Environmental Protection Agency October 17, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The EPA is proposing to revise the agency's definition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for purposes of preparing state implementation plans (SIPs) to attain the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone under Title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This proposed revision would add 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (also known as HFO-1234yf) and trans-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (also known as HFO- 1234ze) to the list of compounds excluded from the definition of VOC on the basis that these compounds make a negligible contribution to tropospheric ozone formation.

The EPA is proposing to correct an erroneous reference in EPA's procedures for handling data collected under the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, which are provided in the Special Rules Governing Certain Information Obtained under the Clean Air Act. The proposed correction would not change any requirements for entities regulated under the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule or the final confidentiality determinations EPA has made for such data. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, we are making this correction as a direct final rule without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule.

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland. This SIP revision includes amendments to the Code of Maryland (COMAR) 26.11.19.13, Volatile Organic Compounds from Specific Processes, Drum and Pail Coating. Maryland's SIP revision meets the requirement to adopt Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for sources covered by EPA's Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) standards for drum and pail coatings and will help Maryland attain and maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. EPA is approving this revision concerning the adoption of the CTG requirements for drum and pail coatings in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA's grant regulations require the Agency to evaluate the performance of agencies which receive grants. EPA's regulations for regional consistency require that the Agency notify the public of the availability of the reports of such evaluations. EPA performed end-of- year evaluations of eight state air pollution control programs (Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Commonwealth of Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet; Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality; North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources; South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation) and 17 local programs (City of Huntsville Division of Natural Resources, AL; Jefferson County Department of Health, AL; Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department, FL; City of Jacksonville Environmental Quality Division, FL; Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, FL; Miami- Dade County Air Quality Management Division, FL; Orange County Environmental Protection Division, FL; Palm Beach County Health Department, FL; Pinellas County Parks and Conservation Resources, FL; Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, KY; Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department, NC; Mecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency, NC; Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency, NC; Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau, TN; Shelby County Health Department, TN; Knox County Department of Air Quality Management, TN; and Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County Public Health Department, TN). The 25 evaluations were conducted to assess the agencies' Fiscal Year 2010 performance under the grants awarded by EPA under authority of section 105 of the Clean Air Act. EPA Region 4 has prepared reports for each agency identified above and these reports are now available for public inspection.

EPA is announcing that it is lifting the Administrative Stay of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) section 313 toxic chemical release reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide (Chemical Abstracts Service Number (CAS No.) 7783-06-4). Hydrogen sulfide was added to the EPCRA section 313 list of toxic chemicals in a final rule published in the Federal Register on December 1, 1993. However, on August 22, 1994, EPA issued an Administrative Stay of the reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide in order to evaluate issues brought to the Agency's attention after promulgation of the final rule concerning the human health effect basis for the listing and the Agency's use of exposure analysis in EPCRA section 313 listing decisions. Although the final rule listing hydrogen sulfide under section 313 of EPCRA remained in force, the stay deferred the reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide while EPA completed this further evaluation. EPA completed its further evaluation of additional information that has become available since the stay was put in place regarding the human health and environmental effects of hydrogen sulfide, and the Agency published a position that the stay should be lifted in the February 26, 2010, Federal Register document ``Intent to Consider Lifting Administrative Stay; Opportunity for Public Comment.'' Based on EPA's further evaluation and the consideration of the public comments received on the notice of intent, EPA continues to believe that the Administrative Stay should be lifted. By this current action, EPA is not revisiting the original listing decision, which was accomplished by final rule on December 1, 1993. Rather, EPA is lifting the Administrative Stay of the reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide.