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

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or ``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree, to address a lawsuit filed by Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action and Jeremy Nichols (collectively ``Plaintiffs''): Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, et al. v. Johnson, No. 06-01992 (D. D.C.). Plaintiffs filed deadline suits to compel the Administrator to respond to petitions seeking EPA's objection to CAA Title V operating permits filed in 2005 for the Public Service Company's Fort Saint Vrain Power Station (``Ft. St. Vrain Station'') in Colorado and in 2006 for the GCC Dacotah cement plant (``GCC Dacotah'') in South Dakota. Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA has agreed to respond to the GCC Dacotah petition by June 15, 2007, and the Ft. St. Vrain Station petition is dismissed as moot because EPA took final action on February 5, 2007.

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 a request by a registrant to voluntarily cancel their registrations of certain products containing the pesticide calcium thiosulfate. The request would terminate the last calcium thiofulfate product registered for use in the U.S. EPA intends to grant this request at the close of the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its further review of the request, or unless the registrant withdraws their request within this period. Upon acceptance of this request, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of diphenylamine in or on pear. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

In this action, EPA is notifying the public that EPA has found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for 8-hour ozone for five areas in the State of Ohio, submitted as part of the redesignation and maintenance plans for these areas, are adequate for conformity purposes. As a result of our finding, the Parkersburg (Washington County), Steubenville-Weirton (Jefferson County), Lima (Allen County), Wheeling (Belmont County), and Canton (Stark County) areas must use the MVEBs from the submitted 8-hour ozone redesignation and maintenance plans for future conformity determinations.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92- 463, the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development (ORD), gives notice of one meeting of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) SP2 Subcommittee.

Locomotives and marine diesel engines are important contributors to our nation's air pollution today. These sources are projected to continue to generate large amounts of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions that contribute to nonattainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5 and ozone across the United States. The emissions of PM and ozone precursors from these engines are associated with serious public health problems including premature mortality, aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, aggravation of existing asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis, and decreased lung function. In addition, emissions from locomotives and marine diesel engines are of particular concern, as diesel exhaust has been classified by EPA as a likely human carcinogen. EPA is proposing a comprehensive program to dramatically reduce emissions from locomotives and marine diesel engines. It would apply new exhaust emission standards and idle reduction requirements to diesel locomotives of all typesline-haul, switch, and passenger. It would also set new exhaust emission standards for all types of marine diesel engines below 30 liters per cylinder displacement. These include marine propulsion engines used on vessels from recreational and small fishing boats to super-yachts, tugs and Great Lakes freighters, and marine auxiliary engines ranging from small gensets to large generators on ocean-going vessels. The proposed program includes a set of near- term emission standards for newly-built engines. These would phase in starting in 2009. The near-term program also contains more stringent emissions standards for existing locomotives. These would apply when the locomotive is remanufactured and would take effect as soon as certified remanufacture systems are available (as early as 2008), but no later than 2010 (2013 for Tier 2 locomotives). We are requesting comment on an alternative under consideration that would apply a similar requirement to existing marine diesel engines when they are remanufactured. We are also proposing long-term emissions standards for newly-built locomotives and marine diesel engines based on the application of high-efficiency catalytic aftertreatment technology. These standards would phase in beginning in 2015 for locomotives and 2014 for marine diesel engines. We estimate PM reductions of 90 percent and NOX reductions of 80 percent from engines meeting these standards, compared to engines meeting the current standards. We project that by 2030, this program would reduce annual emissions of NOX and PM by 765,000 and 28,000 tons, respectively. These reductions are estimated to annually prevent 1,500 premature deaths, 170,000 work days lost, and 1,000,000 minor restricted-activity days. The estimated annual monetized health benefits of this rule in 2030 would be approximately $12 billion, assuming a 3 percent discount rate (or $11 billion assuming a 7 percent discount rate). These estimates would be increased substantially if we were to adopt the remanufactured marine engine program concept. The annual cost of the proposed program in 2030 would be significantly less, at approximately $600 million.

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. This ICR is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2007. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

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 ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost.