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

The Regional Administrator of EPA Region 6 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 the Town of Taos (``Taos'') for the purchase of 40 lb/yd American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) crane railing, which is part of the overhead bridge crane, proposed for the expansion of its existing Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The 40 lb/yd ASCE crane railing is manufactured by companies located in foreign countries and no United States manufacturer produces an alternative that meets Taos' 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 6, Water Quality Protection Division. Taos has provided sufficient documentation to support its request. The Assistant Administrator of the EPA's Office of Administration and Resources Management has concurred on this decision to make an exception to Section 1605 of ARRA. This action permits the purchase of 40 lb/yd ASCE crane railing not manufactured in America, for the proposed project being implemented by Taos.

The Director of the Office of Ecosystem Protection, EPA-New England, is issuing a notice of availability for public comment of the draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permits for certain Publicly Owned Treatment Works Treatment Plants (POTW treatment plants) and Other Treatment Works Treating Domestic Sewage (collectively, ``facilities'') in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (including both Commonwealth and Indian country lands) and the State of New Hampshire. Throughout this document, these two permits are collectively referred to as the ``Publicly Owned Treatment Works General Permit'' (``POTW GP'' or the ``General Permit''). The draft General Permits, upon final issuance, will replace the prior POTW GP which expired on September 23, 2010. The draft POTW GP establishes Notice of Intent (NOI) requirements as well as effluent limitations, standards, and prohibitions for facilities that discharge to fresh and marine waters. Coverage under these General Permits is available to facilities in Massachusetts classified as minor facilities and to facilities in New Hampshire classified as major or minor facilities. Owners and/or operators of these facilities, including those facilities authorized to discharge under the current General Permit, will be required to submit an NOI to be covered by the reissued POTW GP to both EPA-New England and the appropriate State agency, in accordance with the notification requirements of the General Permit. Following EPA and the State review of the NOI, the facility will receive a written notification from EPA of permit coverage and authorization to discharge under the General Permit. The eligibility requirements for permit coverage, including the requirement that a facility have a receiving water dilution factor equal to or greater than 50, are provided in the General Permit. The General Permit does not cover new sources as defined under 40 CFR 122.2. The purpose of this document is to solicit public comments on the proposed General Permits. Public Comment Period: The public comment period is from November 4, 2010 to December 6, 2010. Interested persons may submit written comments on the draft General Permit to the EPA-Region I at the address listed below. Within the comment period, interested persons may also request, in writing, that EPA hold a public hearing pursuant to 40 CFR Section 124.12, concerning the draft General Permits. Such requests shall state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised at the hearing. A public hearing may be held at least thirty days after public notice whenever the Regional Administrator finds that response to this notice indicates significant public interest. In reaching a final decision on this draft permit, the Regional Administrator will respond to all significant comments and make responses available to the public at EPA's Boston office. All comments and requests for public hearings must be postmarked or delivered before midnight December 6, 2010, the close of the public comment period. All public comments or requests for a public hearing must be submitted to the address below.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is partially granting Growth Energy's waiver request application submitted under section 211(f)(4) of the Clean Air Act. This partial waiver allows fuel and fuel additive manufacturers to introduce into commerce gasoline that contains greater than 10 volume percent ethanol and no more than 15 volume percent ethanol (E15) for use in certain motor vehicles if certain conditions are fulfilled. We are partially approving the waiver for and allowing the introduction into commerce of E15 for use only in model year 2007 and newer light-duty motor vehicles, which includes passenger cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles. We are denying the waiver for introduction of E15 for use in model year 2000 and older light-duty motor vehicles, as well as all heavy-duty gasoline engines and vehicles, highway and off-highway motorcycles, and nonroad engines, vehicles, and equipment. The Agency is deferring a decision on the applicability of a waiver to model year 2001 through 2006 light-duty motor vehicles until additional test data, currently under development, is available.

The EPA 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 the Town of Windsor, a California Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)/ARRA loan recipient, for the purchase of a 20-inch diameter mild steel well casing (API standard 5L or ASTM standard A53 schedule 30b or better). 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 project-specific circumstances. The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Administration and Resources Management has concurred on this decision to make an exception under section 1605(b)(2) of ARRA.

EPA is taking direct final action to delegate the authority to implement and enforce specific national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) to Clark County, Nevada. The preamble outlines the process that Clark County will use to receive delegation of any future NESHAP, and identifies the NESHAP categories to be delegated by today's action. EPA has reviewed Clark County's request for delegation and has found that this request satisfies all of the requirements necessary to qualify for approval. Thus, EPA is hereby granting Clark County the authority to implement and enforce the unchanged NESHAP categories listed in this rule.

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 public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

This notice, pursuant to section 6(f)(2) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), publishes a Notice of Intent to Suspend issued by EPA pursuant to section 3(c)(2)(B) of FIFRA. The Notice of Intent to Suspend was issued following the Agency's issuance of a Data Call-In notice (DCI), which required the registrants of the affected pesticide products listed in Table 1, containing a certain pesticide active ingredient, to take appropriate steps to secure the data, as listed in Table 2, and following the registrant's failure to submit these data or to take other appropriate steps to secure the required data. The subject data were determined to be required to maintain in effect the existing registrations of the affected products. Failure to comply with the data requirements of a DCI is a basis for suspension of the affected registrations under section 3(c)(2)(B) of FIFRA.

EPA has determined that the Hayden, Nogales, and Paul Spur/ Douglas nonattainment areas in Arizona attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to a nominal ten micrometers (PM10) by the applicable attainment date of December 31, 1994. On the basis of this determination, EPA concludes that these three ``moderate'' nonattainment areas are not subject to reclassification by operation of law to ``serious.'' Lastly, on the basis of a review of more recent ambient monitoring data, EPA has determined that the Hayden, Nogales, and Paul Spur/Douglas nonattainment areas are not currently attaining the PM10 standard.

EPA and NHTSA are announcing public hearings to be held for the joint proposed rules ``Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles,'' which will be published in the near future in the Federal Register. The agencies will also accept comment on NHTSA's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Two hearings will be held, on November 15 and 18, 2010.

EPA will conduct a national stakeholders meeting to solicit input on methods being evaluated by the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and the Office of Water (OW), with the support of the Office of Research and Development (ORD) to develop common characterizations of effects from pesticides on fish, other aquatic organisms, and aquatic plants in aquatic ecosystems. The national meeting will be held in Washington, DC, December 1, 2010. EPA has developed a set of draft white papers that explore: (1) The use of various tools to estimate aquatic toxicity data; (2) approaches for deriving community level benchmarks; and (3) procedures for better integrating plant effects data into community level assessments. EPA is soliciting stakeholder input on the tools and approaches presented in the draft white papers via public comment and at the national meeting.