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

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. ), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to renew an existing approved Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This ICR is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2009. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

In accordance with Section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (``CERCLA''), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed Administrative Agreement for Recovery of Past Response Costs (``Agreement,'' Region 9 Docket No. 9-2008-16) pursuant to Section 122(h) of CERCLA concerning the AuClair Superfund SITE (the ``Site''), located on the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Reservation, Riverside County, California. The settling party is Mr. George Stanley Auclair Jr. (``settling party''). In the Agreement, the ``Settling Party'' will fully reimburse the United States up to $627,022.00 for response costs incurred at the Site. The Agreement provides the ``Settling Party'' with a covenant not to sue for these response costs, and contribution protection. For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this Notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the proposed Agreement. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX offices, located at 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105.

EPA is finalizing changes to the Emergency Planning Notification, Emergency Release Notification and Hazardous Chemical Reporting regulations that were proposed on June 8, 1998. EPA proposed four major revisions and provided draft guidance on various reporting options that States and local agencies may wish to consider in implementing the hazardous chemical reporting requirements. This action addresses only those changes proposed under the heading ``Other Regulatory Changes'' described in the preamble to the 1998 proposed rule. This final action includes minor revisions to the Emergency Planning Notification, Emergency Release Notification and Hazardous Chemical Reporting regulations, codifying statutory requirements, and clarifying certain interpretations and policy statements that EPA has provided to the regulated community. This final action does not affect public access to any of the information provided under the Emergency Planning Notification, Emergency Release Notification and Hazardous Chemical Reporting regulations. In addition to the regulatory changes, the Agency is finalizing the plain language format of the regulations. Each section in these regulations will be re-numbered and tables will be added for further clarification. Improving the clarity of the regulatory requirements will make the rule easier to understand and improve compliance.