Environmental Protection Agency January 14, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act, signed into law on October 10, 2000, amended the Clean Water Act (CWA), to incorporate provisions to reduce the risk of illness to users of the Nation's recreational waters. Section 406(b) of the CWA, as amended by the BEACH Act, authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award grants to eligible States, Territories, Tribes, and local governments to develop and implement microbiological monitoring programs of coastal recreation waters, including the Great Lakes, which are adjacent to beaches or similar points of access used by the public. BEACH Act grants also develop and implement programs to notify the public of the potential exposure to disease-causing microorganisms in these waters. EPA encourages coastal and Great Lakes States and Territories to apply for BEACH Act grants for program implementation (referred to as implementation grants) to implement effective and comprehensive coastal recreation water monitoring and public notification programs. EPA also encourages coastal and Great Lakes Tribes to apply for BEACH Act grants for program development (referred to as development grants) to develop effective and comprehensive coastal recreation water monitoring and public notification programs.

EPA is proposing to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of establishing the Fredericksburg 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area (Spotsylvania County, Stafford County, and Fredericksburg City) and the Shenandoah National Park 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area (portions of the park located in Page and Madison Counties) movement from the nonattainment area list to the maintenance area list. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the Commonwealth's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

This document corrects an error in the preamble language of the final rules pertaining to EPA's approval of the redesignation of Reading, Erie, and Youngstown 8-hour ozone nonattainment areas to attainment, maintenance plans and 2002 base year inventories submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP) that was submitted on August 14, 2007 by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The revisions move the Fredericksburg and the Shenandoah National Park 8-Hour Ozone Areas from the Nonattainment Area list to the Maintenance Area list. EPA is approving these revisions to move the Fredericksburg 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area (Spotsylvania County, Stafford County, and Fredericksburg City) and the Shenandoah National Park 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area (portions of the park located in Page and Madison Counties) from the list of nonattainment areas to the list of maintenance areas in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).