Comment & Consultation

TCOTS Link

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is initiating consultation with federally recognized Indian Tribes to obtain input on the agency’s proposed amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) that apply to the Polyether Polyols (PEPO) Production Industry. Under this NESHAP, the EPA is proposing to strengthen the emission standards for ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions and other hazardous air pollutants (HAP) produced by the PEPO industry.

If your Tribe has questions about the proposed action or would like to request government-to-government consultation with the EPA on this rulemaking, please have your staff contact Regina Chappell, Tribal Consultation Advisor, at chappell.regina@epa.gov or (919) 541-3650, by February 3, 2025. We also encourage you to submit written comments to the docket to identify any information that you believe may be relevant to the development of the rule. Tribes may submit written comments at https://www.regulations.gov/, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR- 2023-0282, any time during the open comment period following publication in the Federal Register.

The Clean Water Act requires EPA to promulgate test methods that analyze pollutants in wastewater. On December 6, EPA released a proposed rule to add or revise analytical methods, or test procedures for measuring pollutants in wastewater. Specifically, EPA is proposing to add new agency test methods for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) chemicals and add methods previously published by voluntary consensus standard bodies such as ASTM International, or other vendors. When finalized, industries, states, and municipalities would use these methods for reporting under the EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program. The agency will accept public comments on the proposed rule for 30 days upon its publication in the Federal Register.

• Learn more

The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) will convene virtually from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time (10:00-5:00 Pacific). WHEJAC is interested in receiving public comments relevant to the following environmental justice topics: 

• National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Environmental Justice Science, Data, and Research Plan
• Place-Based and Community-Focused Initiatives
• Progress and Priorities
• Environmental Justice Issues Affecting Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Nations 

A public comment period will take place from approximately 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM Eastern (2:30 – 4:00 Pacific). Members of the public who wish to participate in the public comment period must register by 11:59 PM Eastern on December 13.  Priority to speak during the public meeting will be given to registered commenters who have relevant comments on the charges, topics and questions listed on the webpage.  

• Register for the meeting.
• Submit comments by December 31.

EPA is initiating consultation and coordination with Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional and village corporations on the development of the sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6) for public drinking water systems. You may be interested in UCMR 6 if you own or operate a public drinking water system. 

The UCMR program collects data for contaminants suspected to be present in drinking water, but do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). SDWA requires the EPA to issue a new list of no more than 30 unregulated contaminants for monitoring every five years. The data collected during monitoring serve as a primary source of occurrence and exposure information that helps the agency make determinations about future drinking water regulations and other actions to protect public health under SDWA. 

• Learn more on TCOTS.

Attend a webinar to learn about this consultation on January 9 at 11:00 Alaska, 12:00 Pacific, 1:00 Mountain:

• Join the Teams meeting. Meeting ID: 222 389 746 39 Passcode: 3ahzHd
• Join by phone: 202-991-0477. Teleconference ID: 804387109#

TCOTS Link

EPA is initiating consultation with federally recognized Tribes for input on the proposed amendments to the Standards of Performance for new, modified, and reconstructed stationary combustion turbines and stationary gas turbines. The proposal is seeking to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions for most turbines. The consultation is expected to run through February 15, 2025

If your Tribe has questions about the proposed action or would like to request government-to-government consultation with the EPA on this rulemaking, please have your staff contact Regina Chappell, Tribal Consultation Advisor, at chappell.regina@epa.gov or (919) 541-3650, by February 1, 2025

As part of EPA’s strategy to learn more about new and emerging technologies and alternative methodologies for regulating emissions from municipal solid waste landfills, EPA opened a non-regulatory docket to gather input on ways to streamline, improve, and harmonize the current suite of emissions regulations that cover these sources. EPA has developed a series of white papers on new and emerging technologies, alternative approaches to regulating landfill emissions, and landfill work practice methodologies that may assist with future rulemaking.

• Submit comments and view the white papers.

On Nov. 22, EPA proposed to strengthen limits on emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from most new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired stationary combustion turbines, reducing exposure to dangerous air pollution for nearby communities. The proposal would ensure that new turbines built at power plants or industrial facilities — especially large ones that could operate for decades — would be among the most efficient and lowest-emitting turbines ever built. NOx contributes to harmful health effects, such as asthma and respiratory infections, and reacts with other volatile organic compounds to form ozone (i.e., smog) and fine particulate matter.   

• Read the press release.

EPA will accept comments for 90 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register. 

• Submit comments on Regulations.gov. Search for Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0419.

Cumulative Impacts are defined as the totality of exposures to combinations of chemical and nonchemical stressors and their effects on health, well-being, and quality of life outcomes. EPA has released its draft Interim Framework for Advancing Consideration of Cumulative Impacts.  The Framework is intended to provide EPA programs with a foundation for developing approaches to incorporate analysis and consideration of cumulative impacts into their work, with the goal of improving health and quality of life in America’s communities.

• Read the press release.
• Learn more on TCOTS.

EPA anticipated timeline for the consultation and coordination period on the EPA’s Interim
Framework for Advancing Consideration of Cumulative Impacts is expected to extend from
Thursday, November 21 to Friday, February 21, 2025. During this period, three identical,
90-minute informational sessions will be conducted. To participate, EPA invites you and/or your
designee to join us during one or more of the following sessions:

• Monday, December 9, 2024, 3:00pm-4:30pm ET.
  Join the first informational session at this zoom link:
  https://usepa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_03uUBByPTSC2bIRtAKiedA
• Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 1:00pm-2:30pm ET.
  Join the second informational session at this zoom link:
  https://usepa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_eR21zX0aTlqP_bfjahQxlQ
• Thursday, January 30, 2025, 2:00pm-3:30pm ET.
  Join the third information session at this zoom link:
  https://usepa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_EccClx90TsSEKJ7-rF54PA

TCOTS Link

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires the EPA to review existing National Primary Drinking Water Regulations at least once every six years and determine which, if any, need to be revised. In January 2017 (82 FR 3518 – 3552), the EPA announced the review results for the agency’s third Six-Year Review of its National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. Based on the results from that review, the EPA identified eight National Primary Drinking Water Regulations as candidates for revision. The eight candidates are chlorite, Cryptosporidium, haloacetic acids, heterotrophic bacteria, Giardia lamblia, Legionella, total trihalomethanes, and viruses. These eight candidates are regulated through the Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts rules; a series of interrelated regulations that address risks from microbial pathogens and disinfectants/disinfection byproducts in drinking water.

