Environmental Protection Agency February 13, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This is an amendment to the grant regulations. EPA is amending regulations based on a determination that it is not practicable to award Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) compliance monitoring grant funds to States through a competitive process. Instead, EPA will award these grants to States on an allotment basis. Section 28 of TSCA authorizes EPA to award grants to States for the establishment and operation of programs to prevent or eliminate unreasonable risks to health or the environment associated with chemical substances or mixtures within the States with respect to which EPA is unable or not likely to take action for their prevention or elimination.

The EPA is proposing amendments to the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for new and existing refractory products manufacturing facilities, which were promulgated on April 16, 2003, under section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The proposed amendments would clarify testing and monitoring requirements, reflect recent changes to the NESHAP General Provisions, clarify startup and shutdown for batch processes, and make certain technical corrections to the final rule. In the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register, we are taking direct final action on the proposed amendments because we view the amendments as noncontroversial and anticipate no adverse comments. We have explained our reasons for the revisions in the preamble to the direct final rule. If we receive no adverse comments, we will take no further action on the proposed amendments. If we receive adverse comment on one or more distinct amendments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register indicating which amendments in the direct final rule will become effective and which amendments are being withdrawn due to adverse comment. If part or all of the direct final rule in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register is withdrawn, all comments pertaining to the amendments will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed amendments. We will not institute a second comment period on the subsequent final rule. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.