Environmental Protection Agency March 13, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 is issuing a Notice of Intent to Delete Operable Unit (OU) 1 the former Fire Protection Training Area (FPTA), along with two other Areas of Concern (AOC): The Gateway Lake Ash Study Area and the Pride Hangar Study Area of the Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB) Superfund Site located in Meade and Pennington Counties, South Dakota, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this proposed action. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of South Dakota, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, have determined that all appropriate response actions at these identified parcels under CERCLA other than five year reviews have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund. This partial deletion pertains to the surface soil, unsaturated subsurface soil, surface water and sediments of Operable Unit (OU) 1, the Gateway Lake Ash Study Area, and the Pride Hangar Study Area. The groundwater medium associated with OU-11, Basewide Groundwater, will remain on the NPL and is not being considered for deletion as part of this action. The other OUs associated with Ellsworth AFB were deleted in 2006.

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting and a public teleconference of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Lead Review Panel to conduct a peer review of EPA's Integrated Science Assessment for Lead (Second External Review DraftFebruary 2012), and a public teleconference of the Chartered CASAC to conduct a quality review of the Panel's draft report.

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree to resolve a lawsuit filed by Midwest Environmental Defense Center, Inc., and Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin (``Plaintiffs''), in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia: Midwest Environmental Defense Center, Inc., et al. v. Jackson, No. 11-cv-02137-BAH (D. D.C.). On July 23, 2011, Plaintiffs filed a deadline suit to compel the Administrator to respond to an administrative petition seeking EPA's objection to a CAA Title V operating permit issued by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, for the Georgia Pacific Consumer Products Plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Under the proposed consent decree, EPA would agree to respond to the petition by July 23, 2012, or within 14 days after entry of the consent decree by the Court, whichever is later.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR that is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR which is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

The EPA is proposing to approve four State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM). These revisions demonstrate that the State of Rhode Island meets the requirements of reasonably available control technology (RACT) for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) set forth by the Clean Air Act (CAA) with respect to the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. The intended effect of this action is to propose approval of Rhode Island's RACT demonstration and the submitted regulations. Additionally, EPA is proposing to approve Rhode Island's negative declarations for several categories of VOC sources. This action is being taken in accordance with the CAA.

EPA is revising the format for materials submitted by the State of Nevada that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the Nevada State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations affected by this format change have all been previously submitted by the State of Nevada and approved by EPA. This format revision will primarily affect the ``Identification of plan'' section, as well as the format of the SIP materials that will be available for public inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center located at EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and the EPA Regional Office. EPA is also adding a table in the ``Identification of plan'' section which summarizes the approval actions that EPA has taken on the non-regulatory and quasi-regulatory portions of the Nevada SIP.