Environmental Protection Agency June 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests by registrants to voluntarily cancel certain pesticide registrations. EPA intends to grant these requests at the close of the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its further review of the requests, or unless the registrants withdraw their requests. If these requests are granted, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted after the registrations have been cancelled only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

EPA is amending the pesticide container and containment regulations to provide a 4-month extension of the 40 CFR 156.159 labeling compliance date from August 16, 2010 to December 16, 2010. This change is being made because there is insufficient time for pesticide registrants, EPA and states to complete the label amendments. This change will avoid the temporary removal of a significant number of pesticides from the market while a 1-year extension proposed elsewhere in today's Federal Register proceeds through the rulemaking process, and while pesticide registrants, EPA and states work to update the pesticide labels to comply with the label requirements in the container and containment regulations.

EPA is taking direct final action to correct a typographical error in the Final Rule for the Ocean Dumping; De-designation of Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site and Designation of New Site near Coos Bay, Oregon.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 is issuing a Notice of Intent to Delete the soils of Operable Unit 1 and the underlying ground water of the approximately 8-acre western portion of Operable Unit 1 of the Many Diversified Interests, Inc. (MDI) Superfund Site located in Houston, Texas, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this proposed action. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of Texas, through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, have determined that all appropriate response actions at these identified parcels under CERCLA have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

This final action withdraws the conditional exclusion from regulations promulgated on December 19, 2008 under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for so-called Emission Comparable Fuel (ECF). These are fuels produced from hazardous secondary materials which, when burned in industrial boilers under specified conditions, generate emissions that are comparable to emissions from burning fuel oil in those boilers. EPA is withdrawing this conditional exclusion because the Agency has concluded that ECF is more appropriately classified as a discarded material and regulated as a hazardous waste. The exclusions for comparable fuel and synthesis gas

EPA is announcing a listening session to be held on July 9, 2010, during the public comment period for the external review draft document entitled ``EPA's Reanalysis of Key Issues Related to Dioxin Toxicity and Response to NAS Comments'' (EPA/600/R-10/038A). The EPA's draft document and peer review charge are available via the Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's (NCEA) home page under the Recent Additions and Publications menus at https:// www.epa.gov/ncea. This draft document responds to the key recommendations and comments included in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 2006 report. In addition, it includes new analyses on potential human effects that may result from exposure to 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD).

EPA is proposing to determine that the Birmingham, Alabama, nonattainment area for the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) has attained the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. This proposed determination is based upon complete, quality assured, quality controlled, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the years 2007-2009 showing that this area has monitored attainment of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. If this proposed determination is made final, the requirement for the State of Alabama to submit an attainment demonstration and associated reasonably available control measures (RACM), reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, contingency measures, and other planning State Implementation Plans (SIPs) related to attainment of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard for the Birmingham, Alabama, PM2.5 nonattainment area, shall be suspended for as long as this area continues to meet the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting of the SAB Exposure and Human Health Committee (EHHC) on July 1-2, 2010 to receive briefings on risk assessment activities from several EPA programs.

The EPA is announcing a 14-day extension of the public comment period for the proposed ``Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Excess Emissions During Startup, Shutdown, Maintenance, and Malfunction Activities.'' As initially published in the Federal Register on May 13, 2010 (75 FR 26892), written comments on the proposal for rulemaking were to be submitted to EPA on or before June 14, 2010 (a 30-day public comment period). Since publication, EPA has received requests for additional time to submit comments. Therefore, the public comment period will now end on June 28, 2010. This extension is time-limited because the rule has to be finalized by October 31, 2010 under the terms of a settlement agreement.

EPA is approving a revision to the Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP) to meet the reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, the 2002 base year emissions inventory, RFP contingency measure, and reasonably available control measure (RACM) requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the Maryland portion of the Philadelphia moderate 1997 8-hour ozone nonattainment area. EPA is also approving the transportation conformity motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) associated with this revision. EPA is approving the SIP revision because it satisfies the emission inventory, RFP, RACM, RFP contingency measures, and transportation conformity requirements for areas classified as moderate nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) and demonstrates further progress in reducing ozone precursors. EPA is approving the SIP revision pursuant to the CAA and EPA's regulations.

