Environmental Protection Agency June 3, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is announcing a listening session to be held on June 25, 2008, during the public comment period for the draft document entitled, ``Toxicological Review of Cerium Oxide and Cerium Compounds: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)''. This listening session is a new step in EPA's revised process, announced on April 10, 2008, for development of human health assessments for inclusion on IRIS. The purpose of the listening session is to allow all interested parties to present scientific and technical comments on draft IRIS health assessments to EPA and other interested parties during the public comment period and prior to the external peer review meeting. EPA welcomes the scientific and technical comments that will be provided to the Agency by the listening session participants. The comments will be considered by the Agency as it revises the draft assessment in response to the independent external peer review and public comments. All electronic or hard copies of presentations made at the meeting will become part of the official and public record. The EPA's draft assessment and peer review charge are available via the Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's (NCEA) home page under the Recent Additions and the Data and Publications menus at https://www.epa.gov/ncea.

This document corrects an error in the table posted in the April 23, 2008, notice of adequacy of the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEB) for the Indiana and Ohio portions of the Cincinnati- Hamilton OH/KY/IN area. The MVEBs were submitted by Indiana as part of the 8-hour ozone attainment demonstration for the area. The MVEB table in that notice conflicts with the actual MVEBs. EPA, therefore, is correcting the erroneous table.

EPA is proposing an update to the lead maintenance plan for Dakota County, Minnesota. This plan update demonstrates that Dakota County will maintain attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead through 2014. Minnesota has verified that the emission limits adopted to demonstrate modeled attainment continue to be met, that there are no new significant sources of lead or increases in background emissions, and that the state has in place a comprehensive program to identify sources of violations and address any violation through enforcement and implementation of a contingency plan.

This action announces the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of alternative testing methods for use in measuring the levels of contaminants in drinking water and determining compliance with national primary drinking water regulations. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) authorizes EPA to approve the use of alternative testing methods through publication in the Federal Register. EPA is using this streamlined authority to make 99 additional methods available for analyzing drinking water samples required by regulation. This expedited approach provides public water systems, laboratories, and primary agencies with more timely access to new measurement techniques and greater flexibility in the selection of analytical methods, thereby reducing monitoring costs while maintaining public health protection.