Environmental Protection Agency November 30, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On February 29, 2012, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency submitted a request for EPA to approve the redesignation of the Ohio portion of the Parkersburg-Marietta West Virginia-Ohio nonattainment area to attainment of the 1997 annual standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). EPA is proposing to approve Ohio's request. EPA is proposing to determine that the entire Parkersburg-Marietta area attains the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard, based on the most recent three years of certified air quality data. EPA is proposing to approve, as revisions to the Ohio State Implementation Plan (SIP), the state's plan for maintaining the 1997 annual PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) through 2022 in the area. EPA is proposing to approve a 2005 emissions inventory for the Ohio portion of the Parkersburg-Marietta area as meeting the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). Ohio's maintenance plan submission includes an insignificance finding for the mobile source contribution of PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOX) to Ohio's portion of the Parkersburg-Marietta PM2.5 area for transportation conformity purposes; EPA agrees with this finding and proposes to determine the insignificance of the 2022 motor vehicle emission budget (MVEB) for the Ohio portion of the Parkersburg-Marietta area for transportation conformity purposes.

On February 16, 2012, pursuant to sections 111 and 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the EPA published the final rules titled ``National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from Coal- and Oil-fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial- Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units.'' The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rule issued pursuant to CAA section 112 is referred to as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), and the New Source Performance Standards rule issued pursuant to CAA section 111 is referred to as the Utility NSPS. The Administrator received petitions for reconsideration of certain aspects of MATS and the Utility NSPS. In this notice, the EPA is announcing reconsideration of certain new source standards for MATS, the requirements applicable during periods of startup and shutdown for MATS, the startup and shutdown provisions related to the particulate matter (PM) standard in the Utility NSPS, and certain revisions to the definitional and monitoring provisions of the Utility NSPS. We are also proposing certain technical corrections to both MATS and the Utility NSPS. We seek comment only on the aspects of the final MATS and Utility NSPS rules specifically identified in this notice. We are not opening for reconsideration any other provisions of MATS or the Utility NSPS at this time.

During a review of Texas' regulations, the EPA identified a variety of State-initiated changes to Texas' hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended (RCRA), for which the State had not previously sought authorization. The EPA proposes to authorize the State for the program changes. In addition, the EPA proposes to codify in the regulations entitled ``Approved State Hazardous Waste Management Programs'', Texas' authorized hazardous waste program. The EPA will incorporate by reference into the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) those provisions of the State regulations that are authorized and that the EPA will enforce under RCRA.