Environmental Protection Agency 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision

EPA is proposing a limited approval and limited disapproval of revisions to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern oxides of nitrogen (NOX) emissions from solid fuel fired boilers, steam generators and process heaters. We are proposing action on a local rule that regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

Two Workgroups of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) worked throughout 2009 on possible pilot programs for certain factual label statements and logos for antimicrobial pesticide products. The Workgroup included representatives from pesticide manufacturers (registrants), State pesticide regulatory agencies, U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, environmental and public advocacy groups, EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), and others. With this notice, EPA's Office of Pesticides Programs is announcing the development of two voluntary pilot Programs.

EPA is making available for comment a policy paper entitled ``Revised Risk Assessment Methods for Workers, Children of Workers in Agricultural Fields, and Pesticides with No Food Uses,'' that describes how the Agency will assess pesticide risks not governed by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. To provide comprehensive and consistent evaluation of potential risks of food use pesticides, non-food use pesticides, and related occupational exposures, EPA intends to apply risk assessment techniques developed in implementing the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 to any pesticide risk assessment, whether it falls under FQPA or not, as long as applying the risk assessment technique is consistent with good scientific practice and is not otherwise prohibited by law. Specifically, this will include using an additional safety/uncertainty factor to protect children, considering aggregate exposures to pesticides from multiple sources, and considering cumulative effects which may occur from exposure to multiple pesticides with a common mechanism of toxicity. Moreover, risks will be explicitly reported for individuals who had not been explicitly considered, specifically workers age 12-17 and children taken into agricultural fields. Taking this step at this time has important environmental justice ramifications. EPA anticipates that implementing this policy will increase protections, especially for agricultural workers and children of workers in agricultural fields.

EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft tool and its documentation titled, ``ICLUS SERGoM v3 User's Manual: ArcGIS Tools and Datasets for Modeling US Housing Density Growth'' (EPA/600/R-09/143). The tool and its documentation were prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and Development. This draft tool and its documentation can be used to vary housing density and other allocation assumptions used to run land use scenarios for the conterminous US. ICLUS stands for Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios, a project which is described in the 2009 EPA Report, ``Land- Use Scenarios: Nation-Scale Housing-Density Scenarios Consistent with Climate Change Storylines.'' These scenarios are broadly consistent with global-scale, peer-reviewed storylines of population growth and economic development, which are used by climate change modelers to develop projections of future climate. SERGoM is the Spatially Explicit Growth Model used to allocate housing on the landscape in the GIS environment. This tool and User's Guide enable users to run SERGoM with the population projections developed for the ICLUS project and allow users to modify the spatial allocation of housing density across the landscape.

The Regional Administrator of EPA Region III is hereby granting a project waiver of the Buy American requirements of ARRA Section 1605 under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality] to Frederick County for the purchase of a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system, at the Ballenger McKinney Enhanced Nutrient Removal Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) expansion. Frederick County indicates that the MBR treatment process is necessary to achieve the wastewater treatment levels required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued for this WWTP. The MBR system under consideration is manufactured by a company located in Canada and no United States manufacturer produces an alternative that meets Frederick County's technical specifications. This is a project specific waiver and only applies to the use of the specified product for the ARRA funded project being proposed. Any other ARRA project that may wish to use the same product must apply for a separate waiver based on the specific project circumstances. The Regional Administrator is making this determination based on the review and recommendations of the EPA Region III, Water Protection Division, Office of Infrastructure and Assistance. Frederick County has provided sufficient documentation to support its request.

EPA, Region 5 is issuing a Notice of Intent to Delete the Kerr-McGee Reed-Keppler Park Superfund Site (Site) located in West Chicago, Illinois, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this proposed action. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). EPA and the State of Illinois, through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

EPA is proposing to withdraw the conditional exclusion from regulations promulgated on December 19, 2008 under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for so-called Emission Comparable Fuel (ECF). These are fuels produced from hazardous secondary materials which, when burned in industrial boilers under specified conditions, generate emissions that are comparable to emissions from burning fuel oil in those boilers. EPA is proposing to withdraw this conditional exclusion because ECF appears to be better regarded as being a discarded material and regulated as a hazardous waste. The exclusions for comparable fuel and synthesis gas fuel are

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree to address a lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California: WildEarth Guardians v. Jackson, No. 4:09-CV-02453-CW (N.D. CA). On June 3, 2009, Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that EPA failed to perform a non-discretionary duty to either approve a State Implementation Plan (``SIP'') or promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (``FIP'') for California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Oregon to satisfy the requirements of Clean Air Act section 110(a)(2)(D)(i), 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2)(D)(i), with regard to the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (``NAAQS'') for 8-hour ozone and fine particulate matter (``PM2.5''). Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, deadlines are established for EPA to take action.

