Environmental Protection Agency June 27, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is proposing limited approval of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This revision pertains to amendments to Virginia's existing new source review permit program for owners of sources located or locating in Nonattainment areas which were submitted to EPA on February 12, 2007. EPA is proposing limited approval of these changes to the nonattainment new source review program, because while the SIP revision submitted by the Commonwealth strengthens the SIP, it does not fully meet the current Federal requirements for the allowable lookback period under the definition of ``baseline actual emissions''. EPA is also proposing full approval of a related SIP revision submitted by the Commonwealth on December 16, 2003, pertaining to amendments made to Virginia's existing nonattainment new source review permit program at that time. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). In a separate action, EPA has addressed changes made by Virginia to its prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) new source review rules which were previously submitted on October 10, 2006.

The U.S. EPA announces the availability of a final document entitled, ``Concepts, Methods, and Data Sources for Cumulative Health Risk Assessment of Multiple Chemicals, Exposures, and Effects: A Resource Document'' (EPA/600/R-06/013F), which was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). This document represents a collaborative effort between the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) that is designed to serve as an interim resource between U.S. EPA's 2003 ``Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment'' (EPA/630/P-02/001F) and future documents on approaches and guidance to cumulative risk assessment. The document provides concepts, methods, and data sources for consideration and possible use in the conduct of a cumulative risk assessment. Specifically, the document focuses on two areas: (1) Initiating factors for a cumulative risk assessment, with procedures for data collection and organization, and (2) technical approaches for assessing human health risks associated with a subset of cumulative risk issues (i.e., multiple chemicals, exposures, and effects). Overall, this document demonstrates the feasibility of including combinations of chemicals, exposures, effects and their interactions into a cumulative risk assessment and is meant to assist with the conduct of multi-chemical, population-focused assessments. This document has undergone review within the U.S. EPA, independent external peer review by a panel of scientific experts, and it has also benefited from a 45-day public comment period. However, it has not undergone the scrutiny required of a guidance document and, thus, does not represent U.S. EPA policy.

Under Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is giving notice of a conference call of the Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee (TCRDSAC). The purpose of this conference call is to discuss the Total Coliform Rule (TCR) revisions and information about distribution systems issues that may impact water quality. The TCRDSAC advises and makes recommendations to the Agency on revisions to the TCR, and on what information should be collected, research conducted, and/or risk management strategies evaluated to better inform distribution system contaminant occurrence and associated public health risks. Topics to be discussed during the conference call include options for revising the Total Coliform Rule; for example, rule construct, monitoring provisions, system categories, action levels, investigation and follow-up, public notification, and other related topics. In addition, the Committee will discuss possible recommendations for research and information collection needs concerning distribution systems and topics for upcoming TCRDSAC meetings.

EPA is proposing limited approval of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This revision pertains to amendments to Virginia's existing new source review permit program for owners of sources located or locating in prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) areas which were submitted to EPA on October 10, 2006. EPA is proposing limited approval of these changes to the PSD program, because while the SIP revision submitted by the Commonwealth strengthens the SIP, it does not fully meet the current Federal requirements for the allowable lookback period under the definition of ``baseline actual emissions''. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). In a separate action, EPA will address changes made by Virginia to its nonattainment new source review (NNSR) permit program, submitted on February 12, 2007.

EPA will hold a public meeting to give the stakeholders in the Voluntary Childrens Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP) and interested members of the public an opportunity to comment on the modifications the Agency intends to make to VCCEP. The modifications are based on the responses the Agency received to its request for comment on the implementation of the VCCEP pilot. The modifications will primarily address the timeliness and efficiency issues of the program in order to increase its productivity and ability to provide information to the public on the potential risks to children of exposure to certain chemicals. The meeting will also provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the use of the modified VCCEP approach to address certain data and assessment needs identified in EPA's review of high production volume (HPV) and mid production volume (MPV) chemicals under its Chemical Assessment and Management Program (ChAMP).

EPA is taking direct final action to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Washington. The Washington State Department of Ecology submitted the Vancouver Air Quality Maintenance Area Second 10-year Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan on April 25, 2007. In accordance with the requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act (the Act), EPA is approving Washington's revision because the State adequately demonstrates that the Vancouver Air Quality Maintenance Area will maintain air quality standards for carbon monoxide (CO) through the year 2016.

EPA is taking final action to conditionally approve revisions to the Florida State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Florida on February 3, 2006. The SIP revisions modify the Florida Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program to address changes to the federal new source review (NSR) regulations, which were promulgated by EPA on December 31, 2002, and reconsidered with minor changes on November 7, 2003 (commonly referred to as the ``2002 NSR Reform Rules''). In addition EPA is approving Florida's concurrent February 3, 2006, request to make the State's PSD permitting program applicable to electric power plants, which are also subject to the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act (PPSA). EPA proposed conditional approval of these revisions on April 4, 2008; no comments were received on that proposal.