[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Notice of Availability: Draft Guidance Manual and Example NPDES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ACTION: Notice of availability of draft guidance.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SUMMARY: Today's document makes available for public comment the draft
Guidance Manual and Example NPDES Permit for Concentrated Animal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 This draft guidance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 The draft guidance is intended to provide assistance to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regulations, including today's publication of this draft guidance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draft guidance documents and proposed regulations.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draft guidance is to accelerate issuance of sound, legally defensible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 The draft guidance being made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