Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge

SUMMARY: On November 25, 1992, pursuant to Section 405 of the Clean

Water Act (CWA), EPA promulgated a regulation (40 CFR part 503) to

protect public health and the environment from reasonably anticipated

adverse effects of certain pollutants in sewage sludge (58 FR 9248,

February 19, 1993). This regulation established requirements for the

final use or disposal of sewage sludge when: (1) The sewage sludge is

applied to the land either to condition the soil or to fertilize crops

grown in the soil; (2) the sewage sludge is placed on the land for

final disposal; or (3) the sewage sludge is incinerated. In addition,

EPA also amended the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 CFR part 403)

to establish a list of pollutants for which a removal credit may be

available.

Today's action amends the part 503 sewage sludge regulation as a

result of EPA's reconsideration of certain issues remanded by the U.S.

Court of Appeals for additional justification or modification. The

Agency is deleting the current land application pollutant limits for

chromium and changing the land application pollutant concentration

limit for selenium.

EPA is also amending the list of pollutants for which a removal

credit may be available. This final rule removes chromium in sewage

sludge that is land-applied from the list of regulated pollutants for

which a removal credit may be available and adds it to the list of

unregulated pollutants that are eligible for a removal credit.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The final rule is effective October 25, 1995. For

purposes of judicial review, the final rule is issued at 1 p.m. on

October 25, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert M. Southworth, Biosolids

Manager, Health and Ecological Criteria Division (4304), Office of

Science and Technology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M

Street SW., Washington, D.C. 20460, telephone (202) 260-7157.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Authority

Today's rule is being promulgated under the authority of sections

307 and 405 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). In section 307(b) of the CWA,

Congress directed EPA to establish categorical pretreatment standards

for industrial discharges of toxic pollutants to publicly owned

treatment works (POTWs). Congress also authorized POTWs in defined

circumstances to provide relief from categorical pretreatment standards

in the form of a removal credit to indirect dischargers. Section 307(b)

authorizes a removal credit where, among other things, grant of the

removal credit does not prevent the POTW from using or disposing its

sewage sludge in compliance with section 405.

Section 405(d) of the CWA requires EPA to establish management

practices and numerical limits adequate to protect public health and

the environment from reasonably anticipated adverse effects of toxic

pollutants in sewage sludge. Section 405(e) prohibits any person from

disposing of sewage sludge from a publicly-owned treatment works or

other treatment works treating domestic sewage through any use or

disposal practice for which regulations have been established pursuant

to section 405 except in compliance with the section 405 regulations.

B. Amendments to Part 503

On November 25, 1992, EPA promulgated, pursuant to section 405 of

the CWA, Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge, (40 CFR

part 503), published in the Federal Register on February 19, 1993 (58

FR 9248, et seq.). Section 405(d) of the CWA requires EPA to publish

regulations specifying management practices for sewage sludge

containing toxic pollutants and to establish numerical limitations for

the toxic pollutants that may be present in sewage sludge in

concentrations that may adversely affect public health and the

environment. On March 5, 1993, the Leather Industries of America, Inc.

filed a petition with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the

District of Columbia Circuit seeking review of the pollutant limits for

chromium found in Tables 1-4 of 40 CFR 503.13(b). On June 17, 1993, the

City of Pueblo, Colorado, filed a petition for review with the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit challenging the selenium

pollutant limits in Tables 1-3 of 40 CFR 503.13(b). This case was

subsequently transferred to the D.C. Circuit.

On November 15, 1994, the D.C. Circuit remanded the cumulative

pollutant loading rate for chromium in Table 2 and the pollutant

concentration limit for chromium and selenium in Table 3 to the Agency

for modification or additional justification. Leather Industries of

America, Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency, 40 F.3d 392 (D.C.

Cir. 1994).

The pollutant limits in Table 2 are determined from a risk-based

exposure assessment. The pollutant concentrations in Table 3 are the

lower of either (1) a risk-derived concentration or (2) the 99th

percentile concentration derived from EPA's National Sewage Sludge

Survey (NSSS), which includes data on sewage sludge from approximately

186 statistically representative publicly-owned treatment works. Sewage

sludge that meets the pollutant concentration limits in Table 3 may be

applied to land under less restrictive conditions than can sewage

sludge that has higher concentration of metals. In the case of chromium

and selenium, the 99th percentile concentration is lower than the risk-

derived concentration so the limit specified in Table 3 for both

chromium and selenium is the 99th percentile value. The D.C. Circuit

concluded that section 405 of the CWA mandates a risk-based regulation

and that EPA lacked the statutory authority to adopt pollutant

concentration limits based on the 99 percentile because they are not

risk-based. The court also determined that EPA lacked an adequate

evidentiary basis for its risk-based chromium cumulative pollutant

loading rate in Table 2 of Sec. 503.13(b).

