Extension of Site-Specific Regulations for University Laboratories XL Project, 35547-35550 [E6-9754]
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 119 / Wednesday, June 21, 2006 / Rules and Regulations
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Washington, DC 20005.
PART 180—[AMENDED]
26. The authority citation for part 180
continues to read as follows:
I
Authority: 21 U.S.C. 321(q), 346a and 371.
27. In § 180.33, revise the second
sentence of paragraph (l) and the fourth
sentence of paragraph (m) to read as
follows:
I
§ 180.33
Fees.
*
*
*
*
*
(l) * * * A request for waiver or
refund of a fee shall be submitted to the
Office of Pesticide Programs’ Document
Processing Desk at the appropriate
address as set forth in 40 CFR 150.17(a)
or (b). * * *
(m) * * * The actual letter or
petition, along with supporting data,
shall be forwarded within 30 days of
payment to the Office of Pesticide
Programs’ Document Processing Desk at
the appropriate address as set forth in
40 CFR 150.17(a) or (b). * * *
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. E6–9750 Filed 6–20–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–S
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 262
[EPA–R01–RCRA–2006–0391; FRL–8186–3]
Extension of Site-Specific Regulations
for University Laboratories XL Project
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The EPA is taking direct final
action to extend the expiration date of
the New England University
Laboratories XL Project (Labs XL
Project) rule that EPA previously
promulgated under the eXcellence and
Leadership program (Project XL),
allowing laboratories at certain
universities in Massachusetts and
Vermont to follow certain alternative
RCRA generator requirements. In this
action, EPA is extending the expiration
date from September 30, 2006 to a new
date of April 15, 2009. EPA is making
no further changes to the Labs XL
Project regulations other than the
change in expiration date.
DATES: This direct final rule will be
effective on August 21, 2006, without
further notice, unless EPA receives
adverse written comments by July 21,
2006. If EPA receives adverse
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comments, EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal notice in the Federal
Register indicating that this direct final
rule has been withdrawn due to adverse
comment.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R01–
RCRA–2006–0391, by one of the
following methods:
• www.regulations.gov: Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
• E-mail: biscaia.robin@epa.gov.
• Mail: Robin Biscaia, Hazardous
Waste Unit, Office of Ecosystems
Protection, EPA Region I, One Congress
Street, Suite 1100 (Mail Code: CHW),
Boston, MA 02114–2023.
• Hand Delivery: Robin Biscaia,
Hazardous Waste Unit, Office of
Ecosystems Protection, EPA Region I,
One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (Mail
Code: CHW), Boston, MA 02114–2023.
Such deliveries are only accepted
during the EPA’s normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID No. EPA–R01–RCRA–2006–
0391. EPA’s policy is that all comments
received will be included in the public
docket without change and may be
made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided, unless
the comment includes information
claimed to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected through www.regulations.gov
or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov Web
site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system,
which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless
you provide it in the body of your
comment. If you send an e-mail
comment directly to EPA without going
through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically
captured and included as part of the
comment that is placed in the public
docket and made available on the
Internet. If you submit an electronic
comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name and other contact
information in the body of your
comment and with any disk or CD–ROM
you submit. If EPA cannot read your
comment due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification,
EPA may not be able to consider your
comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form
of encryption, and be free of any defects
or viruses.
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35547
Docket: EPA has established a docket
for this action under Docket ID No.
EPA–R01–RCRA–2006–0391. All
documents in the docket are listed on
the www.regulations.gov web site.
Although listed in the index, some
information may not be publicly
available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Certain other material, such as
copyrighted material, is not placed on
the Internet and will be publicly
available only in hard copy form.
Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the EPA New England Library, One
Congress Street—11th Floor, Boston,
MA 02114–2023, business hours
Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 3
p.m., telephone: (617) 918–1990.
Records in these dockets are available
for inspection and copying during
normal business hours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robin Biscaia, Hazardous Waste Unit,
EPA New England, One Congress Street,
Suite 1100 (Mail Code: CHW), Boston,
MA 02114–2023, telephone: (617) 918–
1642, e-mail: biscaia.robin@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Previously, on October 21, 2003, the
EPA proposed an extension of the
original expiration date of the Labs XL
Project. EPA received no negative public
comments in response to the proposal,
and published a final rule on March 12,
2004. EPA is again extending the
expiration date, this time as a direct
final rule, without prior proposal,
because the Agency views the extension
as non-controversial and anticipates no
adverse comments.
