Environmental Protection Agency November 4, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making available to the public information concerning the current and projected use of HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b, substances known to deplete stratospheric ozone and scheduled to be phased out. As a Party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (``Montreal Protocol'') and consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (``CAAA of 1990''), the United States will meet its obligations to protect stratospheric ozone, including the phasing out of all hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). The next major milestone for the HCFC phaseout occurs on January 1, 2010, when, pursuant to EPA regulations, no person may produce HCFC-22 or HCFC-142b except: for use in a process that results in the transformation or the destruction of the HCFCs; for use in equipment manufactured before January 1, 2010; or for export using either Article 5 allowances or export production allowances. In addition, no person may import HCFC-22 or HCFC-142b other than transshipments, heels, or used HCFC-22 or HCFC- 142b except: for use in a process that results in the transformation or destruction of the HCFCs; or for use in equipment manufactured prior to January 1, 2010. EPA plans to issue regulations before January 1, 2010, to set the level of the cap on production and import of HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b that would go into effect on that date. Comments submitted in response to today's Notice of Data Availability (NODA) may be used as the Agency prepares that rulemaking. Today, EPA is making available the report The U.S. Phaseout of HCFCs: Projected Servicing Needs in the U.S. Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Sector, prepared by ICF Consulting. The information gathered and presented in the report concerns air-conditioning end uses, refrigeration end-uses, HCFC refrigerants, projected HCFC-22 scenarios, equipment beyond 2010, servicing needs beyond 2010, and factors that affect projections. Because EPA plans to use this information in the future when developing regulations, EPA wants to provide the public with an opportunity to review the information and submit comments. Readers should note that EPA will only consider comments about the information presented in The U.S. Phaseout of HCFCs: Projected Servicing Needs in the U.S. Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Sector and is not soliciting comments on any other topic. In particular, EPA is not soliciting comments on the HCFC phaseout established in EPA's December 10, 1993, rulemaking (58 FR 65018).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the second public meeting of the Working Group of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) on the Public Education Requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule (WGPE). The purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for the WGPE members to continue discussions on the public education requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule.

Notice is hereby given that an exemption to the land disposal restrictions under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act has been granted to Lyondell Industries, Inc. (Lyondell) for two Class I injection wells located at Channelview, Texas. As required by 40 CFR Part 148, the company has adequately demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Environmental Protection Agency by the petition and supporting documentation that, to a reasonable degree of certainty, there will be no migration of hazardous constituents from the injection zone for as long as the waste remains hazardous. This final decision allows the continued underground injection by Lyondell, of the specific restricted hazardous wastes identified in the exemption, into Class I hazardous waste injection wells WDW-148 and WDW-162, until December 31, 2020, unless EPA moves to terminate the exemption under provisions of 40 CFR 148.24. Additional conditions included in this final decision may be reviewed by contacting the Region 6 Ground Water/UIC Section. As required by 40 CFR 148.22(b) and 124.10, a public notice was issued August 18, 2005. The public comment period closed on October 3, 2005. No comments were received. This decision constitutes final Agency action.

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of request for amendments by registrants to delete uses in certain pesticide registrations. Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA provides that a registrant of a pesticide product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations be amended to delete one or more uses. FIFRA further provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any request in the Federal Register.