National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

Combined Sewer Overflows Public Notification Requirements for the Great Lakes

Proposed Rule: Public Notification for CSOs to the Great Lakes

On January 13, 2017, EPA published a proposed rule requesting comments on Public Notification Requirements for Combined Sewer Overflows to the Great Lakes Basin. The proposed rule would implement Section 425 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (Public Law 114113), which requires EPA to work with the Great Lakes states to establish public notification requirements for CSO discharges to the Great Lakes.

The proposed rulemaking addresses signage, notification of local public health departments and other potentially affected public entities, notification to the public, and annual notice provisions for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permittees authorized to discharge from a CSO to the Great Lakes Basin.

The comment period for the proposed rule will close March 14, 2017. The public is encouraged to submit written comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0376, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. General guidance on making effective comments is available at EPA's Commenting on EPA Dockets.

Section 425 of the 2016 Appropriations Act

Section 425 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 requires EPA to work with the Great Lakes states to establish public notice requirements for CSO discharges to the Great Lakes Basin. Section 425 is to be implemented by December 18, 2017. However, Section 425 provides that implementation deadlines may be extended for individual communities if the EPA Administrator determines the community needs additional time to comply in order to avoid undue economic hardship.

Pre-Proposal Input on "Public Notification Requirements for Combined Sewer Overflow Discharges to the Great Lakes"

Public Listening Session; Stakeholder Input on Public Notice for Combined Sewer Overflows in the Great Lakes [FRL-9950-07-OW] (PDF)(3 pp, 199 K, About PDF) - On August 1, 2016, EPA requested public input to inform development of a proposed regulation establishing public notification requirements for CSO discharges in the Great Lakes. As part of this effort, EPA held a public "listening session" on September 14, 2016. The pre-proposal comment period closed on September 23, 2016. All comments are available for review on Public Docket EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0376 at https://www.regulations.gov.