Environmental Protection Agency February 1, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is soliciting comment on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA's) use of informing the public of upcoming rulemakings and public hearings via the internet as opposed to the past practice of using the newspaper or some other widely accessible printed media. Comments received may impact EPA's approval of the following requests made by the MPCA. The EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the Minnesota State Implementation Plan (SIP) that will establish, pursuant to regulations on public hearings, an alternative public participation process for certain SIP revisions. On December 7, 2005, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) submitted a request to change certain procedures involving the public hearing and notification process as it applies to SIPs. Minnesota held a public hearing on this SIP revision request on November 17, 2005. In its request, the MPCA has identified a number of types of SIP revisions that are noncontroversial and for which the public has historically shown little or no interest. For this limited number of SIP revisions, the MPCA would, if approved, offer the opportunity for a public hearing, but would not hold a hearing if one was not requested. The EPA agrees that the SIP types that have been identified by the MPCA have historically been noncontroversial and that offering the public the opportunity to request a public hearing rather than holding one automatically does not limit or curtail the public participation process. Also, EPA is proposing to approve, pursuant to regulations on public hearings, a revision to the Minnesota SIP that provides that SIP revisions for which a public hearing was held at the time of the MPCA rulemaking, and where such public hearing met all the criteria necessary for a SIP public hearing, including, as discussed in this proposal, effective electronic notice, and the public was notified that the rule would be submitted as a SIP revision, no separate public hearing for SIP purposes would be held. MPCA included this revision to the Minnesota SIP in its December 7, 2005 request to EPA to revise certain provisions involving the SIP public hearing and notification process, and, correspondingly, included this revision in the public hearing which MPCA held on November 17, 2005. EPA agrees that a public hearing held at the time of the MPCA rulemaking, which meets the criteria for a SIP public hearing, including notice requirements, precludes the need for a separate public hearing for SIP purposes.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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 collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment of an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for the residues of amine oxides in or on food commodities when used as an inert ingredient in pesticide products.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment of an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of C11-12 rich aromatic hydrocarbon fluid (Aromatic 200 Fluid) in or on food commodities when used as an inert ingredient in pesticide products.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) and Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from polyester resin material use operations and organic liquid chemical storage and transfer operations. We are approving local rules that regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) and Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from polyester resin material use operations and organic liquid chemical storage and transfer operations. We are proposing to approve local rules to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing changes to the test methods used to calculate the fuel economy estimates that are posted on window stickers of all new cars and light trucks sold in the United States. A fundamental issue with today's fuel economy estimates is that the underlying test procedures do not fully represent real-world driving conditions. Although no single test or set of tests can ever account for the wide variety of conditions experienced by every driver, the new fuel economy estimates would more accurately reflect a number of important factors that drivers are likely to experience on the road. These changes will take effect starting with 2008 model year vehicles. Under the new methods, the City MPG estimates for most vehicles would drop 10 percent to 20 percent from today's labels, depending on the vehicle. The Highway MPG estimates would generally drop 5 percent to 15 percent for most vehicles. Although today's proposed fuel economy test methods would provide more accurate estimates for many consumers, there will always continue to be drivers who get higher or lower fuel economy than the window sticker numbers. Currently the same test procedures are used for both the window sticker estimates and the fuel economy values used to determine a manufacturer's corporate average fuel economy (CAFE). However, this proposal would not alter the test procedures, driving cycles, measurement techniques, or the calculation methods used to determine CAFE.