Environmental Protection Agency September 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period and a public listening session for the external review draft human health assessment entitled, ``Toxicological Review of Vanadium Pentoxide: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/635/R-11/004A). The draft assessment was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD). EPA is releasing this draft assessment solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. This draft assessment has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. After public review and comment, an EPA contractor will convene an expert panel for independent external peer review of this draft assessment. The public comment period and external peer review meeting are separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the assessment. The external peer review meeting will be scheduled at a later date and announced in the Federal Register. Public comments submitted during the public comment period will be provided to the external peer reviewers before the panel meeting and considered by EPA in the disposition of public comments. Public comments received after the public comment period closes will not be submitted to the external peer reviewers and will only be considered by EPA if time permits. The listening session will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2011, during the public comment period for this draft assessment. The purpose of the listening session is to allow all interested parties to present scientific and technical comments on draft IRIS health assessments to EPA and other interested parties attending the listening session. EPA welcomes the comments that will be provided to the Agency by the listening session participants. The comments will be considered by the Agency as it revises the draft assessment after the independent external peer review. If listening session participants would like EPA to share their comments with the external peer reviewers, they should also submit written comments during the public comment period using the detailed and established procedures described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

EPA is finalizing uses that qualify for the 2011 critical use exemption and the amount of methyl bromide that may be produced, imported, or supplied from existing pre-phaseout inventory for those uses in 2011. EPA is taking this action under the authority of the Clean Air Act to reflect a recent consensus decision taken by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer at the Twenty-First Meeting of the Parties.

This action proposes to: require TRI reporting facilities located in Indian country to report to the appropriate Tribal government for the relevant area instead of the State; and improve and clarify certain opportunities allowing Tribal governments to participate more fully in the TRI Program. In 1990, EPA finalized regulations in the Federal Register (FR) requiring facilities in Indian country to submit annual TRI reports to EPA and the appropriate Tribal government. These amendments, however, were inadvertently omitted from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and the relevant provisions were later overwritten by a subsequent final rule, thus resulting in the exclusion of the intended requirement from the CFR. EPA intends to correct that inadvertent result by proposing this rule. Further, because Tribal governmental structures may vary, EPA is proposing to update its terminology to refer to the principal elected official of the Tribe as the ``Tribal chairperson or equivalent elected official.'' EPA is also amending its definition of ``State'' for purposes of 40 CFR part 372 to no longer include Indian country, so as to avoid any confusing overlap in terminology with the proposed express discussion of facilities in Indian country. With regard to the procedures for EPA to modify the list of covered chemicals and TRI reporting facilities, EPA proposes to clarify the opportunities available to Tribal governments. In particular, EPA proposes to include within the relevant provision an opportunity for the Tribal Chairperson or equivalent elected official to request that EPA apply the TRI reporting requirements to a specific facility located within the Tribe's Indian country. Secondly, EPA is proposing that the Tribal Chairperson or equivalent elected official may petition EPA to add or delete a particular chemical respectively to or from the list of chemicals covered by TRI. By increasing the participation and engagement of Tribal governments in the TRI program, EPA is helping to increase awareness of toxic releases within Tribal communities, thereby increasing the understanding of potential human health and ecological impacts from these hazardous chemicals.

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 Mine 2028 site in Brazil, Clay County, Indiana with the following settling party: IUNA, Inc., also known as IU North America, Inc. The settlement requires the settling party to pay $100,000 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 EPA will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The EPA will consider all 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. The EPA's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at EPA's Record Center, U.S. EPA, Room 714, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604.

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have made insignificance findings through the transportation conformity adequacy process, under the Clean Air Act, for directly emitted fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) in the Ohio portion of the Huntington/Ashland WV-KY-OH area. Ohio submitted the insignificance findings with the redesignation and maintenance plan submittal on May 4, 2011. As a result of our findings, the Ohio portion of the Huntington/Ashland area is no longer required to perform a regional emissions analysis for either directly emitted PM2.5 or NOX as part of future PM2.5 conformity determinations for the 1997 annual PM2.5 air quality standard.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District (SBAPCD), Sacramento Municipal Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) and South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from solvent cleaning machines and solvent cleaning operations and oil and gas production wells. We are proposing to approve local rules to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of Isaria fumosorosea (formerly known as Paecilomyces fumosoroseus) Apopka strain 97 in or on all food commodities when applied as an insecticide or miticide and used in accordance with good agricultural practices. Certis USA, LLC, submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of Isaria fumosorosea Apopka strain 97 under the FFDCA.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92-463, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby provides notice that the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) will meet on the dates and times described below. All meetings are open to the public. Members of the public are encouraged to provide comments relevant to the specific issues being considered by the NEJAC. For additional information about registering for public comment, please see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Due to limited space, seating at the NEJAC meeting will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