Unless the EPA gets written
comments which oppose this action
during the comment period, the
decision will take effect as provided
below. If EPA gets comments that
oppose this action, EPA will withdraw
this direct final rule and it will not take
effect. EPA will then address the public
comments in a later final rule, but may
not provide any further opportunity for
comment beyond what is being
provided for in this document. Any
parties interested in commenting on this
action should do so during the comment
period being provided for in this action.
A. Why Is the EPA Extending the
Expiration Date of Its XL Project
Regulations?
As indicated above, EPA is extending
the expiration date of September 30,
2006 set forth in 40 CFR 262.108 of the
Labs XL Project regulations until April
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35548
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 119 / Wednesday, June 21, 2006 / Rules and Regulations
15, 2009. The original rule
implementing the Labs XL Project took
effect on September 28, 1999 and
allowed four years for the colleges to
demonstrate the beneficial aspects of the
new management system expiring on
September 30, 2003. See 40 CFR
262.108. EPA later determined that an
extension was appropriate, and
published a Federal Register on October
21, 2003 (68 FR 60060) proposing a
three-year extension (until September
30, 2006) of the Labs XL Project
regulations. EPA received no negative
public comments in response to the
proposal, and finalized the extension on
March 12, 2004 (69 FR 11801). In the
meantime, EPA has been developing a
national set of alternative regulations for
academic laboratories that are similar to
the Labs XL Project regulations.
However, since these alternative
regulations for academic laboratories
will not be in place prior to the
expiration of the current September 30,
2006 Labs XL Project regulations, if the
Labs XL Project was not extended, there
would be a period of time in which labs
participating in the Labs XL Project
would have to terminate their
participation in the program and would
not be able to benefit from alternative
generator regulations, either under the
Labs XL Project (since this would have
expired) or under the National Labs
Rule that EPA is developing (since this
would not have been finalized). For this
reason, EPA has decided to extend the
expiration date of the Labs XL Project to
allow time for a national set of
alternative regulations to be
promulgated and for equivalent
regulations to be adopted by the States.
EPA is proposing an extension of
approximately two and a half years
because the Agency believes that this
would be a reasonable period of time for
EPA to promulgate its National Labs
Rule, and for the States to adopt
equivalent regulations. Of course,
nothing in this rule pre-judges what
general Federal and State regulations
ultimately will be adopted—rather, it
simply gives an opportunity for
alternative general regulations to be
adopted before the expiration of the
Labs XL Project.
Also, EPA Region I recently has done
an analysis of the Labs XL Project,
which is available in the Docket. Based
on this analysis, and other oversight of
the project, the EPA believes that the
continuation of the project should
provide a superior level of
environmental protection in comparison
to an immediate return by the three
covered institutions to standard RCRA
regulation.
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EPA is publishing this rule without
prior proposal because the Agency
views it as a non-controversial action.
The Agency anticipates no adverse
comments, since none were received
during the previous comment period to
extend the original expiration date.
However, in the ‘‘Proposed Rules’’
section of this Federal Register
publication, EPA is publishing a
separate, parallel document that will
serve as a proposal to extend the current
expiration date if the Agency receives
adverse comments.
B. What Is the University Labs XL
Project?
EPA announced Project XL—
‘‘eXcellence and Leadership’’ in May
1995 as a part of the National
Performance Review and the EPA’s
effort to reinvent environmental
protection. See 60 FR 27282 (May 23,
1995). Project XL provides a limited
number of private and public regulated
entities an opportunity to develop pilot
projects to provide regulatory flexibility
that would result in environmental
protection that is superior to what
would be achieved through compliance
with current standard regulations and
reasonably anticipated future
regulations.
One of the projects that EPA approved
under Project XL was the Labs XL
project. This project was intended to
provide certain flexibility under RCRA
for: (1) The University of
Massachusetts—Boston, Boston, MA; (2)
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA; and
(3) the University of Vermont,
Burlington, VT (the ‘‘participating
universities’’). On September 28, 1999,
EPA, the participating universities, the
Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection and the
Vermont Department of Environmental
Conservation signed the Final Project
Agreement for the project. That
agreement and the related specially
adopted Federal and State regulations
allow the participating universities to
comply with the terms of their
Environmental Management Plans
(EMPs) for their laboratories in place of
certain standard requirements for
hazardous waste generators, during a
trial period. In order to allow this
experiment, the EPA promulgated
certain regulations in 1999 which are set
forth in 40 CFR 262.10(j) and 40 CFR
262.100—108. See 64 FR 52380
(September 28, 1999) (final rulemaking)
and 64 FR 40696 (July 27, 1999)
(proposed rulemaking). The reasons for
promulgating these particular EPA
regulations are fully set forth in those
previous rulemaking notices and will
not be repeated here. These EPA
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regulations were designed to enable the
EPA to authorize as part of a State’s
RCRA authorized program State
regulations that were different from the
standard EPA regulations, in order to
implement the Labs XL project.
