Environmental Protection Agency March 18, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to section 112(l) of the 1990 Clean Air Act, EPA granted delegation of specific national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department on May 6, 2010, and December 14, 2010, and to the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District on July 30, 2010. EPA is proposing to revise the Code of Federal Regulations to reflect the current delegation status of NESHAP in Arizona and California.

EPA is promulgating this final rule to extend until September 30, 2011 the reporting deadline for year 2010 data required under the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule. This deadline extension will, in the first year of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, allow time for needed refinement of the electronic data reporting system, stakeholder testing of the reporting system and feedback to EPA, and reporter access to the reporting system in advance of the reporting deadline. This rule changes only the deadline for reporting for 2011; it does not change the reporting deadline for future years and does not change what data must be reported.

In accordance with Section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement for recovery of past response costs concerning the Industrial Street Drum Site in Dearborn, Michigan with the following settling party: Eugenio Painting Company. The settlement requires the settling party to pay $20,000 to the Hazardous Substance Superfund. The settlement includes a covenant not to sue the settling party pursuant to Section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a). For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The Agency will consider all such comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate.

On February 23, 2011, EPA published in the Federal Register a document seeking public input on the design of a plan to use for periodic retrospective review of its regulations (76 FR 9988). This input is being solicited in response to Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' wherein all federal agencies are directed to conduct a ``retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them in accordance with what has been learned.''

Under Section 122(h)(1) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency has entered into a settlement for reimbursement of past response costs concerning the National Starch and Chemical Company Site located in Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama for publication.

The EPA is taking final action to determine that the Boston- Manchester-Portsmouth (SE), New Hampshire moderate 1997 8-hour ozone nonattainment area has attained the 1997 8-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. This determination is based upon complete, quality-assured, certified ambient air monitoring data that show the area has monitored attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the 2007-2009 monitoring period. Preliminary data available for the 2010 ozone season is consistent with continued attainment. Under the provisions of EPA's ozone implementation rule, the requirements for this area to submit an attainment demonstration, a reasonable further progress plan, contingency measures, and other planning State Implementation Plans related to attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS shall be suspended for so long as the area continues to attain the 1997 ozone NAAQS. In addition, EPA is taking final action to determine that this area has attained the 1997 ozone NAAQS as of June 15, 2010, its applicable attainment date.