EPA's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) is announcing the availability of a final guidance document titled, ``Weight-of-Evidence: Evaluating Results of EDSP Tier 1 Screening to Identify the Need for Tier 2 Testing.'' This weight-of-evidence (WoE) guidance document was revised based on public and peer review comments and existing peer-reviewed EPA guidelines. This guidance document provides basic principles and criteria for application of a WoE approach to evaluate results from the battery of Tier 1 screening assays along with other scientific and technical information relevant to Tier 1 screening to determine whether or not a chemical has the potential to interact with the estrogen, androgen, or thyroid (E, A, or T) hormonal pathways of the endocrine system. The combined results and information will also be used to identify which tests and information may be needed for Tier 2 testing.

EPA is approving revisions to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to EPA on July 7, 2011. The SIP revision modifies Indiana's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program to establish appropriate emission thresholds for determining which new stationary sources and modification projects become subject to Indiana's PSD permitting requirements for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. EPA proposed approval of these regulatory revisions on June 17, 2011, and received no comments. This action affects major stationary sources in Indiana that have GHG emissions above the thresholds established in the PSD regulations.

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of request for amendments by registrants to delete uses in certain pesticide registrations. Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA provides that a registrant of a pesticide product may at any time request that any of its pesticide registrations be amended to delete one or more uses. FIFRA further provides that, before acting on the request, EPA must publish a notice of receipt of any request in the Federal Register.

This notice announces receipt of an applications to register new uses for pesticide products containing currently registered active ingredients, pursuant to the provisions of section 3(c) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended. EPA is publishing this notice of such application, pursuant to section 3(c)(4) of FIFRA.

Regulations issued by EPA under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act require that specified chemical substances be tested to determine if they are contaminated with halogenated dibenzo-p-dioxins (HDDs) or halogenated dibenzofurans (HDFs), and that results be reported to EPA. However, the regulations allow for exclusion and waiver from these requirements if an appropriate application is submitted to EPA and is approved. EPA has received a request for a waiver from these testing requirements from 3M and will accept comments on this request. EPA will publish another Federal Register notice on or before November 14, 2011, announcing its decisions on this request.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of the Science Advisor (OSA) announces a public meeting of the Human Studies Review Board (HSRB) to advise the Agency on EPA's scientific and ethical reviews of research with human subjects.

In an April 3, 2008, submittal, supplemented on March 6, 2009, May 26, 2011, and July 20, 2011, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) requested redesignation of the Lake and Porter Counties, Indiana portion (Lake and Porter Counties) of the Chicago-Gary-Lake County, Illinos-Indiana (IL-IN) nonattainment area (Greater Chicago nonattainment area) to attainment of the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard). EPA is proposing to approve the redesignation request for Lake and Porter Counties, along with related Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions, including the State's plan for maintaining attainment of the PM2.5 standard in this area through 2025, because the request meets the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA is also proposing to approve Indiana's 2025 Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) and PM2.5 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for Lake and Porter Counties, as well as the 2005 PM2.5-related emissions inventories for this area.

EPA is approving Indiana's request to redesignate the Indianapolis, Indiana nonattainment area (Hamilton, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, and Morgan Counties) to attainment for the 1997 annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), because the request meets the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) submitted this request to EPA on October 20, 2009 and supplemented it on May 31, 2011. EPA's approval involves several additional related actions. EPA is making a determination that the Indianapolis area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard. EPA is approving, as a revision to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP), the State's plan for maintaining the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS through 2025 in the area. EPA is approving the 2006 emissions inventory for the Indianapolis area as meeting the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of the CAA. Finally, EPA finds adequate and is approving Indiana's Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) and PM2.5 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for 2015 and 2025 for the Indianapolis area.

