Environmental Protection Agency December 26, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA has authorized its contractor, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) of McLean, VA and its identified subcontractor, Impact Innovations Systems, Inc. (IIS), to access information which has been submitted to EPA under all sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Some of the information may be claimed or determined to be Confidential Business Information (CBI).

EPA is proposing to approve the 2002 base year emissions inventory portion of the West Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia through the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) on June 24, 2009 for the Steubenville-Weirton, OH-WV nonattainment area (the Steubenville- Weirton Area) for the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The emissions inventory is part of a SIP revision that was submitted to meet West Virginia's nonattainment requirements related to the Steubenville-Weirton Area. EPA is proposing to approve the 2002 base year emissions inventory for the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires any person who intends to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) a new chemical (i.e., a chemical not on the TSCA Chemical Substances Inventory (TSCA Inventory)) to notify EPA and comply with the statutory provisions pertaining to the manufacture of new chemicals. In addition under TSCA, EPA is required to publish in the Federal Register a notice of receipt of a premanufacture notice (PMN) or an application for a test marketing exemption (TME), and to publish in the Federal Register periodic status reports on the new chemicals under review and the receipt of notices of commencement (NOC) to manufacture those chemicals. This document, which covers the period from November 1, 2012 to November 30, 2012, and provides the required notice and status report, consists of the PMNs and TMEs, both pending or expired, and the NOC to manufacture a new chemical that the Agency has received under TSCA section 5 during this time period.

EPA is taking final action to approve a request submitted on June 1, 2011, from the State of South Carolina, through the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC), to redesignate the portion of York County, South Carolina that is within the bi-state Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, North Carolina-South Carolina ozone nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``bi- state Charlotte Area,'' or ``Area'') to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The bi-state Charlotte Area consists of Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Union and a portion of Iredell County (Davidson and Coddle Creek Townships) in North Carolina; and a portion of York County in South Carolina, including the Catawba Indian Nation reservation lands (hereafter referred to as ``the York County Area''). EPA's approval of the redesignation request is based on the determination that South Carolina has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). Additionally, EPA is approving a revision to the South Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) to include the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the York County Area that contains the new 2013 and 2022 motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) for the years 2013 and 2022. EPA will take action on the North Carolina submission for the 1997 8-hour ozone redesignation request and maintenance plan for its portion of the bi-state Charlotte Area in a separate action. EPA did not receive comments on the November 15, 2012, proposed rulemaking.

Notice is hereby given that the EPA has tentatively approved revisions to the State of Ohio's public water system supervision program. Ohio EPA has revised three of its rules to comply with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, including the Total Coliform Rule, the Public Notification Rule, and the Filter Backwash Recycling Rule. EPA has determined that these revisions are consistent with and no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulations. Therefore, EPA intends to approve these revisions to the State of Ohio's public water system supervision program, thereby giving Ohio EPA primary enforcement responsibility for these regulations. Ohio EPA's revised coliform and public notification requirements became effective on December 20, 2007, and Ohio EPA has been administering the filter backwash recycling requirements since August 3, 2004. Any interested party may request a public hearing. A request for a public hearing must be submitted by January 23, 2013, to the Regional Administrator at the EPA Region 5 address shown below. The Regional Administrator may deny frivolous or insubstantial requests for a hearing. However, if a substantial request for a public hearing is made by January 23, 2013, EPA Region 5 will hold a public hearing, and a notice of such hearing will be given in the Federal Register and a newspaper of general circulation. If EPA Region 5 does not receive a timely and appropriate request for a hearing and the Regional Administrator does not elect to hold a hearing on her own motion, this determination shall become final and effective on January 23, 2013. Any request for a public hearing shall include the following information: The name, address, and telephone number of the individual, organization, or other entity requesting a hearing; a brief statement of the requesting person's interest in the Regional Administrator's determination and a brief statement of the information that the requesting person intends to submit at such hearing; and the signature of the individual making the request, or, if the request is made on behalf of an organization or other entity, the signature of a responsible official of the organization or other entity.

EPA is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove a Washington Regional Haze Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Washington on December 22, 2010, that addresses regional haze for the first implementation period. This plan was submitted to meet the requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA) sections 169A and 169B that require states to prevent any future and remedy any existing man-made impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I areas. EPA is proposing to: (1) Approve portions of this SIP submittal as meeting most of the requirements of the regional haze program, (2) propose a limited approval and limited disapproval of the SO2 Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) determination for Intalco Aluminum Corp. (Intalco) potline operation and propose a federal ``Better than BART'' alternative, and (3) propose to disapprove the NOx BART determination for five BART emission units at the Tesoro Refining and Marketing refinery (Tesoro) and propose a federal Better than BART alternative. This combined rule package of proposed SIP approved elements and proposed federal elements will meet the requirements of CAA sections 169A and 169B. On August 20, 2012, EPA approved those provisions of the Washington SIP addressing the BART determination for TransAlta Centralia Generation L.L.C. coal fired power plant (TransAlta).