Environmental Protection Agency September 27, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 settlement for recovery of past costs concerning the Old Pillsbury Mill Superfund Site in Tilton, New Hampshire with the following settling parties: Town of Tilton and the Tilton/Northfield Fire Department. The settlement requires the settling parties to pay $378,706.00 to the Hazardous Substance Superfund. The settlement includes a covenant not to sue the settling parties pursuant to section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606 and 9607(a). For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The Agency will consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at One Congress Street, Boston, MA 02214-2023 (Telephone No. 617-918-1440).

This notice describes the approach EPA plans to use for selecting the first group of chemicals to be screened in the Agency's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to direct EPA to develop a chemical screening program using appropriate validated test systems and other scientifically relevant information to determine whether certain substances may have hormonal effects. In December 2002, EPA sought comment on its approach for selecting the initial list of chemicals for which testing will be required under the EDSP. Following review and revision based on the public comments, EPA is now describing the approach that it intends to use for selecting the chemicals for the initial list. For this initial approach, as recommended by scientific advisory committees, EPA will select 50 to 100 chemicals. The chemicals will be selected based on their relatively high potential for human exposure rather than using a combination of exposure- and effects- related factors. The scope of this first group of chemicals to be tested includes pesticide active ingredients and High Production Volume (HPV) chemicals used as pesticide inerts. This will allow EPA to focus its initial screening efforts on a smaller and more manageable universe of chemicals that emphasizes the early attention to the pesticide chemicals that Congress specifically mandated EPA to test for possible endocrine effects. This notice does not identify the initial list of chemicals, nor does it describe other aspects of the EDSP such as the administrative procedures EPA will use to require testing, the validated tests and battery that will be included in the EDSP, or the timeframe for requiring the testing or receiving the data. The initial chemical list and the details of the EDSP process that will apply to the initial chemical list will be addressed in subsequent notices published in the Federal Register.

The EPA is approving revisions to the Texas Ozone State Implementation Plan (SIP). This approval incorporates the Transportation Control Measures, submitted by the Governor of Texas on April 25, 2000 (as substituted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on January 14, 2004), into the SIP for the Dallas/Fort Worth Ozone Nonattainment Area. The inclusion of Transportation Control Measures in the SIP fulfills one requirement found under Section 182(c)(5) of the Federal Clean Air Act which provides that serious ozone nonattainment areas incorporate such measures into the state air quality plan. This action also fulfills of EPA's obligations under a Federal district court Consent Decree to act on these measures (70 FR 32326).

South Dakota has applied to EPA for Final authorization of the 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 proposing to authorize the State's changes through this proposed final action. Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 272 is used by EPA to codify its decision to authorize individual State programs and incorporates by reference those provisions of the State statutes and regulations that are subject to EPA's inspection and enforcement authorities as authorized provisions of the State's program. This action also proposes to codify the authorized provisions of the South Dakota regulations. Finally, today's document corrects errors made in the State authorization citations published in the August 10, 1999 and November 3, 2003 Federal Register authorization documents for South Dakota.