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

EPA proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to establish and require reasonably available control technology (RACT) for twelve major sources of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX). In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the Commonwealth's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

In 1994, EPA promulgated National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry (SOCMI). This rule is commonly known as the hazardous organic NESHAP (HON) and established maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards to regulate the emissions of organic hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from production processes that are located at major sources. The Clean Air Act (CAA) directs EPA to assess the risk remaining (residual risk) after the application of the MACT standards and to promulgate additional standards if required to provide an ample margin of safety to protect public health or prevent adverse environmental effect. The CAA also requires us to review and revise MACT standards, as necessary, every eight years, taking into account developments in practices, processes, and control technologies that have occurred during that time. Based on our findings from the residual risk and technology review, we are proposing two options (to be considered with equal weight) for emissions standards for new and existing SOCMI process units. The first proposed option would impose no further controls, proposing to find that the existing standards protect public health with an ample margin of safety and prevent adverse environmental impacts, as required by section 112(f)(2) of the CAA and would satisfy the requirements of section 112(d)(6). The second proposed option would provide further reductions of organic HAP at certain process units by applying additional controls for equipment leaks and by controlling some storage vessels and process vents that are uncontrolled under the current rule. This option would also protect public health with an ample margin of safety and prevent adverse environmental impacts, as required by section 112(f)(2) of the CAA and would satisfy the requirements of section 112(d)(6). Under this option, we are proposing that the compliance deadlines for additional promulgated requirements would be one to three years from the date of promulgation.

The Director, Office of Water and Watersheds, EPA Region 10, is proposing to issue a general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for groundwater remediation discharge facilities in Idaho, pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. The draft general permit authorizes the discharge of treated groundwater from new and existing facilities to surface waters of the United States within the State of Idaho. Interested persons may submit comments on the proposed general permit to EPA Region 10 at the address below.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency), Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public teleconference for the Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland. This revision amends the regulation pertaining to the control of fuel-burning equipment, stationary internal combustion engines, and certain fuel burning installations. The revision clarifies the definition of ``interruptible gas service''. EPA is approving the revision in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revisions were submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) to establish and require reasonably available control technology (RACT) for eight major sources of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX). These sources are located in Pennsylvania. EPA is approving these revisions to establish RACT requirements in the SIP in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA is proposing to approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. These revisions consist of amendments to state regulation provisions concerning maintenance, nonattainment, and prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) areas for incorporation into the Virginia SIP. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

EPA is taking final action to codify in the Agency's regulations changes to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the ``Clean Water Act'' or ``CWA,'' resulting from the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This action modifies the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations to provide that certain storm water discharges from field activities or operations, including construction, associated with oil and gas exploration, production, processing, or treatment operations or transmission facilities are exempt from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements. This action also encourages voluntary application of best management practices for oil and gas field activities and operations to minimize the discharge of pollutants in storm water runoff and protect water quality.

The EPA is announcing a public workshop to be held to elicit public input and discussion on the process the Agency uses to conduct periodic reviews of national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), as discussed in a recent report prepared by an Agency workgroup entitled ``Review of the Process for Setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards.'' This workshop is not intended to cover issues related to the ongoing review of any specific NAAQS.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone. The state is adding four chemical compounds to its list of compounds that are now exempt from being considered a volatile organic compound (VOC). Indiana also is removing a compound from the list of hazardous air pollutants (HAP). The revisions Indiana made parallel the changes EPA made to our VOC definitions and HAP list on November 29, 2004 and that became effective on December 29, 2004. Four VOCs were found by EPA to make a negligible contribution to tropospheric ozone formation. The compounds are: 1,1,1,2,2,3,3- heptafluoro-3-methoxy-propane, 3-ethoxy-1,1,1,2,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6- dodecafluoro-2-(trifluoromethyl)hexane, 1,1,1,2,3,3,3- heptafluoropropane, and methyl formate. Companies producing or using the four compounds will no longer need to follow the VOC rules for these compounds. The requirements for t-butyl acetate are also modified. It is not considered a VOC for emission limits and content requirements. T-butyl acetate will still be considered a VOC for the recordkeeping, emissions reporting, and inventory requirements. Indiana is removing ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE) (2- Butoxyethanol) from its HAP list, too. EGBE will no longer be considered a hazardous air pollutant.

