Environmental Protection Agency November 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting nominations of qualified candidates to be considered for appointment to fill vacancies on the Good Neighbor Environmental Board. EPA values and welcomes diversity. In an effort to obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations of women and men of all racial and ethnic groups. Vacancies are expected to be filled by early spring 2010. Additional sources may be utilized in the solicitation of nominees.

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 May 31, 2010. 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.

EPA expressed environmental concerns about impacts to air quality, wetlands, floodplains, groundwater and riparian habitat complexes and requested information on public transit, designated non- motorized infrastructure, and demand management to reduce greenhouse gases. Rating EC2.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites nominations from a diverse range of qualified candidates to be considered for appointment to the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC). The FRRCC is a federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92463. The FRRCC was established in 2008 and provides independent advice to the EPA Administrator on a broad range of environmental issues and policies that are of importance to agriculture and rural communities. Members serve as representatives from academia, industry (e.g., farm groups and allied industries), non-governmental organizations, and state, local, and tribal governments.

Notice is hereby given that EPA has determined that, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. Appendix, the National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances (NAC/AEGL Committee) is a necessary committee which is in the public interest. Accordingly, the NAC/AEGL Committee will be renewed for an additional 2-year period. The purpose of the NAC/AEGL Committee is to provide advice and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on issues associated with acute exposure guideline levels which can be used by Federal, State, and local agencies and the private sector for emergency planning response and prevention activities related to release of hazardous substances through accident or chemical terrorism activity. The NAC/ AEGL Committee's recommended values will represent standardized national acute exposure guideline levels developed by a cross-section of the U.S. scientific community and based on the use of consistent methodology developed by the National Academy of Sciences.

EPA is announcing a listening session to be held on November 23, 2009, during the public comment period for the external review draft document entitled, ``Toxicological Review of Choroprene: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).'' The purpose of the listening session is to allow all interested parties to present scientific and technical comments on draft IRIS health assessments to EPA and other interested parties during the public comment period and prior to the external peer review meeting. EPA welcomes the scientific and technical comments that will be provided to the Agency by the listening session participants. The comments will be considered by the Agency as it revises the draft assessment in response to the independent external peer review and public comments. All presentations will become part of the official and public record.

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

EPA is revoking tolerances for the insecticide methamidophos on cucumber, eggplant and melon. The regulatory actions finalized in this document are in follow-up to the Agency's reregistration program under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and tolerance reassessment program under section 408(q) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The Agency is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on two documents - a draft Pesticide Registration Notice (draft PR Notice) entitled ``Pesticide Drift Labeling'' (PRN 2009-X) and a draft explanatory document entitled ``Pesticide Drift Labeling Interpretation.'' PR Notices are issued by the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) to inform pesticide registrants and other interested persons about important policies, procedures, and registration related decisions, and serve to provide guidance to pesticide registrants and OPP personnel. This particular draft PR Notice provides guidance to the applicants and registrants of certain pesticide products for revising labeling statements intended to protect people and other non-target organisms and sites from adverse effects that may be caused by off- target pesticide drift. The draft explanatory document provides guidance for state and tribal regulatory officials responsible for enforcement of user compliance with the requirements of pesticide labeling on how to interpret the labeling statements contained in the draft PR Notice. An additional supporting document, entitled ``Draft PR Notice 2009-X: Additional Information and Questions for Commenters,'' provides background and supplemental information that explain the Agency's rationale for its proposed guidance on drift labeling. This document also requests responses by readers to specific questions concerning draft PR Notice 2009-X. All three documents are available in the public docket.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (``CERCLA'' or ``the Act''), as amended, requires that the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (``NCP'') include a list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States. The National Priorities List (``NPL'') constitutes this list. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``the Agency'') in determining which sites warrant further investigation. These further investigations will allow EPA to assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with the site and to determine what CERCLA-financed remedial action(s), if any, may be appropriate. This rule adds three sites to the NPL, all to the General Superfund Section.

EPA issued a notice in the Federal Register of October 7, 2009, concerning the receipt of a petition that requested the suspension of Rozol Prairie Dog Bait and also requested the cancellation of certain application sites for the product. This document extends the comment period for 31 days, from November 6, 2009 to December 7, 2009.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public teleconference of the SAB Ecological Processes and Effects Committee Augmented for the Review of Nutrient Criteria Guidance. The Committee will discuss its draft advisory report.

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 for a new Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 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.

EPA is announcing a public comment period for the external review draft document titled, ``Toxicological Review of Trichloroethylene: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/635/R-09/011A). The draft document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). The public comment period and the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) peer-review workshop, which will be scheduled at a later date and announced in the Federal Register, are separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the document. EPA intends to forward the public comments that are submitted in accordance with this notice to the SAB peer-review panel prior to the meeting for their consideration. When finalizing the draft document, EPA intends to consider any public comments that EPA receives in accordance with this notice.

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) was created by Section 10 of Public Law 101-619, the National Environmental Education Act of 1990. It is a private 501(c)(3) non- profit organization established to promote and support education and training as necessary tools to further environmental protection and sustainable, environmentally sound development. It provides the common ground upon which leaders from business and industry, all levels of government, public interest groups, and others can work cooperatively to expand the reach of environmental education and training programs beyond the traditional classroom. The Foundation supports a grant program that promotes innovative environmental education and training programs; it also develops partnerships with government and other organizations to administer projects that promote the development of an environmentally literal public. The Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as required by the terms of the Act, announces the following appointment to the National Environmental Education Foundation Board of Trustees. The appointee is Kenneth Olden, Chairman, Avon Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.

On October 8, 2009 (74 FR 51795), EPA published a direct final rule deleting certain statutes and rules that were erroneously approved by EPA under the Clean Air Act as part of the Arizona and Nevada state implementation plans. EPA is withdrawing this previously published rule, and in this Federal Register, we are publishing a direct final rule that replaces the October 8, 2009, direct final rule.

EPA is deleting certain statutes and rules that were erroneously approved by EPA under the Clean Air Act as part of the Arizona and Nevada state implementation plans. The statutes that are the subject of this rule are from the Arizona state implementation plan. The rules that are the subject of this rule were adopted by the Pima County Health Department in Arizona and the State Environmental Commission, Clark County District Board of Health, and Washoe County District Board of Health in Nevada. The statutes and rules that EPA is deleting relate to general declarations of policy, advisory committees, variances, and incidental fees and nuisance odors. EPA has determined that the continued presence of these statutory provisions and rules in the applicable state implementation plans is potentially confusing and thus harmful to affected sources, the state, local agencies, the general public and to EPA. The intended effect of this action is to delete these statutes and rules from the Arizona and Nevada state implementation plans. EPA is also correcting certain clerical and typographical errors in the codification of the Pima County portion of the Arizona plan.

This document announces that the EPA Administrator has responded to a citizen petition asking EPA to object to an operating permit issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Specifically, the Administrator has granted the August 14, 2008 petition, submitted by Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action (Petitioner), to object to CDPHE's April 29, 2008 Addendum to the January 1, 2007 Technical Review Document in support of the renewal of the title V operating permit and to CDPHE's determination that ``no changes to the [title V] permit'' were warranted.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of literature searches for three IRIS assessments that were or may be started in 2009 and requesting scientific information on health effects that may result from exposure to these chemical substances. The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is an EPA database that contains information on human health effects that may result from exposure to chemical substances in the environment.