After EPA promulgated its Labs XL
Project regulations, both Massachusetts
and Vermont promulgated their own
state regulations establishing equivalent
alternative standards for laboratories at
the participating universities. The
Vermont regulations were authorized by
the EPA and became part of the
federally enforceable Vermont RCRA
program on October 26, 2000. See 65 FR
64164. The Massachusetts regulations
were authorized by the EPA and became
part of the federally enforceable
Massachusetts RCRA program on March
12, 2004. See 69 FR 11801.
C. What Is the Federal Regulation
Change in This Rule?
The Federal regulation change in this
direct final rule is to extend the
expiration date in 40 CFR 262.108 from
September 30, 2006 to April 15, 2009.
EPA is making no further changes to the
Labs XL Project regulations. The
regulation change is set out at the end
of this document.
II. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
The EPA has examined the effects of
the change to the Federal regulations
and reached the conclusions set out
below.
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory
Planning and Review
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR
51735, October 4, 1993), the Agency
must determine whether the regulatory
action is ‘‘significant’’ and therefore
subject to Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) review and the
requirements of the Executive Order.
The Order defines ‘‘significant
regulatory action’’ as one that is likely
to result in a rule that may:
(1) Have an annual effect on the
economy of $100 million or more or
adversely effect in a material way the
economy, a sector of the economy,
productivity, competition, jobs, the
environment, public health or safety, or
State, local, or tribal governments or
communities;
(2) Create a serious inconsistency or
otherwise interfere with an action taken
or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary
impact of entitlement, grants, user fees,
or loan programs or the rights and
obligations of recipients thereof;
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues
arising out of legal mandates, the
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President’s priorities, or the principles
set forth in the Executive Order.
Because the annualized cost of these
actions will be significantly less than
$100 million and because these actions
will not meet any of the other criteria
specified in the Executive Order, it has
been determined that this rule is not a
‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under
the terms of the Executive Order and is
therefore not subject to OMB review.
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B. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act,
44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., Federal agencies
must consider the paperwork burden
imposed by any information request
contained in a proposed rule or final
rule. The Labs XL Project applies to
only three universities, and any
reporting obligations for nine or fewer
sources are not subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act. Therefore, no
information collection request (ICR) was
submitted to OMB for review under the
Paperwork Reduction Act.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq., generally requires an
agency to prepare a regulatory flexibility
analysis of any rule subject to notice
and comment rulemaking under the
Administrative Procedure Act or other
statute, unless the agency certifies that
the rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Small entities
include small businesses, small
organizations, and small governmental
jurisdictions.
In determining whether a rule has a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the
impact of concern is any significant
adverse economic impact, since the
primary purpose of any regulatory
flexibility analysis would be to identify
and address regulatory alternatives
‘‘which minimize any significant
economic impact of the proposed rule
on small entities.’’ 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Thus, an agency may certify that a rule
will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities if the rule relieves regulatory
burden, or otherwise has a positive
economic effect on all of the small
entities subject to the rule. The Labs XL
Project applies to only three
universities. Also, the rule increases
flexibility—thus relieving the regulatory
burden. Accordingly, the EPA hereby
certifies that this action will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Thus a regulatory
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35549
flexibility analysis is not required to be
prepared under that Act.
EPA develop a small government agency
plan will not apply to this rule.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 104–4, establishes requirements for
Federal agencies to assess the effects of
their regulatory actions on State, local,
and tribal governments and the private
sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA,
the EPA generally must prepare a
written statement, including a costbenefit analysis, for proposed and final
rules with ‘‘Federal mandates’’ that may
result in expenditures to State, local,
and tribal governments, in the aggregate,
or to the private sector, of $100 million
or more in any one year. Before
promulgating a EPA rule for which a
written statement is needed, section 205
of the UMRA generally requires the EPA
to identify and consider a reasonable
number of regulatory alternatives and
adopts the least costly, most costeffective or least burdensome alternative
that achieves the objectives of the rule.
