Environmental Protection Agency December 21, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the amendment of a regulation for residues of the antimicrobial and/or fungicide copper sulfate pentahydrate in or on various food and feed commodities.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the amendment of regulations in 40 CFR 180.473(d) for the indirect or inadvertent residues of the herbicide glufosinate- ammonium (butanoic acid, 2-amino-4-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)-, monoammonium salt) and its metabolite, 3-methylphosphinicopropionic acid expressed as2-amino-4-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)butanoic acid equivalents in or on forage, hay, and straw of small grains (Crop Group 16).

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree, to address a lawsuit filed by Environmental Defense: Environmental Defense v. EPA, No. C 05-2090 SC (N.D. CA). On June 6, 2005, Environmental Defense filed a complaint alleging that EPA had failed to perform a non-discretionary duty by not granting or denying within 18 months Environmental Defense's Petition asking the Administrator to add diesel engine exhaust to the list of hazardous air pollutants contained in section 112(b)(3) of the Clean Air Act (``CAA''). Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, by June 12, 2006, EPA shall either deny or propose to grant Environmental Defense's petition to list diesel exhaust as a hazardous air pollutant. If EPA proposes to grant the petition, then by May, 2007, EPA shall either grant or deny the petition.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for the pesticide napropamide, and opens a public comment period on this document. The Agency's risk assessments and other related documents also are available in the napropamide Docket. Napropamide is a pre-emergent herbicide that is used on a number of fruits and vegetables. EPA has reviewed napropamide 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 extends time-limited tolerances for the pesticides listed in Unit II. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. These actions are in response to EPA's granting of emergency exemptions under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of these pesticides. Section 408(l)(6) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) requires EPA to establish a time-limited tolerance or exemption from the requirement for a tolerance for pesticide chemical residues in food that will result from the use of a pesticide under an emergency exemption granted by EPA.

EPA proposes to extend certain compliance dates in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements (40 CFR part 122) and Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards (ELGs) (40 CFR part 412) for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in conjunction with EPA's efforts to respond to the order issued by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Waterkeeper Alliance et al. v. EPA, 399 F.3d 486 (2nd Cir. 2005). The purpose of today's proposed rule is to address timing issues associated with the Agency's response to the Waterkeeper decision. This proposal would revise dates established in the 2003 CAFO rule, issued on February 12, 2003, by which facilities newly defined as CAFOs were required to seek permit coverage and by which all CAFOs were required to have nutrient management plans (NMPs) developed and implemented. EPA is proposing to extend the date by which operations defined as CAFOs as of April 14, 2003, who were not defined as CAFOs prior to that date, must seek NPDES permit coverage, from February 13, 2006, to March 30, 2007. EPA is also proposing to amend the date by which operations that become defined as CAFOs after April 14, 2003, due to operational changes that would not have made them a CAFO prior to April 14, 2003, and that are not new sources, must seek NPDES permit coverage, from April 13, 2006, to March 30, 2007. Finally, EPA is proposing to extend the deadline by which CAFOs are required to develop and implement NMPs, from December 31, 2006, to March 30, 2007. This proposal would revise all references to the date by which NMPs must be developed and implemented currently in the 2003 CAFO rule. EPA will also be issuing a proposed rule to revise the 2003 CAFO regulations more broadly in order to address the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision in a subsequent Federal Register Notice, which the Agency plans to propose for public comment in early 2006.

This final rule exempts refiners, importers, and blenders of gasoline subject to the State of California's Phase 3 reformulated gasoline (CaRFG3) regulations from certain enforcement provisions in the Federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) regulations. We are taking this action because we believe that gasoline complying with the CaRFG3 regulations will provide emissions benefits equivalent to Federal Phase II RFG and because California's compliance and enforcement program will in practice be sufficiently rigorous to assure that the standards are met. Since the Federal RFG program began in 1995, California refiners, importers and blenders have been continuously exempted from certain enforcement-related requirements such as recordkeeping and reporting, and certain sampling and testing requirements. This final rule extends those exemptions, which are applicable to California Phase 2 gasoline, to CaRFG3. It also restores the definition of ``California gasoline'' which was erroneously and accidentally deleted during a prior rulemaking.

Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires any person who intends to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) a new chemical (i.e., a chemical not on the TSCA Inventory) to notify EPA and comply with the statutory provisions pertaining to the manufacture of new chemicals. Under sections 5(d)(2) and 5(d)(3) of TSCA, EPA is required to publish a notice of receipt of a premanufacture notice (PMN) or an application for a test marketing exemption (TME), and to publish periodic status reports on the chemicals under review and the receipt of notices of commencement to manufacture those chemicals. This status report, which covers the period from November 8, 2005 to November 16, 2005, consists of the PMNs and TMEs, both pending or expired, and the notices of commencement to manufacture a new chemical that the Agency has received under TSCA section 5 during this time period.