[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65875-65877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26792]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R09-RCRA-2011-0103; [FRL-9743-7]
Adequacy of Arizona Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Permit Program
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public hearing and continued opportunity to comment.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency Region IX will hold a
public hearing concerning the agency's tentative determination to
approve a modification to Arizona's municipal solid waste landfill
(MSWLF) permit program to allow the State to issue research,
development, and demonstration (RD&D) permits for new and existing
MSWLF units and lateral expansions. EPA published its tentative
determination on February 22, 2011 and offered an opportunity for a
public hearing. Initially, EPA closed its comment period on April 25,
2011 and announced it would not hold a public hearing. Since that time,
in response to public interest and updates to Arizona's RD&D permit
program, EPA decided to hold a public hearing, extend the comment
period through the date of the public hearing, and make available for
public review the updated information submitted by Arizona in support
of its RD&D program.
[[Page 65876]]
DATES: EPA will hold a public hearing on December 18, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.
in Room 145 on the first floor of the office of the Arizona Department
of Environmental Quality at 1110 West Washington Street, Phoenix,
Arizona. Comments must be received on or before December 18, 2012. EPA
will accept all comments received between February 22, 2011 and
December 18, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
RCRA-2011-0103 by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: [email protected].
Fax: (415) 947-3530.
Mail: Karen Ueno (WST-7), Environmental Protection Agency
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Hand Delivery: Environmental Protection Agency Region IX,
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Docket'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-R09-RCRA-
2011-0103. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may 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 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 with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, or any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
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
disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Certain other materials,
such as the State's prior applications for MSWLF permit program
approval, are available only in hard copy. Publicly available docket
materials are available either electronically in www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy at the Environmental Protection Agency Region IX, 75
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901. This Docket facility is
open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays. It is located in a secured building. To review docket
materials at the Docket facility, it is recommended that an appointment
be made in advance by calling the Docket facility at (415) 947- 4406
during normal business hours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Ueno, Waste Management Division,
WST-7, Environmental Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105-3901; telephone number: (415) 972-3317; fax
number: (415) 947-3530; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Background
On March 22, 2004, EPA issued a final rule amending the municipal
solid waste landfill criteria at 40 CFR 258.4 to allow for Research,
Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) permits (69 FR 13242). This rule
allows for variances from specified criteria for a limited period of
time. Specifically, the rule allows the Director of an EPA-approved
State permit program to issue a time-limited RD&D permit for a new
MSWLF unit, existing MSWLF unit, or lateral expansion, for which the
owner or operator proposes to use innovative and new methods which vary
from either or both of the following: (1) The run-on control systems at
40 CFR 258.26, and/or (2) the liquids restrictions at 40 CFR 258.28(a),
provided that the MSWLF unit has a leachate collection system designed
and constructed to maintain less than a 30 cm depth of leachate on the
liner. The rule also allows the Director of an EPA-approved State
permit program to issue a time-limited RD&D permit for which the owner
or operator proposes to use innovative and new methods that vary from
the final cover criteria at 40 CFR 258.60(a) (1) and (2), and (b) (1),
provided that the owner or operator demonstrates that the alternative
cover system will not contaminate groundwater or surface water, or
cause leachate depth on the liner to exceed 30 cm. An RD&D permit
cannot exceed three years and a renewal of an RD&D permit cannot exceed
three years. Although multiple renewals of an RD&D permit can be
issued, the total term for an RD&D permit including renewals cannot
exceed twelve years.
RD&D permits are only available in states with EPA-approved MSWLF
permit programs that have been modified to incorporate the RD&D permit
authority. Although a state is not required to seek approval for the
RD&D permit provision, a state must obtain EPA approval before it may
issue such a permit. Requirements for EPA's determination of a state
program's adequacy and the approval procedures are contained in 40 CFR
Part 239.
In 1994, EPA Region IX approved the State of Arizona's municipal
solid waste landfill (MSWLF) permit program pursuant to Subtitle D of
the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). By
application dated June 28, 2010, updated on January 26, 2011 and
September 27, 2012, the State of Arizona is seeking EPA approval for a
modification to the State's existing MSWLF permit program to include
RD&D permits. On February 22, 2011, EPA published a tentative approval
of Arizona's RD&D permit program modification. (76 FR 9772).
Following the close of the public hearing and the public comment
period, and after consideration of comments received, EPA will issue a
final determination. If EPA grants approval, Arizona will be able to
issue variances for run-on control systems, liquid restrictions, and
final cover criteria to allow for innovative and new methods, such as
bioreactor landfills. The approval of the program modification will
allow the Director of Arizona's program to provide a variance from
certain MSWLF criteria, provided that the MSWLF owner/operator
demonstrates that compliance with the RD&D permit will not increase
risk to human health and the environment. The Director may provide a
variance from existing requirements of MSWLF criteria for run-on
control systems, liquids restrictions, and final cover. EPA is seeking
public comment on its tentative determination of the adequacy of
Arizona's RD&D modification to its MSWLF permit program.
[[Page 65877]]
B. Submitting Comments on EPA's Tentative Determination
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 may 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, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
Submitting Confidential Business Information (CBI). Do not submit
this information to EPA through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly
mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For
CBI information in 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.
Docket Copying Costs. Copying arrangements will be made through the
Docket facility and billed directly to the recipient. Copying costs may
be waived depending on the total number of pages copied.
Authority: Sections 2002, 4005, and 4010(c) of the Solid Waste
Disposal Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912, 6945, and 6949(a).
Delegation 8-46. State/Tribal Permit Programs for Municipal Solid
Waste Landfills.
Dated: October 22, 2012.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2012-26792 Filed 10-30-12; 8:45 am]
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