Environmental Protection Agency April 25, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is proposing to approve the State of California's request to revise the designation for the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) serious nonattainment area for particulate matter of ten microns or less (PM- 10) (SJV nonattainment area) by splitting the area into two separate nonattainment areas: The San Joaquin Valley Air Basin serious PM-10 nonattainment area and the East Kern serious PM-10 nonattainment area. EPA is also proposing to redesignate the SJVAB nonattainment area to attainment for the PM-10 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) and proposing to approve the PM-10 maintenance plan, motor vehicle emissions budgets and conformity trading mechanism for the area. EPA is also proposing to exclude from use in determining that the area has attained the standard two exceedances that EPA has concluded were caused by exceptional events that occurred on July 4, 2007 and January 4, 2008. Finally, EPA is proposing to approve enforceable commitments by the Kern County Air Pollution Control District and the California Air Resources Board to install a PM-10 monitor in the East Kern nonattainment area and to address Clean Air Act requirements under section 189(d) as necessary for the area.

The EPA is announcing an extension of the public comment period on the Draft Risk and Exposure Assessment Reports for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) (73 FR 20045; April 14, 2008). The EPA is extending the comment period that originally ends on May 1, 2008. The extended comment period will close on May 30, 2008. The EPA is extending the comment period to provide stakeholders and the public with adequate time to conduct appropriate analysis and prepare meaningful comments.

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92463, EPA gives notice of a meeting of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT). NACEPT provides advice to the EPA Administrator on a broad range of environmental policy, technology, and management issues. The Council is a panel of individuals who represent diverse interests from academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, and local, state, and tribal governments. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss biofuels, environmental technology, and sustainable water infrastructure. The Council will also be discussing potential projects on environmental information and integrated modeling for integrated environmental decision making, among other issues. A copy of the agenda for the meeting will be posted at https://www.epa.gov/ocem/nacept/cal- nacept.htm.

The EPA is announcing a public comment period for the external review draft document entitled, ``Toxicological Review of Ethylene Glycol mono-Butyl Ether (EGBE): In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/635/R-08/006A). EPA intends to consider comments and recommendations from the public and the expert panel meeting, which will be scheduled at a later date and announced in the Federal Register, when EPA finalizes the draft document. The public comment period will provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the document. EPA intends to forward public comments, submitted in accordance with this notice, to the external peer-review panel prior to the workshop for their consideration. EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre- dissemination public 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 draft document is 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 any public comments that EPA receives in accordance with this notice.

EPA does not object to the proposed action. Rating LO.

EPA is making available a final White Paper that reviews data on the level in the human food supply of Cry9C protein from StarLink[reg] corn grain. It concludes that the protein has been sufficiently removed from the human food supply to render the level of risk low enough that continued testing for the protein in yellow corn at dry mills and masa production facilities provides no added public heath protection. The White Paper therefore recommends that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdraw its guidance recommending testing yellow corn grain for Cry9C at dry mills and masa production facilities. Concurrent with this notice, FDA is publishing a notice in the Federal Register withdrawing their guidance.

EPA is taking direct final action to revise an interpretive rule defining the term ``substantially similar'' for unleaded gasoline as that phrase is used in section 211(f) of the Clean Air Act (the Act). To meet the current definition, fuel or fuel additives must possess, at the time of manufacture, all of the physical and chemical characteristics of an unleaded gasoline as specified in ASTM Standard D 4814-88 for at least one of the Seasonal and Geographical Volatility Classes specified in the standard. EPA is amending the definition to allow some additional flexibility for the vapor/liquid ratio specification for fuel introduced into commerce in the state of Alaska in order to improve cold starting for vehicles during the winter months in Alaska.