Today's rule amends 40 CFR 503.13(b) to delete the current

pollutant limits for chromium in Tables 1-4 applicable to sewage sludge

that is land applied. In addition, the Agency is amending 40 CFR

503.13(b) to change the selenium pollutant concentration limit in Table

3. This amendment is being promulgated under the authority of section

405 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1345.

1. Deletion of Pollutant Limits for Chromium in Land Applied Sewage

Sludge

EPA based the Table 2 cumulative pollutant loading rate for

chromium on an assessment of the potential for plant injury (measured

as retardation in the growth of a young plant) from chromium in sewage

sludge that is applied to the land. EPA derived the chromium cumulative

pollutant loading rate from field study data that the Agency evaluated

for the likelihood of plant injury. Because the field study

[[Page 54765]]

data did not show retardation in the growth of a young plant even at

the highest soil/chromium levels from the field studies--3,000 kg/

hectare, EPA established the cumulative pollutant loading rate for

chromium at the highest value for which it had data.

The D.C. Circuit agreed that EPA is authorized to protect against

plant injury and that EPA properly determined a plant toxicity

threshold associated with chromium in sewage sludge. However, the court

decided that EPA lacked adequate data to support the 3,000 kg/hectare

chromium cumulative loading rate because EPA had no data that showed

plant injury at soil levels of 3,000 kg/hectare or any other cumulative

load.

In response to the court's remand, EPA has reviewed the record in

this proceeding concerning potential risk to public health and the

environment associated with land application of sewage sludge that

contains chromium. As a result of its reconsideration, the Agency has

determined that there is an insufficient basis at this time for the

regulation of chromium in sewage sludge that is applied to the land.

This determination is confirmed by EPA's review of new information

concerning chromium and the land application of sewage sludge.

Consequently, the Agency is amending Tables 1-41 to delete

chromium from the regulated metals for the following reasons. First,

EPA has reaffirmed its determination that chromium in sewage sludge

appears predominantly in the trivalent form for which the likelihood of

plant injury is substantially lower than the likelihood of plant injury

from chromium in the hexavalent form. See 58 FR 9248, 9297.

\1\The chromium limits in Tables 1, 3, and 4 are derived from

the risk-based chromium limits in Table 2. Because the Agency has

determined that it does not at this juncture have information that

supports risk-based regulation of chromium in sewage sludge that is

land applied, the chromium pollutant limits in Tables 1, 3, and 4

also are being deleted.

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Second, in addition to reexamining the rulemaking record, EPA

obtained more recent data from field studies of crops grown on soil to

which sewage sludge had been applied. These data are similar to those

used in the final rule for evaluating the potential for plant injury

from the chromium in sewage sludge. EPA evaluated these data using the

same statistical methods used for the final rule to assess the

potential for plant injury. Like the earlier data, these data show no

relationship between plant injury associated with chromium in sewage

sludge at high loading rates.

Finally, to confirm its determination that data do not support

regulation of chromium at this juncture, EPA also took a second look at

other pathways of exposure. After the plant toxicity pathway, the next

significant pathway of concern is the risk associated with exposure of

a tractor operator to chromium from sewage sludge in the dust churned

up by the tractor. EPA reevaluated this pathway using current National

Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) standards for

worker exposure to trivalent chromium. EPA's second look at the tractor

operator exposure pathway determined that the appropriate risk-based

limit for this pathway is well in excess of its earlier finding of

5,000 mg/kg. The limit for this pathway using the updated NIOSH

standard is almost two orders of magnitude in excess of the observed

99th percentile concentration for chromium in the NSSS. Given the fact

that chromium limit for the next pathway of exposure--the ground-water

pathway--is an order of magnitude greater than the 99th percentile

sewage sludge concentration, EPA determined that it did not have data

that justify regulation of chromium in land applied sewage sludge at

this juncture. Applying the same criteria used for the final rule to

determine whether to regulate a particular pollutant, EPA concluded

that there is no current basis for establishing land application

pollutant limits for chromium based on the tractor operator pathway or

the ground-water pathway.2 See 58 FR 9318 (``The Agency's risk

assessment results for the pollutant shows no reasonably anticipated

adverse effects on public health or the environment at the 99th

percentile concentration found the sewage sludge from the NSSS.'' 58 FR

9318). Consequently, the Agency is today amending its sewage sludge use

or disposal regulation to delete chromium from Tables 1-4 in 40 CFR

503.13(b). More details on the justification for deletion of the

chromium land application pollutant limits are presented in the

administrative record for this rulemaking.

