Environmental Protection Agency November 6, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG), an EPA contractor, will convene a panel of experts and organize and conduct a meeting to gather information on the most up-to-date methods, approaches, and ethical standards for designing and implementing observational exposure measurement studies. EPA expects to use the information from the workshop in the preparation of a document on the state-of-the-science approaches for observational exposure measurement studies. The meeting will include sessions for discussion by the panel and time will be set aside for public comment. The meeting is open to the public to attend as observers. Observers who wish to make oral comments during the comment periods may sign up on the Eastern Research Group, Inc.'s online registration page. Time slots for comments will be limited to 5-minutes and observers will be scheduled to speak in the order in which they register. The public may also use a separate process to send written comments regarding the planned document electronically to the project Web site at https://www.epa.gov/nerl/sots/ or by e-mail to the EPA technical contact at Fortmann.roy@epa.gov. The charge to the panel and background materials are available primarily via the Internet on the National Exposure Research Laboratory's (NERL's) home page under the Featured Links at https://www.epa.gov/nerl/sots/.

The Director of the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division (CEPD), Environmental Protection Agency-Region 2, is issuing notice for a final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit and accompanying response to comments for discharges from small municipal separate storm sewer systems (Small MS4) within urbanized areas to waters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This NPDES general permit establishes Notice of Intent (NOI) requirements, standards, prohibitions and management practices for discharges of storm water from municipal separate storm sewer systems within urbanized areas owned by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or political subdivisions of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (including ``municipios''), as well as the United States, and other systems located within an urbanized area that fall within the definition of an MS4. These include, for example, State departments of transportation (DOTs), public universities, penitentiaries, military installations and similar institutions with separate storm sewers drainage area. Owners and/or operators of small MS4s that discharge storm water will be required to submit a NOI to EPA-CEPD to be covered by the general permit and will receive a written notification from EPA-CEPD of permit coverage and authorization to discharge under the general permit. The eligibility requirements are discussed in the permit. The municipality must meet the eligibility requirements of the permit prior to submission of the NOI. This general permit does not cover new sources as defined under 40 CFR 122.2. Publication of this final general permit and response to comments complies with the requirements of 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 124.10.

On June 19, 2006, the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Air Quality, submitted a final request: To redesignate the Rocky Mount 8-hour ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 8- hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard, and to approve a North Carolina State Implementation Plan revision containing a maintenance plan for Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The Rocky Mount 8- hour ozone nonattainment area is comprised of two counties, Edgecombe and Nash. EPA is proposing to approve the 8-hour ozone redesignation request for the Rocky Mount 8-hour ozone nonattainment area. Additionally, EPA is proposing to approve the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for Rocky Mount, North Carolina. This proposal is based on EPA's determination that the State of North Carolina has demonstrated that the Rocky Mount area has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment specified in the Clean Air Act, including the determination that the entire Rocky Mount 8-hour ozone nonattainment area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard. In this action, EPA is also finding adequate and proposing to approve the 2008 and 2017 motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (for both Edgecombe and Nash counties) that are contained in the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the Rocky Mount nonattainment area. North Carolina has established subarea MVEBs at the county level so each county must consider its individual subarea MVEBs for the purposes of implementing transportation conformity. Further, in this action, EPA is proposing to find adequate and to approve the insignificance determination for volatile organic compounds' contribution from motor vehicle emissions to the 8-hour ozone pollution in the Rocky Mount, North Carolina area.

EPA proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the state of Missouri to add a test method for compliance testing to the rule that controls emissions of nitrogen oxides of major sources in the St. Louis ozone nonattainment area.