[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6533-6534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01082]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R06-OW-2017-0017; FRL-9958-31-Region 6]
Proposed Reissuance of the NPDES General Permit for Facilities
Related to Oil and Gas Extraction in the Territorial Seas of Texas
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Director of the Water Division, Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Region 6 today proposes to reissue the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for the Territorial
Seas of Texas (No. TXG260000) for discharges from existing and new
dischargers and New Sources in the Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and
Gas Extraction Point Source Category as authorized by section 402 of
the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1342. The permit will supersede the
previous general permit (TXG260000) issued on February 8, 2012 and
published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 8855. This permit renewal
authorizes discharges from exploration, development, and production
facilities located in and discharging to the territorial seas off
Texas.
Comment: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R06-
OW-2017-0017 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 Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn.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.
DATES: Comments must be received by March 6, 2017.
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. Email: [email protected].
A complete draft permit and a fact sheet more fully explaining the
proposal may be obtained 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. A copy of the
proposed permit, fact sheet, and this Federal Register Notice may be
found on the EPA Region 6 Web site at: https://www3.epa.gov/region6/water/npdes/genpermit/index.htm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA intends to use the proposed reissued
permit to regulate discharges from oil and gas extraction facilities
located in the territorial seas off Texas. 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.2 of the
permit. If you have questions regarding the applicability of this
action to a particular entity, consult the person listed in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above. The proposed permit contains
limitations conforming to EPA's Oil and Gas Extraction, Offshore
Subcategory Effluent Limitation Guidelines at 40 CFR part 435 and
additional requirements assuring that regulated discharges will not
cause unreasonable degradation of the marine environment, as required
by section 403(c) of the Clean Water Act. Limitations and conditions
are also included to ensure compliance with State Water Quality
Standards. Specific information on the derivation of those limitations
and conditions is contained in the fact sheet. Specifically, the draft
permit proposes to prohibit the discharge of drilling fluids, drill
cuttings and produced sand. Produced water discharges are limited for
oil and grease, 7-day chronic toxicity, and 48-hour acute toxicity. In
addition to limits on oil and grease, the proposed permit includes a
prohibition of the discharge of priority pollutants except in trace
amounts in well treatment, completion, and workover fluids. A limit of
``No Free Oil'' is proposed for miscellaneous discharges, such as non-
contact cooling water and
[[Page 6534]]
ballast water, and on deck drainage discharges. Discharges of seawater
and freshwater which have been used to pressure test existing pipelines
and piping, to which treatment chemicals have been added, are proposed
to be subject to limitations on free oil, concentration of treatment
chemicals, and acute toxicity. New facilities withdrawing cooling water
greater than 2 million gallons per day (MGD) are required to have the
best technology available for minimizing fish/shellfish impingement
mortality and entrainment caused by cooling water intake structures.
Pursuant to the electronic reporting rule published in the Federal
Register (80 FR 64063), a new electronic reporting requirement is added
to the proposed permit.
Other Legal Requirements
State certification under section 401 of the CWA; consistency with
the Texas Coastal Management Program; and 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: December 28, 2016.
William K. Honker,
Director, Water Division, EPA Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2017-01082 Filed 1-18-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P