[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39517-39518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13763]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 281
[EPA-R04-UST-2020-0248; FRL-10009-90-Region 4]
Commonwealth of Kentucky: Tentative Approval of State Underground
Storage Tank Program
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of tentative determination on application
of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for final approval, public hearing
opportunity, and public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Commonwealth of Kentucky (Commonwealth or State) has
applied for final approval of its Underground Storage Tank (UST)
Program under Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA or Act). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reviewed
the Commonwealth's application and made the tentative decision that the
State's UST Program application satisfies all the requirements
necessary to qualify for final approval. The State's UST Program
application is available for public review and comment. A public
hearing will be held to solicit comments on the application if
sufficient public interest is expressed. This Federal Register notice
solicits requests for a public hearing and comments on the State's
application.
DATES: Comments and/or request for a public hearing on this tentative
determination must be received on or before July 31, 2020. A public
hearing will be held no earlier than August 31, 2020 if sufficient
public interest is expressed. The EPA will determine by August 17,
2020, whether there is sufficient interest to warrant a public hearing.
The Commonwealth will be invited to participate in any public hearing
held by the EPA on this action. Please see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION,
Item C, for details.
ADDRESSES: For detailed instructions and additional information on the
rulemaking process, please see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, Item C.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Singh, RCRA Programs and Cleanup
Branch, Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street
SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960; Phone number: (404) 562-8922; email
address: singh.ben@epa.gov. Please contact Ben Singh by phone or email
for further information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
Section 9004 of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6991c, authorizes the EPA to
approve state UST programs to operate in lieu of the Federal UST
program. Pursuant to RCRA section 9004(b), approval may be granted if
the state program: Provides for adequate enforcement of compliance with
the UST standards of RCRA section 9004(a); is ``no less stringent''
than the Federal program for the seven elements set forth at RCRA
section 9004(a)(1) through (7); and includes the notification
requirements of RCRA section 9004(a)(8).
B. Commonwealth of Kentucky
The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (KYDEP) within
the Energy and Environment Cabinet is the lead implementing agency for
the UST Program in the State. On October 7, 2019, in accordance with 40
CFR 281.50, the State submitted an application seeking Federal approval
of the State UST Program. The application was determined complete by
the EPA on March 13, 2020. Per the application, the most recent
amendments to the KYDEP UST regulations became effective April 5, 2019
and include revisions which correspond to the EPA final rule published
on July 15, 2015 (80 FR 41566), which revised the 1988 UST regulations
and the 1988 state program approval (SPA) regulations. The KYDEP has
broad statutory and regulatory authority to regulate the installation,
operation, maintenance, and closure of USTs, as well as UST releases,
pursuant to Title XVIII of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS), Chapter
224, Subchapter 60, and Title 401 of the Kentucky Administrative
Regulations (KAR), Chapter 42 (2019). In accordance with the
requirements of 40 CFR 281.50(b), the State provided an opportunity for
public notice and comment during the development of its UST
regulations.
C. Public Participation
Submit comments and requests for public hearings, identified by
Docket ID No. EPA-R04-UST-2020-0248, at https://www.regulations.gov
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submission.
Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket.
The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket without
change. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is
[[Page 39518]]
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, 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). For additional submission
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. The EPA encourages electronic submittals, but if you are
unable to submit electronically or need other assistance, please
contact Ben Singh, the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT provision above. Please also contact Ben Singh 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.
Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public and our
staff, the EPA Region 4 Offices are closed to public visitors to reduce
the risk of transmitting COVID-19. We encourage the public to submit
comments via https://www.regulations.gov. For further information on
the EPA Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us
online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets. All documents in the docket are
available on the https://www.regulations.gov website.
The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.
D. Statutory and Executive Order (E.O.) Reviews
This action merely notifies the public of the EPA's tentative
determination to approve the Commonwealth's UST Program pursuant to
RCRA section 9004, 42 U.S.C. 6991c, and does not impose additional
requirements beyond those already imposed by State law. For that
reason, these actions:
Are not significant regulatory actions subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
Are not Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2,
2017) regulatory actions because UST program approvals are exempted
under Executive Order 12866;
Do not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Are certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
Do not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
Do not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Are not economically significant regulatory actions based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Are not significant regulatory actions subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
Are not subject to the requirements of Section 12(d) of
the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C.
272 note) because application of those requirements would be
inconsistent with RCRA; and
Do not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
Do not apply on any Indian reservation land or in any
other area where the EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
tribe has jurisdiction. The rule does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor
will it impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or
preempt tribal law.
As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729,
February 7, 1996), in issuing this rule, the EPA has taken the
necessary steps to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize
potential litigation, and provide a clear legal standard for affected
conduct.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 281
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Hazardous substances, Petroleum, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, State program approval, Underground storage tanks.
Authority: This action is issued under the authority of Sections
2002(a), 7004(b), 9004, 9005 and 9006 of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6974(b), 6991(c), 6991(d), and
6991(e).
Mary Walker,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2020-13763 Filed 6-30-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P