Environmental Protection Agency September 9, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA issued a notice in the Federal Register of July 13, 2005, concerning the availability of EPA's human health and environmental fate and effects risk assessments and related documents for the fumigant methyl bromide. This document is extending the comment period for 30 days, from September 12, 2005 to October 12, 2005.

EPA is proposing to approve the May 12, 2005 negative declaration letter submitted by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). The negative declaration certifies that existing CISWI units, subject to Clean Air Act (the Act) requirements of sections 111(d) and 129 and the related emissions guidelines (EG), have been permanently shut down and have been dismantled in the State of Maryland. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the MDE certification as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no adverse comments. 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 If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule.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 Director of the Office of Ecosystem Protection at the Environmental Protection Agency's New England Regional Office (EPA-NE), is issuing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permits to cover discharges of contaminated ground and surface waters in Massachusetts (MA), New Hampshire (NH), as well as in Indian Country lands located in MA, to surface receiving waters (waters of the United States) related to the following: groundwater remediation activities; construction projects where chemical contamination is present in the water; well development or rehabilitation and aquifer pump testing at formerly contaminated sites; clean-up of industrial sumps; hydrostatic testing of pipelines and tanks; and short-term testing at dredging projects not covered by a permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. The purpose of this document is to inform the public that the new general permit in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, known as the Remediation General Permit (RGP), is now available. The Notice of Availability for the draft RGP was published in the Federal Register on November 2, 2004 (69 FR 63531). In response to a number of requests, on December 8, 2004, EPA-NE extended the comment period from December 17, 2004, to January 18, 2005. During the public comment period, EPA-NE received 18 sets of comments regarding the RGP. EPA-NE prepared a response-to-comments document and made a number of corresponding changes to the RGP, including, but not limited to: removing utility vaults and manholes from the applicability, allowing the use of historic data in certain circumstances, expanding the period of intermittent shutdowns from 90 to 120 days, etc. The response-to-comments document is available with the final general permit. The final RGP establishes notification requirements, effluent limitations, monitoring requirements, and administrative requirements, as well as other standards, conditions, prohibitions, and management practices for discharges to both fresh and marine waters. The RGP does not cover new sources as defined under 40 CFR 122.2. Also, the final RGP does not cover discharges from utility vaults and manholes, as proposed. Rather, EPA plans to develop a separate general permit for that discharge category.

EPA's expressed concerns regarding the pesticide application procedures and small landowner exemptions that could have potential effects on water quality. Rating EC2.

A meeting of the National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances (NAC/AEGL Committee) will be held on September 28-30, 2005, in Washington, DC. At this meeting, the NAC/AEGL Committee will address, as time permits, the various aspects of the acute toxicity and the development of Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for the following chemicals: Allyl chloroformate; arsenic trioxide; boron trifluoride; cyclohexyl isocyanate; dibromoethane; diphosgene; ethyl chloroformate; ethyl chlorothioformate; isobutyl chloroformate; isopropyl chloroformate; jet fuel 8; ketene; methyl chloroformate; n-butyl chloroformate; propyl chloroformate; and sec-butyl chloroformate.

On June 2, 2005, the State of Indiana, through the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), submitted: A request for the EPA to redesignate the area of Evansville (Vanderburgh and Warrick Counties) from nonattainment to attainment of the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS); and a request for EPA approval of an Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a 10- year maintenance plan for the Evansville area. EPA is proposing to approve the State's request to redesignate the Evansville area to attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA's proposed approval of the redesignation request is based on the determination that the Evansville area and the State of Indiana have met the criteria for redesignation to attainment specified in the Clean Air Act (CAA), including the determination that the Evansville area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard. In conjunction with the proposed approval of the redesignation request for the Evansville area, EPA is proposing to approve the State's plan to maintain the attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2015 in this area as a revision to the Indiana SIP. EPA is also proposing to approve 2015 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX) Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs), which are supported by and consistent with the 10-year maintenance plan for this area, for purposes of transportation conformity.