Environmental Protection Agency May 1, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) in the Columbus, Ohio area (Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Knox, Licking, and Madison Counties) and the Toledo, Ohio area (Lucas and Wood Counties) are adequate for use in transportation conformity determinations. Ohio submitted the Columbus budgets with an 8-hour ozone redesignation request and maintenance plan on December 28, 2006, January 10, 2007, and March 9, 2007. Ohio submitted the Toledo budgets with an 8-hour ozone redesignation request and maintenance plan on December 22, 2006, and March 9, 2007. As a result of our finding, Columbus and Toledo, Ohio must use the MVEBs from the submitted 8-hour ozone redesignation and maintenance plan for future transportation conformity determinations.

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), as amended in 1996, requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make regulatory determinations on at least five unregulated contaminants and decide whether to regulate these contaminants with a national primary drinking water regulation (NPDWR). SDWA requires that these determinations be made every five years. These unregulated contaminants are typically chosen from a list known as the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL), which SDWA requires the Agency to publish every five years. EPA published the second CCL (CCL 2) in the Federal Register on February 24, 2005 (70 FR 9071 (USEPA, 2005a)). This action presents the preliminary regulatory determinations for 11 of the 51 contaminants listed on CCL 2 and describes the supporting rationale for each. The preliminary determination is that an NPDWR is not appropriate for any of the 11 contaminants considered for regulatory determinations. The Agency seeks comment on these 11 preliminary determinations. While the Agency has not made a preliminary determination for perchlorate, this action provides an update on the Agency's evaluation of perchlorate. The Agency requests public comment on the information and the options that the Agency is considering in evaluating perchlorate and welcomes the submission of relevant, new information and/or data that may assist the Agency in its regulatory determination.

Under the Clean Air Act, as amended by Section 1501 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to promulgate regulations implementing a renewable fuel program. The statute specifies the total volume of renewable fuel that the regulations must ensure is used in gasoline sold in the U.S. each year, with the total volume increasing over time. In this context, this program is expected to reduce dependence on foreign sources of petroleum, increase domestic sources of energy, and help transition to alternatives to petroleum in the transportation sector. The increased use of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel is also expected to have the added effect of providing an expanded market for agricultural products such as corn and soybeans. Based on our analysis, we believe that the expanded use of renewable fuels will provide reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that have been implicated in climate change. Also, there will be some reductions in air toxics emissions such as benzene from the transportation sector, while some other emissions such as oxides of nitrogen are expected to increase. This action finalizes regulations designed to ensure that refiners, blenders, and importers of gasoline will use enough renewable fuel each year so that the total volume requirements of the Energy Policy Act are met. Our rule describes the standard that will apply to these parties and the renewable fuels that qualify for compliance. The regulations also establish a trading program that will be an integral aspect of the overall program, allowing renewable fuels to be used where they are most economical while providing a flexible means for obligated parties to comply with the standard.