Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act; Analysis and Sampling Procedures; Extension of Comment Period

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 136, 260, 423, 430, and 435

[EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0192; FRL-9228-6]

Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act; Analysis and Sampling Procedures; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Proposed rule; extension of the public comment period.

SUMMARY:

On September 23, 2010, EPA proposed changes to analysis and sampling test procedures in wastewater regulations. These changes will help provide additional flexibility to the regulated community and laboratories in their selection of analytical methods (test procedures) for use in Clean Water Act programs. EPA requested that public comments on the proposal be submitted on or before November 22, 2010 (a 60-day comment period). Since publication, the Agency has received several requests for additional time to submit comments. EPA is extending the period of time in which the Agency will accept public comments on the proposal for an additional 30 days.

DATES:

The comment period for the proposed rule published September 23, 2010, at 75 FR 58024 is extended. Comments must be received on or before December 22, 2010. Comments postmarked after this date may not be considered.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0192, by one of the following methods:

•

http://www.regulations.gov

: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

•

E-mail: OW-Docket@epa.gov

•

Mail:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) Water Docket, MC 28221T; 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.

•

Hand Delivery:

EPA Docket Center, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., EPA West, Room 3334, Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.

Instructions:

Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0921. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at

http://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

http://www.regulations.gov

or e-mail. The

http://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

http://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. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm

.

Docket:

All documents in the docket are listed in the

http://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

http://www.regulations.gov

or in hard copy at the Office of Water Docket/EPA/DC, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., EPA West, Room 3334, Washington, DC. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., EST, Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Office of Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lemuel Walker, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303T), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; (202) 566-1077;

walker.lemuel@epa.gov.

Dated: November 9, 2010.

Nancy K. Stoner,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Water.

[FR Doc. 2010-29145 Filed 11-17-10; 8:45 am]

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