EPA is approving a revision to the Missouri State Implementation Plan (SIP). This approval pertains to revisions to the state's rule which restricts emissions from specific Missouri lead smelter-refinery installations. The effect of this approval is to remove duplication between two SIP-approved documents, and does not affect the stringency of the requirements.

EPA has authorized its contractor Eagle Technologies, Incorporated of Lanham, MD access to information which has been submitted to EPA under all sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Some of the information may be claimed or determined to be Confidential Business Information (CBI).

The Chuitna Coal Project (Project) is located on State of Alaska land in the Beluga Coal Field, approximately 45 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska. The Project is based on the development of a 1 billion ton, ultra low sulfur, subbituminous coal resource. The proposed Project includes a surface coal mine and associated support facility, mine access road, coal transport conveyor, personnel housing, air strip facility, a logistic center, and coal export terminal. The proposed coal mine is located approximately 10 miles inland from the Native Village of Tyonek and Cook Inlet. The project proponent, PacRim Coal, LP, predicts a coal production rate of approximately 15 million tons per year, and a 25-year mine life based on current estimated coal reserves. A previous Project design was evaluated in an EIS and permitted by most of the applicable State and Federal regulatory programs in the early 1990s, although the Project did not proceed to development. There have been substantial changes in the Project design and in the regulatory requirements since this project went through the first permitting and EIS process. Therefore, a comprehensive, stand-alone Supplemental EIS will be prepared for the new proposal. The administrative actions that the SEIS must address include issuing an EPA Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) new source permit and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers CWA section 404 and Rivers and Harbors Act section 10 permit. The SEIS will also address issues related to the Alaska Surface Coal Mining Control and Reclamation Act (ASCMCRA) permit, which governs all aspects of the mining operation and infrastructure. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Alaska are participating as cooperating agencies in the NEPA process. Alternatives: The alternatives to be evaluated include: The ``no action'' alternative, wastewater discharge alternatives and alternative discharge locations. In addition, the SEIS will evaluate mine access road and conveyor alignment alternatives, and coal export terminal alternatives. Additional alternatives may be developed based on comments received during scoping. Scoping: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this Notice and concludes July 24, 2006. EPA invites Federal agencies, Native Tribes, State and local governments, and members of the public to comment on the scope of the SEIS. Scoping meetings for the purpose of identifying issues to be evaluated in the SEIS will be held in Kenai on July 10, in Anchorage on July 11, and in the Tyonek and Beluga communities on July 12, 2006. The exact locations and times of the meetings will be announced in local papers. The public is invited to attend and identify issues that should be addressed in the SEIS. A scoping document that explains in greater detail the project and alternatives identified at this time will be sent to known interested parties. The public can obtain a copy of the scoping document by contacting Hanh Shaw at the phone number, e-mail address, and mailing address listed at the above in this notice. How to Comment: EPA invites public comment on the proposed scope of this SEIS. Comments may be submitted by mail, electronic mail, or fax, to Hanh Shaw at the contact information above, by July 24, 2006. Estimated Date of DSEIS Release: February 2007. Responsible Official: Ron Kreizenbeck, Deputy Regional Administrator.

EPA expressed environmental concerns about contamination from past industrial uses of the project site and requested additional information on hazardous materials characterization and procedures to be used to address contamination.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's proposed re- evaluation decisions for the pesticides azinphos-methyl and phosmet, the grower impact assessments, human health documents, environmental fate and effects documents, and other related documents, and opens a 60-day public comment period. These proposed decisions implement the 2001 IREDs for these pesticides as well as the 2001 Memorandum of Agreement between EPA and the phosmet technical registrants and the 2002 Memorandum of Agreement between EPA and the azinphos-methyl technical registrants. EPA is proposing a schedule to phase out the remaining uses of azinphos-methyl and is proposing to lengthen some restricted-entry intervals (REIs) and seek additional biomonitoring data for the nine time-limited uses of phosmet. EPA is also proposing certain additional restrictions on the use of azinphos-methyl and phosmet.

