructions on submitting comments, go to
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Water Docket, EPA/DC, EPA
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. The
Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding federal holidays. The telephone number for the Public
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Water
Docket is (202) 566-2426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information contact,
Becky Mitschele, Water Permits Division, Office of Wastewater
Management (4203M), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202)
564-6418; fax number (202) 564-6384; email address:
mitschele.becky@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This supplementary information is organized
as follows:
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
This proposed rulemaking would apply to concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs) as defined in the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) regulations at 40 CFR 122.23(b)(2), pursuant
to section 502(14) of the Clean Water Act (``CWA''). An animal feeding
operation (AFO) is a CAFO if it meets the regulatory definition of a
Large or Medium CAFO (40 CFR 122.23(b)(4) or (6)) or has been
designated as a CAFO (40 CFR 122.23(c)) by the NPDES permitting
authority or by EPA. The following table provides the size thresholds
for Large, Medium and Small CAFOs in each animal sector.
Table 1--Summary of CAFO Size Thresholds for All Sectors
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sector Large Medium \1\ Small \2\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cattle or cow/calf pairs........... 1,000 or more........ 300-999.............. Less than 300.
Mature dairy cattle................ 700 or more.......... 200-699.............. Less than 200.
Veal calves........................ 1,000 or more........ 300-999.............. Less than 300.
Swine (weighing over 55 pounds).... 2,500 or more........ 750-2,499............ Less than 750.
Swine (weighing less than 55 10,000 or more....... 3,000-9,999.......... Less than 3,000.
pounds).
Horses............................. 500 or more.......... 150-499.............. Less than 150.
Sheep or lambs..................... 10,000 or more....... 3,000-9,999.......... Less than 3,000.
Turkeys............................ 55,000 or more....... 16,500-54,999........ Less than 16,500.
Laying hens or broilers (liquid 30,000 or more....... 9,000-29,999......... Less than 9,000.
manure handling system).
Chickens other than laying hens 125,000 or more...... 37,500-124,999....... Less than 37,500.
(other than a liquid manure
handling system).
Laying hens (other than a liquid 82,000 or more....... 25,000-81,999........ Less than 25,000.
manure handling system).
Ducks ( other than a liquid manure 30,000 or more....... 10,000-29,999........ Less than 10,000.
handling system).
Ducks (liquid manure handling 5,000 or more........ 1,500-4,999.......... Less than 1,500.
system).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
\1\ May be designated or must meet one of the following two criteria to be defined as a medium CAFO: (A)
Discharges pollutants through a man-made device; or (B) directly discharges pollutants into waters of the
United States which pass over, across, or through the facility or otherwise come into direct contact with the
confined animals. 40 CFR 122.23(b)(6).
\2\ Not a CAFO by regulatory definition, but may be designated as a CAFO on a case-by-case basis. 40 CFR
122.23(b)(9).
That table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this
proposed rulemaking. The table lists the types of entities that EPA is
currently aware of that could be regulated by this action. Other types
of entities not listed in the table could also be CAFOs. The owners or
operators of AFOs that have not been designated and that do not confine
the required number of animals to meet the definition of a Large or
Medium CAFO are not required to submit information.
To determine whether your operation is a CAFO, you should carefully
examine the applicability criteria in 40 CFR 122.23. 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.
B. How can I get copies of these documents and other related
information?
1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this
action under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0188. The official public
docket is the collection of materials that is available for public
viewing at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Although all documents in the docket are listed in an index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Publicly available docket materials are available in hard
copy at the EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room, 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 Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the United States government online source for
Federal regulations at http://www.regulations.gov. Electronic versions
of the proposed rule and factsheet are available on EPA's NPDES Web
site at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/afo/aforule.cfm. An electronic
version of the public docket is available through the EPA's electronic
public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may use EPA Dockets
at http://www.regulations.gov to submit or view public comments, access
the index
[[Page 78601]]
listing of the contents of the official public docket, and to access
those documents in the public docket that are available electronically.
For additional information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA
Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/dockets. 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 in Section I.B.1.
C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
1. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
Follow directions--The agency might ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives,
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
2. Submitting Comments to EPA.
Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0188. EPA's
policy is that all comments received will be included in the public
docket without change and could be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an
``anonymous access'' system, which means that EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without
going through http://www.regulations.gov your email address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment because of
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
might not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should
avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be
free of any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's
public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
3. Submitting Confidential Business Information.
Do not submit CBI information to EPA through www.regulations.gov or
email. Clearly mark the part of or all the information that you claim
to be CBI. For CBI information on a disk or CD ROM that you mail to
EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify
electronically within the disk or CD ROM the specific information that
is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment
that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that
does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for
inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be
disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part
2.
II. Extension of Comment Period for the NPDES CAFO Reporting Rule
A. Proposed NPDES CAFO Reporting Rule
On October 21, EPA published in the Federal Register the proposed
NPDES CAFO Reporting Rule for public comment. EPA is requesting public
comment on the proposed rule options for gathering the information
identified in the proposal and the alternative approaches to achieve
water quality protection. Copies of the proposal are available on EPA's
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/regulations/cafo_fr_proposed_reporting_rule.pdf. More information regarding the NPDES permitting
program for CAFOs can be found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=7.
B. Extension of Comment Period
EPA is extending the deadline for submitting comments on the
proposed NPDES CAFO Reporting Rule to January 19, 2012. The original
deadline for comments, based on a 60-day comment period, was December
20, 2012. EPA's decision responds to a request from several
organizations to extend the comment deadline in order to provide a
longer period of time in which to provide comments. EPA believes that
this 30-day extension will assist in providing an adequate amount of
additional time for these organizations as well as other members of the
public to review the proposal and to provide written comments.
Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
Dated: December 13, 2011.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2011-32472 Filed 12-16-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P