Environmental Protection Agency April 8, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is announcing that Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG), an EPA contractor for external scientific peer review, will convene an independent panel of experts and organize and conduct an external peer review workshop to review the external review draft document titled, ``Toxicological Review of Thallium: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (NCEA-S-2949; EPA/ 635/R-08/001). EPA previously announced the 60-day public comment period (ending April 15, 2008) for the draft document in the Federal Register on February 15, 2008 (73 FR 8867). EPA will consider public comments and recommendations from the expert panel workshop as EPA finalizes the draft document. The public comment period and the external peer review workshop are separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the document. EPA intends to forward public comments submitted in accordance with the Federal Register notice (73 FR 8867) to ERG for consideration by the external peer review panel prior to the workshop. EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre- dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. The public may attend this workshop as observers through a registration process, and time will be set aside for observers to give brief oral comments at the workshop regarding the draft document under review. Pre-registration is strongly recommended as space is limited, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline for pre-registration is Monday, May 12, 2008. If space allows, registrations will continue to be accepted after this date, including on-site registrations. Time will be set aside to hear comments from observers, and individuals will be limited to a maximum of five minutes during the morning session of peer review workshop. When you register, please indicate that you wish to make oral comments during the comment period. The draft document and EPA's peer review charge are available via the Internet on NCEA's home page under the Recent Additions and the Data and Publications menus at https://www.epa.gov/ncea. When finalizing the draft document, EPA intends to consider the comments and recommendations from the external peer review workshop and any public comments that EPA receives in accordance with 73 FR 8867, February 15, 2008. Public comments submitted during the 60-day public comment period ending April 15, 2008, may be observed at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0057.

EPA proposes to approve the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) large municipal waste combustor plan (the plan) revision for implementing Clean Air Act (the Act) emission guideline (EG) amendments promulgated by EPA on May 10, 2006. The plan revision establishes revised emission limits, monitoring, and recordkeeping requirements for existing LMWC units with a unit capacity greater than 250 tons per day (TPD). An existing LMWC unit is one for which construction commenced on or before September 20, 1994. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's 111(d)/129 plan revision 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 description 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.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve a February 4, 2008, revision to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) on behalf of the State of North Carolina for the purpose of revising the subarea motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the Greensboro/ Winston-Salem/High Point area. The Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point 1-hour ozone maintenance area (hereafter referred to as the ``Triad Area'') is comprised of Davidson, Forsyth, and Guilford Counties and a portion of Davie County. The revisions to the subarea MVEBs are approvable because of an available safety margin for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) for this Area.