Environmental Protection Agency April 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (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 that is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified EPA that it has adopted Greenhouse Gas Emission (GHG) regulations for passenger cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles beginning with the 2009 model year (MY). By letter dated December 21, 2005, CARB submitted a request that EPA grant a waiver of preemption under section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. 7543(b) for these regulations. This notice announces that EPA has scheduled a public hearing concerning California's request and that EPA is accepting written comment on the request.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (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 collection and the estimated burden and cost.

The EPA is approving the incorporation of revised air pollution permitting and emission standards rules into the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP). The State submitted this request for revision to its SIP to EPA on May 31, 2006. This approval makes the State's rules federally enforceable.

This direct final rule the removes chemical substances phosphorotrithious acid, tributyl ester, CAS No. 150-50-5, and phosphorodithioic acid, O,O-diethyl ester, sodium salt, CAS No. 3338- 24-7, which were inadvertently added to the list of voluntary High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program orphan (unsponsored) chemical substances by EPA. As a result, these chemical substances were inadvertently added to two final rules: The Preliminary Assessment Information Reporting (PAIR) rule (Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 8(a)) and the Health and Safety Data Reporting rule (TSCA section 8(d)), both published in the Federal Register issue of August 16, 2006. With this removal action, persons who manufacture (including import) either of these two chemical substances are no longer subject to the reporting requirements imposed by these TSCA section 8(a) and 8(d) rules.

On September 29, 2006, the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Kentucky), through the Kentucky Division for Air Quality (KDAQ), submitted a request to redesignate the Kentucky portion of the bi-State Louisville 8-hour ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 8-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS); and to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for the Kentucky portion of the bi-State Louisville area. The Kentucky portion of the bi-State Louisville 8-hour ozone nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``Kentucky Bi-State Louisville Area'') is comprised of three Kentucky CountiesBullitt, Jefferson and Oldham. The Indiana portion of the bi-State Louisville 8-hour ozone nonattainment area is comprised of two Indiana CountiesClark and Floyd. In this action, EPA is proposing to approve Kentucky's 8-hour ozone redesignation request for the Kentucky Bi-State Louisville Area. Additionally, EPA is proposing to approve the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the Kentucky Bi-State Louisville Area, including the regional motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This proposed approval of Kentucky's redesignation request is based upon EPA's determination that Kentucky has demonstrated that the Kentucky Bi-State Louisville Area has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment specified in the Clean Air Act (CAA), including the determination that the entire (both the Kentucky and Indiana portions) Bi-State Louisville 8-hour ozone nonattainment area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard. In July and September 2006, Indiana submitted a redesignation request and maintenance plan for the Indiana portion of this 8-hour ozone area. EPA is taking action on that redesignation request and maintenance plan in a separate action. In this action, EPA is also notifying the public that EPA is reviewing the 2003 and 2020 regional MVEBs for NOX and VOCs submitted by Kentucky as part of its maintenance plan, for adequacy. These regional MVEBs are identical to those contained in the Indiana submittal for the bi-State area. During the comment period for this proposal, the public may also comment on the adequacy of the proposed regional MVEBs.

A January 2003 final rule established the first U.S. emission standards for new compression-ignition Category 3 marine engines, those with a displacement at or above 30 liters per cylinder displacement. It also established a deadline of April 27, 2007 for EPA to promulgate a new tier of emission standards for these engines as determined appropriate under Clean Air Act (CAA) section 213(a). This rulemaking schedule was intended to allow EPA time to consider the state of technology that may permit deeper emission reductions and the status of international action for more stringent standards. Since 2003, we have continued to gain a greater understanding of the technical issues described in the final rule and to assess the continuing efforts of manufacturers to apply advanced emission control technologies to these very large engines, through ongoing discussions with various stakeholders. In addition, we have continued to work with and through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) toward more stringent international emission standards that would apply to all new marine diesel engines on ships engaged in international transportation. IMO is an important forum for EPA to gather new information and data regarding emission control technologies, costs, and other information on Category 3 engines and vessels. IMO is also important because the majority of ships used in international commerce are flagged in other nations. Due to the length of time necessary to assess advanced emission control technologies much of the information that we believe is necessary to develop more stringent Category 3 marine diesel engines standards has only become available recently and we expect more information to come to light in the course of the current negotiations underway at the IMO. Therefore, EPA is proposing a new deadline for the rulemaking that will consider the next tier of Category 3 marine diesel engine standards. Under this new schedule, EPA would adopt a final rule by December 17, 2009. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, we are making this revision as a direct final rule without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule.

