(g) A discussion of problems and objections raised by other Federal, State, and local agencies and by interested persons in this review process. Final statements (and draft statements if appropriate) shall summarize the comments and suggestions made by reviewing organizations and shall describe the disposition of issues surfaced (e.g., revisions to the proposed action to mitigate anticipated impacts or objections). In particular, they shall address in detail the major issues raised when the Agency position is at variance with recommendations and objections (e.g., reasons specific comments and suggestions could not be accepted, and factors of overriding importance prohibiting the incorporation of suggestions). Reviewer's statements should be set forth in a "comment" and discussed in a "response." In addition, the source of all comments should be clearly identified and copies of the comments should be attached to the final statement.

Subpart D-Public Participation § 6.40

General.

(a) Public hearings on draft impact statements shall be held when the "responsible official" determines that a public hearing would facilitate the resolution of conflict or significant public controversy.

(b) When public hearings are to be held, the Agency must notify the public of the hearing immediately after distribution of the draft statement. This public notification must include at least fifteen (15) days prior to the date of such hearing:

(1) Notification to the public by adequate advertisement identifying the project, announcing the date, time, and place of such hearing, and announcing the availability of detailed information on the proposed project for public inspection at one or more locations in the area in which the project will be located. "Detailed information" shall include a copy of the project application and the draft environmental impact statement.

(2) Notification to the appropriate State and local agencies and to the appropriate State and metropolitan clearinghouses.

(3) Notification to interested persons. (c) A written record of the hearing shall be made. As a minimum, the record shall contain a list of witnesses together with the text of each presentation. Generally, a stenographer should be used. A summary of the record, including the issues raised, conflicts resolved and unresolved, and any other significant portions of the record, shall be appended to the final impact statement.

(d) When a public hearing has been held by another Federal, State, or local agency on an Agency action, additional hearings need not necessarily ensue. The "responsible official" shall decide if additional hearings are required.

(e) When a program office is the originating office, the appropriate regional office will provide assistance to the originating office in holding any public hearing if assistance is requested.

(a) Draft impact statements and negative declarations shall be made available to the public to assure the fullest practical provision of timely public information and understanding of Federal plans and programs. In addition, public hearings, notices of intent, and press releases will be employed by the Agency to ensure adequate public involvement.

(b) Final environmental impact statements shall be furnished to all interested persons which submitted written comments on the draft impact statement. This is to enable public organizations to comment on the final statement to the Agency or the Council on Environmental Quality, if they so desire, within the thirty (30) calendar day period prior to Agency administrative action on the proposal.

§ 6.43 Availability of documents.

(a) Draft and final environmental impact statements, negative declarations, and environmental impact appraisals shall be made available for public review at the following locations: (1) The originating office.

(2) The Office of Public Affairs for draft and final impact statements only.

(b) The Agency will endeavor to print sufficient copies of draft and final environmental impact statements to meet

were

(a) Actions covered. These guidelines apply to new grants for wastewater treatment works, to grants for wastewater treatment works that awarded prior to the promulgation of these guidelines and meet the conditions specified in paragraph (c) of this section, and areawide and water quality management plans.

(b) Actions excluded. These guidelines do not apply to:

(1) Program grant awards to State and interstate agencies.

(2) Training grants and contracts.

(c) Retroactive application. (1) This subpart shall be applied to ongoing wastewater treatment works for which grant awards were made prior to the promulgation of these guidelines when substantial funds have not been released and modifications or alternatives to the project are still available. The Regional Administrator shall ensure that an environmental impact statement shall be

prepared for each such works found to have a significant impact in accordance with § 6.54 of this subpart. The grantee must be promptly notified in writing of the decision to prepare an impact statement.

(2) On such works, either all or a portion of the project work may be stopped by the Regional Administrator pending completion of the statement, if he determines that a work stoppage is warranted, to reduce the risk of incurring substantial additional costs for work which the impact statement may indicate will have to be abandoned or substantially changed. The Regional Administrator may request a written statement from the grantee to assist him in making this decision. The statement should include: A list of what work should and should not continue; a discussion of potential changes the impact statement might recommend in the work discussed in the above list; and the reasons why the work in question should or should not continue. Upon a determination of partial or complete work stoppage by the Regional Administrator, the appropriate grant action would be the issuance of a stop-work order to suspend work or a bilateral agreement to suspend project work, effected through a grant amendment, or in some cases, the issuance of a termination notice.

(a) Responsible official. The "responsible official" for Agency actions covered by this subpart is the Regional Administrator. The responsibilities of the Regional Administrator in addition to those in § 6.14(a) of Subpart A of this part are to:

(1) Assist the Office of Federal Activities in coordinating the training of personnel involved in the review and preparation of impact statements and other EIS-associated documents.

(2) Require of grant applicants and those who have submitted plans for approval, the information the regional office requires to comply with these guidelines.

