Environmental Protection Agency July 18, 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 Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (``Plaintiff'') in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois: Citizens Against Ruining the Environment v. Johnson, No. 06-6915 (N.D. IL). Plaintiff filed a deadline suit to compel the Administrator to respond to an administrative petition dated November 23, 2005 seeking EPA's objection to CAA Title V operating permits for two (2) electrical generating stations in the State of Illinois known as the Will County Generating Station and the Joliet Generating Station. Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA has agreed to respond to the Plaintiff(s petition within five (5) business days after the entry of this decree, and the Plaintiff has agreed to dismiss the suit with prejudice. In addition, EPA has agreed to pay the Plaintiff a specified amount in settlement for attorneys' fees and litigation costs in this matter. EPA responded to the petition on June 14, 2007.

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 American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, Environment Illinois, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, and the Sierra Club (collectively ``Plaintiffs'') in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois: American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, et al. v. Johnson, No. 06-6933 (N.D. IL). Plaintiffs filed a deadline suit to compel the Administrator to respond to an administrative petition dated November 25, 2005 seeking EPA's objection to CAA Title V operating permits for two (2) electrical generating stations in the State of Illinois known as the Fisk Generating Station and the Crawford Generating Station. Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA has agreed to respond to the Plaintiffs' petition within five (5) business days after the entry of this decree, and the Plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss the suit with prejudice. In addition, EPA has agreed to pay the Plaintiffs a specified amount in settlement for attorneys' fees and litigation cost in this matter. EPA responded to the petition on June 14, 2007.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (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 November 30, 2007. 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.

Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and 40 CFR 70.8(d), the EPA Administrator signed an order dated June 20, 2007, denying a petition to object to a state operating permit proposed to be issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) to Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic Power Holdings, LLC for its Portland Generating Station in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. This order constitutes final action on the petition filed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), dated July 21, 2006, requesting that the Administrator object to the issuance of the proposed title V permit. Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the CAA, any person may seek judicial review in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit within 60 days of this notice under section 307 of the CAA.

In this order, EPA denies objections to an order denying a petition requesting the modification or revocation of the pesticide tolerances for alachlor, chlorothalonil, and metribuzin, established under section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). The petition was filed on December 17, 2004, by the States of New York, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The petitioners claimed that EPA had improperly removed an additional safety factor for the protection of infants and children from the risk assessments for these pesticide tolerances and that inclusion of this safety factor rendered the tolerances unsafe. EPA issued an order denying that petition, in part, on August 2, 2006. On October 2, 2006, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts filed objections to EPA's denial order.

This notice announces the availability of EPA's risk assessment, and related documents for the pesticide bromonitrostyrene (BNS), and opens a public comment period on these documents. The public is encouraged to suggest risk management ideas or proposals to address the risks identified. EPA is developing a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for BNS through a modified, 4-Phase public participation process that the Agency uses to involve the public in developing pesticide reregistration decisions. Through this program, EPA is ensuring that all pesticides meet current health and safety standards.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is promulgating mandatory criteria for the environmentally protective use of chat in transportation projects carried out, in whole or in part, with Federal funds. Specifically, chat used in such transportation projects will be safe and environmentally protective if it is used in asphalt concrete, in slurry seals, microsurfacing, or in epoxy seals for anti-skid on bridge decking. Chat used in such transportation projects will also meet EPA's criteria if it is used in Portland cement concrete, flowable fill, stabilized base, chip seals, or as road base providing, on a case-by-case basis, either: Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure (SPLP, EPA SW-846 Method 1312) tests are conducted on the proposed material and the leachate testing results show that concentrations in the leachate do not exceed the Drinking Water Standards for lead and cadmium and the fresh water chronic National Recommended Water Quality Criterion for zinc of 120 ug/l; or EPA (or a State environmental Agency, if it chooses to do so) has determined, based on a site-specific risk assessment and after notice and opportunity for public comment, that the releases from the chat mixture in its proposed use will not cause an exceedance of the National Primary Drinking Water Standards for lead and cadmium in potential drinking water sources and the fresh water chronic National Recommended Water Quality Criterion for zinc of 120 ug/l in surface water. Furthermore, this rule also establishes a criterion that other uses of chat will be safe and environmentally protective and are acceptable if they are part of, and otherwise authorized by, a State or Federal response action undertaken in accordance with Federal or State environmental laws, with consideration of a site-specific risk assessment. This rule does not require that chat be sized (dry or wet) prior to its use, as long as this rule's criteria are complied with. EPA is also establishing recommended criteria as guidance on the environmentally protective use of chat for non-transportation cement and concrete projects. Finally, the Agency is establishing certification and recordkeeping requirements for all chat, except that under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The chat covered by this rule is from the lead and zinc mining areas of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, known as the Tri-State Mining District.