EPA expressed environmental concerns about the potential for adverse impacts to water quality, aquatic habitat and wildlife, additional roads and snowmobiles and off road vehicles. The Final EIS should consider mitigation to strengthen resource protection measures. Rating EC2.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a January 31, 2007, request from Ohio for a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision related to the State transportation conformity regulations. This revision rescinds a number of the state transportation conformity regulations, from the SIP, so that the Federal transportation conformity regulations will be the enforceable regulations governing transportation conformity determinations in Ohio.

On June 4, 2007, a general permit regulating the activities of small suction dredge mining for gold placer mining operations in the State of Alaska expires. On January 16, 2007, EPA proposed to reissue this GP. There was a 45 day comment period. On April 4, 2007, the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Project Management and Permitting agreed with EPA's consistency determination under the Alaska Coastal Management Act. The Department of Environmental Conservation certified the GP under section 401 of the Clean Water Act on April 16, 2007. EPA received several comments on the GP and has prepared a Response to Comments. EPA has determined that each facility submitting a new Notice of Intent (NOI) prior to the expiration date of the current permit will be automatically covered by the reissued GP.

The EPA is approving revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County, New Mexico, area that were adopted on December 14, 2005, and submitted to EPA by the Governor of New Mexico on May 24, 2006. The SIP revisions modify the PSD and Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) regulations in the SIP. They were submitted to make the area's PSD and NNSR rules consistent with the Federal PSD and NNSR revised regulations, which were promulgated by EPA on December 31, 2002, (67 FR 80186), and reconsidered with minor changes on November 7, 2003, (68 FR 63021), (collectively, the ``2002 New Source Review (NSR) Reform rules''). The revisions include provisions for baseline emissions calculations, an actual-to-projected- actual methodology for calculating emissions changes, options for plantwide applicability limits, and recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The EPA is approving these revisions pursuant to section 110, part C, and part D of the Federal Clean Air Act.

In a rule published November 8, 2002, EPA promulgated new emission standards for recreational vehicles beginning in model year 2006. This included a newly regulated class of nonroad vehicles/engines commonly referred to as all-terrain vehicles. In that rulemaking, a temporary provision was included allowing manufacturers to certify all- terrain vehicles over a steady-state, engine-based, duty cycle for exhaust emissions prior to the 2009 model year in lieu of the transient, chassis-based, Federal Test Procedure which was effective for 2006 and later model years. In this rulemaking we are proposing to extend the availability of this temporary provision for in some cases up to an additional six model years, after which the chassis-based Federal Test Procedure would become the only available test cycle. More specifically, manufacturers would have to certify exhaust emission engine families representing not less than 50 percent of their U.S.- directed production on the Federal Test Procedure in model year 2014 and 100 percent in 2015. Manufacturers with only one all-terrain vehicle exhaust emission engine engine family would not be required to use the Federal Test Procedure until the 2015 model year. For those manufacturers who have not yet done so, this will allow additional time to certify to the previously promulgated Federal Test Procedure-based emission standards using either contract facilities or by obtaining in- house capability.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Maryland operating permit program. The revisions amend the Code of Maryland Administrative Regulations' (COMAR) incorporation by reference citations to ensure that future changes to the Federal Acid Rain program will continue to be incorporated into Maryland's regulations. EPA is approving these revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC). This OTC meeting will explore options available for reducing ground-level ozone precursors in a multi-pollutant context.

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public face-to-face meeting of the SAB Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC) to consult on two developing projects: the Emergency Consequence Assessment Tool (ECAT), and the Preliminary Microbial Risk Assessment Methodologies (MRA).

EPA has granted an experimental use permit (EUP) to the following pesticide applicant. An EUP permits use of a pesticide for experimental or research purposes only in accordance with the limitations in the permit.

