Environmental Protection Agency August 27, 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 which is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

EPA is proposing an exemption to the phaseout of methyl bromide to meet the needs of 2008 critical uses. Specifically, EPA is proposing uses that qualify for the 2008 critical use exemption and the amount of methyl bromide that may be produced, imported, or supplied from existing stocks for those uses in 2008. EPA is taking action under the authority of the Clean Air Act to reflect recent consensus decisions taken by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Protocol) at the 18th Meeting of the Parties (MOP). EPA is seeking comment on the list of critical uses and on EPA's determination of the amounts of methyl bromide needed to satisfy those uses.

The EPA is proposing to revise the General Provisions for Consolidated Federal Air Rule. On May 16, 2007, we published a final rule that revised the General Provisions for Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources, for National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, and for National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Source Categories to allow extensions to the deadline imposed for source owners and operators to conduct initial or other required performance tests in certain specified force majeure circumstances. We recently realized that we should have also revised the Consolidated Federal Air Rule to allow similar extensions.

In a final rule published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2006, EPA determined that the San Joaquin Valley nonattainment area (SJV or the Valley) in California attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers (PM-10). Since that final determination of attainment, the State has flagged several exceedances of the PM-10 standard in 2006 as being caused by exceptional events, i.e., high winds, and requested that these data be excluded from attainment determinations. EPA is proposing to concur with the State's request to flag these exceedances and thus to exclude that data from use in determining PM-10 attainment for the SJV. EPA is also proposing to exclude from use in determining attainment for the SJV exceedances recorded at a monitor located at the Santa Rosa Rancheria, tribal lands within the boundaries of the SJV, on two bases: The exceedances occurred while the monitor was operating in very close proximity to construction activities and, as such, the monitor was not properly sited during that time for purposes of comparison to the NAAQS; and the exceedances were caused by an exceptional event. EPA is proposing to concur with the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tribe's request to flag these exceedances as due to an exceptional event. As a result, EPA is proposing to affirm its determination that the SJV has attained the PM-10 standard based on EPA's evaluation of quality-assured data through December 2006. In addition to providing the public with an opportunity to comment on EPA's evaluation and proposed concurrence on flagged exceedances that occurred through the end of calendar year 2006, EPA is in this proposed rule addressing issues raised in petitions for reconsideration and withdrawal of EPA's 2006 determination of attainment, filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Sierra Club, Latino Issues Forum and others.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 is issuing a notice of intent to delete the Standard Auto Bumper Superfund Site (Site) located in Hialeah, Florida, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this notice of intent. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is found at Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of Florida, through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other than operation and maintenance and five- year reviews, have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of today's Federal Register, we are publishing a direct final notice of deletion of the Standard Auto Bumper Superfund Site without prior notice of intent to delete because we view this as a noncontroversial revision and anticipate no adverse comment. We have explained our reasons for this deletion in the preamble to the direct final deletion. If we receive no adverse comment(s) on this notice of intent to delete or the direct final notice of deletion, we will not take further action on this notice of intent to delete. If we receive adverse comment(s), we will withdraw the direct final notice of deletion and it will not take effect. We will, as appropriate, address all public comments in a subsequent final deletion notice based on this notice of intent to delete. We will not institute a second comment period on this notice of intent to delete. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. For additional information, see the direct final notice of deletion which is located in the Rules section of this Federal Register.