To solicit input on further improving public health protection from microbial contaminants and disinfection byproducts in drinking water and input relevant to any potential rule revisions, the EPA hosted a series of seven virtual public meetings in 2020/2021. These meetings focused on specific microbial and disinfection byproducts topics identified through public comments and information. More information regarding these public engagements is available here: https://www.epa.gov/dwsixyearreview/public-engagements-potential-revisions-microbial-and-disinfection-byproducts-rules.

Following these public engagements, the EPA provided a charge to the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, a Federal Advisory Committee established under Safe Drinking Water Act, to provide the agency with advice and recommendations on key issues related to potential revisions to Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts rules. To support the work of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council the EPA asked the Council to form a working group that included individuals with a variety of backgrounds and expertise. For more information regarding the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, including the Council’s Letter to the Administrator on the Potential Rule Revisions, please visit here: https://www.epa.gov/ndwac/letters-recommendations-epa-administrator-ndwac. For more information regarding the National Drinking Water Advisory Council Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts Rule Revisions Working Group, please visit here: https://www.epa.gov/ndwac/nationaldrinking-water-advisory-council-ndwac-microbial-and-disinfection-byproducts-mdbp.

Under this action, the EPA intends to propose and as appropriate, take final action on revisions to one or more of the Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts rules to further improve public health protection from contaminants relevant to the Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts rules in drinking water and, where possible, to reduce the regulatory burden while maintaining or improving public health protection. Consistent with the 2020 Waterkeepers Alliance v. EPA settlement agreement, the Administrator intends to sign for publication in the Federal Register a proposal to revise the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for disinfection byproducts and microbial contaminants by July 31, 2025, then publish notice of final action on that proposal by September 30, 2028.

If implemented, revisions to the Surface Water Treatment Rules (rules that are focused on reducing microbial risk in surface water) are anticipated to further reduce exposure to pathogens including Cryptosporidium, Giardia lamblia, Legionella, and viruses in drinking water; these have been linked to diseases including gastrointestinal illness (such as diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps) and Legionnaire’s Disease. If implemented, revisions to the Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rules are anticipated to further limit exposure to disinfectants and disinfection byproducts. Disinfection byproducts can form in water when disinfectants used to control microbial pathogens react with natural and anthropogenic materials found in source water. If consumed in excess of the EPA’s standards over many years, disinfection byproducts have been linked to adverse health outcomes including carcinogenic, reproductive, and developmental effects. Together, drinking water attributable microbial and disinfection byproducts diseases are estimated to cause tens of thousands of serious illnesses in the United States every year, some of which may be prevented by regulatory revisions to these existing regulations.

A National Primary Drinking Water Regulation establishes requirements applicable to public water systems subject to the rule; as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act, a public water system provides water for human consumption to at least 15 service connections or serves an average of at least 25 people for at least 60 days a year. The proposed rule could impact Tribal governments that operate public water systems subject to the rule requirements. The proposed rule could also impact Tribal governments that have primacy enforcement authority (primacy) for public water systems on Tribal lands.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA sets public health goals and enforceable standards for drinking water quality. National Primary Drinking Water Regulations include legally enforceable maximum contaminant levels or treatment techniques that apply to public water systems. Maximum contaminant levels or treatment techniques are established to protect public health by limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water to the extent feasible. The agency is currently in the process of evaluating potential regulatory options to develop proposed revisions to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts, including potential revisions to treatment techniques, monitoring, and public notification requirements. The Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts rules currently require some water systems to conduct monitoring, implement treatment, or take other actions to reduce microbial and DBP risks and communicate with customers. The proposed revisions to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts may adjust how some public water systems conduct monitoring to determine the level of disinfectant residual and/or disinfection byproducts in their drinking water. Further, some water systems may have to implement new or additional treatment or other actions to reduce microbe and/or disinfection byproducts levels in their drinking water and to communicate with their customers about levels of microbes and disinfection byproducts in their drinking water. The EPA is requesting your input on considerations to inform the development of proposed revisions to these National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and potential regulatory requirements. Additional information can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/dwsixyearreview/potential-revisions-microbial-and-disinfectionbyproducts-rules.

This consultation process will be conducted consistent with the EPA Policy on Consultation with Indian Tribes (https://www.epa.gov/tribal/epa-policy-consultation-indian-tribes) and the Guidance for Discussing Tribal Treaty or Similar Rights (https://www.epa.gov/tribal/epa-policy-consultation-indiantribes-guidance-discussing-tribal-treaty-or-similar-rights). The agency invites you and your designated consultation representative(s) to participate in this process to discuss information related to proposed revisions to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts, including treaty or similar rights, Indigenous knowledge, and sacred sites. The EPA’s anticipated timeline for the consultation period is expected to extend from November 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.

Enclosed is a consultation plan that includes a description of the action under consultation, a timeline for the consultation period, and information on how you can provide input on this action. This information is also available on the EPA’s Tribal Consultation Opportunities Tracking System (TCOTS) at https://tcots.epa.gov.

I look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.

Sincerely,
Jennifer L. McLain, Director