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

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Monterey Bay United Air Pollution Control District (MBUAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and sulfur compounds emitted by various sources. We are approving a local rule that regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting of the SAB All-Ages Lead Model Review Panel (Panel) for the purpose of providing the Agency with advice and recommendations on the recently-developed All-Ages Lead Model.

Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and publish, and from time to time revise, criteria for water accurately reflecting the latest scientific knowledge. Today, EPA is informing the public of data currently available to EPA and requesting data and information to develop Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Protection of Human Health for Atrazine and Alachlor. Lists of references available to the Agency for atrazine and alachlor will be posted on EPA's Office of Science and Technology's Home-page located at https://www.epa.gov/ost. In addition to seeking input on the references known to the Agency, EPA is also soliciting any additional pertinent data or information that may be useful in developing these criteria.

Today's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeks comment on two issues concerning the removal credits provisions in the General Pretreatment Regulations. EPA requests comments on whether to amend the list of pollutants for which removal credits are available to add certain pollutants. The pollutants that the Agency would add are those that EPA previously has determined, after an exposure and hazard screening, would not require sewage sludge regulations. EPA is also soliciting comment on options to amend the ``consistent removal'' provision in the removal credits regulations that would be consistent with a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

EPA is proposing an implementation date of June 1, 2010 for the sulfur, cetane and aromatics requirements for highway, nonroad, locomotive and marine diesel fuel produced or imported for, distributed to, or used in the rural areas of Alaska. As of the implementation date, diesel fuel used in these applications would have to meet a 15 ppm (maximum) sulfur content standard. This action would allow full implementation of the programs for highway and nonroad diesel fuels in Alaska while providing some limited additional leadtime for development of any necessary changes to the fuel distribution system in rural Alaska. This additional leadtime is appropriate given the circumstances of the rural areas, including the expected delay in time before use of new diesel engines requiring sulfur controlled diesel fuel. In 2010 highway and nonroad fuel in rural Alaska would be regulated according to the implementation schedule of fuel property standards applicable in the rest of the U.S., providing the full environmental benefits of these programs to rural Alaska as well. Locomotive and marine diesel fuel used in rural areas of Alaska would meet the 15ppm standard two years earlier than the rest of the U.S., so that all NRLM diesel fuel in rural areas of Alaska would meet the 15ppm standard in 2010. EPA is not proposing changes to or reopening the diesel fuel rules as they apply to the other areas of Alaska. We have not received any information that would warrant such action, and the State has not requested such action. This proposal is consistent with the State's request and comments on the NRLM rule.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request for a new collection. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

The EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Connecticut. This revision approves the Limited Maintenance Plan (LMP) for the New Haven PM10 nonattainment area (New Haven NAA) in the State of Connecticut and grants a request by the State to redesignate the New Haven NAA to attainment for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers (PM10). EPA is approving this redesignation and LMP because Connecticut has met the applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This notice designates all EPA systems already receiving electronic reports as of the publication of this notice acceptable to continue receiving electronic reports for a period of up to two years.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, EPA gives notice of a public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on October 20 and 21, 2005. A draft agenda has been developed and is posted on EPA's web site. Agenda topics will include: Pesticide performance measures; human studies; farmworker safety; spray drift; Pesticide Registration Improvement Act Workgroup on Process Improvements Update; integrated testing strategy and vision; updates on registration review, reregistration/tolerance reassessment; status of rulemaking activities; and discussion of the PPDC Committee renewal activities. This document also gives notice of the PPDC Work Group on Performance Measures meeting on October 19, 2005.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for the pesticide pyrazon, and opens a public comment period on this document. The Agency's risk assessments and other related documents also are available in the pyrazon Docket. Pyrazon [5- amino-4-chloro-2-phenyl-3(2H)-pyridazinone], also known as chloridazon, is an herbicide belonging to the pyridazinone class of pesticides, and is used for weed control on sugar beets, red table beets, and ornamentals. EPA has reviewed pyrazon through the public participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public in developing pesticide reregistration and tolerance reassessment decisions. Through these programs, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current health and safety standards.

