Environmental Protection Agency 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On May 30, 1996, EPA issued national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the printing and publishing industry under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). We are proposing to amend the final rule to resolve issues and questions raised after promulgation of the final rule and to correct errors in the regulatory text. This action also proposes to amend the Paper and Other Web Coating NESHAP and the Printing, Coating, and Dyeing of Fabric and Other Textiles NESHAP to clarify the interaction between these rules and the Printing and Publishing Industry NESHAP. These proposed amendments appear in the Rules and Regulations Section of this Federal Register as a direct final rule.

On May 13, 2005, and later clarified in a July 12, 2005, supplemental submittal, the Commonwealth of Kentucky submitted a request to redesignate the sulfur dioxide (SO2) nonattainment area of Boyd County to attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for SO2. Boyd County is located within the Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia (WV)-Kentucky (KY)-Ohio (OH) Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), and the Boyd County SO2 nonattainment area is comprised of the southern portion of Boyd County. The Commonwealth also submitted, as revisions to the Kentucky State Implementation Plan (SIP), a maintenance plan for the area and a source-specific SIP revision for the Calgon Carbon Corporation facility in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. EPA is approving the redesignation request for the Boyd County SO2 nonattainment area and the maintenance plan for this area. The maintenance plan provides for the maintenance of the SO2 NAAQS in Boyd County for the next ten years. EPA is also approving the source-specific SIP revision for the Calgon Carbon Corporation facility.

On March 28, 2006, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule to revise regulations governing compensatory mitigation for activities authorized by permits issued by the Department of the Army. The Corps and EPA announce the extension of the public comment period for this proposed rule until June 30, 2006. The 30-day extension of the comment period is a result of requests from a number of entities to allow more time to comment on the proposed rule. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they have already been incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in the final rule.

EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft document titled, ``Application of Equilibrium Partitioning Theory to Soil PAH Contamination'' (EPA/600/R-06/035A). The document was prepared by the Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center managed by the National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and Development. EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre- dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

The EPA Human Studies Review Board (HSRB) announces a public teleconference meeting to discuss its draft HSRB report from the April 4-6, 2006 HSRB meeting.

EPA is approving revisions to the Indiana particulate matter (PM10) State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions are for sources at the ASF Keystone, Inc. (Keystone) coil spring manufacturing facility in Lake County, Indiana. On December 15, 2005, Indiana requested revisions that will increase the PM10 emission limit for one unit and reduce the limits for two units. The changes result in a net decrease of 1.77 pounds PM10 per hour (lb/hr) in the allowable emissions. The emission limits for a fourth unit that has shut down were also removed. Indiana also requested removing the process weight rate limits and using lb/hr as the short-term emission limit. The maximum permissible PM10 emissions will not increase after removing the process weight rate limits because of the net decrease in short-term emission limits.

Today, EPA is proposing alternative generator requirements applicable to college and university laboratories as defined in this proposed rule. The proposal provides a flexible and protective set of regulations that address the specific nature of hazardous waste generation in college and university laboratories. The flexibility in today's proposed rule will allow colleges and universities the discretion to determine the most appropriate and effective method of compliance with today's proposed requirements. This preamble will refer to this flexible approach as a ``performance-based'' approach. Additionally, this proposed rule grants colleges and universities the choice to manage their hazardous wastes in accordance with today's alternative set of regulations or remain subject to the existing generator regulations.

As required by section 9(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, we are giving notice that EPA is establishing the Coastal Elevations and Sea Level Rise Advisory Committee (CESLAC). The purpose of this Committee is to provide advice on the conduct of a study titled Coastal Elevations and Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise to be conducted as part of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). It is part of a comprehensive assessment of issues identified by the CCSP's Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program. CESLAC will advise on the specific issues which should be addressed in the assessment, appropriate technical approaches, the nature of information relevant to decision makers, the content of the assessment report, and other scientific and technical matters that may be found to be important to the successful completion of the study. EPA has determined that this advisory committee is in the public interest and will assist the Agency in performing its duties under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and the Global Climate Protection Act. Balanced membership will be achieved by including individuals from the Federal Government, State and/or local governments, the scientific community, non-governmental organizations and the private sector with expertise, experience, knowledge and interests essential to, or affected by, the successful completion of the study titled Coastal Elevations and Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise. Copies of the Committee Charter will be filed with the appropriate congressional committees and the Library of Congress.

EPA expressed environmental concerns about potential effects to regional air quality, water quality, and old growth forest; and recommended that the final EIS include a more detailed air quality effects analysis, implementation plan for BMPs, and management strategy to maintain old growth forest. Rating EC2.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reopening the comment period for the proposed rule entitled ``Criteria for the Safe and Environmentally Protective Use of Granular Mine Tailings Known as `Chat'.'' This proposal was published on April 4, 2006 (71 FR 16729), and the comment period ended on May 4, 2006. However, because a commenter has requested additional time to respond to the issues raised in the proposal, we are reopening the comment period to allow for an additional 30 day comment period.

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.

This document announces the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) response to Agency Clearance requests, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

The EPA is announcing a public comment period for the draft document titled, ``Air Quality Criteria for Lead; Second External Review Draft'' (EPA/600/R-05/144aB-bB). The document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and Development. EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of seeking public comment. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

EPA's grant regulations (40 CFR 35.115) require the Agency to evaluate the performance of agencies which receive grants. EPA's regulations for regional consistency (40 CFR 56.7) require that the Agency notify the public of the availability of the reports of such evaluations. EPA performed end-of-year evaluations of eight state air pollution control programs (Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Kentucky Environmental & Public Protection Cabinet; Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality; North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources; South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation) and 12 local programs (City of Huntsville Division of Natural Resources, AL; Jefferson County Department of Health, AL; City of Jacksonville Environmental Quality Division, FL; Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, FL; Miami-Dade County Air Quality Management Division, FL; Palm Beach County Health Department Division of Environmental Health, FL; Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department, NC; Mecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency, NC; Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency, NC; Memphis-Shelby County Health Department, TN; Knox County Department of Air Quality Management, TN; and Nashville-Davidson County Metropolitan Public Health Department, TN). The 20 evaluations were conducted to assess the agencies' performance under the grants awarded by EPA under authority of section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA Region 4 has prepared reports for each agency identified above and these reports are now available for public inspection. The evaluations for the remainder of the local governments will be published at a later date.