The provisions of section 205 do not
apply when they are inconsistent with
applicable law. Moreover, section 205
allows the EPA to adopt an alternative
other than the least costly, most costeffective or least burdensome alternative
if the Administrator publishes with the
final rule an explanation why that
alternative was not adopted. In addition,
before the EPA establishes any
regulatory requirements that may
significantly or uniquely affect small
governments, including tribal
governments, it must have developed
under section 203 of the UMRA a small
government agency plan. The plan must
provide for notifying potentially
affected small governments about the
regulatory requirements, enabling
officials of affected small governments
to have meaningful and timely input in
the development of the EPA regulatory
proposals with significant Federal
intergovernmental mandates, and
informing, educating, and advising
small governments on compliance with
the regulatory requirements.
The EPA has determined that the
section 202 and 205 requirements do
not apply to this action because the rule
does not contain a Federal mandate that
may result in annual expenditures of
$100 million or more for State, local,
and/or tribal governments in the
aggregate, or the private sector. Costs to
State, local or tribal governments and
the private sector already exist under
the State program, and the actions will
not impose any additional obligations
on regulated entities. Thus the
requirements of section 203 that the
Executive Order 13132, entitled
‘‘Federalism’’ (64 FR 43255, August 10,
1999), requires the EPA to develop an
accountable process to ensure
‘‘meaningful and timely input by State
and local officials in the development of
regulatory policies that have Federalism
implications.’’ ‘‘Policies that have
Federalism implications’’ is defined in
the Executive Order to include
regulations that have ‘‘substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship
between the national government and
the States, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government.’’
This rule does not have federalism
implications. It will not have substantial
direct effects on the States, on the
relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government, as specified in
Executive Order 13132. This rule does
not create a mandate on State, local, or
tribal governments and does not impose
any enforceable duties on these entities.
Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not
apply to this rule.
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F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation
and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled
‘‘Consultation and Coordination with
Indian Tribal Governments’’ (65 FR
67249, November 6, 2000), requires the
EPA to develop an accountable process
to ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input
by tribal officials in the development of
regulatory policies that have tribal
implications.’’ ‘‘Policies that have tribal
implications’’ is defined in the
Executive Order to include regulations
that have ‘‘substantial direct effects on
one or more Indian tribes, on the
relationship between the Federal
government and the Indian tribes, or on
the distribution of power and
responsibilities between the Federal
government and the Indian tribes.’’
The actions will not have tribal
implications, as defined by the
Executive Order, because they will have
no direct effect in Indian Country. None
of the three universities participating in
the XL project are located in Indian
Country; therefore, this rule does not
significantly or uniquely affect the
communities of Indian tribal
governments. Thus, Executive Order
13175 does not apply to this rule.
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 119 / Wednesday, June 21, 2006 / Rules and Regulations
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
and Safety Risks
Executive Order 13045, ‘‘Protection of
Children from Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks,’’ applies to any
rule that: (1) Is determined to be
‘‘economically significant’’ as defined
under Executive Order 12866, and (2)
concerns an environmental health or
safety risk that the EPA has reason to
believe may have a disproportionate
effect on children. If the regulatory
action meets both criteria, the Agency
must evaluate the environmental health
or safety effects of the planned rule on
children and explain why the planned
regulation is preferable to other
potentially effective and reasonably
feasible alternatives considered by the
Agency.
This rule is not subject to Executive
Order 13045 because it is not an
economically significant rule as defined
by Executive Order 12866. In addition,
it does not concern environmental
health or safety risks that the EPA has
reason to believe may have a
disproportionate effect on children.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
This rule is not subject to Executive
Order 13211 because that Executive
Order applies only to rules that are
‘‘significant’’ under Executive Order
12866, and this rule is not a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order
12866.
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I. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act
16:35 Jun 20, 2006
Jkt 208001
The Congressional Review Act, 5
U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides
that before a rule may take effect, the
agency promulgating the rule must
submit a rule report, which includes a
copy of the rule, to each House of the
Congress and to the Comptroller General
of the United States. EPA is submitting
a report containing this document and
other required information to the U.S.
Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller
General of the United States prior to
publication in the Federal Register. In
addition, a major rule cannot take effect
until 60 days after it is published in the
Federal Register. This action is not a
‘‘major rule’’ as defined in 5 U.S.C.
804(2). However, it nevertheless will
take effect in 60 days in accordance
with the procedures applicable to direct
final rules.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 262
Environmental protection, Hazardous
waste, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Authority: The Federal regulation change
is being made under the authority of the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) sections 2002 and 3002, 42 U.S.C.
6912 and 6922.
