Environmental Protection Agency November 25, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is proposing to approve Indiana's April 8, 2005, submittal which revises existing sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission limits for sources in Dearborn County. On April 8, 2005, Indiana submitted its final rule as published in the Indiana Register. Indiana held public hearings on the submittal on May 5, 2004 and October 6, 2004. Indiana is requesting that EPA approve the revisions to Indiana's SO2 rule for Dearborn County, which removes obsolete rule language and updates information for sources listed in the rule. These revisions will not result in an increase in SO2 emissions in Dearborn County because no emission limits were increased. In the final rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the SIP revision as a direct final rule without prior proposal, because EPA views this as a noncontroversial revision and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If we do not receive any adverse comments in response to these direct final and proposed rules, we do not contemplate taking any further action in relation to this proposed rule. If EPA receives adverse comments, we will withdraw the direct final rule and will respond to all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

On November 24, 2004, EPA published proposed regulations to establish requirements for cooling water intake structures at Phase III facilities under section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). EPA proposed the following three options for defining which existing facilities would be subject to uniform national requirements, based on the facility's design intake flow threshold and source waterbody type: The facility has a total design intake flow of 50 million gallons per day (MGD) or more, and withdraws from any waterbody; the facility has a total design intake flow of 200 MGD or more, and withdraws from any waterbody; or the facility has a total design intake flow of 100 MGD or more and withdraws specifically from an ocean, estuary, tidal river, or one of the Great Lakes. The proposed rule would also establish national section 316(b) requirements for new offshore oil and gas extraction facilities. This notice of data availability (NODA) summarizes significant data EPA received or collected since publication of the proposed rule and discusses how EPA may use this data in revising its analyses. EPA solicits public comment on the information presented in this notice and the record supporting this notice.

This notice announces that the EPA Administrator has responded to a citizen petition requesting that EPA object to an operating permit issued by the Clark County Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management (DAQEM). The Administrator has denied in full a petition submitted by Robert Hall requesting that the Administrator object to the state operating permit issued to El Dorado Energy in Boulder City, Nevada. Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (Act), the petitioner may seek judicial review of any portion of the petition which EPA denied in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Any petitions for review shall be filed within 60 days from the date this notice appears in the Federal Register, pursuant to section 307 of the Act.

The EPA (also, ``the Agency'' or ``we'' in this preamble) is taking direct final action in granting a petition to exclude (or ``delist'') up to 3,000 cubic yards of wastewater treatment sludges generated annually from the chemical conversion coating of aluminum generated by the General Motors Corporation (GM) Janesville Truck Assembly Plant (JTAP) in Janesville, Wisconsin from the list of hazardous wastes. Today's action conditionally excludes the petitioned waste from the requirements of hazardous waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) when disposed of in a Subtitle D landfill which is permitted, licensed, or registered by a State to manage industrial solid waste. The rule also imposes testing conditions for waste generated in the future to ensure that this waste continues to qualify for delisting.