This regulation establishes a time-limited tolerance for the combined residues of imidacloprid, (1-[6-chloro-3-pyridinyl) methyl]-N- nitro-2-imidazolidinimine) and its metabolites containing the 6- chloropyridinyl moiety, all expressed as parent in or on pomegranates. 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 pomegranates. This regulation establishes a maximum permissible level for residues of imidacloprid in this food commodity. The tolerance will expire and is revoked on December 31, 2008.

This action finalizes national emission standards (NESHAP) for hazardous air pollutants for hazardous waste combustors (HWCs): hazardous waste burning incinerators, cement kilns, lightweight aggregate kilns, industrial/commercial/institutional boilers and process heaters, and hydrochloric acid production furnaces. EPA has identified HWCs as major sources of hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions. These standards implement section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) by requiring hazardous waste combustors to meet HAP emission standards reflecting the performance of the maximum achievable control technology (MACT). The HAP emitted by HWCs include arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, dioxins and furans, hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas, lead, manganese, and mercury. Exposure to these substances has been demonstrated to cause adverse health effects such as irritation to the lung, skin, and mucus membranes, effects on the central nervous system, kidney damage, and cancer. The adverse health effects associated with exposure to these specific HAP are further described in the preamble. For many HAP, these findings have only been shown with concentrations higher than those typically in the ambient air. This action also presents our decision regarding the February 28, 2002 petition for rulemaking submitted by the Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition, relating to EPA's implementation of the so-called omnibus permitting authority under section 3005(c) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). That section requires that each permit issued under RCRA contain such terms and conditions as permit writers determine to be necessary to protect human health and the environment. In that petition, the Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition requested that we repeal the existing site-specific risk assessment policy and technical guidance for hazardous waste combustors and that we promulgate the policy and guidance as rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act if we continue to believe that site-specific risk assessments may be necessary.

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.

This notice announces that pesticide relatedinformation submitted to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including information that may have been claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) by the submitter, will be tranferred to Computer Sciences Corporation and its subcontractor, Systems Integration Group, in accordance with 40 CFR 2.307(h)(3) and 2.308(i)(2). Computer Sciences Corporation and its subcontractor, Systems Integration Group, have been awarded a contract to perform work for OPP, and access to this information will enable Computer Sciences Corporation and its subcontractor, Systems Integration Group, to fulfill the obligations of the contract.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing, approved ``emergency'' collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2005. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning the Emission Credit Banking and Trading program. Additionally, EPA is proposing approval of a section of the Texas rules on Control of Air Pollution from Volatile Organic Compounds that cross-references the Emission Credit Banking and Trading program. We are also proposing approval of a subsection of Chapter 116 of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New Construction or Modification, which provides a definition referred to in the Emission Credit Banking and Trading Program.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning the Mass Emissions Cap and Trade (MECT) program for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) in the Houston/Galveston/Brazoria (HGB) ozone nonattainment area. Additionally, EPA is proposing approval of several subsections of Chapter 116 of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) (Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New Construction or Modification) that provide cross-references to the MECT Program.

EPA is approving three negative declarations submitted by the City of Albuquerque (Bernalillo County) certifying that there are no existing sources subject to the requirement of sections 111(d) and 129 of the Clean Air Act under their jurisdiction. These three negative declarations are for Sulfuric Acid Mist Emissions from Sulfuric Acid Plants, Fluoride Emissions from Phosphate Fertilizer Plants, and Total Reduced Sulfur Emissions from Kraft Pulp Mills. This is a direct final rule action without prior notice and comment because this action is deemed noncontroversial.

EPA is approving four related revisions to the Kentucky State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky on February 9, 2005. These revisions affect the Northern Kentucky area, which is comprised of the Kentucky Counties of Boone, Campbell, and Kenton, and is part of the Cincinnati-Hamilton Metropolitan Statistical Area. EPA is approving the movement of the regulation underlying the Northern Kentucky inspection and maintenance (I/M) program from the regulatory portion of the Kentucky SIP to the contingency measures section of the Northern Kentucky 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan. EPA is also approving revisions to a Kentucky rule which provides for the control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from new solvent metal cleaning equipment. Further, EPA is approving a new rule into the Kentucky SIP affecting commercial motor vehicle and mobile equipment refinishing operations in Northern Kentucky. Finally, EPA is approving updated mobile source category emissions projections with updated, state motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for the year 2010. This final rule addresses comments made on EPA's proposed rulemaking previously published for this action.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2005. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.