Environmental Protection Agency December 17, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection on July 20, 2009. This revision will establish nitrogen oxides (NOX) as a precursor to ozone, add the Federally equivalent provisions to the rules for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) as they pertain to ``reasonable possibility'' and delete certain references to pollution control projects (PCPs) and clean units (CUs) to make the West Virginia PSD program consistent with the Federal PSD regulations. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is amending its regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to remove saccharin and its salts from the lists of hazardous constituents and commercial chemical products which are hazardous wastes when discarded or intended to be discarded. EPA is also amending the regulations under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to remove saccharin and its salts from the list of hazardous substances. This final rule is in response to a petition submitted to EPA by the Calorie Control Council (CCC) to remove saccharin and its salts from the above lists. EPA is granting CCC's petition based on a review of the evaluations conducted by key public health agencies concerning the carcinogenic and other potential toxicological effects of saccharin and its salts, as well as EPA's own assessment of the waste generation and management information for saccharin and its salts. This review/assessment demonstrates that saccharin and its salts do not meet the criteria in the hazardous waste regulations for remaining on EPA's lists of hazardous constituents, hazardous wastes, and hazardous substances.

EPA proposes to approve the Commonwealth of Virginia'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 Commonwealth of Virginia'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.

EPA is amending specific provisions in the greenhouse gas reporting rule to clarify certain provisions, to correct technical and editorial errors, and to address certain questions and issues that have arisen since promulgation. These final changes include generally providing additional information and clarity on existing requirements, allowing greater flexibility or simplified calculation methods for certain sources, amending data reporting requirements to provide additional clarity on when different types of greenhouse gas emissions need to be calculated and reported, clarifying terms and definitions in certain equations and other technical corrections and amendments.