Environmental Protection Agency March 7, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, P.L. 92463, EPA gives notice of a meeting of the Good Neighbor Environmental Board. The Board meets three times each calendar year at different locations along the U.S.-Mexico border and in Washington, DC. It was created by the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative Act of 1992. An Executive Order delegates implementing authority to the Administrator of EPA. The Board is responsible for providing advice to the President and the Congress on environmental and infrastructure issues and needs within the States contiguous to Mexico in order to improve the quality of life of persons residing on the United States side of the border. The statute calls for the Board to have representatives from U.S. Government agencies; the governments of the States of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas; and private organizations with expertise on environmental and infrastructure problems along the southwest border. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the recommendations of the Board's 9th Report on Air Quality and Transportation and Cultural and Natural Resources. The Board will also hear from speakers about the topic of its next report: Balancing Border Security and Environmental Protection. A copy of the meeting agenda will be posted at https://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb.

EPA is proposing to amend the polymer exemption rule, which provides an exemption from the premanufacture notification (PMN) requirements of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), to exclude from eligibility polymers containing as an integral part of their composition, except as impurities, certain perfluoroalkyl moieties consisting of a CF3- or longer chain length. This proposed exclusion includes polymers that contain any one or more of the following: Perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFAS); perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFAC); fluorotelomers; or perfluoroalkyl moieties that are covalently bound to either a carbon or sulfur atom where the carbon or sulfur atom is an integral part of the polymer molecule. If finalized as proposed, any person who intends to manufacture (or import) any of these polymers not already on the TSCA Inventory would have to complete the TSCA premanufacture review process prior to commencing the manufacture or import of such polymers. EPA believes this proposed change to the current regulation is necessary because, based on recent information, EPA can no longer conclude that these polymers ``will not present an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment,'' which is the determination necessary to support an exemption under TSCA, such as the polymer exemption rule.