Environmental Protection Agency October 6, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action revises the mobile source air toxics (MSAT) rule's default baseline values for reformulated gasoline and conventional gasoline to reflect the national average toxics performance of gasoline during 1998-2000. EPA's MSAT rule, Control of Emissions of Hazardous Air Pollutants From Mobile Sources (66 FR 17230, March 29, 2001), requires that the annual average toxic performance of gasoline must be at least as clean as the average performance of the gasoline produced or imported during the period 1998-2000 (known as the ``baseline period''). The baseline performance is determined separately for each refinery and importer, and the rule established default toxics baseline values for refineries and importers that could not develop individual toxics baselines. The default toxics baseline values are based on the national average performance of gasoline during the baseline period. However, at the time of the final rule, gasoline toxics performance data were not yet available for the year 2000. Therefore, the final rule included regulations directing the EPA to revise the default toxics baseline values in the rule to reflect the entire 1998-2000 baseline period once the appropriate data became available. With this action, EPA is revising the default toxics baseline values for refineries and importers to reflect the national average toxics performance of gasoline during 1998-2000.

EPA proposes to approve the Sections 111(d) and 129 negative declaration submitted by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) on August 23, 2005. This negative declaration adequately certifies that there are no existing hospital/medical/ infectious waste incinerators (HMIWIs) located within the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In accordance with section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed amendment to an administrative settlement. The settlement will incorporate twelve (12) parties who will be bound to the terms and conditions of the original settlement (which became effective June 22, 2004), thus becoming jointly and severally liable for funding $10,000,000.00 toward the ongoing Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (``RI/FS'') of the Lower Passaic River Study Area, along with the thirty-one (31) original Settling Parties. In exchange, these additional Settling Parties will resolve their potential liability for performance of the RI/FS and for Past and Future Response Costs incurred and to be incurred in connection with the RI/FS. Furthermore, all the Settling Parties have committed to paying EPA up to an additional $750,000.00 in contingent funding toward Future Response Costs in the event that EPA needs additional funds to complete the RI/ FS. For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, the EPA 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 proposed settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at the EPA, 290 Broadway, New York, New York 10007-1866.

EPA is revising the format of part 52 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR part 52) for materials submitted by Nashville-Davidson County that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations affected by this format change have all been previously submitted by the local agency and approved by EPA. This format revision will affect the ``Identification of Plan'' sections of 40 CFR part 52, by adding a table for the Nashville- Davidson portion of the Tennessee SIP. This revision will also affect the format of the SIP materials that will be available for public inspection at the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, and the Regional Office.

In this final action, EPA is correcting an error in the incorporation by reference provisions in the approval of revisions to the Rules for the Control of Air Pollution in Idaho (IDAPA 58.01.01) published on January 16, 2003 (68 FR 2217). This correction removes the list of State toxic air pollutants from the definition of ``regulated air pollutant'' in the EPA-approved Idaho State implementation plan.