Due to an adverse comment, EPA is withdrawing the March 22, 2006 direct final rule (see 71 FR 14399) to approve a PM10 State Implementation Plan (SIP) maintenance plan revision for the Lakeview, Oregon nonattainment area and to redesignate the area from nonattattainment to attainment for PM10. In the March 22, 2006 direct final rule, we stated that if we received adverse comments by April 21, 2006, the direct final rule would be withdrawn and would not take effect. EPA subsequently received adverse comment on that direct final rule. EPA will address all comments received in a subsequent final action based upon the proposed action also published on March 22, 2006 (see 71 FR 14438). EPA will not institute a second comment period on this document.

On December 11, 2003, EPA promulgated national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for miscellaneous coating manufacturing. The promulgated rule applies to the manufacture of coatings, such as paints, inks, and adhesives. The proposed amendments clarify that coating manufacturing means the production of coatings using operations such as mixing and blending; not reaction or separation processes used in chemical manufacturing. The proposed amendments also clarify the compliance date for certain equipment that is part of a chemical manufacturing process unit that is also used to produce a coating.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and oxides of sulfur (SOx) emissions from facilities emitting 4 tons or more per year of NOX or SOx in the year 1990 or subsequent year under the SCAQMD's Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) program. We are proposing to approve local rules to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

EPA is withdrawing a proposed rule published on June 6, 2002, pertaining to Pennsylvania's timing in incorporating on-board diagnostic (OBD) checks as an element of its motor vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program. EPA's I/M requirements rule, or I/M rule, established deadlines by which states were to add OBD checks to their I/M programs (i.e., no later than January 1, 2002). However, EPA's I/M rule provided states the option to submit a request to EPA to delay OBD testing for no more than one additional year. Pennsylvania submitted a SIP revision requesting this optional one-year deadline extension on December 14, 2001. On June 6, 2002, EPA published a direct final rule (67 FR 38894) to approve Pennsylvania's request to delay OBD testing as a revision to the Pennsylvania State Implementation Plan (SIP). EPA received adverse comments during the comment period established for that rule. On August 5, 2002 EPA published a withdrawal notice (67 FR 50602) of its June 2002 direct final rule. As stated in EPA's direct final rule, upon EPA's withdrawal of the direct final rule, a proposed rulemaking action remained in place. EPA never took final action upon that proposed rule. Pennsylvania subsequently submitted two SIP revisions (on December 1, 2003 and January 30, 2004) that revised its I/M program in its entiretyincluding the incorporation of OBD checks as an element of its program. EPA published a final rule fully approving the Commonwealth's revamped I/M program on October 6, 2005 (70 FR 58313). Since EPA has fully approved the Commonwealth's I/M program (including the OBD check component of the program), EPA's proposed rule to grant the Commonwealth's request for an extension of the deadline to incorporate OBD checks is no longer necessary. On November 17, 2005, Pennsylvania formally requested withdrawal of its December 14, 2001 SIP revision from EPA. Therefore, EPA is today withdrawing its proposed rule (67 FR 38924) to grant the Commonwealth's OBD deadline extension.

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 July 31, 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.

This document corrects an error in the amendatory instruction in a final rule which published on February 28, 2006, pertaining to revisions to the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan which make permanent all terms of Wisconsin's permits to construct, reconstruct, replace or modify sources unless the terms are revised through a revision of the construction permit or issuance of a new construction permit.

EPA is approving revisions to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PCDEQ), and Pinal County Air Quality Control District (PCAQCD) portions of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern particulate matter (PM-10) emissions from open burning. We are proposing to approve local rules that help regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is undertaking to update and revise, where appropriate, the air quality criteria for sulfur oxides (SO\x\), last addressed in EPA/600/FP-93/002, ``Supplement to the Second Addendum (1986) to Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter and Sulfur Oxides (1982): Assessment of New Findings on Sulfur Dioxide Acute Exposure Health Effects in Asthmatic Individuals,'' published in August 1994 by the Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment. Interested parties are invited to assist the EPA in developing and refining the scientific information base for updating this assessment of scientific information for sulfur oxides by submitting research studies that have been published, accepted for publication, or presented at a public scientific meeting. Areas where additional new information will be particularly useful to EPA for this project are described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

This action adds the Brownfields State and Tribal Response (BSTR) grant program authorized by section 128(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, (CERCLA), to the list of environmental grant programs eligible for inclusion in Performance Partnership Grants (PPGs).

EPA is considering the disclosure of certain information that may be subject to a claim of confidential business information (CBI) in connection with a proceeding before EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). The information is the name and address of Animal Feeding Operations (AFOs) who have submitted consent agreements and final orders to EPA to resolve potential civil violations related to air emissions from their facilities. EPA is requesting comments from the effected AFOs regarding the potential disclosure of their names and address.

On October 10, 2003, the EPA proposed amendments to update five instrumental test methods that are used to measure air pollutant emissions from stationary sources. These amendments are finalized in this document and reflect changes to the proposal to accommodate the public comments. This action is made to improve the methods by simplifying, harmonizing, and updating their procedures. A large number of industries are already subject to provisions that require the use of these methods. Some of the affected industries and their North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) are listed under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.