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 for amendments by registrants to delete uses in certain pesticide registrations. Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA provides that a registrant of a pesticide product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations be amended to delete one or more uses. FIFRA further provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any request in the Federal Register.

EPA is proposing to move existing active and inert ingredient plant-incorporated protectant tolerance exemptions from 40 CFR part 180 (Tolerances and Exemptions from Tolerances for Pesticide Chemicals in Food) to 40 CFR part 174 (Procedures and Requirements for Plant- Incorporated Protectants) subpart W (Tolerances and Tolerance Exemptions). EPA is also proposing some conforming changes to the text of the individual exemptions, so that they are consistent with part 174, as well as some minor technical corrections to the wording of certain individual exemptions. This action is administrative in nature and no substantive changes are intended. We are proposing these administrative revisions to plant-incorporated protectant tolerance exemptions to take into account the promulgation of 40 CFR part 174, 66 FR 37814, July 19, 2001.

This notice announces that pesticide related information submitted to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including information that may have been claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) by the submitter, will be transferred to BeakerTree Corporation in accordance with 40 CFR 2.307(h)(3) and 2.308(i)(2). BeakerTree Corporation has been awarded multiple contracts to perform work for OPP, and access to this information will enable BeakerTree Corporation to fulfill the obligations of the contract.

This regulation establishes time-limited tolerances for combined residues of propiconazole and its metabolites containing the dichlorobenzoic acid (DCBA) moiety expressed as parent compound, in or on peach and nectarine. This action is in response to EPA's granting of emergency exemptions under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of the pesticide on peach and nectarine as a post-harvest treatment. This regulation establishes maximum permissible levels for residues of propiconazole in these food commodities. The tolerances expire and are revoked on December 31, 2010.

In 2005, EPA finalized the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to address emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) and the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) to establish standards of performance for mercury (Hg) for coal-fired electric utility steam generating units. Both CAIR and CAMR include model cap-and-trade rules that states may adopt to meet the applicable requirements. In 2006, EPA finalized the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for CAIR and also proposed a Federal Plan for CAMR. All four rules include an exemption for certain cogeneration units. To qualify for this exemption, a unit must, among other things, meet an efficiency standard included in the cogeneration unit definition. Today, in light of information concerning existing biomass-fired cogeneration units that may not qualify for the exemption, EPA is proposing a change in the cogeneration unit definition in CAIR, the CAIR model cap-and-trade rules, the CAIR FIP, CAMR, and the CAMR model cap-and-trade rule, and the proposed CAMR Federal Plan. Specifically, EPA is proposing to revise the efficiency standard in the cogeneration unit definition so that the standard would apply, with regard to certain units, only to the fossil fuel portion of a unit's energy input. This change to the CAIR model cap-and-trade rules, CAIR FIP, CAMR, and proposed CAMR Federal Plan would likely make it possible for some additional units to qualify for the cogeneration unit exemption in these rules. Because it would only affect a small number of relatively low emitting units, this would have little effect on the projected emissions reductions and the environmental benefits of these rules. EPA is also considering revisions to the definition of ``total energy input,'' a term used in the efficiency standard. This action also proposes minor technical corrections to CAIR and the Acid Rain Program rules. Finally, this action proposes minor revisions to National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters (``boiler MACT'').

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 for a new Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This ICR covers the 3 year time period from April 5, 2008 through April 4, 2011. 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.

Under section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, the Administrator of EPA shall require the sale of reformulated gasoline (RFG) in an ozone nonattainment area classified as marginal, moderate, serious or severe upon the application of the Governor of the state in which the nonattainment area is located. This final action extends the Act's prohibition against the sale of conventional gasoline (i.e., gasoline that is not RFG) to the Illinois portion of the St. Louis, Illinois-Missouri moderate ozone nonattainment area. The Agency will implement this prohibition for refiners and all other persons in the fuel distribution system other than retailers and wholesale purchaser- consumers on June 1, 2007. For retailers and wholesale purchaser- consumers, EPA's final action implements the prohibition on July 1, 2007. As of the compliance date for retailers and wholesale purchaser- consumers, this area will be treated as a covered area for all purposes of the Federal RFG program.