Environmental Protection Agency 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the final agency action on 27 TMDLs established by EPA Region 6 for waters listed in the State of Arkansas, under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). These TMDLs were completed in response to the lawsuit styled Sierra Club, et al. v. Clifford, et al., No. LR-C-99-114. Documents from the administrative record files for the final 27 TMDLs, including TMDL calculations may be viewed at www.epa.gov/region6/water/npdes/tmdl/index.htm.

Notice is hereby given that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is revising its approved Public Water Supply Supervision Program. The EPA has determined that these revisions are no less stringent than the corresponding Federal regulations. Therefore, the EPA intends to approve these program revisions. All interested parties may request a public hearing.

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) revision 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. During this conference call the TCRDSAC will continue the Committee's discussions related to revisions to the draft Agreement in Principle (AIP), which includes recommended revisions to the TCR and recommendations for research and information collection to better understand and address possible public health impacts from potential degradation of drinking water quality in the distribution system.

EPA is amending certain regulations to reflect the current delegation status of national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) in Arizona. Several NESHAP were delegated to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on June 4, 2008, and to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality on June 16, 2008. The purpose of this action is to update the listing in the Code of Federal Regulations.

EPA is taking final action under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to approve the Best Available Control Measure (BACM) and the Most Stringent Measure (MSM) demonstrations in the serious area particulate matter (PM-10) plan for the Maricopa County portion of the metropolitan Phoenix (Arizona) nonattainment area (Maricopa County area). EPA is also confirming that it appropriately granted Arizona's request to extend the attainment deadline from 2001 to 2006. EPA originally approved these demonstrations and granted the extension request on July 25, 2002. Thereafter EPA's action was challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In response to the Court's remand, EPA reassessed the BACM demonstration for the significant source categories of on-road motor vehicles and nonroad engines and equipment exhaust, specifically regarding whether or not California Air Resources Board (CARB) diesel is a BACM and/or MSM. As a result of this reassessment, EPA in 2006 again approved the BACM and MSM demonstrations in the plan and granted the request for an attainment date extension. In light of its 2007 finding that the Maricopa County area failed to attain the 24- hour PM-10 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by December 31, 2006, EPA has again reassessed the BACM and MSM demonstrations and is again approving these demonstrations.

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).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the second external review draft of a document titled, ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and SulfurEnvironmental Criteria; Second External Review Draft'' (EPA/ 600/R-08/082). EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of seeking public comment and for review by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) (meeting date and location to be specified in a separate Federal Register notice). It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

On June 30, 2008, EPA published a Federal Register notice that solicited scientific views on the Draft Technical Support Document, Volume 3: Development of Site-Specific Bioaccumulation Factors (hereafter ``Draft Site-Specific BAF TSD'') that accompanies the Methodology and the National BAF TSD. See 73 FR 36866. Today, in response to stakeholder requests, EPA is notifying the public that we will extend the time period to submit scientific views on this document for 45 days, until September 29, 2008.

EPA is announcing the availability of a memorandum entitled ``Award of Special Appropriations Act Project Grants Authorized by the Agency's FY 2008 Appropriations Act.'' This memorandum provides information and guidelines on how EPA will award and administer grants for the special projects identified in the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) account of the Agency's FY 2008 Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 110-161). The STAG account provides budget authority for funding identified water, wastewater and groundwater infrastructure projects. Each grant recipient will receive a copy of this document from EPA.

Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires any person who intends to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) a new chemical (i.e., a chemical not on the TSCA Inventory) to notify EPA and comply with the statutory provisions pertaining to the manufacture of new chemicals. Under sections 5(d)(2) and 5(d)(3) of TSCA, EPA is required to publish a notice of receipt of a premanufacture notice (PMN) or an application for a test marketing exemption (TME), and to publish periodic status reports on the chemicals under review and the receipt of notices of commencement to manufacture those chemicals. This status report, which covers the period from June 23, 2008 through July 18, 2008, consists of the PMNs and TMEs, both pending or expired, and the notices of commencement to manufacture a new chemical that the Agency has received under TSCA section 5 during this time period.

