Environmental Protection Agency August 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to authorize States to operate their hazardous waste management programs in lieu of the Federal program. EPA uses the regulations entitled ``Approved State Hazardous Waste Management Programs'' to provide notice of the authorization status of State programs and to incorporate by reference those provisions of the State regulations that will be subject to EPA's inspection and enforcement. This rule does not incorporate by reference the New York hazardous waste statutes. The rule codifies in the regulations the prior approval of New York's hazardous waste management program and incorporates by reference authorized provisions of the State's regulations.

EPA is proposing to approve Minnesota's request to amend its State Implementation Plan (SIP) for sulfur dioxide (SO2). The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency submitted the SIP revision request to EPA on May 7, 2010. The proposed approval revises the Minnesota SIP by updating information regarding the heat and steam distributor facility located in Fridley, Minnesota. The source, formerly operated as United Defense, LP, Inc. was sold and is now operating as ELT Minneapolis, LLC. The revision replaces the joint Title I/Title V document currently approved in the SIP for the facility to reflect the change in ownership. These revisions do not change any of the SO2 control requirements and will not result in an increase in SO2 emissions at the facility because no emission limits were increased.

The Environmental Protection Agency published in the Federal Register on July 15, 2010 a Call for Information to solicit information and viewpoints from interested parties on approaches to accounting for greenhouse gas emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic sources. Inadvertently, incorrect text was published for one of the items on which EPA seeks comment in Section I.D. This document corrects both that text and a typographical error in a separate reference to the Clean Air Act in Section I.D.

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets for volatile organic compound (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) in the submitted reasonable further progress state implementation plan for the New York portions of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT 8-hour ozone nonattainment area, as well as the submitted reasonable further progress and attainment demonstration state implementation plans for the Poughkeepsie, New York 8-hour ozone nonattainment area, to be adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The transportation conformity rule requires that the EPA conduct a public process and make an affirmative decision on the adequacy of these budgets before they can be used by metropolitan planning organizations in conformity determinations. As a result of our finding, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (excluding Putnam County) must use the submitted 2008 8-hour ozone budgets for future transportation conformity determinations, and the Orange County Transportation Council, the Poughkeepsie-Dutchess Transportation Council and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (Putnam County only) must use the submitted 2008 and 2009 8-hour ozone budgets for future transportation conformity determinations.

EPA is proposing a limited approval and limited disapproval of revisions to the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern oxides of nitrogen (NOX) emissions from boilers, steam generators and process heaters with a rated heat input rate greater than 2 million BTU/hr and less than 5 million BTU/hr and internal combustion engines with a rated brake horse power of 50 or greater. We are proposing action on local rules that regulate 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.

The EPA is announcing three public hearings to be held for the proposed rule ``Federal Implementation Plans to Reduce Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone'' (Transport Rule) which is published elsewhere in today's issue of the Federal Register. The hearings will be held on Thursday, August 19, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois, on Thursday, August 26, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia.