Environmental Protection Agency April 25, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.