567—62.2 (455B) Exemption of adoption of certain federal rules from public participation. Iowa Code section 17A.4(2) allows an agency to exempt a “very narrowly tailored category of rules” from the notice and public participation requirements of Iowa Code section 17A.4(1) if the agency for good cause finds that notice and public participation is “unnecessary.” The commission finds good cause for exempting from the notice and public participation requirements of Iowa Code section 17A.4(1) the adoption by reference of the following federal standards and guidelines and amendments thereto: An effluent limitation guideline promulgated pursuant to Sections 301 and 304 of the Act; a standard of performance for a new source promulgated pursuant to Section 306 of the Act; a toxic effluent standard promulgated pursuant to Section 307(a) of the Act; a pretreatment standard for an existing source promulgated pursuant to Section 307(b) of the Act; a pretreatment standard for a new source promulgated pursuant to Section 307(c) of the Act; and information on the level of effluent quality attainable through the application of secondary treatment promulgated pursuant to Section 304(d) of the Act.
Public participation would be unnecessary since the commission must adopt effluent and pretreatment standards at least as stringent as the enumerated promulgated federal standards in order to have the department’s NPDES program approved by the administrator (Section 402(c) of the Act), and yet must not adopt an effluent or pretreatment standard that is more stringent than the enumerated promulgated federal standards (Iowa Code section 455B.173(3)). Any such rule adopted by reference would be effective 35 days after filing, indexing, and publication in the Iowa Administrative Code.