Notice2023-24249
Notice of Availability of Preliminary Designation of Certain Stormwater Discharges Within Two Watersheds in Los Angeles County, California Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System of the Clean Water Act
Primary source
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Published
November 2, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 is providing notice of availability and soliciting comment on the preliminary designation of stormwater discharges from certain commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) sites in two watersheds in Los Angeles County, California for regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. This action, if finalized by EPA, will regulate stormwater discharges that contribute to a water quality standard violation or that are a significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the United States. EPA intends to make a final decision after consideration of all comments submitted.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 211 (Thursday, November 2, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 211 (Thursday, November 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75282-75283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24249]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-11427-01-R9]
Notice of Availability of Preliminary Designation of Certain
Stormwater Discharges Within Two Watersheds in Los Angeles County,
California Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System of
the Clean Water Act
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Region 9 is providing notice of availability and
soliciting comment on the preliminary designation of stormwater
discharges from certain commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII)
sites in two watersheds in Los Angeles County, California for
regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. This action, if
finalized by EPA, will regulate stormwater discharges that contribute
to a water quality standard violation or that are a significant
contributor of pollutants to waters of the United States. EPA intends
to make a final decision after consideration of all comments submitted.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 4, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted via email to the following
address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#32600b606273725742531c555d44"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="91c3a8c3c1d0d1f4e1f0bff6fee7">[email protected]</span></a> and include ``Comments on the 2023 Preliminary
Designation'' in the subject line. Documents and further instructions
for submitting comments related to this preliminary designation are
available for public inspection online at: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/residual-designation-authority-address-stormwater-quality-problems-epas-pacific">https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/residual-designation-authority-address-stormwater-quality-problems-epas-pacific</a>. If there are issues accessing the website,
please contact EPA via the contact information below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugene Bromley, EPA Region 9, Water
Division, NPDES Permits Section; telephone (415) 972-3510; email
address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#caa8b8a5a7a6afb3e4afbfadafa4af8aafbaabe4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6002120f0d0c05194e051507050e05200510014e070f16">[email protected]</span></a>.
Administrative Record: The preliminary designation and other
related documents in the administrative record are on file and may be
inspected between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays, at the following address: U.S. EPA Region 9, NPDES
Permits Section, Water Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA
94105-3901.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Does this action apply to me?
Entities potentially regulated by this action include a wide
variety of privately owned CII facilities such as shopping centers,
supermarkets, office complexes, hotels, warehouses, manufacturers,
cargo and trucking terminals, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.
Entities potentially regulated by this action also include privately
operated CII facilities at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Entities affected by this action are located within either of two
watersheds in Los Angeles County, in California: the Los Cerritos
Channel/Alamitos Bay Watershed or the Dominquez Channel/Los Angeles/
Long Beach Harbor Watershed. This description of affected activities is
not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers
regarding entities likely to be affected by this action. This
description of affected activities includes the types of entities that
EPA is now aware could potentially be affected by this action. Other
types of entities not included could also be affected. To determine
whether your entity is affected by this action, you should also review
the description of EPA's action in documents online at the website
listed in the ADDRESSES section above. 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.
B. Summary of Preliminary Designation
CWA section 402(p)(2)(E) and (6) and EPA's implementing regulations
at 40 CFR 122.26(a)(9)(i) authorize EPA to designate stormwater
discharges for regulation under the NPDES permitting program. Those
provisions authorize the Agency to regulate stormwater discharges that
contribute to a water quality standard violation or that are a
significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the United States,
or where controls are needed based on wasteload allocations that are
part of total maximum daily loads. This authority is often referred to
as ``residual designation authority'' or RDA. EPA is providing notice
of and soliciting comment on its preliminary designation for NPDES
permitting of unregulated stormwater discharges from certain
commercial, industrial and institutional (CII) facilities in the Los
Cerritos Channel/Alamitos Bay and Dominquez Channel/Los Angeles/Long
Beach Harbor Watersheds in Los Angeles County, including privately
operated CII facilities at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. EPA
is also taking comment on whether privately operated CII facilities at
municipal airports located within the watersheds should be included.
This preliminary designation is in response to a 2018 District
Court order in Los Angeles Waterkeeper v. Pruitt, as well as two
September 15, 2015 petitions entitled ``Petition For A Determination
That Stormwater Discharges From Commercial, Industrial, And
Institutional Sites Contribute To Water Quality Standards Violations in
Dominguez Channel and the Los Angeles/Long Beach Inner Harbor (Los
Angeles County, California) and Require Clean Water Act Permits,'' and
``Petition For A Determination That Stormwater Discharges From
Commercial, Industrial, And Institutional Sites Contribute To Water
Quality Standards Violations in the Alamitos Bay/Los Cerritos Watershed
(Los Angeles County, California) And Require Clean Water Act Permits.''
C. How can I submit comments?
Submit comments by the deadline identified in this Federal Register
notice. Information on how to submit comments and documents related to
this preliminary designation are available for public inspection online
at ADDRESSES above. If you need assistance in a language other than
English or if you are a person with disabilities who needs a reasonable
accommodation at no cost to you, please reach out by email or telephone
to the FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT listed above in this notice.
Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the
administrative record. The EPA may publish any comment received as part
of documentation (e.g., response to comments document) associated with
its final decision. Do not submit in your comment any information you
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), Proprietary
Business Information (PBI), or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video,
[[Page 75283]]
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. The 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).
Dated: October 25, 2023.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9.
[FR Doc. 2023-24249 Filed 11-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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