2022-26227: NPDES Small MS4 Urbanized Area Clarification
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to clarify its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Phase II regulations due to recent changes made by the Census Bureau. The changes to EPA's regulations would be limited to clarifying that the designation criteria for small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), which have been used since the promulgation of the regulations in 1999, would remain the same. These clarifications are necessary due to the Census Bureau's recent decision to discontinue its practice of publishing the location of "urbanized areas" along with the 2020 Census and future censuses. The clarification in this proposed rulemaking would replace the term "urbanized area" in the Phase II regulations with the phrase "urban areas with a population of at least 50,000," which is the Census Bureau's longstanding definition of the term urbanized areas. This change would allow NPDES permitting authorities to use 2020 Census and future Census data in a manner that is consistent with existing longstanding regulatory practice. Because this clarification would maintain the current scope of which entities are regulated as small MS4s, and is not expected to generate opposition, EPA is also publishing the same clarification in the Federal Register as a direct final rule. As is EPA's practice for direct final rules, if the Agency receives adverse comments in response to either the direct final rule or this proposed rulemaking, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take effect and will address public comments received in any final rule action.
The agency’s own summary, as published.
What this changes
Amends 2 parts of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.
Rulemaking docket
We haven’t pulled this rulemaking’s full docket yet. View docket EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0834 on Regulations.gov →
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