EPA Region 9 is today issuing certain final modifications of its general NPDES permit (permit No. CAG280000) for discharges from offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production facilities located in Federal waters off the coast of Southern California. Region 9 proposed the permit modifications on April 3, 2009 (74 FR 15267), and the public comment period for the proposal concluded on May 4, 2009. During the public comment period, Region 9 received written comments from four parties concerning the proposed modifications. Region 9 has prepared a separate document (``Response to Public Comments'') that discusses the comments in more detail and Region 9's responses to the comments. The final permit modifications differ only slightly from the proposed modifications. The changes from the proposal are discussed in more detail in the Addendum to Fact Sheet and in the Response to Public Comments. The final modified general permit establishes effluent limitations, prohibitions, and other conditions on discharges from facilities authorized by this general permit. These conditions are based on the administrative record.

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have made insignificance findings through the transportation conformity adequacy process for directly emitted fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) in Washington County, Ohio (part of the Parkersburg/Marietta annual PM2.5 nonattainment area) and the Ohio portion of the Huntington/Ashland annual PM2.5 nonattainment area. Ohio submitted the attainment demonstration State Implementation Plan (SIP) for annual PM2.5 initially on July 16, 2008, and subsequently submitted the public hearing results on December 5, 2008. As a result of our finding, Washington County, Ohio and the Ohio portion of the Huntington/Ashland area are no longer required to perform a regional emissions analysis for either directly emitted PM2.5 or NOX as part of future PM2.5 conformity determinations for the 1997 annual PM2.5 air quality standard.

This notice announces applicability determinations, alternative monitoring decisions, and regulatory interpretations that EPA has made under the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS); the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP); and the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Program.

EPA is taking final action to approve a request submitted on July 24, 2009, from the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), Division of Air Quality (DAQ), to redesignate the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) 1997 8-hour ozone nonattainment area (herein referred to as the ``GSMNP Area'') to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The GSMNP Area for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard is comprised of portions of Haywood and Swain Counties in North Carolina. EPA's approval of the redesignation request is based on the determination that the GSMNP Area has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA), including the determination that the GSMNP Area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard. Additionally, EPA is approving a revision to the North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) including the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the GSMNP Area that contains the new 2011 and 2020 motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and an insignificance finding for volatile organic compounds (VOC) contribution from motor vehicles to the 8-hour ozone pollution in the GSMNP Area. Through this action, EPA is also finding the NOX MVEBs and the VOC insignificance finding adequate for the purposes of transportation conformity. This action also approves the emissions inventory submitted with the maintenance plan (under the CAA section 172(c)(3)). On March 12, 2008, EPA issued a revised ozone standard. EPA later announced on September 16, 2009, that it may reconsider this revised ozone standard. The current action, however, is being taken to address requirements under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Requirements for the GSMNP Area under the 2008 standard will be addressed in the future.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes the semiannual regulatory agenda online (the e-agenda) at www.reginfo.gov to update the public about:

This notice announces the availability of seven final reports by federal agencies for restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and requests public comment. The reports were prepared pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13508 of May 12, 2009, Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration. This E.O. requires that a draft strategy be published for public review and comments together with the final reports prepared by the federal agencies. The draft strategy was made available on November 9, 2008 for comment.

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky on December 31, 2008, for the purpose of establishing transportation conformity criteria and procedures related to interagency consultation, and enforceability of certain transportation related control and mitigation measures for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Pursuant to section 112(l) of the Clean Air Act, EPA is proposing to amend regulations to expand the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources equivalency by permit program coverage to include all 32 sources in North Carolina that are subject to the plywood and composite wood products rule.

EPA does not object to the proposed action. Rating LO.

EPA is issuing national emission standards for control of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) for the Paints and Allied Products Manufacturing area source category. The final rule establishes emission standards in the form of management practices for volatile HAP, and emission standards in the form of equipment standards for particulate HAP. The emissions standards for new and existing sources are based on EPA's determination as to what constitutes the generally available control technology or management practices (GACT) for the area source category.

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 proposing to approve a site-specific revision to the Minnesota sulfur dioxide (SO2) State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Rochester Public Utilities Silver Lake Plant (RPU-SLP), located in Rochester, Minnesota. In its October 16, 2007, submittal, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) requested that EPA approve certain conditions contained in RPU-SLP's revised Federally enforceable joint Title I/Title V document into the Minnesota SO2 SIP. The request is approvable because it satisfies the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for combined residues of hexythiazox in or on potato. The Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

EPA is promulgating national emissions standards for the control of emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from the asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing area source category. These final emissions standards for new and existing sources are based upon EPA's final determination as to what constitutes the generally available control technology or management practices (GACT) for the source category.

EPA is announcing that Versar, Inc., an EPA contractor for external scientific peer review, will convene an independent panel of experts and organize and conduct an external peer-review workshop to review the external review draft document titled, ``Toxicological Review of Chloroprene: In Support of Summary Information in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/635/R-09/010A). The draft document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development. EPA previously announced the 60-day public comment period (ending November 30, 2009) for the draft document in the Federal Register on September 29, 2009 (74 FR 49874). EPA will consider public comments and recommendations from the expert panel workshop as EPA finalizes the draft document.

The Environmental Protection Agency is publishing final regulations establishing Clean Water Act (CWA) technology-based Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards for the Construction and Development (C&D) point source category. EPA expects compliance with this regulation to reduce the amount of sediment and other pollutants discharged from construction and development sites by approximately 4 billion pounds per year.