[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 51 (Thursday, March 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14747-14748]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05569]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-10021-32-Region 9]


Public Water System Supervision Program Revisions for the Navajo 
Nation

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of tentative approval.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Navajo Nation revised its 
approved

[[Page 14748]]

Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program under the federal Safe 
Drinking Water Act (SDWA) by adopting the Radionuclides Rule. The 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that these 
revisions by the Navajo Nation are no less stringent than the 
corresponding Federal regulations and otherwise meet applicable SDWA 
primacy requirements. Therefore, the EPA intends to approve the stated 
revisions to the Navajo Nation's PWSS Program.

DATES: A request for a public hearing must be received or postmarked 
before April 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: All documents relating to this determination are available 
online at http://www.navajoepa.org. Should you have difficulty 
accessing the website, please contact Yolanda Barney, Navajo PWSS 
Program, at (928) 871-7715; or via email at 
ybarney@navajopublicwater.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Ramos, EPA Region 9, Drinking 
Water Section (WTR-4-1), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; 
via telephone at (415) 972-3450; or via email address at 
ramos.adam@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background. The EPA approved the Navajo Nation's initial 
application for PWSS Program primary enforcement authority 
(``primacy'') on October 23, 2000 (65 FR 66541). Since initial 
approval, EPA has approved various revisions to Navajo Nation's PWSS 
Program. For the revisions covered by this action, the EPA revised the 
Radionuclides Rule on December 7, 2000 (66 Fed. Reg 76708). The 
revisions set new monitoring provisions for community water systems 
(CWS), retain the existing MCLs for combined radium-226 and radium-228, 
gross alpha particle radioactivity, beta particle and photon activity, 
and regulate uranium for the first time. EPA has determined that the 
Radionuclides Rule requirements were incorporated by reference into the 
Navajo Nation Primary Drinking Water Regulations, Part II Maximum 
Contaminant Levels, Part IV Sampling and Analytical Requirements and 
Appendix B--Public Notification of Drinking Water Violations and 
Appendix F--Consumer Confidence Report, in a manner that Navajo 
Nation's regulations are comparable to and no less stringent than the 
federal requirements. Therefore, EPA intends to approve these revisions 
as part of Navajo Nation's PWSS Program.
    Public Process. Any interested party may request a public hearing 
on this determination. A request for a public hearing must be received 
or postmarked by April 19, 2021, and addressed to the Regional 
Administrator of EPA Region 9, via the following email address: R9dw-program@epa.gov. The Regional Administrator (RA) may deny frivolous or 
insubstantial requests for a hearing. If a substantial request for a 
public hearing is made by April 19, 2021, EPA Region 9 will hold a 
public hearing. Any request for a public hearing shall include the 
following information: 1. The name, address, and telephone number of 
the individual, organization, or other entity requesting a hearing; 2. 
A brief statement of the requesting person's or organization's interest 
in the RA's determination and a brief statement of the information that 
the requesting person intends to submit at such hearing; and 3. The 
signature of the individual making the request, or, if the request is 
made on behalf of an organization or other entity, the signature of a 
responsible official of the organization or other entity.
    If EPA Region 9 does not receive a timely and substantive request 
for a hearing and the Regional Administrator does not elect to hold a 
hearing on her own motion, the determination at issue in this notice, 
the EPA's approval shall become final and effective on April 19, 2021, 
and no further public notice will be issued.

    Authority: Section 1413 of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 
U.S.C. 300g-2 (1996), and 40 CFR part 142 of the National Primary 
Drinking Water Regulations.

    Dated: March 11, 2021.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9.
[FR Doc. 2021-05569 Filed 3-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


