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

The Regional Administrator of Region 10 today proposes to reissue the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration, Development and Production Facilities in State and Federal Waters in Cook Inlet (No. AKG-31-5000). As proposed, the permit would authorize discharges from exploration, development, and production platforms and related facilities that are included in the Coastal and Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category as authorized by section 402 of the Clean Water Act (CWA or Act), 33 U.S.C. 1342.

EPA is proposing to approve the maintenance plan for the Douglas area in Cochise County, Arizona and grant the request submitted by the State to redesignate this area from nonattainment to attainment for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for sulfur dioxide (SO2).

EPA is publishing this action to provide the public with notice of the update to the Georgia State Implementation Plan (SIP) compilation. In particular, materials submitted by Georgia that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the Georgia SIP are being updated to reflect EPA-approved revisions to Georgia's SIP that have occurred since the last update.

EPA proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the state of Iowa for the purpose of establishing exemptions for indoor sources of air pollution that are not directly vented to the outside but have emissions that leave the building through doors, vents or other means. This revision also clarifies that the permitting exemptions do not relieve the owner or operator of any source from any obligation to comply with any other applicable requirements. The state has determined that air pollution emissions from this equipment are negligible and these exemptions are likely to result in no significant impact on human health or the environment.

EPA is taking final action to approve revisions to the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Wisconsin on December 8, 2005. Wisconsin had submitted for approval into its SIP a statutory revision designed to ensure the permanency of construction permit conditions. EPA proposed approval of this revision on January 12, 2006 (71 FR 1994). EPA is approving this revision because it is consistent with Federal regulations governing State permit programs. This revision also addresses one of the deficiencies identified in EPA's Notice of Deficiency (NOD), published in the Federal Register on March 4, 2004. (69 FR 10167.)

In accordance with section 122(i)(1) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1984, as amended (``CERCLA''), notification is hereby given of a proposed administrative agreement concerning the Western Minerals hazardous waste site in Minneapolis, Minnesota (the ``Site''). EPA proposes to enter into this agreement under the authority of section 122(h) and 107 of CERCLA. The proposed agreement has been executed by Electramatic, Inc. (the ``Settling Party''). Under the proposed agreement, the Settling party will pay $15,000 to the Hazardous Substances Superfund to resolve EPA's claims against it for response costs incurred by EPA at the Site. EPA incurred response costs conducting removal actions to investigate and mitigate potential imminent and substantial endangerments to human health or the environment presented or threatened by hazardous substances present at the Site. For thirty days following the date of publication of this notice, the Environmental Protection Agency will receive written comments relating to this proposed agreement. EPA will consider all comments received and may decide not to enter this proposed agreement if comments disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the proposed agreement is inappropriate, improper or inadequate.

The Draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2004 is available for public review. Annual U.S. emissions for the period of time from 1990-2004 are summarized and presented by source category and sector. The inventory contains estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) emissions. The inventory also includes estimates of carbon sequestration in U.S. forests. The technical approach used in this report to estimate emissions and sinks for greenhouse gases is consistent with the methodologies recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and reported in a format consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reporting guidelines. The Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks is the latest in a series of annual U.S. submissions to the Secretariat of the UNFCCC.

EPA issued a notice of deficiency (NOD) on March 4, 2004 (69 FR 10167), in which EPA identified problems with Wisconsin's Clean Air Act (Act) title V operating permit program and a timeframe for the State to correct these deficiencies. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) submitted corrections to its permit program on August 18, 2005, and revisions to a related rule on December 8, 2005. This document announces that based on information provided by the WDNR, EPA concludes that the State of Wisconsin has resolved all of the issues identified in the March 4, 2004, NOD. As a result, EPA will not impose sanctions set forth under the mandatory sanctions provisions of the Act. In addition, EPA will not promulgate, administer, and enforce a whole or partial operating permit program pursuant to the title V regulations of the Act within 2 years after the date of the finding of deficiency.