(3) Consult with the Office of Federal Activities concerning works or plans which significantly affect more than one regional office, are highly controversial, are of national significance or "pioneer" Agency policy when these works have had or should have had an environmental impact statement prepared on them.

(b) Assistant Administrator. The responsibilities of the Office of the Assistant Administrator, as described in § 6.14 (f) of Subpart A of this part, shall be assumed by the Assistant Administrator for Air and Water Programs for Agency actions covered by this subpart.

(c) Water Quality and Non-Point Source Control Division, Office of Water Programs Operations. Coordinates all activities and responsibilities of the Office of Water Programs Operations concerned with preparation and review of environmental impact statements. This includes providing technical assistance to the Regional Administrators on impact statements and assisting the Office of Federal Activities in coordinating the training of personnel involved in the review and preparation of impact statements.

(d) Public Affairs Division, Regional Offices. The responsibilities of the regions' Public Affairs Division in addition to those in § 6.14(d) of Subpart A of this part are to:

(1) Assist the Regional Administrator in the preparation and dissemination of negative declarations, notices of intent, press releases, and other public notices.

(2) Collaborate with the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs to analyze procedures in the regions for public participation and to develop and recommend to the Office of Federal Activities a program to improve those procedures.

§ 6.54 Criteria for preparation of environmental impact statements.

The Regional Administrator will assure that an impact statement will be prepared for treatment works and plans (See additional conditions for plans in § 6.55(d)) when:

(a) The treatment works will induce or encourage significant changes in industrial, commercial, or residential concentrations or distributions, the effects of which are not adequately reflected in an impact statement on the water quality management or areawide plans encompassing the works. Factors that must be considered in determining if induced changes are significant include but are not limited to: the land area subject to increased development as a result of the treatment works; the relative increase in population which may be induced; the potential for overloading sewage facilities; the extent to which landowners may benefit from the areas subject to increased development; and the nature

of land use regulations in the affected area and their potential effects on the development.

(b) The works or plan will result in a significant displacement of population. (c) The works or plan will have significant adverse imparts on public parks or other areas of recognized scenic or recreational value.

(d) The works or plan will have significant adverse impacts on areas of recognized archeological value or properties listed in or being considered for nomination to the National Register of Historical Places.

(e) The works or plan will significantly deface an existing residential area.

(f) The works or plan will include or induce development which will have a significant adverse effect upon local ambient air quality, local ambient noise levels, surface or groundwater quality, fish, wildlife, their natural habitats, or other natural elements.

(g) The works or plan involves a significant diversion of effluent from one basin to another (or to the ocean) and the diversion will adversely affect the quality or quantity of the water in a basin.

(h) The treated effluent is being discharged into a body of water where the present classification is being challenged as too low to protect present uses, and the effluent will not be of sufficient quality to meet the requirements of such uses.

(1) The environmental impact of the works or plan is highly controversial based on environmental issues raised by a party or parties with recognized legal standing as defined in Sierra Club v. Morton, 92 S.Ct. 1361 (Apr. 19, 1972), which can be found in 3 Environment Reporter Cases (ERC) 2039.

§ 6.55 Procedures for preparation of impact statements for plans.

(a) General. (1) Areawide waste treatment management plans set forth in Section 208 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 will be required pursuant to 40 CFR Part 35. Areawide plans must be certified by the Governor or his designee and approved by the Administrator. Once a plan is approved, the Administrator shall not make any grant for construction of a publicly owned treatment works except for a works in conformity with this plan.

(2) Until areawide plans are developed, other plans will be required pursuant to Part 35 of this chapter.

(b) Environmental assessment and public hearing. (1) General. An environmental assessment must be included as an integral part of any plans submitted for approval pursuant to Part 35 of this chapter. In addition, a record of a public hearing must be submitted with such plans. The Regional Administrator may also require a grant applicant to submit an assessment and record of public hearing for any water quality management planning that he considers relevant to a proposed wastewater treatment works. Failure to satisfy any of these requirements will justify a refusal by the Regional Administrator to approve plans and specifications for treatment works.

(2) The environmental assessment must be included as an integral part of the plan whether or not Federal technical or financial assistance was utilized in the development of the plan. The assessment of alternatives must include as a minimum those items listed in paragraph (b) (4) of this section. A separate summary of the assessment incorporated in the plan may be requested by regional personnel.

(3) Responsibility for the environmental assessment. The planning agency responsible for developing the required plans shall include as part of the plan an environmental assessment of all feasible alternative water quality management strategies. Prior to acceptance of the plan, regional personnel shall review the plan and record of public hearing to assure that environmental matters have been properly considered. If any of the data or analyses in the plan are used by the regional personnel in developing an impact statement, the Regional Administrator must assume responsibility for the reliability and comprehensiveness of the data or analyses used.

