Environmental Protection Agency December 6, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA published a direct final rule on October 9, 2012 to amend the definition of heating oil in 40 CFR 80.1401 in the Renewable Fuel Standard (``RFS'') program under section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act. The direct final rule also amended requirements under EPA's diesel sulfur program related to the sulfur content of locomotive and marine diesel fuel produced by transmix processors, and the fuel marker requirements for 500 ppm sulfur locomotive and marine (LM) diesel fuel to allow for solvent yellow 124 marker to transition out of the distribution system. Because EPA received adverse comments on the heating oil definition and transmix amendments, we are withdrawing those portions of the direct final rule. Because EPA did not receive adverse comments with respect to the yellow marker amendments, those amendments will become effective as indicated in the direct final rule.

Notice is given that, pursuant to Clean Water Act Section 312(f)(3), the State of New York has determined that the protection and enhancement of the quality of the New York State (NYS or the State) portion of Lake Erie requires greater environmental protection, and has petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, for a determination that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for those waters, so that the State may completely prohibit the discharge from all vessels of any sewage, whether treated or not, into such waters. New York State has proposed to establish a ``Vessel Waste No Discharge Zone'' for the State's portion of Lake Erie stretching from the Pennsylvania-New York State boundary to include the upper Niagara River to Niagara Falls. The proposed No Discharge Zone encompasses approximately 593 square miles and 84 linear shoreline miles, including the navigable portions of the Upper Niagara River and numerous other tributaries and harbors, and embayments of the Lake, including Barcelona Harbor, Dunkirk Harbor and Buffalo Outer Harbor, and other formally designated habitats and waterways of local, state, and national significance.

The Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') is finalizing the update of the Outer Continental Shelf (``OCS'') Air Regulations proposed in the Federal Register on August 30, 2012. Requirements applying to OCS sources located within 25 miles of States' seaward boundaries must be updated periodically to remain consistent with the requirements of the corresponding onshore area (``COA''), as mandated by the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (``the Act''). The portion of the OCS air regulations that is being updated pertains to the requirements for OCS sources for which the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (``Santa Barbara County APCD'' or ``District'') is the designated COA. The intended effect of approving the OCS requirements for the Santa Barbara County APCD is to regulate emissions from OCS sources in accordance with the requirements onshore.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of the N-alkyl(C8- C18) dimethylamidopropylamines where the alkyl group is linear and may be saturated and/or unsaturated when used as an inert ingredient at levels not to exceed 20% in herbicide formulations applied to growing crops. Dow AgroSciences, LLC, submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requesting establishment of an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of the N-alkyl(C8- C18) dimethylamidopropylamines.