New Hampshire has applied to EPA for Final authorization of changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA proposes to grant final authorization to New Hampshire. EPA has determined that these changes satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for final authorization, and is authorizing the State's changes through the immediate final action.

EPA is planning to hold five half-day public meetings in March and April of 2006. The purpose of these meetings is to receive comments from the public regarding proposed requirements to reduce exposure to lead hazards created by renovation, repair, and painting activities that disturb lead-based paint. This document announces the locations and times for the meetings, and explains meeting procedures. To assist the public, EPA has prepared a paper, Renovation, Repair, and Painting Proposal; Points to Consider, which lists the major issues on which the Agency is seeking public input. The paper is available in the docket for the proposed rule, and is also available at https://www.epa.gov/ lead/ pubs/ renovation.htm.

The EPA is taking direct final action to grant full approval for the Guam operating permit program and an associated State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Territory of Guam (Guam). These submittals correct deficiencies identified in EPA's direct final interim approval rulemaking of January 9, 2003 (68 FR 1162). Final approval of Guam's alternate permit program and associated SIP revision will allow sources to be permitted under an approved alternate permit program. This alternate program fulfills all of the requirements that Guam adopt and submit an alternate local permitting program as part of a conditional exemption under section 325 of the Clean Air Act (Act) from Title V of the Act.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 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. This ICR is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2006. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

EPA is taking direct final action to revise certain portions of the standards of performance for stationary gas turbines. We are taking direct final action to revise the standards to clarify that EPA is not imposing new requirements for turbines constructed after 1977. Owners and operators of existing and new turbines may use monitoring that meets the pre-existing monitoring requirements. In addition, we have described a number of acceptable compliance monitoring options that owners and operators may elect to use for these units. We see making the amendments by direct final rule as non-controversial and anticipate no adverse comments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or ``Agency'') is amending a Privacy Act system of records entitled ``PeoplePlus Payroll, Time and Labor Application System'' to reflect the Agency's transfer of payroll processing services from EPA to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) in FY2006. Under the President's Management Agenda e-Payroll initiative, federal agencies are required to select one of four consolidated government-wide payroll service providers. EPA selected DFAS because its system was the most compatible with EPA's existing systems and accounting structure. DFAS will compute the Agency payroll and make all payments. This notice also notifies the public of the additional routine uses for the payroll data. This notice does not affect any Privacy Act rights already accorded individuals who are the subject of Agency payroll records. This action gives notice that payroll processing will be performed by DFAS and adds compatible routine uses.

EPA is issuing guidance, entitled ``Indian General Assistance Program (GAP) 2006 Grant Administration Guidance.'' The guidance summarizes the issues and procedures required to ensure compliance with current grant policies and regulations. It addresses the following areas: GAP allocation; notification letters; work plan and reporting templates; environmental results; GAP national set-asides; solid waste implementation priorities; and GAP tracking electronic data entry. The ``GAP 2006 Grants Administration Guidance'' does not replace the ``2000 Guidelines on the Award and Management of General Assistance Agreements for Indian Tribes.''

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that EPA has found that the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) in the Birmingham, Alabama 8-hour ozone redesignation and maintenance demonstration, dated January 27, 2006, by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), are adequate for transportation conformity purposes. On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that submitted State Implementation Plans (SIPs) cannot be used for transportation conformity determinations until EPA has affirmatively found them adequate. As a result of EPA's finding, the Birmingham area can use the MVEBs from the submitted Birmingham, Alabama 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for future conformity determinations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the availability of final recommended aquatic life ambient water quality criteria for diazinon. The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires EPA to develop and publish, and from time to time revise, recommended criteria for water accurately reflecting the latest scientific knowledge. These criteria provide EPA's recommendations to states and authorized tribes as they establish their water quality standards as state or tribal law or regulation. An EPA ambient water quality criterion does not substitute for EPA regulations, nor is it a regulation. It does not impose legally binding requirements on the EPA, states, authorized tribes or the regulated community. State and tribal decision makers have discretion to adopt approaches that differ from EPA's guidance.

