Environmental Protection Agency December 29, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA expressed environmental concerns about impacts to environmental resources and impacts from noise. Rating EC2.

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 August 31, 2009.

EPA Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are finalizing an NPDES Vessel General Permit (VGP) to cover discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels. This action is in response to a District Court ruling that vacates, as of December 19, 2008, a long- standing EPA regulation that excludes discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel from the need to obtain an NPDES permit. As of December 19, 2008, discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel that had formerly been exempted from NPDES permitting by the regulation will be subject to the prohibition in CWA Section 301(a) against the discharge of pollutants without a permit. EPA solicited information and data on discharges incidental to normal vessel operations to assist in developing two NPDES general permits in a Federal Register Notice published June 21, 2007 (72 FR 32421). The majority of information and data in response to that notice came from seven different groups: Individual citizens, commercial fishing representatives, commercial shipping groups, environmental or outdoor recreation groups, the oil and gas industry, recreational boating-related businesses, and state governments. EPA considered all the information and data received along with other publicly available information in developing two proposed vessel permits. EPA published the two proposed permits and accompanying fact sheets for public comment on June 17, 2008 (73 FR 34296). As proposed, the VGP would have covered all commercial and non-recreational vessels and those recreational vessels longer or equal to 79 feet, and the proposed RGP would have covered recreational vessels less than 79 feet in length. However, after the permits were proposed, Congress enacted two new laws that impact the universe of vessels covered under today's permit. On July 29, 2008, Senate bill S. 2766 (``the Clean Boating Act of 2008'') was signed into law (Pub. L. 110-288). This law provides that recreational vessels shall not be subject to the requirement to obtain an NPDES permit to authorize discharges incidental to their normal operation. As a result of this legislation, EPA is not finalizing the proposed recreational vessel NPDES permit and has also modified the VGP, which included those recreational vessel over 79 feet, to eliminate that coverage. On July 31, 2008, Senate bill S. 3298 was signed into law (Pub. L. 110-299). This law generally imposes a two-year moratorium during which time neither EPA nor states can require NPDES permits for discharges (except ballast water discharges) incidental to the normal operation of vessels of less than 79 feet and commercial fishing vessels of any length. EPA is not taking final action on the proposed permit as it would apply to these vessels and has revised the final VGP to reflect the new law.

The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), a part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Research and Development, is sponsoring a three-day public, scientific workshop, including a public review of the recent scientific literature on 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) dose-response, to assist EPA in responding to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, Health Risks from Dioxin and Related Compounds: Evaluation of the EPA Reassessment (NAS, 2006). (See 73 FR 70999 for information on the preliminary literature search results for TCDD dose-response. The literature search was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratories.) The Track Group, an EPA contractor, will organize and facilitate the workshop. Members of the public may attend the workshop as observers and may participate in open comment periods. Space is limited and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. As part of the registration process, members of the public may choose to submit a poster citation and abstract limited to 250 words. Space for displaying posters is limited, and abstract submissions will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

EPA is proposing to approve portions of revisions to the Oklahoma State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted on February 14, 2002. Most of the revisions are administrative in nature and modify redundant or incorrect text within the SIP. The revisions also include renumbered or recodified portions of the SIP and new sections that incorporate Federal rules. We are approving the revisions in accordance with the requirements of section 110 of the Clean Air Act (the Act) and EPA's regulations.