EPA is issuing a regulation to amend the calculation and monitoring provisions in the Electronics Manufacturing portion of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule for the ``largest'' semiconductor manufacturing facilities (i.e., those that fabricate devices on wafers measuring 300 millimeters or less in diameter and that have an annual manufacturing capacity of greater than 10,500 square meters). More specifically, for reporting years 2011, 2012, and 2013, these amendments allow the largest semiconductor facilities the option to calculate emissions using default emission factors already contained in the regulations, instead of recipe-specific utilization and by-product formation rates for the plasma etching process type. In addition, this action extends two deadlines in the provisions related to the use of best available monitoring methods.

EPA is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of Montana on June 25, 2010 and May 28, 2003. The revisions contain new and amended rules in Subchapter 7 (Permit, Construction, and Operation of Air Contaminant Sources) that pertain to the issuance of Montana air quality permits, in addition to other minor administrative changes to the Administrative Rules of Montana. The intended effect of this action is to propose to approve the rules that are approvable and to propose to disapprove the rules that are inconsistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA.) This action is being taken under section 110 and 112 of the CAA.

EPA is proposing to approve SIP revisions submitted on December 18, 2009, and December 22, 2010 (supplemental submission) by the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), Division of Air Quality (DAQ), to support North Carolina's request to redesignate the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point fine particulate matter (PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter the ``Greensboro Area'' or ``Area'') to attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The Greensboro Area is comprised of Davidson and Guilford Counties in their entireties. EPA is now proposing four separate but related actions. First, EPA is proposing to approve the December 18, 2009, PM2.5 redesignation request, including the December 22, 2010, Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) mobile model supplement for the Greensboro Area, provided that EPA takes final action to approve specific provisions of the North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act (NCCSA). Second, EPA is proposing to approve North Carolina's 2008 emissions inventory for the Greensboro Area under section 172(c)(3) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). Third, subject to the same proviso regarding the NCCSA and final approval of the 2008 emissions inventory, EPA is proposing to approve the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS maintenance plan for the Greensboro Area, including the 2008 baseline emissions inventory, and the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOX) for the years 2011 and 2021 for the Greensboro Area. EPA is also describing the status of its transportation conformity adequacy determination for the new 2011 and 2021 MVEBs for PM2.5 and NOX that are contained in the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS maintenance plan for the Greensboro Area. Fourth and separate from the action to redesignate the Area, EPA is proposing to determine that the Greensboro Area has attained the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS by its applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010. These proposed actions are being taken pursuant to the CAA and its implementing regulations.

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, EPA gives notice of a meeting of the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC). The FRRCC is a policy-oriented committee that provides policy advice, information, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on a range of environmental issues and policies that are of importance to agriculture and rural communities. The purpose of this meeting is to advance discussion of specific topics of unique relevance to agriculture such as effective approaches to addressing water quality issues associated with agricultural production, in such a way as to provide thoughtful advice and useful insights to the Agency as it crafts environmental policies and programs that affect and engage agriculture and rural communities. A copy of the meeting agenda will be posted at https://epa.gov/ofacmo/frrcc/ meetings.htm.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revisions establish transportation conformity regulations for the State of Maryland. EPA is approving these revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of North Carolina for the purpose of establishing system-wide emission limitations from the North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act (CSA) into the North Carolina SIP. On August 21, 2009, the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), Division of Air Quality (DAQ), submitted an attainment demonstration for the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir and Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point 1997 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) nonattainment area. That submittal included a request that the system-wide emission limitations from the North Carolina CSA be incorporated into the State's federally approved SIP. EPA has determined that the CSA portion of this SIP revision is approvable pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the 2011 Fall Meeting of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC). This OTC meeting will explore options available for reducing ground-level ozone precursors in a multi-pollutant context. The Commission will be evaluating potential measures and considering actions in areas such as performance standards for electric generating units (EGUs) for high electric demand days; oil and gas boilers serving EGUs; small natural gas boilers; stationary generators; energy security/energy efficiency; architectural industrial and maintenance coatings; consumer products; institutional, commercial and industrial (ICI) boilers; vapor recovery at gas stations; large above ground storage tanks; seaports; aftermarket catalysts; lightering and non-road idling.

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Delaware. This SIP revision amends the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).