Dated: June 12, 2006.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, chapter I of title 40 of the
Code of Federal Regulations is amended
as follows:
I
Section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (‘‘NTTAA’’), Public Law
104–113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272
note) directs the EPA to use voluntary
consensus standards in its regulatory
activities unless to do so would be
inconsistent with applicable law or
otherwise impractical. Voluntary
consensus standards are technical
standards (e.g., materials specifications,
test methods, sampling procedures, and
business practices) that are developed or
adopted by voluntary consensus
standards bodies. The NTTAA directs
the EPA to provide Congress, through
OMB, explanations when the Agency
decides not to use available and
applicable voluntary consensus
standards.
This rule does not involve technical
standards covered by voluntary
consensus standards. Therefore, EPA
did not consider the use of any
voluntary consensus standards.
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J. Congressional Review Act
PART 262—STANDARDS APPLICABLE
TO GENERATORS OF HAZARDOUS
WASTE
1. The authority citation for part 262
continues to read as follows:
I
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6906, 6912, 6922–
6925, 6937, and 6938.
Subpart J—University Laboratories XL
Project—Laboratory Environmental
Management Standard
2. Section 262.108 is revised to read
as follows:
I
§ 262.108
When will this subpart expire?
This subpart will expire on April 15,
2009.
[FR Doc. E6–9754 Filed 6–20–06; 8:45 am]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 2, 25, and 87
[ET Docket No. 02–305, FCC 06–62]
World Radiocommunication
Conferences Concerning Frequency
Bands above 28 MHz
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This document denies a
Petition for Partial Reconsideration filed
by AirTV Limited in response to the
Commission’s S-Band Allocation Order,
which, inter alia, deleted the unused
Broadcasting Satellite Service (BSS)
allocation from the band 2500–2690
MHz and removed a related footnote
from the Table of Frequency Allocations
(Table). We continue to believe that the
decision in the S-Band Allocation Order
serves the public interest because it will
prevent terrestrial licensees in the band
2500–2690 MHz from incurring the
costs of mitigating the interference
expected from BSS systems, such as the
one proposed by AirTV.
DATES: Effective July 21, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patrick Forster, Office of Engineering
and Technology, Policy and Rules
Division, (202) 418–7061, e-mail:
Patrick.Foster@fcc.gov.
This is a
summary of the Commission’s Order on
Reconsideration, ET Docket No. 02–305,
FCC 06–62, adopted May 3, 2006 and
released May 8, 2006. The full text of
this document is available on the
Commission’s Internet site at https://
www.fcc.gov. It is also available for
inspection and copying during regular
business hours in the FCC Reference
Center (Room CY–A257), 445 12th
Street., SW., Washington, DC 20554.
The full text of this document also may
be purchased from the Commission’s
duplication contractor, Best Copy and
Printing Inc., Portals II, 445 12th St.,
SW., Room CY–B402, Washington, DC
20554; telephone (202) 488–5300; fax
(202) 488–5563; e-mail
FCC@BCPIWEB.COM.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Summary of the Order on
Reconsideration
1. In the Order on Reconsideration,
the Commission denies a Petition for
Partial Reconsideration (Petition) filed
by AirTV Limited (AirTV) in response
to the Commission’s S-Band Allocation
Order, which, inter alia, deleted the
unused Broadcasting Satellite Service
(BSS) allocation from the band 2500–
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 21, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35547-35550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9754]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 262
[EPA-R01-RCRA-2006-0391; FRL-8186-3]
Extension of Site-Specific Regulations for University
Laboratories XL Project
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The EPA is taking direct final action to extend the expiration
date of the New England University Laboratories XL Project (Labs XL
Project) rule that EPA previously promulgated under the eXcellence and
Leadership program (Project XL), allowing laboratories at certain
universities in Massachusetts and Vermont to follow certain alternative
RCRA generator requirements. In this action, EPA is extending the
expiration date from September 30, 2006 to a new date of April 15,
2009. EPA is making no further changes to the Labs XL Project
regulations other than the change in expiration date.
DATES: This direct final rule will be effective on August 21, 2006,
without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comments by
July 21, 2006. If EPA receives adverse comments, EPA will publish a
timely withdrawal notice in the Federal Register indicating that this
direct final rule has been withdrawn due to adverse comment.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
RCRA-2006-0391, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
E-mail: biscaia.robin@epa.gov.
Mail: Robin Biscaia, Hazardous Waste Unit, Office of
Ecosystems Protection, EPA Region I, One Congress Street, Suite 1100
(Mail Code: CHW), Boston, MA 02114-2023.
