97-14858. Final Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System Draft Mercury Permitting Strategy

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 109 (Friday, June 6, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 31025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14858]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 9, 122, 123, 131, and 132

[FRL-5836-4]


Final Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System Draft 
Mercury Permitting Strategy

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of document for public review and 
comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is making a draft of the Mercury Permitting Strategy 
(``Strategy'') available for public review and comment for a 60-day 
period. The purpose of the Strategy is to identify how the Final Water 
Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System (``Guidance'') provides for 
implementation of mercury water quality standards though National 
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (``NPDES'') permits for point 
sources, focusing on the flexibility States or Tribes have for 
adjusting point source controls to account for non-point sources of 
mercury. The draft Strategy also addresses several permit 
implementation issues related to mercury data.

DATES: Written comments on this draft Strategy will be accepted until 
August 5, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the draft Mercury Permitting Strategy should be 
addressed to Debora Clovis, U.S. EPA, Permits Division (4203), 401 M 
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. EPA will also accept comments 
electronically. Comments should include the sender's name, address, and 
telephone number and be sent to the following E-Mail address: 
[e-mail]. Copies of the draft Mercury Permitting 
Strategy are available from the following EPA Regional Offices:

Philip Sweeney--Region 2, Water Management Division, 212-637-3873; fax: 
212-637-3887;
Chuck Sapp--Region 3, Water Management Division, 215-566-5725; fax: 
215-566-2301;
Mary Jackson-Willis--Region 5, Water Quality Branch, 312-886-3717; fax: 
312-886-7804;

    Copies may also be obtained by calling Mildred Thomas at (202) 260-
6054.
    EPA will place this notice and the draft Strategy on the Internet 
for public review and downloading at the following location: 
www.epa.gov/owm/wm030000.htm. Users with access to computer bulletin 
boards may view and download the draft Strategy on PIPES, the Point 
Source Information Provisions and Exchange System. The bulletin board 
service phone number is [phone]. [Modem settings should be set 
at 8-N-1/; terminal emulation should be ``ANSI'' or ``VT-100.]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Debora Clovis, Permits Division 
(4203), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20460, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 23, 1995, EPA published the Final 
Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System (``Guidance'') (60 FR 
15366). As required by Section 118(c)(2) of the Clean Water Act, the 
Guidance establishes minimum water quality criteria, methodologies, 
policies, and procedures for the Great Lakes System. States and Tribes 
in the Great Lakes Basin are required to adopt provisions into their 
water quality standards and National Permit Discharge Elimination 
System (NPDES) permit programs that are consistent with the Guidance 
within two years after publication of the Guidance (March 23, 1997). A 
major purpose of the Guidance is to establish consistent, enforceable, 
long-term protection for fish and shellfish in the Great Lakes and 
their tributaries, as well as for the people and wildlife who consume 
them.
    In developing the Guidance, EPA recognized that control of mercury 
releases to the environment to achieve water quality standards could be 
a particularly difficult challenge. Mercury is persistent, ubiquitous, 
and harmful to human health and the environment at relatively low 
levels. Mercury finds its way to the water column from point and non-
point sources. Non-point sources, particularly air deposition, are 
considered to be the most significant remaining contributors of mercury 
to the Great Lakes System. For these reasons, several stakeholders in 
the Great Lakes Basin advocated in their comments on the proposed 
Guidance that any additional controls on point source discharges of 
mercury effectively be suspended. In response, EPA stated that the 
Guidance contained appropriate flexibility to address the unique 
problems posed by mercury. It also committed to developing a mercury 
permitting strategy.
    Today, EPA is making its draft Mercury Permitting Strategy 
(``Strategy'') available for public review and comment for a 60-day 
period. The purpose of the Strategy is to identify how the Guidance 
provides for implementation of mercury water quality standards though 
NPDES permits for point sources, focusing on the flexibility States or 
Tribes have for adjusting point source controls to account for non-
point sources of mercury. The draft Strategy also addresses several 
permit implementation issues related to mercury data.

    Dated: May 29, 1997.
Robert Perciasepe,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 97-14858 Filed 6-5-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P