\2\EPA also evaluated the risk associated with tractor operator

exposure to hexavalent chromium by assuming that a small percentage

of the chromium in sewage sludge might be hexavalent chromium. (As

noted above, EPA has concluded that most chromium in sewage sludge

should be in the trivalent, not hexavalent, form.) Again, the

resulting risk-based chromium pollutant concentration limit would be

substantially higher than the 99th percentile concentration.

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2. Modification of the Pollutant Concentration Limit for Selenium in

Table 3 of Sec. 503.13

As explained above, the pollutant concentration limit in Table 3 is

the more stringent of the risk-based limit or 99th percentile

concentration value for each of nine pollutants. In the case of

selenium, the more stringent cap is the 99th percentile number.3

EPA supported its adoption of this approach for the Table 3 limits on

two bases. First, by adopting the lower of risk-based or 99th

percentile concentration, EPA would provide an additional margin of

safety to ensure adequate protection of public health and the

environment. Second, adoption of the 99th percentile limit would

prevent deterioration of sewage sludge from current levels of quality.

The D.C. Circuit rejected both reasons, concluding that the statute

requires a demonstrated link between risk and any pollutant

concentration limits the Agency adopted. EPA has reconsidered the Table

3 selenium pollutant concentration limit and concluded that it should

not adopt a more stringent concentration limit for selenium than the

risk-based limit of 100 mg/kg. This risk-based concentration was

derived from an assessment of the hazard to children, aged one to six,

who ingest undiluted sewage sludge containing selenium. EPA's exposure

assessment showed that so long as the concentration of the sewage

sludge did not exceed 100 mg/kg of selenium, children would be

adequately protected. EPA's exposure assessment used a number of

conservative assumptions in evaluating effects on children from

selenium exposure, including a reference dose for selenium based on

lifetime exposure--a significantly protective factor. In these

circumstances, EPA concluded that there is no risk basis for adopting a

more stringent limit.

\3\The 99th percentile concentration is more stringent for

selenium and chromium; for nickel, the risk-based and 99th

percentile limits are the same. As described above, EPA is deleting

chromium from the pollutants regulated in Tables 1-4.

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C. Amendment to Part 403

Many industrial facilities discharge large quantities of pollutants

to POTWs where their wastewaters mix with wastewater from other

sources, domestic sewage from private residences and run-off from

various sources prior to treatment and discharge by the POTW. The

introduction of pollutants to a POTW from industrial discharges may

pose several problems. These include potential interference

[[Page 54766]]

with the POTW's operation or pass-through of pollutants if inadequately

treated. Congress, in section 307(b) of the Act, directed EPA to

establish categorical pretreatment standards to prevent these potential

problems. Congress also recognized that, in certain instances, POTWs

could provide some or all of the treatment of an industrial user's

wastewater that would be required pursuant to the categorical

pretreatment standard. Consequently, Congress also established a

discretionary program for POTWs to grant ``removal credits'' to their

indirect dischargers. The credit, in the form of a less stringent

categorical pretreatment standard, allows an increased concentration of

a pollutant in the flow from the indirect discharger's facility to the

POTW.

Section 307(b) of the CWA establishes a three-part test a POTW

would need to meet to obtain removal credit authority for a given

pollutant. A removal credit may be authorized only if (1) the POTW

``removes all or any part of such toxic pollutant,'' (2) the POTW's

ultimate discharge would ``not violate that effluent limitation, or

standard which would be applicable to that toxic pollutant if it were

discharged'' directly rather than through a POTW and (3) the POTW's

discharge would ``not prevent sludge use and disposal by such [POTW] in

accordance with section [405].* * *'' Section 307(b).

