Environmental Protection Agency January 5, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting a determination by the Regional Administrator, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for the waters of Revere, Saugus, Lynn, Nahant, and Swampscott.

EPA is announcing the availability of a final report titled, ``Predicting Future Introductions of Nonindigenous Species to the Great Lakes'' (EPA/600/R-08/066F). The report was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), within EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). The Great Lakes of the United States have been subjected to adverse ecological and economic impacts from introduced species. Ballast water discharge from commercial shipping is the major means by which these nonindigenous species have entered the Great Lakes. This assessment demonstrates that successful invasions are best predicted by knowing the propagule pressure (i.e., the number of larvae/individuals entering a new area) and habitat matching (i.e., how similar is the invaded area to the native range of the species). The purpose of the report is to help resource managers focus monitoring activities on particular nonindigenous species at ports that are most at risk of invasion.

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 November 17, 2008 through November 28, 2008, consists of the PMNs 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.