Hand Delivery: Robin Biscaia, Hazardous Waste Unit, Office
of Ecosystems Protection, EPA Region I, One Congress Street, Suite 1100
(Mail Code: CHW), Boston, MA 02114-2023. Such deliveries are only
accepted during the EPA's normal hours of operation, and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R01-RCRA-
2006-0391. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or e-mail.
The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system,
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov,
your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available
on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends
that you include your name and other contact information in the body of
your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read
your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
ID No. EPA-R01-RCRA-2006-0391. All documents in the docket are listed
on the www.regulations.gov web site. Although listed in the index, some
information may not be publicly available, e.g., CBI or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other
material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet
and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA New England Library, One
Congress Street--11th Floor, Boston, MA 02114-2023, business hours
Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., telephone: (617) 918-1990.
Records in these dockets are available for inspection and copying
during normal business hours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Biscaia, Hazardous Waste Unit,
EPA New England, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (Mail Code: CHW),
Boston, MA 02114-2023, telephone: (617) 918-1642, e-mail:
biscaia.robin@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Previously, on October 21, 2003, the EPA proposed an extension of
the original expiration date of the Labs XL Project. EPA received no
negative public comments in response to the proposal, and published a
final rule on March 12, 2004. EPA is again extending the expiration
date, this time as a direct final rule, without prior proposal, because
the Agency views the extension as non-controversial and anticipates no
adverse comments.
Unless the EPA gets written comments which oppose this action
during the comment period, the decision will take effect as provided
below. If EPA gets comments that oppose this action, EPA will withdraw
this direct final rule and it will not take effect. EPA will then
address the public comments in a later final rule, but may not provide
any further opportunity for comment beyond what is being provided for
in this document. Any parties interested in commenting on this action
should do so during the comment period being provided for in this
action.
A. Why Is the EPA Extending the Expiration Date of Its XL Project
Regulations?
As indicated above, EPA is extending the expiration date of
September 30, 2006 set forth in 40 CFR 262.108 of the Labs XL Project
regulations until April
[[Page 35548]]
15, 2009. The original rule implementing the Labs XL Project took
effect on September 28, 1999 and allowed four years for the colleges to
demonstrate the beneficial aspects of the new management system
expiring on September 30, 2003. See 40 CFR 262.108. EPA later
determined that an extension was appropriate, and published a Federal
Register on October 21, 2003 (68 FR 60060) proposing a three-year
extension (until September 30, 2006) of the Labs XL Project
regulations. EPA received no negative public comments in response to
the proposal, and finalized the extension on March 12, 2004 (69 FR
11801). In the meantime, EPA has been developing a national set of
alternative regulations for academic laboratories that are similar to
the Labs XL Project regulations. However, since these alternative
regulations for academic laboratories will not be in place prior to the
expiration of the current September 30, 2006 Labs XL Project
regulations, if the Labs XL Project was not extended, there would be a
period of time in which labs participating in the Labs XL Project would
have to terminate their participation in the program and would not be
able to benefit from alternative generator regulations, either under
the Labs XL Project (since this would have expired) or under the
National Labs Rule that EPA is developing (since this would not have
been finalized). For this reason, EPA has decided to extend the
expiration date of the Labs XL Project to allow time for a national set
of alternative regulations to be promulgated and for equivalent
regulations to be adopted by the States. EPA is proposing an extension
of approximately two and a half years because the Agency believes that
this would be a reasonable period of time for EPA to promulgate its
National Labs Rule, and for the States to adopt equivalent regulations.
Of course, nothing in this rule pre-judges what general Federal and
State regulations ultimately will be adopted--rather, it simply gives
an opportunity for alternative general regulations to be adopted before
the expiration of the Labs XL Project.
Also, EPA Region I recently has done an analysis of the Labs XL
Project, which is available in the Docket. Based on this analysis, and
other oversight of the project, the EPA believes that the continuation
of the project should provide a superior level of environmental
protection in comparison to an immediate return by the three covered
institutions to standard RCRA regulation.
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the
Agency views it as a non-controversial action. The Agency anticipates
no adverse comments, since none were received during the previous
comment period to extend the original expiration date. However, in the
``Proposed Rules'' section of this Federal Register publication, EPA is
publishing a separate, parallel document that will serve as a proposal
to extend the current expiration date if the Agency receives adverse
comments.
B. What Is the University Labs XL Project?
EPA announced Project XL--``eXcellence and Leadership'' in May 1995
as a part of the National Performance Review and the EPA's effort to
reinvent environmental protection. See 60 FR 27282 (May 23, 1995).