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 by registrants to voluntarily cancel certain pesticide registrations.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's risk assessment, and related documents for the pesticide boric acid/sodium borate salts, and opens a 60 day public comment period on these documents. The public is encouraged to suggest risk management ideas or proposals to address the risks identified. EPA is developing a tolerance reassessment decision (TRED) for boric acid/sodium borate salts through a modified, 4-Phase 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.

In the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Energy Act), Congress removed the oxygen content requirement for reformulated gasoline (RFG) in Section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Energy Act specified that this change was to be immediately effective in California, and that it would be effective 270 days after enactment for the rest of the country. This proposed rule would amend the fuels regulations to remove the oxygen content requirement for RFG for gasoline produced and sold for use in California, thereby making the fuels regulations consistent with amended Section 211(k). In addition, for gasoline produced and sold for use in California, this rule would extend the current prohibition against combining VOC-controlled RFG blended with ethanol with VOC-controlled RFG blended with any other type of oxygenate from January 1 through September 15, to also prohibit combining VOC- controlled RFG blended with ethanol with non-oxygenated VOC-controlled RFG during that time period, except in limited circumstances authorized by the Act. The removal of the RFG oxygen content requirement and revision of the commingling prohibition for gasoline produced and sold for use in all areas of the country is being published in a separate rulemaking that would have a later effective date than this California specific rulemaking. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of the Federal Register, we are issuing these amendments to the RFG regulations as a direct final rule without prior proposal because we view them as noncontroversial amendments and anticipate no adverse comment. We have explained our reasons for these amendments in the preamble to the direct final rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule. If we receive adverse comment, we will withdraw the direct final fuel and it will not take effect. We will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. We will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.

In the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Energy Act), Congress removed the oxygen content requirement for reformulated gasoline (RFG) in section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). To be consistent with the current CAA section 211(k), this direct final rule amends the fuels regulations to remove the oxygen content requirement for RFG. This rule also removes requirements which were included in the regulations to implement and ensure compliance with the oxygen content requirement. In addition, this rule extends the current prohibition against combining VOC-controlled RFG blended with ethanol with VOC-controlled RFG blended with any other type of oxygenate from January 1 through September 15, to also prohibit combining VOC-controlled RFG blended with ethanol with non-oxygenated VOC-controlled RFG during that time period, except in limited circumstances authorized by the Act.

EPA is partially approving and partially disapproving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Colorado. The revision establishes affirmative defense provisions for source owners and operators for excess emissions during periods of startup and shutdown. The affirmative defense provisions are contained in the State of Colorado's Common Provisions regulation. The intended effect of this action is to approve those portions of the rule that are approvable and to disapprove those portions of the rule that are inconsistent with the Clean Air Act. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean Air Act. In addition, EPA is announcing that it no longer considers the State of Colorado's May 27, 1998 submittal of revisions to Regulation No. 1 to be an active SIP submittal. Those revisions, which we proposed to disapprove on September 2, 1999 and October 7, 1999, would have provided exemptions from existing limitations on opacity and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions for coal-fired electric utility boilers during periods of startup, shutdown, and upset. Since our proposed disapproval, the State of Colorado has removed or replaced the provisions in Regulation No. 1 that we proposed to disapprove, and has instead pursued adoption of the affirmative defense provisions in the State of Colorado's Common Provisions regulation that we are approving today.

The EPA is approving revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) Post-1996 Rate of Progress (ROP) Plan, the 1990 Base Year Inventory, and the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEB) established by the ROP Plan, for the Beaumont/Port Arthur (BPA) ozone nonattainment area submitted November 16, 2004. The intended effect of this action is to approve revisions submitted by the State of Texas to satisfy the reasonable further progress requirements for 1- hour ozone nonattainment areas classified as serious and demonstrate further progress in reducing ozone precursors. We are approving these revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA).

This notice announces receipt of applications to register pesticide products containing new active ingredients not included in any previously registered products pursuant to the provisions of section 3(c)(4) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended.