E8-29642. Adequacy of Iowa Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Permit Program

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Proposed rule.

SUMMARY:

The EPA is proposing to approve a modification to Iowa's approved municipal solid waste landfill (MSWLF) program. The modification allows the State to issue research, development and demonstration (RD&D) permits to owners and operators of MSWLF units in accordance with its State law. The Region is also proposing to approve updates to Iowa's approved MSWLF program for adding financial assurance mechanisms for local governments, adding the financial test and corporate guarantee to financial assurance mechanisms, adding a technical amendment to solid waste location restrictions for airport safety, and adopting language from the Federal MSWLF criteria at 40 CFR part 258.

DATES:

Comments on this proposed action must be received in writing by January 14, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2008-0849, by one of the following methods:

1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.

2. E-mail: [e-mail].

3. Mail or Hand Delivery or Courier: Chilton McLaughlin, Environmental Protection Agency, Solid Waste/Pollution Prevention Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.

Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2008-0849. 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 e-mail. 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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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 and 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, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.

Docket: All documents in the electronic 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 whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly 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, Solid Waste/Pollution Prevention Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. EPA requests that you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The interested persons wanting to examine these documents should make an appointment with the office at least 24 hours in advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chilton McLaughlin at [phone], or by e-mail at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

On March 22, 2004, EPA issued a final rule amending the municipal solid waste landfill criteria in 40 CFR part 258 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, to be implemented through State-issued RD&D permits. RD&D permits are only available in States with approved MSWLF permit programs which have been modified to incorporate RD&D permit authority. While States are not required to seek approval for this provision, those States that are interested in providing RD&D permits to owners and operators of MSWLFs must seek approval from EPA before issuing such permits. Also, EPA issued a final rule on November 27, 1996, for financial assurance mechanisms for local governments (61 FR 60328 at 60337); a final rule on April 10, 1998, adding the financial test and corporate guarantee to financial assurance mechanisms (63 FR 17706 at 17729); and a final rule on October 15, 2003, providing a technical amendment to solid waste location restrictions for airport safety (68 FR 59335). The Federal MSWLF criteria are codified at 40 CFR part 258. Approval procedures for provisions of 40 CFR part 258 are outlined in 40 CFR 239.12.

Iowa's MSWLF permit program was approved on August 19, 1997 (62 FR 44127). On March 17, 2008, Iowa applied for approval of its RD&D permit provisions and its updated rules for its MSWLF program.

B. Decision

After a thorough review, EPA is proposing that Iowa's RD&D permit provisions and its updated rules for its MSWLF program, as defined under Iowa Administrative Code (IAC) 567, Chapter 113, “Sanitary Landfills for Municipal Solid Waste: Groundwater Protection Systems for the Disposal of Non-Hazardous Wastes,” effective December 10, 2007, are adequate to ensure compliance with the Federal criteria as defined at 40 CFR 258.4.

C. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

This action proposes to approve state solid waste requirements pursuant to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Section 4005 and imposes no Federal requirements. Therefore, this rule complies with applicable executive orders and statutory provisions as follows:

1. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning Review—The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from its review under Executive Order (EO) 12866;

2. Paperwork Reduction Act—This action does not impose an information collection burden under the Paperwork Reduction Act;

3. Regulatory Flexibility Act—After considering the economic impacts of today's action on small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities;

4. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act—Because this action approves pre-existing requirements under state law and does not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, this action does not contain any unfunded mandate, or significantly or uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Act;

5. Executive Order 13132: Federalism—EO 13132 does not apply to this action because this action will not have federalism implications (i.e., there are no substantial direct effects on states, on the relationship between the national government and states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between Federal and State governments);

6. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments—EO 13175 does not apply to this action because it will not have tribal implications (i.e., there are no substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal government and Indian tribes);

7. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children from Environmental Health and Safety Risks—This proposed action is not subject to EO 13045 because it is not economically significant and is not based on health or safety risks;

8. Executive Order 13211: Actions that Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use—This action is not subject to EO 13211 because it is not a significant regulatory action as defined in EO 12866;

9. National Technology Transfer Advancement Act—This provision directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impracticable. Voluntary consensus standards are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies. EPA approves state programs so long as the State programs meet the criteria delineated in 40 CFR part 258. It would be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, in its review of a state program, to require the use of any particular voluntary consensus standard in place of another standard that meets 40 CFR part 258 requirements. Thus, the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act does not apply to this action;

10. Congressional Review Act—EPA will submit a report containing this action and other information required by the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior to publication in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 239

• Environmental protection
• Administrative practice and procedure
• Intergovernmental relations
• Waste treatment and disposal

40 CFR Part 258

• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
• Waste treatment disposal
• Water pollution control

Authority: This action is issued under the authority of section 2002, 4005 and 4010(c) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912, 6945 and 6949(a).

Dated: December 3, 2008.

John B. Askew,

Regional Administrator, Region 7.