Environmental Protection Agency August 13, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for an external review of its Guidance Document on the Development, Evaluation and Application of Regulatory Environmental Models (hereinafter Guidance Document). The EPA's Council on Regulatory Environmental Modeling (CREM) has developed the Guidance Document and its companion product, the Models Knowledge Base, to improve the quality, consistency and transparency of EPA models. These products were produced in draft form in November 2003 and have undergone a rigorous process of internal and external peer review. This revised draft of the Guidance Document builds on the recommendations of the Science Advisory Board review panel and the National Research Council report on Models in Environmental Regulatory Decision Making. This Federal Register Notice is intended to solicit public comment on the Guidance Document. EPA is releasing this external review draft document solely for the purpose of public comment under applicable information quality guidelines. The guidance document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

The Governor of the State of Texas requested a waiver of 50 percent of the renewable fuel standard (RFS or RFS mandate) for the time period from September 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009, pursuant to section 211(o)(7) of the Clean Air Act (the Act), 42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(7). Based on a thorough review of the record in this case, EPA finds that the evidence does not support a determination that implementation of the RFS mandate during the time period at issue would severely harm the economy of a State, a region, or the United States. EPA is therefore denying the request for a waiver. In this Notice EPA is also providing guidance on the Agency's general expectations for future waiver requests.

EPA is proposing to update a portion of the Outer Continental Shelf (``OCS'') Air Regulations. Requirements applying to OCS sources located within 25 miles of States' seaward boundaries must be updated periodically to remain consistent with the requirements of the corresponding onshore area (``COA''), as mandated by section 328(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (``the Act''). The portion of the OCS air regulations that is being updated pertains to the requirements for OCS sources by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (Santa Barbara County APCD). The intended effect of approving the OCS requirements for the Santa Barbara County APCD is to regulate emissions from OCS sources in accordance with the requirements onshore. The change to the existing requirements discussed below is proposed to be incorporated by reference into the Code of Federal Regulations and is listed in the appendix to the OCS air regulations.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of tebuconazole in or on apple, wet pomace; asparagus; bean, succulent; bean, dry seed; beet, garden, tops; beet, garden, roots; brassica, leafy greens, subgroup 5B; coffee, green bean; coffee, roasted bean; corn, field, grain; corn, field, forage; corn, field, stover; corn, pop, grain; corn, pop, stover; corn, sweet, kernel plus cob with husks removed; corn, sweet, forage; corn, sweet, stover; cotton, undelinted seed; cotton, gin byproducts; Fruit, pome, group 11; fruit, stone, group 12, except cherry; grain, aspirated fractions; hop, dried cones; lychee; mango, postharvest; okra; onion, bulb, subgroup 3-07A; onion, green, subgroup 3-07B; plum, pre- and post-harvest; turnip, roots; turnip, tops; soybean, forage; soybean, hay; soybean, seed; sunflower, seed; sunflower, meal; sunflower, refined oil; and vegetable, cucurbit, group 9. Bayer CropScience LP and Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR4) have requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This notice announces the Agency's receipt of several initial filing of pesticide petitions proposing the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

This notice announces the initial filing of a pesticide petition proposing the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of the insecticide flubendiamide per se, N2-[1,1-Dimethyl-2- (methylsulfonyl)ethyl-3-iodo-N1-[2-methyl-4-[1,2,2,2- tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]phenyl]-1,2-benzenedicar boxamide, in or on certain food and raw agricultural commodities. Bayer CropScience, LP in c/o Nichino America, Inc. (U.S. subsidiary of Nihon Nohyaku Co., Ltd.) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of tribenuron methyl in or on barley, hay; oat, forage; oat, hay; wheat, forage; and wheat, hay. E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).