(4) Content of assessment incorporated in the plan. In assessing the environmental impacts of alternative water quality management strategies, the State or local agency responsible for developing the plan shall as a minimum address in writing the questions outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act. The questions are amplified in § 6.32 of Subpart C of this part, paragraphs (a) through (g). The questions in § 6.32 (a), (b), (c), (e), and (f) must be answered for each alternative strategy and those in § 6.32 (d) and (g) must be answered considering all the alternatives.

(5) Adequacy of assessment. If the environmental assessment incorporated in the plan is judged inadequate, further consideration of the request for approval of the plan must be deferred until the deficiencies are remedied in writing.

(6) Public hearing. A record of a public hearing on the plan must be submitted with any plan required pursuant to paragraph (b) (1) of this section. Hearing requirements are set forth in § 6.58 of this subpart. The hearing should be held before the plan is finalized so that the public can assist the planning agency in identifying valid environmental issues while the plan is being formulated.

(c) Environmental review. The Agency will review, in accordance with § 6.20 of Subpart B and § 6.54 of this subpart, all plans submitted for approval or plans on which assessments were requested, to determine if they will have any significant impacts on the environment. If the Regional Administrator determines that there may be such impacts, the applicant may be requested to submit additional environmental data or analyses. The applicant will be given written notice of what additional material he must submit under these circumstances.

(d) Notice of intent and impact statement. If the environmental review indicates a significant impact on the environment and if either of the following conditions is met, the Regional Administrator shall issue a notice of intent and prepare an impact statement on the plan in accordance with the procedures in Subpart B of this part:

(1) If the impacts are such that they cannot be adequately treated on a smaller scale than that of the plan, e.g., diversion of water from one river basin to another, or gradual depletion of the groundwater aquifer over a large area because of discharge of the effluent through ocean outfalls rather than using it to recharge the aquifer;

(2) If the plan is sufficiently detailed to permit at least partial environmental analysis of most of the treatment works encompassed by it, thus minimizing either the number of impact statements that may have to be written on individual works in the planning area at a later date or reducing the amount of effort that would have to be expended in preparing such statements at a later date.

Notices of intent and impact statements shall be prepared and distributed in accordance with the procedures in Subpart B of this part.

(a) General. (1) The States and their political subdivisions have primary responsibility for water pollution control. Treatment works generally are initiated and designed by a community or a regional authority and submitted to the State for approval. The construction grant program administered by the Agency provides Federal financial assistance to any State, municipality, or intermunicipal or interstate agency for the construction of treatment works. The intent of this program is to assist the State and local entities in meeting their waste treatment responsibilities.

(2) Although the Agency does not participate directly in the formulation of treatment works proposals, it does provide guidance to assure construction of well-designed treatment works which will meet water quality standards and other requirements. In addition, to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Agency must determine if the proposed treatment works will have a significant impact upon the environment and, if so, prepare and circulate an environmental impact statement before awarding the grant. This assures that environmental considerations are properly accounted for in the final design.

(b) Environmental assessments and public hearings.-(1) General. (i) Applicants for grants for treatment works shall prepare an assessment and hold a public hearing for each treatment works. The assessment and hearing record shall be submitted prior to approval of plans, specifications, and detailed design drawings submitted for approval. The Regional Administrator may in consultation with the applicant determine that a single assessment and public hearing will suffice for a number of related treatment works. The plans, specifications, and detailed design drawings cannot be approved unless an adequate assessment

has been developed by the applicant and has been commented on by the State and local clearinghouses pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-95.

(ii) When a number of separate grant applications are being submitted in a fiscal year for treatment works that are constituent parts of a larger system, regional personnel may delay approval of plans and specifications for the various treatment works until some or all of the works and their assessments can be reviewed together to allow the Agency to properly evaluate the cumulative impact of the individual works. The regional personnel may also request environmental information from an applicant(s) on the cumulative environmental impacts of the treatment works and alternatives to them, if this information is not available in the applications, assessments, ог plan(s) encompassing the projects (see also § 6.56(c)).

(iii) As specified in § 6.52(c) of this subpart, ongoing projects must also be reviewed. If it appears that an impact statement may be required or that sufficient environmental information is not available to make a proper determination, the grant applicant may be requested to submit an environmental assessment which would provide the needed information.

(2) Responsibility for preparation of assessments-(i) Applicant's responsibility. The applicant is responsible for preparing an adequate environmental assessment for a treatment works.

(ii) Regional offices. The regional personnel are responsible for the approval or disapproval of plans and specifications and the acceptance of an assessment. Regional personnel shall review the applicant's assessment and determine the reliability of the applicant's data and the adequacy of the alternatives discussed. This may involve field inspection of the sites of proposed works. If the assessment is used by the regional personnel in developing an impact statement, the Regional Administrator must assume responsibility for the reliability and comprehensiveness of the data or analyses

used.

(3) Content of assessment. An applicant's environmental assessment must contain the following:

(i) A comparative evaluation of the major alternatives including the proposed treatment works.