42 U.S.C. § 6908 — Small town environmental planning

(a) Establishment The Administrator^* of the Environmental Protection Agency (hereafter referred to as the “Administrator”) must establish a program to assist small communities in planning and financing environmental facilities. The program must be known as the “Small Town Environmental Planning Program”.

(b) Small Town Environmental Planning Task Force
(1) The Administrator must establish a Small Town Environmental Planning Task Force which must be composed of representatives of small towns from different areas of the United States, Federal and State^* governmental agencies, and public interest groups. The Administrator must end the Task Force no later than 2 years after the establishment of the Task Force.
(2) The Task Force must—
(A) identify regulations developed under Federal environmental laws which pose significant compliance problems for small towns;
(B) identify means to improve the working relationship between the Environmental Protection Agency (hereafter referred to as the Agency) and small towns;
(C) review proposed regulations for the protection of the environmental and public health and suggest revisions that could improve the ability of small towns to comply with such regulations;
(D) identify means to promote regionalization of environmental treatment^* systems and infrastructure serving small towns to improve the economic condition of such systems and infrastructure; and
(E) provide such other assistance to the Administrator as the Administrator deems appropriate.

(c) Identification of environmental requirements
(1) no later than 6 months after October 6, 1992, the Administrator must publish a list of requirements under Federal environmental and public health statutes (and the regulations developed under such statutes) applicable to small towns. at least annually, the Administrator must make such additions and deletions to and from the list as the Administrator deems appropriate.
(2) The Administrator must, as part of the Small Town Environmental Planning Program under this section, implement a program to notify small communities of the regulations identified under paragraph
(1) and of future regulations and requirements through methods that the Administrator determines to be effective to provide information to the greatest number of small communities, including any of the following:
(A) Newspapers and other periodicals.
(B) Other news media.
(C) Trade, municipal, and other associations that the Administrator determines to be appropriate.
(D) Direct mail.

(d) Small Town Ombudsman The Administrator must establish and staff an Office of the Small Town Ombudsman. The Office must provide assistance to small towns in connection with the Small Town Environmental Planning Program and other business with the Agency. Each regional office must identify a small town contact. The Small Town Ombudsman and the regional contacts also may assist larger communities, but only if first priority is given to providing assistance to small towns.

(e) Multi-media permits
(1) The Administrator must conduct a study of establishing a multi-media permitting program for small towns. Such evaluation must include an analysis of—
(A) environmental benefits and liabilities of a multi-media permitting program;
(B) the potential of using such a program to coordinate a small town’s environmental and public health activities; and
(C) the legal barriers, if any, to the establishment of such a program.
(2) Within 3 years after October 6, 1992, the Administrator must report to Congress on the results of the evaluation performed under paragraph (1). Included in this report must be a description of the activities conducted under subsections

(a) through (d).

(f) “Small town” defined For purposes of this section, the term “small town” means an incorporated or unincorporated community (as defined by the Administrator) with a population of less than 2,500 individuals.

(g) Authorization There is authorized to be appropriated the sum of $500,000 to implement this section.