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has

interpreted the statute to require EPA to promulgate comprehensive

sewage sludge regulations before any removal credits could be

authorized. NRDC v. EPA, 790 F.2d 289, 292 (3rd Cir. 1986) cert.

denied. 479 U.S. 1084 (1987). Congress made this explicit in the Water

Quality Act of 1987, which provided that EPA could not authorize any

removal credits until it issued the sewage sludge use and disposal

regulations required by section 405(d)(2)(a)(ii). EPA has promulgated

removal credit regulations that are codified at 40 CFR part 403.7.

At the same time EPA promulgated the part 503 regulation, EPA also

amended the part 403 General Pretreatment Regulations to add a new

Appendix G that includes two tables of pollutants that would be

eligible for a removal credit so long as the other procedural and

substantive requirements of 40 CFR part 503 and 40 CFR 403.7 are met.

The first table (Appendix G--Section I) lists, by use or disposal

practice, the pollutants that are regulated in part 503 and eligible

for removal credit authorization. The second table (Appendix G--Section

II) lists, by use or disposal practice, additional pollutants that are

eligible for a removal credit if the concentration of the pollutant in

sewage sludge does not exceed a prescribed concentration. The

pollutants in Appendix G--Section II are the pollutants that EPA

evaluated and decided not to regulate during development of the part

503 regulation. See 58 FR at 9381-5. Currently, chromium is included on

both Appendix G--Section I and Appendix G--Section II.

As explained above, EPA is today promulgating a final rule that

deletes chromium from the pollutants that are regulated when sewage

sludge is applied to the land because EPA has concluded that there is

no current basis for establishing chromium limits for land-applied

sewage sludge. Consequently, because Appendix G--Section I lists only

pollutants regulated in part 503 and because the Agency has deleted

chromium from the list of regulated pollutants, EPA is removing

chromium from Appendix G--Section I for land application.

In the 1993 amendments to part 403, EPA included pollutants that it

evaluated for risk and decided not to regulate in Appendix G--Section

II at the highest concentration evaluated as safe. Consequently,

because EPA has now concluded that it does not need to regulate

chromium to protect the plant toxicity pathway, under the criterion

applied in the final rule, EPA should include chromium in Appendix G--

Section II in the land application column at the next highest

concentration evaluated as safe.

The next highest result for a pathway that EPA assessed and

evaluated as safe for the final rule is the tractor operator pathway--

Pathway 11. EPA determined that a tractor operator is protected from

occupational exposure to chromium from sewage sludge so long as the

concentration in the sewage sludge did not exceed 5,000 mg/kg. See

Technical Support Document for the Land Application of Sewage Sludge

Table 5.4-5, p. 5-435. However, as noted above, EPA has now reevaluated

that pathway and determined that the actual protective level is

substantial in excess of this concentration. The next level of risk

after the tractor operator pathway is the ground-water pathway--12,000

mg/kg. Technical Support Document for the Land Application of Sewage

Sludge, ibid. Therefore, under the criterion adopted in the final rule,

the Appendix G--Section II concentration for chromium should be 12,000

mg/kg.

While the public had an opportunity to comment on the land

application risk assessment that underlies the final Part 503

regulation, there has been no opportunity to comment on EPA's

reevaluation of the tractor operator pathway assessment. (Elsewhere in

today's Federal Register, EPA is proposing to amend Appendix G--Section

II to establish the new chromium concentration based on its reanalysis

of the Pathway 11 for chromium.) Consequently, it would not be

appropriate to take final action today to add chromium to Appendix G--

Section II at the ground-water pathway concentration level--the next

level after the reevaluated tractor operator pathway.

But if EPA deletes chromium from Appendix G--Section I without

including a concentration for sewage sludge that is land applied in

Appendix G--Section II at this time, POTWs will not be able to seek

removal credit authority until such time as EPA has proposed and

promulgated a new chromium removal credit number. Therefore, EPA also

is promulgating an amendment to Appendix G--Section II that adds a

footnote for the interim that states that the removal credit

concentration for chromium in land-applied sewage sludge will be

established on a case-by-case basis. This change is necessary to ensure

there is no uncertainty about the continued eligibility of chromium in

sewage sludge for removal credits, pending EPA's promulgation of the

final rule that amends Appendix G--Section II.

