Environmental Protection Agency 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree to settle an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Environmental Defense Fund v. Jackson, Case No. 11 Civ. 04492 (KBF) ECF Case) alleging that EPA failed to perform its obligations under the Act as they relate to the new source performance standards (``NSPS'') for municipal solid waste landfills (``MSW Landfills''). The Act requires EPA to review, and if appropriate, revise NSPS not later than 8 years after their promulgation unless EPA determines that such review is not appropriate in light of readily available information on the efficacy of the standard. Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, EPA agrees that: (1) By May 1, 2013, EPA shall: (i) Perform an appropriate review and sign for publication one or a combination of the following: (A) a proposed rule containing revisions to the MSW Landfills NSPS; or (B) a proposed determination not to revise the MSW Landfills NSPS; or (ii) sign for publication a determination that review is not appropriate; and, (2) if EPA signs a proposed rule or a proposed determination, then no later than May 1, 2014, sign one or a combination of the following: (i) A final rule containing revisions to the MSW Landfills NSPS, based on appropriate review; or, (ii) a final determination not to revise the MSW Landfills NSPS, based on an appropriate review.

The EPA is proposing to make four separate and independent determinations for two areas in New Hampshire. First, with respect to the Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester, (Portsmouth) serious one-hour ozone nonattainment area, EPA is proposing to determine that the area attained the one-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone, by the applicable deadline of November 15, 1999. Second, EPA is proposing to determine that the Portsmouth area attained the one-hour ozone standard in 1999, and continues to attain the standard. Third, EPA is proposing to determine that the Manchester marginal one-hour ozone nonattainment area attained the one-hour NAAQS, by the applicable deadline of November 15, 1993. Fourth, EPA is proposing to determine, that the Manchester area has attained the one-hour ozone standard since 1993, and continues to attain the standard.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew the following existing Information Collection Request (ICR): Regulations.gov Information Collection, OMB Control Number 2025-0008, EPA ICR Number 2357.04. Before submitting this ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR which is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

There will be a 4 day meeting of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to consider and review the Pollinator Risk Assessment Framework.

The EPA is proposing amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the Portland cement industry for Portland cement plants issued under sections 112(d) of the Clean Air Act. Specifically, the EPA is proposing to amend the existing and new source standards for particulate matter (PM). The EPA is also proposing amendments with respect to issues on which it granted reconsideration on May 17, 2011. In addition, the EPA is proposing amendments to the new source performance standard for PM issued pursuant to section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act. These proposed amendments would promote flexibility, reduce costs, and ease compliance burdens. EPA is also addressing the remand of the emission standards in the NESHAP by the D.C. Circuit on December 9, 2011. Finally, the EPA is proposing to extend the date for compliance with the existing source national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants to September 9, 2015.

EPA is approving a request submitted by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) on May 14, 2012, to revise the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP). The submission revises the Indiana Administrative Code (IAC) definition of ``References to the Code of Federal Regulations,'' from the 2009 edition to the 2011 edition.

EPA is finalizing a significant new use rule (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the chemical substance identified as phenol, 2,4-dimethyl-6-(1-methylpentadecyl)- (PMN P-94- 209; CAS No. 134701-20-5). This action requires persons who intend to manufacture, import, or process the substance for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this final rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification would provide EPA with the opportunity to evaluate the intended use and, if necessary, to prohibit or limit that activity before it occurs.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of a literature search for benzo(a)pyrene (CASRN 50- 32-8). EPA is also requesting scientific information on health effects that may result from exposure to this chemical substance. EPA's IRIS is a human health assessment program that evaluates quantitative and qualitative risk information on effects that may result from exposure to specific chemical substances found in the environment.

This document proposes to amend the existing trinexapac-ethyl tolerance levels for wheat, forage and wheat, middlings as well as change the commodity definition for hog, kidney. Additionally the EPA proposes to establish tolerances for residues of trinexapac-ethyl in or on barley, bran; sugarcane, molasses; and wheat, bran under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of azoxystrobin in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) and Syngenta Crop Protection requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Delaware State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) on April 1, 2010 and March 9, 2012. These SIP revisions consist of amendments to Delaware's regulation for the Control of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and meet the requirement to adopt reasonably available control technology (RACT) for sources covered by EPA's Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) standards for the following categories: Plastic Parts, Metal Furniture, Large Appliances, and Miscellaneous Metal Parts. These amendments will reduce emissions of VOC from these source categories and help Delaware attain and maintain the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These revisions pertaining to Pennsylvania's nonattainment New Source Review (NSR) program incorporate preconstruction permitting regulations for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) into the Pennsylvania SIP. EPA is approving these revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

During a review of Louisiana's regulations, the EPA identified a variety of State-initiated changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). We have determined that these changes are minor and satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for Final authorization and are authorizing the State-initiated changes through this direct Final action. In addition, this document corrects technical errors made in the May 20, 2009, Federal Register authorization document for Louisiana. The Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to authorize States to operate their hazardous waste management programs in lieu of the Federal program. The EPA uses the regulations entitled ``Approved State Hazardous Waste Management Programs'' to provide notice of the authorization status of State programs and to incorporate by reference those provisions of the State statutes and regulations that will be subject to the EPA's inspection and enforcement. The rule codifies in the regulations the prior approval of Louisiana's hazardous waste management program and incorporates by reference authorized provisions of the State's statutes and regulations.