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.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the CAAAC on November 19, 1990, to provide independent advice and counsel to EPA on policy issues associated with implementation of the Clean Air Act of 1990. The Committee advises on economic, environmental, technical, scientific, and enforcement policy issues. Open Meeting Notice: Open Meeting Notice: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. App.2 10(a)(2), notice is hereby given that the Air Quality Management subcommittee to the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee will hold its next open meeting on Tuesday, June 27 and Wednesday, June 28, 2006 from approximately 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta Hotel, 181 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia. Any member of the public who wishes to submit written or brief oral comments; or who wants further information concerning this meeting should follow the procedures outlined in the section below titled ``Providing Oral or Written Comments at this Meeting''. Seating will be limited and available on a first come, first served basis. In order to insure copies of printed materials are available, members of the public wishing to attend this meeting are encouraged to contact Mr. Jeffrey Whitlow, Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. EPA (919) 541-5523, Fax (919) 685-3307 or by mail at U.S. EPA, Office of Quality Planning and Standards (Mail code C 301- 04), 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 or by e-mail at: whitlow.jeff@epa.gov by noon eastern time on June 20 , 2006. For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities or to request accommodation of a disability, please contact Mr. Whitlow, preferably at least 10 days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request. Inspection of Committee Documents: The subcommittee agenda and any documents prepared for the meeting will be sent to participants via e- mail prior to the start of the meeting. Thereafter, these documents, together with the meeting minutes, will be available by contacting the Office of Air and Radiation Docket and requesting information under docket OAR-2004-0075 and can be found on the CAAAC Web site: https:// www.epa.gov/air/caaac. The Docket office can be reached by telephoning (202) 260-7548; FAX (202) 260-4400.

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets (``budgets'') for direct PM2.5 and NOX in the submitted PM2.5 early progress state implementation plan (SIP) for the New Jersey portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT PM2.5 nonattainment area to be adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The transportation conformity rule requires that the EPA conduct a public process and make an affirmative decision on the adequacy of budgets before they can be used by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in conformity determinations. As a result of our finding, the MPOs in northern New Jersey, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), must use the new 2009 direct PM2.5 and NOX budgets from the early progress PM2.5 SIP for future conformity determinations.

In response to adverse comment, EPA is withdrawing the direct final rule published in the Federal Register on April 11, 2006 (71 FR 18219). This direct final rule sought to exempt importers of aircraft fire extinguishing vessels containing halon-1301 (``aircraft halon bottles'') from the import petition process in order to facilitate the routine hydrostatic testing of these bottles for environmental and safety purposes. In the direct final rule, the Agency indicated that should we receive adverse comment by May 11, 2006, we would publish a timely withdrawal notice in the Federal Register. We received adverse comment on the direct final rule from one commenter and we will address this comment in a subsequent final action based on the parallel proposal also published on April 11, 2006 (71 FR 18259). As stated in the parallel proposal, we will not institute a second comment period on this action.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of methoxyfenozide in or on soybean aspirated grain fractions, soybean forage, soybean hay, soybean hulls, and soybean seed. Dow AgroSciences requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA).

This document proposes under section 408(e)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to revoke the existing exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of one inert ingredient because there are insufficient data to make the determination of safety required by FFDCA section 408(b)(2). The inert ingredient tolerance exemption under 40 CFR 180.920 is ``[alpha]-Alkyl (C10-C16)-[omega]-hydroxypoly(oxyethylene) mixture of dihydrogen phosphate and monohydrogen phosphate esters and the corresponding ammonium, calcium, magnesium, monoethanolamine, potassium, sodium, and zinc salts of the phosphate esters; the poly(oxyethylene) content averages 3-20 moles.'' The revocation action in this document contributes towards the Agency's tolerance reassessment requirements under FFDCA section 408(q), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996. By law, EPA is required by August 2006 to reassess the tolerances that were in existence on August 2, 1996. The regulatory action in this document pertains to the revocation of one tolerance exemption which is counted as tolerance reassessment toward the August 2006 review deadline.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to renew an existing approved Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2006. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

EPA is announcing that the comment period on the proposed rule amendment for numerous EPA air pollution standards which require specific work practices for equipment leak detection and repair (LDAR), published on April 6, 2006 (70 FR 17401) is being extended until July 5, 2006.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment of an exemption from regulations for residues of ferric citrate in or on various food commodities when used as an inert ingredient in pesticide products.

This notice announces Agency approval of an application to register the pesticide product FT-methyl eugenol containing an active ingredient not included in any previously registered product pursuant to the provisions of section 3(c)(5) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended.