Environmental Protection Agency June 8, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period and a public listening session for the external review draft human health assessment titled ``Toxicological Review of Ammonia: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/ 635/R-11/013A). 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 for the purposes of public comment and peer review. This draft assessment is not final as described in EPA's information quality guidelines, and it does not represent and should not be construed to represent Agency policy or views. EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) will convene an expert panel for independent external peer review of the draft assessment. The EPA SAB is a body established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act with a broad mandate to advise the Agency on scientific matters. The public comment period and the SAB peer review are separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the document. The SAB will schedule one or more public peer-review meetings, which will be announced in the Federal Register at a later date. EPA is also announcing a listening session to be held on Thursday, July 12, 2012, during the public comment period. The purpose of the listening session is to allow all interested parties to present scientific and technical comments on the draft IRIS health assessment to EPA and other interested parties attending the listening session. EPA welcomes the scientific and technical 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.

This proposal consists of three parts. First, EPA is proposing revisions to its heavy-duty diesel regulations that would enable emergency vehicles, such as dedicated ambulances and fire trucks, to perform their mission-critical life-saving work without risking that abnormal conditions of the emission control system could lead to decreased engine power, speed or torque. The revisions would allow manufacturers to request and EPA to approve modifications to emission control systems on emergency vehicles so they do not interfere with the vehicles' missions. Second, EPA is proposing to revise the emission-related maintenance and scheduled maintenance intervals for all motor vehicles and nonroad compression-ignition engines to specify minimum maintenance intervals for replenishment of consumable chemical reductant in connection with the use of selective catalytic reduction technologies. Third, EPA is proposing to offer short-term relief for nonroad engines from performance inducements related to the emission control system, for general purpose nonroad vehicles while operating in temporary emergency service. These actions are not expected to result in any significant changes in regulatory burdens or costs.