Recent EPA gas audit results indicate that some gas cylinders used to calibrate continuous emission monitoring systems on stationary sources do not meet EPA's performance specification. Reviews of stack test reports in recent years indicate that some stack testers do not properly follow EPA test methods or do not correctly calculate test method results. Therefore, EPA is proposing to amend its Protocol Gas Verification Program (PGVP) and the minimum competency requirements for air emission testing (formerly air emission testing body requirements) to improve the accuracy of emissions data. EPA is also proposing to amend other sections of the Acid Rain Program continuous emission monitoring system regulations by adding and clarifying certain recordkeeping and reporting requirements, removing the provisions pertaining to mercury monitoring and reporting, removing certain requirements associated with a class-approved alternative monitoring system, disallowing the use of a particular quality assurance option in EPA Reference Method 7E, adding an incorporation by reference that was inadvertently left out of the January 24, 2008 final rule, and clarifying the language and applicability of certain provisions.

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of a request by the registrant, Ticks or Mosquitoes, LLC., to voluntarily cancel the pesticide registration for the product, Biter Fighter.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting on July 26-27, 2010 of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Particulate Matter Review Panel (Panel) to review EPA's forthcoming Policy Assessment for the Review of Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards Second External Review Draft (June 2010).

Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires any person who intends to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) a new chemical (i.e., a chemical not on the TSCA Inventory) to notify EPA and comply with the statutory provisions pertaining to the manufacture of new chemicals. Under sections 5(d)(2) and 5(d)(3) of TSCA, EPA is required to publish a notice of receipt of a premanufacture notice (PMN) or an application for a test marketing exemption (TME), and to publish periodic status reports on the chemicals under review and the receipt of notices of commencement to manufacture those chemicals. This status report, which covers the period from April 26, 2010 to May 7, 2010, consists of the PMNs and TME, both pending or expired, and the notices of commencement to manufacture a new chemical that the Agency has received under TSCA section 5 during this time period.

Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires any person who intends to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) a new chemical (i.e., a chemical not on the TSCA Inventory) to notify EPA and comply with the statutory provisions pertaining to the manufacture of new chemicals. Under sections 5(d)(2) and 5(d)(3) of TSCA, EPA is required to publish a notice of receipt of a premanufacture notice (PMN) or an application for a test marketing exemption (TME), and to publish periodic status reports on the chemicals under review and the receipt of notices of commencement to manufacture those chemicals. This status report, which covers the period from February 15, 2010 to February 26, 2010, consists of the PMNs pending or expired, and the notices of commencement to manufacture a new chemical that the Agency has received under TSCA section 5 during this time period.

EPA has received a specific exemption request from the Wyoming Department of Agriculture to use the pesticide diflubenzuron (CAS No. 35367-38-5) to treat up to 26,000 acres of alfalfa to control grasshoppers and Mormon crickets. The applicant proposes a use which is supported by the Interregional (IR)-4 program and has been requested in 5 or more previous years, and a petition for tolerance has not yet been submitted to the Agency. EPA is soliciting public comment before making the decision whether or not to grant the exemption.

This notice announces the Agency's receipt of several initial

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA or Agency)

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the

EPA is proposing revisions to the standards of performance for

The Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is announcing the availability of a final document titled, Quantitative Risk and Exposure Assessment for Carbon Monoxide (REA). The REA describes quantitative analyses that have been conducted as part of the review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for carbon monoxide (CO).

EPA is taking direct final action on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Age in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency. This document sets out EPA rules for implementing the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended. The Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of age in programs or activities receiving Federal assistance.

All ten EPA Regions today are proposing a draft NPDES general permit for point source discharges from the application of certain pesticides to waters of the United States. Once finalized, this permit will be available to operators in those areas where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority. This action is in response to the Sixth Circuit Court's ruling that vacated an EPA regulation that excluded discharges from the application of pesticides to or over, including near waters of the United States from the need to obtain an NPDES permit if the application was done in accordance with other laws. EPA requested and was granted a two-year stay of the Court's mandate to provide time to draft and implement the permit noticed today. The stay of the mandate expires on April 9, 2011; where after, NPDES permits will be required for all point source discharges to waters of the United States of biological pesticides, and chemical pesticides that leave a residue.