[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 25, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 46390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-22157]



[[Page 46390]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6429-3]


Notice of Availability: Draft Guidance Manual and Example NPDES 
Permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft guidance.

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SUMMARY: Today's document makes available for public comment the draft 
Guidance Manual and Example NPDES Permit for Concentrated Animal 
Feeding Operations for public review and comment. This draft guidance 
is being published to meet one EPA's key action items in the recently 
released U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations 
(March 1999). The draft guidance is intended to provide assistance to 
EPA and State permit writers, who are responsible for issuing NPDES 
permits to reduce risk to water quality and human health from animal 
feeding operations.
    The Unified National Strategy set forth a range of flexible, 
common-sense actions that USDA and EPA plan to take over a multi-year 
period to promote proper management of animal manure and wastewater in 
order to minimize the water quality and public health impacts of animal 
feeding operations. In the short-term, EPA is focused on improving 
implementation of the NPDES permitting program consistent with existing 
regulations, including today's publication of this draft guidance 
manual. Over the long-term, EPA plans to revise its regulations to 
reflect substantial changes in the animal production industry over the 
past several decades. Throughout this multi-year process, EPA will 
provide opportunities for interested parties to offer comments on its 
draft guidance documents and proposed regulations.
    A key objective of both the Unified National Strategy and this 
draft guidance is to accelerate issuance of sound, legally defensible 
NPDES permits for large CAFOs (e.g. operations with greater than 1,000 
animal units) by January of 2000. The draft guidance being made 
available today is intended to aid EPA and State permitting authorities 
in meeting this goal. Consistent with the Unified National Strategy, 
USDA is currently in the process of developing an important companion 
document that will provide guidance on how to develop sound 
comprehensive nutrient management plans (CNMPs), which EPA and State 
permitting authorities will incorporate into NPDES permits as special 
conditions. USDA's draft guidance is expected to be available for 
public review and comment later this summer.
    EPA believes that comments from a wide range of interested 
stakeholders is important to produce a final guidance document that 
will help EPA and State permitting authorities issue NPDES permits that 
achieve the goal of reducing risk to water quality and human health 
from animal feeding operations. EPA is interested in receiving comments 
from reviewers of the draft Guidance Manual and Example NPDES Permit 
for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, and will carefully consider 
this input as it prepares a final guidance document for publication 
later this year.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by October 25, 1999 to the 
address below.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments to Gregory Beatty, US EPA, 401 M 
Street, SW, Mail Code 4203, Washington, DC 20460. Submit electronic 
comments to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of the draft Guidance Manual and 
Example NPDES Permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations may be 
obtained on the Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/owm. If you do not have 
Internet access, you may obtain a paper copy of the draft guidance by 
calling the Water Resources Center at (202) 260-7786. The draft 
guidance is also available in electronic format.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Beatty, (202) 260-6929 or Will 
Hall (202) 260-1458.

    Dated: August 6, 1999.
J. Charles Fox,
Assistant Administrator for Water.
[FR Doc. 99-22157 Filed 8-24-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M