Until today, POTWs complying with the Part 503 land application

chromium pollutant limits were eligible to seek removal credit

authority for chromium. It would not make sense to eliminate removal

credits for chromium when EPA has now decided not to regulate chromium

in sewage sludge. While EPA is considering what concentration level for

chromium to establish in Appendix G--Section II, a removal credit will

continue to be available for chromium. If a POTW whose sewage sludge is

land-applied requests authorization to grant a removal credit for

chromium, the Approval Authority (EPA or an NPDES-authorized State with

an approved pretreatment program) will make a decision on a case-by-

case basis about what the allowable chromium concentration for removal

credits purposes should be.

In today's final rulemaking, EPA also is correcting an error in the

entry for bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in Appendix G--Table II for a

lined surface disposal site. The current entry is 100 milligrams per

kilogram. Results of the surface disposal risk assessment indicate that

the limit for bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate for a lined surface disposal

site is unlimited (interpreted to mean greater

[[Page 54767]]

than 100,000 milligrams per kilogram)--see ``Technical Support Document

for Surface Disposal of Sewage Sludge,'' EPA 822-R-93-019, November

1992. For this reason, the entry in Table II for bis(2-

ethylhexyl)phthalate for a lined surface disposal site should be

100,000 milligrams per kilogram (i.e. 100 grams per kilogram) instead

of 100 milligrams per kilogram. The superscript 3 was inadvertently

left-off of the current Table II entry for bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate

for a lined surface disposal unit. Today's rulemaking corrects that

error by adding the superscript 3 to the entry.

D. Procedural Requirements

Based on its reassessment of the rulemaking record and new

information, EPA is today taking final action amending its part 503

regulations. EPA's action deletes the chromium pollutant limits for

land application in Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Sec. 503.13(b) and amends

the selenium pollutant concentration limit in Table 3 of

Sec. 503.13(b). EPA also is amending its list of pollutants in land-

applied sewage sludge that are eligible for a removal credit. EPA is

removing chromium from the list of regulated pollutants and adding it

to the list of unregulated pollutants for which a removal credit may be

available.

Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act provides that when

an agency for good cause finds that notice and public comment procedure

are impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest, it

may issue a rule without first providing notice and comment. In

addition, the agency may make the rule effective immediately. EPA has

concluded here that it should amend both the part 403 and part 503

regulations as described above without providing for notice and comment

and make these changes effective immediately.

1. Notice and Comment

EPA has concluded that notice and comment on today's action are

unnecessary. As explained above, the D.C. Circuit concluded that the

statute requires risk-based regulation and that the Agency lacked the

data to support risk-based regulation of chromium to prevent plant

injury. EPA has reviewed the record in the sewage sludge rulemaking in

light of the D.C. Circuit decision. The Agency's second look at the

data does not reveal additional information, not previously considered

by EPA, that would support regulation of chromium in sewage sludge to

prevent plant injury. As a result, the chromium land application

pollutant limits must be withdrawn. Further, the data do not support

adoption of a more stringent pollutant concentration limit for selenium

than 100 mg/kg.

EPA also has concluded that there is good cause for amending its

part 503 regulation without first providing for notice and comment. EPA

received ample comment on issues related to the regulation of chromium

and selenium in sewage sludge that is applied to the land over the

course of a lengthy, multi-year rulemaking effort. During the process,

extensive comments on the Agency's pathway exposure assessments and the

underlying data were received from nationally known experts on sewage

sludge. Scientists possessing a wide understanding of the scientific

and technical issues associated with sewage sludge use or disposal

provided a broad critique of the exposure assessment models used to

develop the proposed regulation. In developing the final regulation,

EPA relied on several of these experts to develop the land application

exposure assessment that formed the basis for the pollutant limits in

Tables 1-4 of Sec. 503.13(b). In light of this, further comment is

unwarranted.

Under the final part 403 and part 503 regulations, a removal credit

was available for chromium when sewage sludge is land applied, so long

as the sewage sludge met the ceiling concentration limit of 3,000 mg/kg

in Table 1 of 40 CFR 503.13(b)(1) and the pollutant limits in either

Table 2, 3 or 4 at 40 CFR 503.13(b)(1). As explained above, to preserve

the eligibility of chromium for a removal credit when EPA deleted

chromium from Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4, EPA has added a footnote to the

list of pollutants in Appendix G--Section II that indicates the land

application chromium sewage sludge concentration for removal credit

purposes will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Because EPA action

in shifting chromium from Appendix G--Section I to Appendix G--Section

II reflects no substantive change in the actual sewage sludge

requirements that must be met for removal credit eligibility, comment

on this change is not needed.