Project XL provides a limited number of private and public regulated
entities an opportunity to develop pilot projects to provide regulatory
flexibility that would result in environmental protection that is
superior to what would be achieved through compliance with current
standard regulations and reasonably anticipated future regulations.
One of the projects that EPA approved under Project XL was the Labs
XL project. This project was intended to provide certain flexibility
under RCRA for: (1) The University of Massachusetts--Boston, Boston,
MA; (2) Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA; and (3) the University of
Vermont, Burlington, VT (the ``participating universities''). On
September 28, 1999, EPA, the participating universities, the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Vermont
Department of Environmental Conservation signed the Final Project
Agreement for the project. That agreement and the related specially
adopted Federal and State regulations allow the participating
universities to comply with the terms of their Environmental Management
Plans (EMPs) for their laboratories in place of certain standard
requirements for hazardous waste generators, during a trial period. In
order to allow this experiment, the EPA promulgated certain regulations
in 1999 which are set forth in 40 CFR 262.10(j) and 40 CFR 262.100--
108. See 64 FR 52380 (September 28, 1999) (final rulemaking) and 64 FR
40696 (July 27, 1999) (proposed rulemaking). The reasons for
promulgating these particular EPA regulations are fully set forth in
those previous rulemaking notices and will not be repeated here. These
EPA regulations were designed to enable the EPA to authorize as part of
a State's RCRA authorized program State regulations that were different
from the standard EPA regulations, in order to implement the Labs XL
project.
After EPA promulgated its Labs XL Project regulations, both
Massachusetts and Vermont promulgated their own state regulations
establishing equivalent alternative standards for laboratories at the
participating universities. The Vermont regulations were authorized by
the EPA and became part of the federally enforceable Vermont RCRA
program on October 26, 2000. See 65 FR 64164. The Massachusetts
regulations were authorized by the EPA and became part of the federally
enforceable Massachusetts RCRA program on March 12, 2004. See 69 FR
11801.
C. What Is the Federal Regulation Change in This Rule?
The Federal regulation change in this direct final rule is to
extend the expiration date in 40 CFR 262.108 from September 30, 2006 to
April 15, 2009. EPA is making no further changes to the Labs XL Project
regulations. The regulation change is set out at the end of this
document.
II. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
The EPA has examined the effects of the change to the Federal
regulations and reached the conclusions set out below.
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), the
Agency must determine whether the regulatory action is ``significant''
and therefore subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review
and the requirements of the Executive Order. The Order defines
``significant regulatory action'' as one that is likely to result in a
rule that may:
(1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or
adversely effect in a material way the economy, a sector of the
economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public
health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or
communities;
(2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an
action taken or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlement, grants,
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients
thereof;
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal
mandates, the
[[Page 35549]]
President's priorities, or the principles set forth in the Executive
Order.
Because the annualized cost of these actions will be significantly
less than $100 million and because these actions will not meet any of
the other criteria specified in the Executive Order, it has been
determined that this rule is not a ``significant regulatory action''
under the terms of the Executive Order and is therefore not subject to
OMB review.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., Federal
agencies must consider the paperwork burden imposed by any information
request contained in a proposed rule or final rule. The Labs XL Project
applies to only three universities, and any reporting obligations for
nine or fewer sources are not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Therefore, no information collection request (ICR) was submitted to OMB
for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., generally
requires an agency to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any
rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking under the Administrative
Procedure Act or other statute, unless the agency certifies that the
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses,
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
In determining whether a rule has a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility
Act, the impact of concern is any significant adverse economic impact,
since the primary purpose of any regulatory flexibility analysis would
be to identify and address regulatory alternatives ``which minimize any
significant economic impact of the proposed rule on small entities.'' 5
U.S.C. 603 and 604. Thus, an agency may certify that a rule will not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities if the rule relieves regulatory burden, or otherwise has a
positive economic effect on all of the small entities subject to the
rule. The Labs XL Project applies to only three universities. Also, the
rule increases flexibility--thus relieving the regulatory burden.
Accordingly, the EPA hereby certifies that this action will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Thus a
regulatory flexibility analysis is not required to be prepared under
that Act.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the
effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal
governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, the
EPA generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-
benefit analysis, for proposed and final rules with ``Federal
mandates'' that may result in expenditures to State, local, and tribal
governments, in the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100
million or more in any one year. Before promulgating a EPA rule for
which a written statement is needed, section 205 of the UMRA generally
requires the EPA to identify and consider a reasonable number of
regulatory alternatives and adopts the least costly, most cost-
effective or least burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives
of the rule. The provisions of section 205 do not apply when they are
inconsistent with applicable law. Moreover, section 205 allows the EPA
to adopt an alternative other than the least costly, most cost-
effective or least burdensome alternative if the Administrator
publishes with the final rule an explanation why that alternative was
not adopted. In addition, before the EPA establishes any regulatory
requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect small
governments, including tribal governments, it must have developed under
section 203 of the UMRA a small government agency plan. The plan must
provide for notifying potentially affected small governments about the
regulatory requirements, enabling officials of affected small
governments to have meaningful and timely input in the development of
the EPA regulatory proposals with significant Federal intergovernmental
mandates, and informing, educating, and advising small governments on
compliance with the regulatory requirements.
The EPA has determined that the section 202 and 205 requirements do
not apply to this action because the rule does not contain a Federal
mandate that may result in annual expenditures of $100 million or more
for State, local, and/or tribal governments in the aggregate, or the
private sector. Costs to State, local or tribal governments and the
private sector already exist under the State program, and the actions
will not impose any additional obligations on regulated entities. Thus
the requirements of section 203 that the EPA develop a small government
agency plan will not apply to this rule.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132, entitled ``Federalism'' (64 FR 43255, August
10, 1999), requires the EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure
``meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the
development of regulatory policies that have Federalism implications.''
``Policies that have Federalism implications'' is defined in the
Executive Order to include regulations that have ``substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government.''
This rule does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as
specified in Executive Order 13132. This rule does not create a mandate
on State, local, or tribal governments and does not impose any
enforceable duties on these entities. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does
not apply to this rule.
F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled ``Consultation and Coordination
with Indian Tribal Governments'' (65 FR 67249, November 6, 2000),
requires the EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure
``meaningful and timely input by tribal officials in the development of
regulatory policies that have tribal implications.'' ``Policies that
have tribal implications'' is defined in the Executive Order to include
regulations that have ``substantial direct effects on one or more
Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal government and
the Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities
between the Federal government and the Indian tribes.''
The actions will not have tribal implications, as defined by the
Executive Order, because they will have no direct effect in Indian
Country. None of the three universities participating in the XL project
are located in Indian Country; therefore, this rule does not
significantly or uniquely affect the communities of Indian tribal
governments. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this rule.
[[Page 35550]]
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health and Safety Risks
Executive Order 13045, ``Protection of Children from Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks,'' applies to any rule that: (1) Is
determined to be ``economically significant'' as defined under
Executive Order 12866, and (2) concerns an environmental health or
safety risk that the EPA has reason to believe may have a
disproportionate effect on children. If the regulatory action meets
both criteria, the Agency must evaluate the environmental health or
safety effects of the planned rule on children and explain why the
planned regulation is preferable to other potentially effective and
reasonably feasible alternatives considered by the Agency.
This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it is not
an economically significant rule as defined by Executive Order 12866.
In addition, it does not concern environmental health or safety risks
that the EPA has reason to believe may have a disproportionate effect
on children.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211 because that
Executive Order applies only to rules that are ``significant'' under
Executive Order 12866, and this rule is not a significant regulatory
action under Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (``NTTAA''), Public Law 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C.
272 note) directs the EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its
regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with
applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards
are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods,
sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or
adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies. The NTTAA directs the
EPA to provide Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency
decides not to use available and applicable voluntary consensus
standards.
This rule does not involve technical standards covered by voluntary
consensus standards. Therefore, EPA did not consider the use of any
voluntary consensus standards.
J. Congressional Review Act
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA is submitting a report containing this document and
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication in the Federal Register. In addition, a major rule
cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined in 5 U.S.C.
804(2). However, it nevertheless will take effect in 60 days in
accordance with the procedures applicable to direct final rules.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 262
Environmental protection, Hazardous waste, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: The Federal regulation change is being made under the
authority of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
sections 2002 and 3002, 42 U.S.C. 6912 and 6922.
Dated: June 12, 2006.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, chapter I of title 40 of
the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 262--STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO GENERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
0
1. The authority citation for part 262 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6906, 6912, 6922-6925, 6937, and 6938.
Subpart J--University Laboratories XL Project--Laboratory
Environmental Management Standard
0
2. Section 262.108 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 262.108 When will this subpart expire?
This subpart will expire on April 15, 2009.
[FR Doc. E6-9754 Filed 6-20-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P