Environmental Protection Agency August 22, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is proposing to approve in part, and conditionally approve in part, the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission, submitted by the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), to demonstrate that the State meets the requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. TDEC certified that the Tennessee SIP contains provisions that ensure the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS are implemented, enforced, and maintained in Tennessee (hereafter referred to as ``infrastructure submission''). EPA is proposing to conditionally approve sub-element 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) of Tennessee's October 19, 2009, submission because the current Tennessee SIP does not include provisions to comply with the requirements of this sub-element. With the exception of sub-element 110(a)(2)(E)(ii), EPA is proposing to determine that Tennessee's infrastructure submission, provided to EPA on October 19, 2009, addressed all the required infrastructure elements for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

This notice announces receipt of 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 applications, pursuant to section 3(c)(4) of FIFRA.

This document announces the Agency's receipt of several initial filings of pesticide petitions requesting the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

EPA (or the Agency) is granting a site-specific treatment variance, under the Land Disposal Restrictions program, to U.S. Ecology Nevada in Beatty, Nevada for the treatment of a hazardous selenium- bearing waste generated by the Owens-Brockway Glass Container Company in Vernon, California. The Agency has determined that the chemical properties of the waste generated by the Owens-Brockway Glass Container Corporation differ significantly from the waste used in developing the Land Disposal Restrictions treatment standard for selenium-bearing wastes, and as such cannot be treated to the specified treatment level of 5.7 mg/L for selenium, as measured by the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). The site-specific treatment variance provides an alternative treatment standard of 59 mg/L TCLP for selenium, with the condition that the waste-to-reagent ratio not exceed 1:0.45.

EPA is proposing to approve in part a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New Hampshire on January 28, 2005. Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve amendments to the New Hampshire Hot Mix Asphalt Plant Rule at Env-A 2703.02(a). This rule establishes and requires limitations on visible emissions from all hot mix asphalt plants. This revision is consistent with the maintenance of all National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in New Hampshire. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.

EPA is taking final action to approve portions of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Oregon on December 10, 2010 and supplemented on February 1, 2011, as meeting the requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) section 169A and B and the regional haze regulations in 40 CFR 51.308. In a previous action on July 5, 2011, EPA approved portions of the December 10, 2010, SIP submittal as meeting the requirements for interstate transport for visibility of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(II) and certain requirements of the regional haze program including the requirements for best available retrofit technology (BART). 76 FR 38997. On May 23, 2012, EPA proposed approving the remaining portion of the Regional Haze SIP including those portions that address requirements of the CAA and EPA's rules that require states to set Reasonable Progress Goals (RPGs) for their Class I areas, and to develop a Long-Term Strategy (LTS) to achieve these goals. 77 FR 30454. In this Federal Register notice EPA finalizes its approval of the remaining Regional Haze SIP elements for which EPA previously took no action in the July 5, 2011 notice.

EPA is approving a revision to the New Hampshire State Implementation Plan (SIP) that addresses regional haze for the first planning period from 2008 through 2018. The revision was submitted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) on January 29, 2010, with supplemental submittals on January 14, 2011, and August 26, 2011. This revision addresses the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's rules that require States to prevent any future, and remedy any existing, manmade impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I Areas caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area (also referred to as the ``regional haze program'').