Environmental Protection Agency – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator's October 16, 2017, Directive Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements, notice is hereby given of a proposed stipulated order of partial dismissal to address several claims in a lawsuit filed by the Northwest Environmental Advocates (``Plaintiff'') in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington: Northwest Environmental Advocates v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No. 2:14- cv-0196. On September 1, 2015, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint alleging, inter alia, that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') failed to perform duties mandated by the Endangered Species Act (``ESA'') to consult with the Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively ``the Services'') regarding water quality standards adopted by Washington and approved by the EPA. The proposed stipulated order of partial dismissal would set a deadline for EPA to complete an ESA effects determination for its February 11, 2008, approval of Washington's revisions to the State's ammonia criteria and, as appropriate, request initiation of any necessary ESA consultation with the Services.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of acetochlor in or on alfalfa and related animal commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. Monsanto Company requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of tolfenpyrad in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. Nichino America, Inc. requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of thiencarbazone-methyl in or on wheat forage. Bayer CropScience requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve changes to the North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) through the Division of Air Quality (DAQ), to EPA on October 17, 2017. This SIP submittal modifies North Carolina's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) regulations and includes the adoption of specific federal provisions needed to meet the New Source Review (NSR) permitting program requirements for the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). In addition, North Carolina's October 17, 2017, SIP submittal addresses portions of the PSD requirements for the infrastructure SIPs for the following NAAQS: 1997 Annual and 24-hour PM2.5, 2006 24-hour PM2.5, 2008 lead, 2008 8-hour ozone, 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2), 2010 nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and 2012 Annual PM2.5. As a result of this proposed approval of North Carolina's modified PSD regulations, EPA is also proposing to approve North Carolina's submittal with respect to the related PSD infrastructure SIP requirements for these NAAQS. As discussed in this notice, EPA previously disapproved portions of earlier submittals from North Carolina that were intended to meet these requirements. These proposed approvals, if finalized, will remove EPA's obligation to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plans (FIP) to meet the relevant Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) requirements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is taking direct final action to amend the EPA Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR) by removing Mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] clause requirement and the corresponding provision and clause, ``Mentor Prot[eacute]g[eacute] Program'' and ``Procedures for Participation in the EPA Mentor Prot[eacute]g[eacute] Program''.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that a public hearing will be held on the EPA's proposed decision in its ``Review of the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Sulfur Oxides,'' which was published in the Federal Register on June 8, 2018 (83 FR 26752). The EPA is proposing to retain the existing standard without revision. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, in Washington, DC. The EPA is additionally announcing a 17- day extension of the comment period for this proposed decision. The original comment period was to end on July 23, 2018. The extended comment period will now close on August 9, 2018.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to take the following four actions regarding the Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP): approve Tennessee's November 22, 2017, SIP submittal seeking to change reliance from the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) for certain regional haze requirements; convert EPA's limited approval/limited disapproval of Tennessee's regional haze plan to a full approval; remove EPA's Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for Tennessee which replaced reliance on CAIR with reliance on CSAPR to address the deficiencies identified in the limited disapproval of Tennessee's regional haze plan; and convert the conditional approvals of the visibility prong of Tennessee's infrastructure SIP submittals for the 2012 Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), 2010 Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), and 2010 Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to full approvals.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve changes to the Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP) to revise New Source Review (NSR) regulations. Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve the portions of a SIP revision submitted by the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), on May 28, 2009, that modify the definitions of ``baseline actual emissions.'' This action is being proposed pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, a number of federal departments and agencies revised to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (often referred to as the ``Common Rule''), which each department and agency adopted into regulations in its part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same changes in a final rule published on September 18, 2017. The revised Common Rule was scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of the same date. By an interim final rule issued on January 17, 2018 and published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2018, federal departments and agencies delayed the effective date and the general compliance date for the revised Common Rule for a 6-month period, until July 19, 2018. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published an interim final rule adopting the same regulatory changes on January 26, 2018. The revised Common Rule, including technical amendments made by the January 22, 2018 interim final rule, is referred to here as the ``2018 Requirements.'' On April 20, 2018, the federal departments and agencies listed here published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing and seeking comments as to whether the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements should be delayed for an additional 6-month period. The NPRM also proposed and sought comments on whether to allow regulated entities to implement certain burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements in specified circumstances during such continued delay period. Through this final rule, we are adopting the proposals described in the April 20, 2018 NPRM. This rule delays the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for an additional 6-month period, until January 21, 2019. As a result of this delay, regulated entities will be required, with an exception, to continue to comply with the requirements of the pre-2018 version of the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the ``pre-2018 Requirements'') until January 21, 2019. The one exception to this general rule is that institutions will be permitted (but not required) to implement, for certain research, three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements during the delay period (July 19, 2018, through January 20, 2019). Those three provisions are: The revised definition of ``research,'' which deems certain activities not to be research covered by the Common Rule; the elimination of the requirement for annual continuing review with respect to certain categories of research; and the elimination of the requirement that institutional review boards (IRBs) review grant applications or other funding proposals related to the research. Institutions taking advantage of the three-burden reducing provisions must comply with all other pre-2018 Requirements during the delay period. The three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements can only be implemented during the delay period with respect to studies initiated prior to January 21, 2019 that will transition to compliance with the revised Common Rule. Any study that implements these three burden-reducing provisions during the delay period must, beginning on January 21, 2019, comply with all of the 2018 Requirements for the balance of the study's duration.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve revisions to Idaho's State Implementation Plan (SIP) related to agricultural crop residue burning. The Director of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) submitted the revisions to EPA on September 22, 2017. IDEQ supplemented the original submission with photochemical modeling analyses on October 23, 2017. The revisions change the ambient ozone concentration level at which IDEQ may approve a permittee's request to burn. This final action is being taken for the reasons set out in EPA's proposed action in this matter. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean Air Act (the Act or CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia. This revision pertains to changes to West Virginia's minor New Source Review (NSR) permit program. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Water Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 0988.13, OMB Control No. 2040-0049) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, the EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This ICR renews the Water Quality Standards Regulation ICR (most recently approved in 2016) and consolidates the burden and costs associated with activities previously reported in ICRs for two recent rules affecting the WQS program: The Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions (approved in 2015), and the Revised Interpretation of Clean Water Act Tribal Provision (approved in 2016). 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 is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Fuel Use Requirements for Great Lakes Steamships'' (EPA ICR No. 2458.03, OMB Control No. 2060-0679) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. 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, which is currently approved through August 31, 2018. 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 proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Connecticut. This revision affects provisions applicable to greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the EPA's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit program. Connecticut requested the revision in response to the June 23, 2014, U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG) v. EPA and the April 10, 2015, Amended Judgment by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) in Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA. The intended effect of this action is to clarify that the State's PSD rules do not require a source to obtain a permit solely because the source emits or has the potential to emit (PTE) GHGs: Above the PSD applicability thresholds for new major sources; or for which there is a significant emissions increase from a modification. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the regional haze progress report under the Clean Air Act (CAA) as a revision to the Wisconsin state implementation plan (SIP). Wisconsin has satisfied the progress report requirements of the Regional Haze Rule. Wisconsin has also provided a determination of the adequacy of its regional haze plan with the progress report.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania state implementation plan (SIP) submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) on May 2, 2018. This revision seeks the removal, from the Pennsylvania SIP, of the requirement limiting summertime gasoline volatility to 7.8 pounds per square inch (psi) Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) to address nonattainment under the 1-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) in the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley ozone nonattainment area (hereafter Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley Area). The submitted SIP revision also includes a section 110(l) demonstration as required by the Clean Air Act (CAA) addressing emission impacts associated with the removal of the program. EPA is approving these revisions to the Pennsylvania SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

In accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests by the registrant to voluntarily cancel its registrations of products containing the pesticide difenacoum. The requests would terminate the last difenacoum products registered for use in the United States. 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 registrant withdraws its requests. If these requests are granted, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted after the registration has been cancelled only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia (West Virginia) to change reliance on the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to reliance on the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) with the purpose of addressing certain regional haze requirements and visibility protection requirements for the 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Upon EPA's final approval of this SIP revision, EPA is proposing to convert the Agency's June 7, 2012 limited approval/limited disapproval of West Virginia's regional haze SIP to a full approval; and EPA is proposing to remove the federal implementation plan (FIP) for West Virginia issued to address deficiencies previously identified in the Agency's limited approval/limited disapproval of the State's regional haze SIP revision. In addition, EPA is proposing to approve the portions of two previous SIP revisions submitted by West Virginia to address visibility protection requirements for the 2010 SO2 and the 2012 particulate matter (PM2.5) NAAQS. These proposed actions are supported by EPA's recent final determination that a state's participation in CSAPR continues to meet EPA's regional haze criteria to qualify as an alternative to the application of best available retrofit technology (BART). This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for Extract of Swinglea glutinosa in or on all food commodities when used in accordance with label directions and good agricultural practices. Gowan Company LLC submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of Extract of Swinglea glutinosa under FFDCA.

This document announces the Agency's receipt of several initial filings of pesticide petitions requesting the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

EPA has received a specific exemption request from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to use the pesticide ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) (CAS No. 643-79-8) to treat the coolant fluid of the internal active thermal control system of the International Space Station to control aerobic/microaerophilic bacteria in the aqueous coolant. The applicant proposes the use of a chemical which is not registered by EPA. Accordingly, as required by the Code of Federal Regulations, EPA is publishing this notice of receipt to allow public comment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice in the Federal Register of April 16, 2018, opening a 60-day comment period for an information collection request (ICR), Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and Texas SO2 Trading Programs (Renewal), that EPA is planning to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Although the notice published in the Federal Register on April 16, 2018, EPA did not make publicly available on https:// www.regulations.gov the docket for this action until May 15, 2018. EPA is extending the comment period until July 14, 2018, to allow for the full 60-day comment period.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This revision pertains to the infrastructure requirement for interstate transport of pollution with respect to the 2012 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). EPA is approving this revision in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).