This subpart describes procedures which may ultimately be required by EPA when it publishes regulations governing application and eligibility for grants under section 4007. Under these regulations the appropriate EPA Regional Administrator will consider the identifications made under section 4006 as one of the conditions of grant eligibility.

The Regional Administrator may accept, in State grant applications, notification of the status of these identifications to ensure that premature decisions on State plan development will not be forced by the timing of the identifications specified in the Act. Procedures are outlined here to advise the States of what EPA expects to require in such notification.

(a) The notification should specify those regional boundaries and agencies which are uncontested at the time of submission, and specify a schedule of hearings and determinations of subsequent identification of regions and agencies as consensus is reached.

(b) The appropriate level of detail and the timing of the identifications to be made should be established for each planning region after agreement between the State and the appropriate EPA Regional Administrator. The timing should depend upon how well the State plan is developed, the environmental and economic decisions to be made, and the existing management approaches to their resolution.

(c) The notification should list the major known interested agencies and private operators within each planning region and describe how they will be included in the process. Where appropriate, it should include an expression of their interest and a definition of the extent and limits of their role in solid waste management planning.

(d) The notification should provide a schedule for phasing of plan development with the identification of agencies to carry out those plans, showing the projected maturation of management agencies and the milestones for those agencies in taking over the plan implementation process.

(e) This notification should include establishment of State agencies where regional planning and implementation agencies have not been identified within 270 days of the Governor's promulgation of regulations identifying regional boundaries.

The procedure for revising regional identifications or agency responsibilities should be specified by the notification.

(a) The State should review and, if appropriate, revise or modify the identification of regions and the responsibilities of local and regional agencies at intervals of less than 3 years. Review and modification should include, but not be limited to, the following areas:

(1) Whether new regions should be identified, or whether present boundaries should be modified.

(2) Whether responsibilities of an agency should be expanded or reduced due to changes in the needs for solid waste functions in the region.

(b) Revisions or adjustments to the State plan may require minor boundary or agency changes from time to time. The appropriate EPA Regional Administrator should be notified of such revisions by the State solid waste agency.

(c) Major revisions or adjustments in agencies or boundaries should be made in consultation with local officials and be subject to the same procedures used in the original identification process. Notification of such revisions should be submitted with State plan updates.