Department of Agriculture July 31, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the State of Hawaii revised its approved Public Water System Supervision Program (PWSSP) under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) pertaining to administrative penalty authority. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that these revisions by the State are no less stringent than the corresponding Federal regulations and otherwise meet applicable SDWA primacy requirements. Therefore, EPA intends to approve these revisions to Hawaii's PWSSP.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notifying the public of its finding that the Grants Pass, Oregon second 10-year limited maintenance plan (LMP) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of a nominal 10 microns or less (PM10) is adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The LMP was submitted to the EPA by the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ or the State) on April 22, 2015. As a result of our adequacy finding, regional emissions analyses will no longer be required as part of the transportation conformity demonstrations for PM10 for the Grants Pass area.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a supplement to its proposed approval of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Iowa (Iowa) through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Iowa's SIP revision addresses requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's rules that require states to submit periodic reports describing progress toward reasonable progress goals established for regional haze and a determination of the adequacy of the state's existing implementation plan addressing regional haze (region haze SIP). EPA's proposed approval of Iowa's periodic report on progress toward reasonable progress goals and determination of adequacy of the state's regional haze SIP published in the Federal Register on July 3, 2014. This supplemental proposal addresses the potential effects on our proposed approval from the April 29, 2014, decision of the United States Supreme Court (Supreme Court) remanding to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) for further proceedings and the D.C. Circuit's decision to lift the stay of CSAPR.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia for the 2011 base year emissions inventory for the 2010 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A more detailed description of the state submittal and EPA's evaluation is included in a Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared in support of this rulemaking action. A copy of the TSD is available, upon request, from the EPA Regional Office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document and is also available electronically within the Docket for this rulemaking action. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve portions of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of Georgia, through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD) on August 30, 2010, December 15, 2011, and November 12, 2014. The SIP submittals include changes to GA EPD's air quality rules that, among other things, modify definitions and modify the ambient air standards for fine particulate matter. The portions of the SIP revisions that EPA is approving are consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA). In the Final Rules Section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving these portions of the SIP revisions as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views these as a noncontroversial submittals and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``NESHAP for Radionuclides (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 1100.15, OMB Control No. 2060-0249) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve changes to Wyoming's State Implementation Plan (SIP) that update its ambient air quality standards with regard to the 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO2) and secondary SO2 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). On February 7, 2014, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) submitted to EPA revisions to the Wyoming SIP. Specifically, the State revised Wyoming Air Quality Standards and Regulations (WAQSR) Chapter 2, Section 4, ``Ambient standards for sulfur oxides.'' In this action, EPA is taking direct final action to approve some of the revisions provided in that SIP submission. This action is being taken in accordance with section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).