Environmental Protection Agency August 4, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that exemptions to the land disposal restrictions under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act have been granted to Solutia, Inc, Chocolate Bayou Facility (Solutia) for two Class I injection wells located at Alvin, Texas. As required by 40 CFR Part 148, the company has adequately demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Environmental Protection Agency by the petitions and supporting documentation that, to a reasonable degree of certainty, there will be no migration of hazardous constituents from the injection zone for as long as the waste remains hazardous. These final decisions allow the underground injection by Solutia, of the specific restricted hazardous wastes identified in these exemptions, into Class I hazardous waste injection wells Nos. WDW-224 and WDW-326 at the Chocolate Bayou, Alvin, Texas facility, until December 31, 2026, unless EPA moves to terminate these exemptions under provisions of 40 CFR 148.24. Additional conditions included in these final decisions may be reviewed by contacting the Region 6 Ground Water/UIC Section. As required by 40 CFR 148.22(b) and 124.10, a public notice was issued June 5, 2008. The public comment period closed on July 21, 2008. No comments were received. These decisions constitute final Agency action and there is no Administrative appeal. These decisions may be reviewed/appealed in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

Mississippi has applied to EPA for Final authorization of the changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA proposes to grant final authorization to Mississippi. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, EPA is authorizing the changes by an immediate final rule. EPA did not make a proposal prior to the immediate final rule because we believe this action is not controversial and do not expect comments that oppose it. We have explained the reasons for this authorization in the preamble of the immediate final rule. Unless we get written comments which oppose this authorization during the comment period, the immediate final rule will become effective on the date it establishes, and we will not take further action on this proposal. If we receive comments that oppose this action, we will withdraw the immediate final rule and it will not take effect. We will respond to public comments in a later final rule based on this proposal. You may not have another opportunity for comment.

EPA is proposing to approve a request submitted by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on May 22, 2008, to revise the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP). The submission revises the Indiana Administrative Code (IAC) by amending and updating the definition of ``References to Code of Federal Regulations,'' to refer to the 2007 edition. In the final rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the SIP revision as a direct final rule without prior proposal, because EPA views this as a noncontroversial revision and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If we do not receive any adverse comments in response to these direct final and proposed rules, we do not contemplate taking any further action in relation to this proposed rule. If EPA receives adverse comments, we will withdraw the direct final rule and will respond to all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

On February 13, 2008, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) submitted a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision to request redesignation of the El Paso carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment area to attainment for the CO National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This submittal also included a CO maintenance plan for the El Paso area and associated Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs). The maintenance plan was developed to ensure continued attainment of the CO NAAQS for a period of 10 years from the effective date of EPA approval of redesignation to attainment. In this action, EPA is proposing to approve the El Paso CO redesignation request and the maintenance plan with its associated MVEBs as satisfying the requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended in 1990.

EPA is approving a revision to the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone. The state is incorporating revisions EPA made to its definition of volatile organic compound (VOC). This SIP revision adds one compound to the list of compounds that are exempt from being considered a VOC. This is because it was determined that the listed compound does not significantly contribute to ozone formation.

This document moves the effective date of the revocation of certain inert ingredient tolerance exemptions with insufficient data for reassessment as set forth in the Federal Register on August 9, 2006 (71 FR 45415).