Environmental Protection Agency March 29, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is announcing an extension to the public comment period for the external review of the draft research report titled, ``Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming.'' The draft research report was prepared by the National Risk Management Research Laboratory, within the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD), and EPA Region 8. This draft research report is not final as described in EPA's Information Quality Guidelines, and does not represent and should not be construed to represent Agency policy or views. Eastern Research Group, Inc., an EPA contractor for external peer review, will convene an independent panel of experts for peer review of this draft research report. Public comments submitted during the public comment period will be made available to the peer review panel for consideration in their review. An external peer review meeting will take place following the public comment period. An additional Federal Register notice will be published about one month prior to the meeting to provide the meeting date, location, and registration information. Additional details about the peer review process can be found at: https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/sipublicpra view.cfm?dirEntryID=240345.

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement to address a lawsuit filed by Sierra Club in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin: Sierra Club v. Jackson, No. 3:11-cv-0315 (W.D. WI). Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that EPA has failed to satisfy a non-discretionary duty or, in the alternative, has unreasonably delayed in acting on the title V permit issued by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (``WDNR'') for Wisconsin Public Service Corporation's J.P. Pulliam Generating Station (``Pulliam'') because WDNR had not submitted to EPA a permit revised to meet EPA's June 28, 2010 objection to this permit. Under the proposed settlement agreement, EPA agrees to a deadline for responding to a potential future petition submitted by Plaintiff.

EPA is proposing to approve revisions which repeal and replace existing rules, and revisions to the applicable State Implementation Plan (SIP) for New Mexico submitted by the State of New Mexico on April 11, 2002, and April 25, 2005, which relate to construction permit fee requirement regulations. The repeal and replace and SIP revisions included in this action would address section 110(a)(2) Clean Air Act (the Act or CAA) requirements related to fees for reviewing and acting on specific air quality construction permit applications received by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED or Department) and for implementing and enforcing the terms and conditions of the construction permit, excluding any court costs or other costs associated with an enforcement action. EPA has determined that these SIP revisions comply with the Clean Air Act and EPA regulations and are consistent with EPA policies. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Act.