Environmental Protection Agency November 30, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is interested in soliciting individual stakeholder input regarding the issues addressed in the EPA interim final guidance, titled Institutional Controls: A Guide to Planning, Implementing, Maintaining, and Enforcing Institutional Controls at Contaminated Sites. The Agency will consider the information gathered from this notice and other sources before finalizing this guidance.

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: WildEarth Guardians v. Jackson, Civil Action No. 1:10-cv- 01672-RPM (D. CO). On or about July 14, 2010, WildEarth Guardians filed a complaint alleging that EPA Administrator Jackson failed to fulfill a mandatory duty to respond to an administrative petition to object to issuance of air permit No. 96OPMR129 to the Public Service Company of Colorado doing business as Xcel Energy to operate the Pawnee coal-fired power plant in Morgan County, Colorado (the ``Pawnee Petition'') within the 60 days specified in section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act and asking the court to enter judgment: (i) Declaring that EPA has violated the Clean Air Act by failing to grant or deny the administrative petition; and, (ii) Ordering EPA to grant or deny the administrative petition in accordance with an expeditious schedule prescribed by the Court. On September 1, 2010, WildEarth Guardians filed a first amended complaint alleging that EPA Administrator Jackson failed to fulfill a mandatory duty to respond to administrative petitions to object to the issuance of air permit No. 96OPAD137 to Xcel Energy to operate the Cherokee coal-fired power plant in Denver, Colorado (the ``Cherokee Petition'') and air permit No. 960PBO131 to Xcel Energy to operate the Valmont coal-fired power plant in Boulder County, Colorado (the ``Valmont Petition''). Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA agrees to: (i) Sign a response to the Pawnee Petition no later than June 30, 2011; (ii) sign a response to the Valmont Petition no later than September 30, 2011; and, (iii) sign a response to the Cherokee Petition no later than October 31, 2011.

EPA proposes to approve the State of Delaware's negative declaration and request for EPA withdrawal of its section 111(d)/129 plan (the plan) approval for HMIWI units. Submittal of a negative declaration or state plan revision is a requirement of the Clean Air Act (CAA). In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State of Delaware's negative declaration and request for EPA withdrawal of its plan approval for HMIWI units. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

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, 2011. 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 in part and disapprove in part state implementation plan (SIP) revisions submitted by California to provide for attainment of the 1997 annual and 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) nonattainment area. The SIP revisions are the SJV 2008 PM2.5 Plan (revised 2010) and portions of the 2007 State Strategy (revised 2009). Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve the emissions inventories as meeting the requirements of the Clean Air Act and EPA's fine particle implementing rule and to approve commitments to implement specific measures and meet specific aggregate emissions reductions by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and the California Air Resource Board. In addition, we are proposing to find that volatile organic compounds are a PM2.5 attainment plan precursor in the SJV for which controls should be evaluated. EPA is proposing to disapprove the attainment demonstration. EPA is also proposing to disapprove the reasonably available control measures/reasonably available control technology demonstration, the air quality modeling, the reasonable further progress (RFP) demonstration, the contingency measures, and the attainment and RFP conformity motor vehicle emissions budgets. EPA is also proposing to not grant California's request to extend to April 5, 2015 the deadline for the SJV nonattainment area to attain the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS.

EPA and NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, are each proposing rules to establish a comprehensive Heavy-Duty National Program that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase fuel efficiency for on-road heavy-duty vehicles, responding to the President's directive on May 21, 2010, to take coordinated steps to produce a new generation of clean vehicles. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption standards and EPA's proposed carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions standards would be tailored to each of three regulatory categories of heavy-duty vehicles: Combination Tractors; Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks and Vans; and Vocational Vehicles, as well as gasoline and diesel heavy-duty engines. EPA's proposed hydrofluorocarbon emissions standards would apply to air conditioning systems in tractors, pickup trucks, and vans, and EPA's proposed nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions standards would apply to all heavy-duty engines, pickup trucks, and vans. EPA is also requesting comment on possible alternative CO2-equivalent approaches for model year 2012-14 light-duty vehicles. EPA's proposed greenhouse gas emission standards under the Clean Air Act would begin with model year 2014. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption standards under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 would be voluntary in model years 2014 and 2015, becoming mandatory with model year 2016 for most regulatory categories. Commercial trailers would not be regulated in this phase of the Heavy- Duty National Program, although there is a discussion of the possibility of future action for trailers.