2. Effective date

Under section 405 of the CWA, EPA's sewage sludge regulation must

require compliance with the regulation as expeditiously as practicable

but in no case later than 12 months after publication, unless such

regulation requires construction of new pollution control facilities,

in which case the regulation must require compliance expeditiously, but

not later than two years from publication. The part 503 regulation was

effective on March 22, 1993. In the case of the chromium pollutant

limits, the regulation required compliance by February 19, 1994.

Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act requires publication of

a substantive rule not less than 30 days before its effective date

except in certain circumstances. These include ``a substantive rule

which grants or recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction'' or

``as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause found and

published with the rule.'' 5 U.S.C. section 553(d) (1) and (3). Because

this rule relieves a restriction, the Agency has determined that these

amendments should be effective immediately.

Given its determination that the rule should be effective

immediately, the Agency also is providing, pursuant to 40 CFR 23.2,

that the rule is issued for the purpose of judicial review on the

effective date.

E. Regulatory Requirements

1. Executive Order 12866

Executive Order 12866 requires EPA to prepare an assessment of the

costs and benefits of any ``significant regulatory action.'' Because

the effect of today's rule is to relieve the regulated community from

current part 503 requirements, costs to the regulated community should

be reduced. Consequently, no assessment of costs and benefits is

required.

2. Regulatory Flexibility Act

Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612,

whenever an agency is required to publish a General Notice of

Rulemaking for any proposed or final rule, it must prepare and make

available for public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that

describes the impact of the rule on small entities (i.e., small

businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions).

No regulatory flexibility analysis is required, however, if the head of

the Agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant impact

on a substantial number of small entities.

This action to modify the part 503 regulation promulgated today is

deregulatory in nature and thus will only provide beneficial

opportunities for entities that may be affected by the rule.

Accordingly, I certify that this regulation will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This

regulation, therefore, does not require a regulatory flexibility

analysis.

3. Paperwork Reduction Act

There are no reporting, notification, or recordkeeping

(information) provisions

[[Page 54768]]

in this rule. Such provisions, were they included, would be submitted

for approval to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

4. Unfunded Mandates

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), P.L.

104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the

effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal

governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, EPA

generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-benefit

analysis, for proposed and final rules with ``Federal mandates'' that

may result in expenditures to State, local, or tribal governments, in

the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100 million or more in any

one year. When such a statement is needed for an EPA rule, section 205

of the UMRA generally requires EPA to identify and consider a

reasonable number of regulatory alternatives and adopt the least

costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative that

achieves the objectives of the rule. The provisions of section 205 do

not apply when they are inconsistent with applicable law. Moreover,

section 205 allows EPA to adopt an alternative other than the least

costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative if the

Administrator publishes with the final rule an explanation why that

alternative was not adopted.

Before EPA establishes any regulatory requirements that may

significantly or uniquely affect small governments, including tribal

governments, it must have developed under section 203 of the UMRA a

small government agency plan. The plan must provide for notifying

potentially affected small governments, giving them meaningful and

timely input in the development of EPA regulatory proposals with

significant Federal intergovernmental mandates, and informing,

educating, and advising them on compliance with the regulatory

requirements.

EPA has determined that today's amendments to part 403 and part 503

do not contain a Federal mandate that may result in expenditures of

$100 million or more for State, local or tribal governments or the

private sector in any one year. The changes to the part 503 regulation

promulgated today, to the extent they reduce the costs of complying

with current requirements, will, in fact, lessen the regulatory burden

on State, local, or tribal governments.

The part 503 regulation includes monitoring and recordkeeping

requirements for certain POTWs and other treatment works treating

domestic sewage when sewage sludge is applied to the land. Because EPA

will no longer regulate the amount of chromium applied to the land in

sewage sludge, POTWs and other treatment works treating domestic sewage

will not need to incur any monitoring and recordkeeping cost for

chromium. Consequently, there are either no (or reduced) costs

associated with the final rule promulgated today. Thus, today's rule is

not subject to the requirements in sections 202 and 205 of the Act.

EPA has determined that this rule contains no regulatory

requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect small

governments that may operate publicly owned treatment works (POTWs)

generating sewage sludge. The rule would not significantly affect small

governments because, as explained above, the amendments would reduce

the monitoring and recordkeeping requirements associated with land

application. The amendments also would not uniquely affect small

governments because deleting the land application pollutant limits for

chromium and changing the pollutant concentration limit for selenium

will not affect POTWs operated by small governments differently from

other sewage sludge users or disposers.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 403

Environmental protection, Incineration, Land application,

Pollutants, Removal credits, Sewage sludge, and Surface disposal.

40 CFR Part 503

Environmental Protection, Frequency of monitoring, Incineration,

Incorporation by reference, Land application, Management practices,

Pathogens, Pollutants, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sewage

sludge, Surface disposal and Vector attraction reduction.

Dated: October 10, 1995.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, title 40 of the Code of

Federal Regulations is amended as set forth below:

PART 403--GENERAL PRETREATMENT REGULATIONS FOR EXISTING AND NEW

SOURCES OF POLLUTION

1. The authority citation for 40 CFR part 403 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: Sec. 54(c)(2) of the Clean Water Act of 1977, (Pub.

L. 95-217) sections 204(b)(1)(C), 208(b)(2)(C)(iii),

301(b)(1)(A)(ii), 301(b)(2)(A)(ii), 301(b)(2)(C), 301(h)(5),

301(i)(2), 304(e), 304(g), 307, 308, 309, 402(b), 405 and 501(a) of

the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Pub. L. 92-500) as amended

by the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the Water Quality Act of 1987

(Pub. L. 100-4).

2. Appendix G to part 403 is revised to read as follows:

Appendix G To Part 403--Pollutants Eligible For A Removal Credit

I. Regulated Pollutants in Part 503 Eligible for a Removal Credit

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Use or disposal practice

Pollutants -----------------------------------------

LA SD I

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

Arsenic....................... X X X

Beryllium..................... ............ ............ X

Cadmium....................... X ............ X

Chromium...................... ............ X X

Copper........................ X

Lead.......................... X ............ X

Mercury....................... X ............ X

Molybdenum.................... X

Nickel........................ X X X

Selenium...................... X

Zinc.......................... X ..........

Total hydrocarbons............ ............ ............ X\1\

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

Key:

LA--land application.

SD--surface disposal site without a liner and leachate collection

system.

I--firing of sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator.

\1\The following organic pollutants are eligible for a removal credit if

the requirements for total hydrocarbons in subpart E in 40 CFR Part

503 are met when sewage sludge is fired in a sewage sludge

incinerator: Acrylonitrile, Aldrin/Dieldrin(total), Benzene,

Benzidine, Benzo(a)pyrene, Bis(2-chloroethyl)ether, Bis(2-

ethylhexyl)phthalate, Bromodichloromethane, Bromoethane, Bromoform,

Carbon tetrachloride, Chlordane, Chloroform, Chloromethane,

DDD,DDE,DDT, Dibromochloromethane, Dibutyl phthalate, 1,2-

dichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethylene, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 1,3-

dichloropropene, Diethyl phthalate, 2,4-dinitrophenol, 1,2-

diphenylhydrazine, Di-n-butyl phthalate, Endosulfan, Endrin,

Ethylbenzene, Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide, Hexachlorobutadiene,

Alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane, Beta-hexachlorocyclohexane,

Hexachlorocyclopentadiene, Hexachloroethane, Hydrogen cyanide,

Isophorone, Lindane, Methylene chloride, Nitrobenzene, N-

Nitrosodimethylamine, N-Nitrosodi-n-propylamine, Pentachlorophenol,

Phenol, Polychlorinated biphenyls, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-

dioxin, 1,1,2,2,-tetrachloroethane, Tetrachloroethylene, Toluene,

Toxaphene, Trichloroethylene, 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene, 1,1,1-

Trichloroethane, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, and 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol.

[[Page 54769]]

II. Additional Pollutants Eligible for a Removal Credit

[milligrams per kilogram--dry weight basis]

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

Use or disposal practice

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

Pollutant I

LA SD ------------------------------

Unlined\1\ Lined\2\

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

Arsenic........................................... ............. .............. \3\100 .............

Aldrin/Dieldrin (Total)........................... 2.7 .............. .............. .............

Benzene........................................... \3\16 140 3400 .............

Benzo(a)pyrene.................................... 15 \3\100 \3\100 .............

Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate........................ ............. \3\100 \3\100 .............

Cadmium........................................... ............. \3\100 \3\100 .............