EPA expressed environmental concerns because the Draft EIS does not identify a specific product delivery/customer use scenario for the new preferred alternative, discuss how the environmental impacts of future coal delivery/customer use scenarios will be analyzed, or describe greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed project. Rating EC2. EIS No. 20080154, ERP No. D-FHW-D40342-MD, U.S. 50 Crossing Study, Transportation Improvement from MD 611 to MD 378; and 3rd Street to Somerset Street, Funding, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army COE Section 10 and 404 Permits, Worcester County, MD. Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns about dredging and impacts to bird habitat. Rating EC1. EIS No. 20080162, ERP No. D-FRC-D03016-MD, Sparrows Point Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Import Terminal Expansion and Natural Gas Pipeline Facilities, Construction and Operation, Application Authorization, U.S. COE section 10 and 404 Permits, Baltimore County, MD. Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns about the potential impacts associated with the proposed terminal. In particular, EPA expressed concerns about the potential water quality impacts associated with the proposed dredging for the terminal and noted that the Draft EIS did not contain sufficient information to fully assess the project's impacts. Rating EC2. EIS No. 20080165, ERP No. D-FHW-L59003-00, Interstate 5 Columbia River Crossing Project, Bridge, Transit, and Highway Improvements, from State Route 500 in Vancouver, WA to Columbia Boulevard in Portland, OR, Funding, U.S. COE section 10 & 404 Permits, NPDES Permit. Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns about the potential impacts to the Troutdale Sole Source Aquifer, environmental justice, and aquatic resources impacts, and requested additional analysis for project related air quality impacts be included in the FEIS. Rating EC2. EIS No. 20080203, ERP No. D-UCG-A99225-00, Dry Cargo Residue (DCR) Discharges in the Great Lakes, To Regulate Nonhazardous and Nontoxic DRC Sweeping from Vessels in the Great Lakes that Fall under the Jurisdiction of the United States. Summary: EPA does not object to the proposed action. Rating LO. EIS No. 20080222, ERP No. D-COE-E39074-FL, South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Project, Propose to Construct and Operate Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) on Compartment B and C of the Everglades Agriculture Area, U.S. Army COE section 404 Permit, Palm Beach and Hendry Counties, FL. Summary: EPA is fully supportive of the construction of the proposed Stormwater Treatment Areas (STA). However, EPA expressed environmental concerns about the wetland impacts of the total STA footprints, the discharge of STA waters, and some of the assumptions and technical analyses, and requested that the Final EIS provide additional information and analyses. Rating EC2. EIS No. 20080228, ERP No. D-AFS-L65555-WA, Republic Ranger Station Excess Residence Sale Project, Proposes to Sell a 0.72 Acre Parcel of Land with a Residential Building, Republic Ranger District, Colville National Forest, Ferry County, WA. Summary: EPA does not object to the proposed action. Rating LO. EIS No. 20080169, ERP No. DR-COE-K39099-CA, Berth 97-109 (China Shipping) Container Terminal Project, Construction and Operation, Issuance of Section 404 (CWA) and Section 10 Rivers and Harbor Act Permits, Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns about impacts to air quality, environmental justice communities, and aquatic and biological resources. EPA recommended commitments to meet and exceed San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan air emission requirements, coordination with the environmental justice community to identify additional measures to offset health impacts, avoidance of fill, and development of a port-wide marine mammal vessel strike reduction program. Rating EC2. EIS No. 20080210, ERP No. DS-FHW-F40415-IN, U.S. 31 Improvement Project (I-465 to IN 38), between I-465 North Leg and IN-38, Updated Information, NPDES Permit and U.S. Army section 10 and 404 Permits, Hamilton County, IN. Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns about impacts to water quality, public drinking water supplies, and streams. Rating EC2.

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This SIP revision pertains to the requirements in meeting the reasonably available control technology (RACT) under the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). These requirements are based on: Certification that previously adopted RACT controls in Virginia's SIP that were approved by EPA under the 1-hour ozone NAAQS are based on the currently available technically and economically feasible controls, and that they continue to represent RACT for the 8-hour implementation purposes; a negative declaration demonstrating that no facilities exist in Stafford County for the applicable control technology guideline (CTG) categories; and new RACT determinations. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA is taking direct final action approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Colorado on August 1, 2007. This revision establishes affirmative defense provisions for source owners and operators for excess emissions during periods of malfunction. The affirmative defense provisions are contained in the State of Colorado's Common Provisions regulation. The intended effect of this action is to approve only those portions of Colorado's Common Provisions regulation submitted on August 1, 2007 that relate to the affirmative defense for malfunctions. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean Air Act.

This document announces the EPA Administrator's decision, responding to a petition submitted by the office of James P. Molinaro, President of the Borough of Staten Island, New York, requesting that EPA object to an operating permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to the New York Power Authority's Pouch Terminal plant. The petition, requesting an objection to the issuance of the Pouch Terminal title V permit is denied. Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (Act), Petitioner may seek judicial review of any portions of the petition which EPA denied, in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit. Any petition for review shall be filed within 60 days from the date this notice appears in the Federal Register, pursuant to section 307 of the Act.

This regulation establishes time-limited tolerances for residues of difenoconazole, 1-[2-[2-chloro-4-(4-chlorophenoxy)phenyl]- 4-methyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-ylmethyl]-1H-1,2,4-triazole in or on almond, almond hulls, cantaloupe, cucumber, and watermelon. This action is in response to EPA's granting crisis exemptions to the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Department of Agriculture under section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of the pesticide on almond, almond hulls, cantaloupe, cucumber, and watermelon. This regulation establishes a maximum permissible level for residues of difenoconazole in these food commodities. The time-limited tolerances expire and are revoked on December 31, 2011.

EPA has authorized a subcontractor, of its prime contractor Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) of Chantilly, VA, to access information which has been submitted to EPA under all sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Some of the information may be claimed or determined to be Confidential Business Information (CBI).

This notice announces the availability of EPA's proposed registration review decisions for the pesticides cases Chitin/Chitosan and Farnesol/Nerolidol and opens a public comment period on the proposed registration review decisions. Registration review is EPA's periodic review of pesticide registrations to ensure that each pesticide continues to satisfy the statutory standard for registration, that is, that the pesticide can perform its intended function without unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment. Through this program, EPA is ensuring that each pesticide's registration is based on current scientific and other knowledge, including its effects on human health and the environment.

EPA is publishing a revised list of pesticide registration service fees applicable to specified pesticide applications and tolerance actions. Under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Renewal Act, the registration service fees for covered pesticide registration applications received on or after October 1, 2008, increase by 5% rounding up to the nearest dollar from the fees published for fiscal year 2008, and certain decision review periods have been reduced. The new fees and decision review periods become effective on October 1, 2008.