Environmental Protection Agency June 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This regulation establishes a time-limited tolerance for combined residues of trifloxystrobin in or on soybean, forage; soybean, hay; and soybean, seed. This action is in response to EPA's granting of an emergency exemption under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of the pesticide on soybeans. This regulation establishes a maximum permissible level for residues of trifloxystrobin in this food commodity. The tolerances will expire and are revoked on December 31, 2009.

The State of Vermont has applied to EPA for Final authorization of certain changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA has determined that these changes satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for Final authorization, and is authorizing the State's changes through this immediate final action. EPA is publishing this rule to authorize the changes without a prior proposal because we believe this action is not controversial and do not expect comments that oppose it. Unless we receive written comments that oppose this authorization during the comment period, the decision to authorize Vermont's changes to its hazardous waste program will take effect. If we receive comments that oppose this action, we will publish a document in the Federal Register withdrawing this rule before it takes effect and a separate document published today in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register will serve as the proposal to authorize the changes.

In accordance with section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative ability-to-pay settlement with Velsicol Chemical Corporation relating to Paragraph 15 of the August 9, 2002 Settlement Agreement approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in In re Fruit of the Loom, Inc., No. 99-4497(PJW) and to Paragraph 15 of the August 28, 2002 Agreement and Settlement for Recovery of Response Costs, EPA Docket No. 00-51-C (Region 4). These Agreements relate to the following sites: The Velsicol/Hardeman County Landfill Superfund Site, Toone, Hardeman County, Tennessee; the Velsicol Chemical Superfund Site, St. Louis, Michigan; the Woodridge/ Berry's Creek Superfund Site, Wood-Ridge and Carlstadt, New Jersey; the North Hollywood Dump Superfund Site, Memphis Tennessee, the Residue Hill Site, Chattanooga, Tennessee; the Marshall 23 Acre Site, Marshall, Illinois; the Breckenridge Site, Breckenridge, Michigan; the Mathis Brothers/South Marble Top Road Landfill Superfund Site; Kensington, Walker County, Georgia; the Valley Chemical Superfund Site, Greenville, Mississippi; the Tennessee Products Superfund Site, Chattanooga, Tennessee; the Former Coke Production Plant Property, Chattanooga, Tennessee; and the Shaver's Farm Superfund Site, Lafayette, Walker County, Georgia. The proposed administrative settlement requires Velsicol Chemical Corporation to pay $1,454,000 million to resolve its liability under Paragraph 15 of the August 9, 2002 Settlement Agreement and foregoes further recovery under Paragraph 15 of the August 28, 2002 Agreement. EPA will consider public comments on the Agreement until July 25, 2005. EPA may withdraw from or modify the Agreement if such comments should disclose facts or considerations which indicate the Agreement is inappropriate, improper or inadequate. Copies of the proposed settlement are available from: Ms. Paula V. Batchelor, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Waste Management Division, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, 404/562-8887, Batchelor.Paula@epa.gov. Written comments may be submitted to Ms. Batchelor at the above address by July 25, 2005.

This document announces the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) responses to Agency clearance requests, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq.). 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 OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement, to address a petition for writ of mandamus filed by Sierra Club in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: In re Sierra Club, No. 04-1370 (D.C. Cir.). On October 28, 2004, Petitioner filed a petition asking the Court to issue a writ of mandamus directing EPA to complete remand proceedings ordered by the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in National Lime Ass'n v. EPA, 233 F.3d 625 (D.C. Cir. 2000) to revise the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Portland cement kilns' emissions of mercury, hydrogen chloride, and total hydrocarbons, and to consider setting more stringent emission standards for Portland cement kilns' emissions of non-mercury HAP metals. Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, no later than one year after signature of this agreement, EPA shall publish a notice of final rulemaking which responds to the remand order.

This notice announces that cancellation orders were signed on February 17, 2005, in response to the use terminations and cancellations voluntarily requested by the registrants of certain wood preservative products containing pentachlorophenol pursuant to section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended. EPA issued final cancellation order letters to two registrants of pentachlorophenol products accepting their voluntary use termination requests/product cancellation requests to either amend current label language to delete spray uses for the products or to cancel the affected products. Both the use terminations and the product cancellations were effective February 17, 2005. This notice of cancellations and use terminations follows a January 6, 2005 Federal Register Notice of Receipt of Requests to Cancel Registrations of Certain Pentacholorophenol Wood Preservative Products, and/or Amend Registrations to Terminate Certain Uses of Pentachlorophenol Products.

The Office of Environmental Justice seeks public comment on: (1) The draft ``Framework for Integrating Environmental Justice''; and (2) ``Environmental Justice Strategic Plan Outline,'' which includes proposed Environmental Justice Priorities (EJ Priorities). These two draft documents will be the foundation for the Environmental Justice Strategic Plan for 2006-2011. EPA is drafting the Environmental Justice Strategic Plan to integrate its environmental justice efforts into the Agency's planning and budgeting processes.

This notice announces receipt of applications to register pesticide products containing new active ingredients not included in any previously registered products pursuant to the provisions of section 3(c)(4) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment of regulations for residues of a certain pesticide chemical in or on various food commodities.

On June 18, 2004, EPA received an application from the State of Washington requesting authorization to administer a Program in accordance with section 402 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Included in the application was a letter signed June 10, 2004, by the Governor of Washington, stating that the State's Lead-Based Paint Abatement Program is at least as protective of human health and the environment as the Federal program under TSCA section 402. Also, included was a letter from the Attorney General of Washington, certifying that the laws and regulations of the State provided adequate legal authority to administer and enforce TSCA section 402. Washington certifies that its program meets the requirements for approval of a State program under section 404 of TSCA and that Washington has the legal authority and ability to implement the appropriate elements necessary to enforce the program. Therefore, pursuant to section 404, the program is deemed authorized as of the date of submission. Today's notice announces the authorization of the State of Washington Lead- Based Paint Activities Program to apply in the State of Washington effective June 10, 2004.

EPA is approving a request from the State of Ohio, submitted in draft on March 10, 2005 and in final on May 20, 2005, to redesignate the Cincinnati area (Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren Counties) from nonattainment to attainment for the 1-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). In conjunction with this approval, EPA is approving the State's plan for maintaining the 1-hour ozone NAAQS in the Cincinnati area through 2015 as a revision to the Ohio State Implementation Plan (SIP). EPA is approving Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emission control regulations for various source categories, thus completing Ohio's obligation to adopt Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) regulations for the Cincinnati area. EPA is approving periodic VOC and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) emission inventories for the Cincinnati area. EPA finds as adequate and is approving the 2015 VOC and NOx Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the Cincinnati area as contained in the Cincinnati area ozone maintenance plan. EPA is not, at this time, taking action on Ohio's demonstrations that termination of the vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) programs in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas will not interfere with the attainment and maintenance of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS in these areas, and is not taking action on the State's requests for conversion of the vehicle I/M programs in these areas to contingency measures in the 1- hour ozone maintenance plans. The State did not submit a demonstration of non-interference with the 8-hour ozone or fine particulate (PM2.5) standards, or with any other applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Such actions, however, may be considered in subsequent rulemakings.

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This revision removes the volatile organic compound (VOC) emission standards exemption for sources located in the Hampton Roads VOC Emissions Control Area localities of James City County, York County, Poquoson City, and Williamsburg City. Sources located in these jurisdictions will now be subject to the VOC emission standards for existing sources as is the case in the other jurisdictions within the Area. This action is necessary in order for Virginia to meet its obligation to implement contingency measures as a result of the area's violation of the 1-hour ozone standard. 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 are 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. 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.

EPA expressed concerns about direct and indirect impacts, the feasibility of the artificial reef projects, and their inclusion in the alternatives, and requested additional information regarding the selection of evaluation criteria, cumulative impacts to injured resources, and impacts to endangered species. Rating EC2.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3 is issuing a notice of intent to delete MM&G Superfund Site (Site) located in Frackville, Schuylkill County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this notice of intent. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is found at appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of Pennsylvania, through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of today's Federal Register, EPA is publishing a direct final notice of deletion of MM&G Superfund Site without prior notice of intent to delete because EPA views this as a noncontroversial revision and anticipate no adverse comment. EPA has explained its reasons for this deletion in the preamble to the direct final notice of deletion. If no adverse comment(s) are received on this notice of intent to delete or the direct final notice of deletion, EPA will not take further action on this notice of intent to delete. If adverse comment(s) are received, EPA will withdraw the direct final notice of deletion and it will not take effect. EPA will, as appropriate, address all public comments in a subsequent final deletion notice based on this notice of intent to delete. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this notice of intent to delete. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. For additional information, see the direct final notice of deletion which is located in the Rules section of this Federal Register.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is correcting errors that appeared in the Hazardous Waste Manifest Final Rule, which was published in the Federal Register (FR) on March 4, 2005 (70 FR 10776). This final rule does not create new regulatory requirements.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), EPA and the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) have agreed to harmonize their testing guidelines so that one set of tests can be used for the registration of pesticides in Canada and the United States. The NAFTA harmonized guidance for terrestrial field dissipation (TFD) studies are conducted to demonstrate the transformation, transport, and fate of pesticides under representative actual use conditions. These field studies are needed to substantiate the physicochemical, mobility, and biotransformation data from laboratory studies. Environmental fate studies have shown that pesticide dissipation may proceed at different rates under field conditions and may result in degradates forming at levels different from those observed in laboratory studies. The objective of this revised guidance document is to help ensure that TFD studies are conducted in a manner that will provide risk assessors and risk managers with more confidence in the data generated and with a better understanding of the assumptions and limitations of the data and estimated half-lives of the pesticide. The revised guidance can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/ oppefed1/ecoriskders/efedfinaldrafttfdguidance.pdf.

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC).

EPA is determining that the Atlanta area has attained the 1- hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This determination is based on three years of complete, quality-assured ambient air quality monitoring data for the 2002 through 2004 ozone seasons. Based on this determination, EPA is also determining that certain attainment demonstration and reasonable further progress requirements, along with other related requirements of part D of title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), are not applicable to the Atlanta area for so long as the area continues to attain the 1-hour ozone standard. The current Atlanta 1-hour severe ozone nonattainment area consists of the following counties: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale (Atlanta area). Additionally, EPA is granting final approval to Georgia's Severe Area Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittal.

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 2 (Public Law 92-463), EPA gives notice of a 2-day meeting of the National Pollution Prevention and Toxics Advisory Committee (NPPTAC). The purpose of the NPPTAC is to provide advice and recommendations to EPA regarding the overall policy and operations of the programs of the Office of Pollution, Prevention and Toxics (OPPT).

On September 5, 2000, EPA issued a proposed rule, in response to a petition filed under section 313(e)(1) of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), to add a diisononyl phthalate (DINP) category to the list of toxic chemicals subject to the reporting requirements under EPCRA section 313 and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). EPA proposed to add this chemical category to the EPCRA section 313 toxic chemical list pursuant to its authority to add chemicals and chemical categories because EPA believes this category meets the EPCRA section 313(d)(2)(B) toxicity criterion. The purpose of today's action is to inform interested parties that, in an effort to ensure adequate opportunities for input from all affected parties, EPA is making available for public comment a revised hazard assessment for DINP.

EPA has received from Illinois a request for a waiver from the Agency's asbestos-in-schools program. A waiver of these requirements will be granted if EPA determines, after notice and comment and opportunity for a public hearing, that Illinois is implementing or intends to implement a program of asbestos inspection and management at least as stringent as EPA's program. This notice announces an opportunity for a public hearing on the Illinois waiver request and solicits written comments.

We are establishing a manufacturer-run, in-use emissions testing program for 2007 and later model year heavy-duty diesel vehicles. The ground-breaking in-use test program will require engine manufacturers to measure exhaust emissions from their diesel engines using portable emissions measurement systems. Also for the first time, all manufacturers will be regularly providing EPA with a significant quantity of emissions data generated from engines used in regular service, which EPA will evaluate to ensure the engines comply with specified emissions requirements. The rule is a result of an agreement between EPA and the Engine Manufacturers Association. This rule advances EPA's clean diesel activities by helping to ensure that the benefits of more stringent emission standards are realized under real- world driving conditions.

EPA is finalizing approval of a revision to the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department (MCESD) portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision was proposed in the Federal Register on March 18, 2005 and concerns volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the fiberboard saturation process at W.R. Meadows, Inc., Goodyear, AZ. We are approving a local permit condition that regulates this source-specific emission unit under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).