Project XL Site-Specific Rule for the International Paper Androscoggin Mill Facility in Jay, Maine; Project XL Final Project Agreement to be Signed for Effluent Improvement Project at International Paper Androscoggin Mill Facility in Jay, Maine

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today is finalizing this rule to provide site-specific regulatory flexibility under the Clean Water Act (CWA) as part of an XL Project with International Paper's Androscoggin Mill pulp and paper manufacturing facility in Jay, Maine. The site-specific rule will exempt International Paper Androscoggin Mill from certain Best Management Practices (BMPs) required under CWA regulations. In exchange for this regulatory flexibility, International Paper Androscoggin Mill will implement a series of projects designed to improve the mill's effluent quality and will accept numeric permit limits corresponding to the expected improvements in effluent quality. The terms of the International Paper XL project are contained in the Final Project Agreement (FPA), which project participants are expected to sign on June 29, 2000.