Chlordane......................................... 86 \3\100 \3\100 .............

Chromium.......................................... \4\ .............. \3\100 .............

Copper............................................ ............. \3\46 \3\100 1400

DDD, DDE, DDT (Total)............................. 1.2 2000 2000 .............

2,4 Dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid................... ............. 7 7 .............

Fluoride.......................................... 730 .............. .............. .............

Heptachlor........................................ 7.4 .............. .............. .............

Hexachlorobenzene................................. 29 .............. .............. .............

Hexachlorobutadiene............................... 600 .............. .............. .............

Iron.............................................. \3\78 .............. .............. .............

Lead.............................................. ............. \3\100 \3\100 .............

Lindane........................................... 84 \3\28 \3\28 .............

Malathion......................................... ............. 0.63 0.63 .............

Mercury........................................... ............. \3\100 \3\100 .............

Molybdenum........................................ ............. 40 40 .............

Nickel............................................ ............. .............. \3\100 .............

N-Nitrosodimethylamine............................ 2.1 0.088 0.088 .............

Pentachlorophenol................................. 30 .............. .............. .............

Phenol............................................ ............. 82 82 .............

Polychlorinated biphenyls......................... 4.6 <50 <50 .............

Selenium.......................................... ............. 4.8 4.8 4.8

Toxaphene......................................... 10 \3\26 \3\26 .............

Trichloroethylene................................. \3\10 9500 \3\10 .............

Zinc.............................................. ............. 4500 4500 4500

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

Key: LA--land application.

SD--surface disposal.

I--incineration.

\1\ Sewage sludge unit without a liner and leachate collection system.

\2\ Sewage sludge unit with a liner and leachate collection system.

\3\ Value expressed in grams per kilogram--dry weight basis.

\4\ Value to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

PART 503--STANDARDS FOR THE USE OR DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE SLUDGE

1. The authority citation for part 503 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: Sections 405(d) and (e) of the Clean Water Act, as

amended by Pub. L. 95-217, Sec. 54(d), 91 Stat. 1591 (33 U.S.C. 1345

(d) and (e)); and Pub. L. 100-4, Title IV, Sec. 406 (a), (b), 101

Stat., 71, 72 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).

2. Sec. 503.13(b) is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 503.13 Pollutant limits.

* * * * *

(b) Pollutant concentrations and loading rates--sewage sludge.

(1) Ceiling concentrations.

Table 1 of Sec. 503.13.--Ceiling Concentrations

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

Ceiling

concentration

Pollutant (milligrams

per

kilogram)\1\

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

Arsenic.................................................. 75

Cadmium.................................................. 85

Copper................................................... 4300

Lead..................................................... 840

Mercury.................................................. 57

Molybdenum............................................... 75

Nickel................................................... 420

Selenium................................................. 100

Zinc..................................................... 7500

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

\1\Dry weight basis.

(2) Cumulative pollutant loading rates.

Table 2 of Sec. 503.13.--Cumulative Pollutant Loading Rates

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

Cumulative

pollutant

loading

Pollutant rate

(kilograms

per

hectare)

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

Arsenic.................................................... 41

Cadmium.................................................... 39

Copper..................................................... 1500

Lead....................................................... 300

Mercury.................................................... 17

Nickel..................................................... 420

Selenium................................................... 100

Zinc....................................................... 2800

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

(3) Pollutant concentrations.

[[Page 54770]]

Table 3 of Sec. 503.13.--Pollutant Concentrations

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

Monthly

average

concentration

Pollutant (milligrams

per

kilogram)\1\

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

Arsenic.................................................. 41

Cadmium.................................................. 39

Copper................................................... 1500

Lead..................................................... 300

Mercury.................................................. 17

Nickel................................................... 420

Selenium................................................. 100

Zinc..................................................... 2800

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

\1\Dry weight basis.

(4) Annual pollutant loading rates.

Table 4 of Sec. 503.13.--Annual Pollutant Loading Rates

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

Annual

pollutant

loading rate

Pollutant (kilograms

per hectare

per 365 day

period)

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

Arsenic................................................... 2.0

Cadmium................................................... 1.9

Copper.................................................... 75

Lead...................................................... 15

Mercury................................................... 0.85

Nickel.................................................... 21

Selenium.................................................. 5.0

Zinc...................................................... 140

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

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 95-25740 Filed 10-24-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P