EPA is taking direct final action to delegate the authority to implement and enforce specific National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) to the Gila River Indian Community Department of Environmental Quality (GRIC) in Arizona. The preamble outlines the process that GRIC will use to receive delegation of any future NESHAP, and identifies the NESHAP categories to be delegated by today's action. EPA has reviewed GRIC's request for delegation and has found that this request satisfies all of the requirements necessary to qualify for approval. Thus, EPA is hereby granting GRIC the authority to implement and enforce the unchanged NESHAP categories listed in this rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces two public teleconferences of the SAB Animal Feeding Operations Emission Review Panel (AFO Panel) to discuss additional EPA data and the Panel's draft advisory report regarding EPA draft methodologies for estimating emissions from animal feeding operations.

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, EPA gives notice of a teleconference meeting of the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC). The FRRCC is a policy-oriented committee that provides policy advice, information, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on a range of environmental issues and policies that are of importance to agriculture and rural communities. The purpose of this teleconference is to discuss specific topics of relevance for consideration by the Committee in order to provide advice and insights to the Agency on environmental policies and programs that affect and engage agriculture and rural communities.

EPA is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Alabama, through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) to EPA on October 7, 2009, for the purpose of providing for attainment of the 1997 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in the Alabama portion of the tri-state Chattanooga PM2.5 nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``Chattanooga Area'' or ``Area''). The Chattanooga Area is comprised of Catoosa and Walker Counties in Georgia; Hamilton County in Tennessee; and a portion of Jackson County in Alabama. The Alabama SIP revision (hereafter referred to as the ``attainment plan'') pertains only to the Alabama portion of the Chattanooga Area (hereafter referred to as ``Jackson County''). EPA is now proposing to approve Alabama's October 7, 2009, SIP revision regarding reasonably available control technology (RACT) and reasonably available control measures (RACM); reasonable further progress (RFP); contingency measures; and, for transportation conformity purposes, an insignificance determination for PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOx) for the mobile source contribution to ambient PM2.5 levels for the Alabama portion of the Chattanooga Area. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and the ``Clean Air Fine Particle Implementation Rule,'' hereafter referred to as the ``PM2.5 Implementation Rule,'' issued by EPA on April 25, 2007. The States of Georgia and Tennessee have provided separate SIP revisions with attainment plans for their portions for the Chattanooga Area. EPA is not addressing those SIP revisions in this proposed rulemaking.

EPA is revoking certain tolerances for the fungicide dicloran and the insecticide formetanate hydrochloride in follow-up to amended registrations that deleted specific uses, leaving no dicloran and formetanate hydrochloride registrations for those uses. Also, in accordance with current Agency practice, EPA is making minor revisions to the tolerance expressions for dicloran and formetanate hydrochloride and to specific tolerance nomenclatures for dicloran.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. The ICR which is abstracted below describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of methoxyfenozide in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later and for indirect or inadvertent combined residues of the methoxyfenozide on various other commodities. In addition, this regulation removes established tolerances for certain commodities/ groups superseded by this action and revises the tolerance expression. The Interregional Research Project 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland. The SIP revision amends Maryland's COMAR 26.11.19.23 ``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds Emissions from Vehicle Refinishing'' to establish new volatile organic compounds (VOC) content limits for coating and cleaning solvents used in vehicle refinishing and standards for coating application, work practices, monitoring, and recordkeeping. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EPA is proposing approval of revisions adopted by the State of Colorado on December 15, 2005, to Regulation No. 3 (Stationary Source Permitting and Air Pollutant Emission Notice Requirements.) Colorado submitted the request for approval of these rule revisions into the State Implementation Plan (SIP) on August 21, 2006. The revisions remove repealed provisions in Regulation No. 3 that pertain to the issuance of Colorado air quality permits; the revisions also implement other minor administrative changes and renumbering. The intended effect of this action is to propose to approve the rules that are consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA.) This action is being taken under section 110 of the CAA.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of Pasteuria spp. (Rotylenchulus reniformis nematode)Pr3 in or on all food commodities when applied as a nematicide and used in accordance with label directions and good agricultural practices. Pasteuria Bioscience, Inc. submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of Pasteuria spp. (Rotylenchulus reniformis nematode)Pr3 under the FFDCA.