Environmental Protection Agency February 5, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to section 6(b) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA hereby announces its intent to cancel the registration of 12 rodenticide products identified in this Notice. Pursuant to section 3(c)(6) of FIFRA, EPA hereby announces the denial of applications for registration of 2 products identified in this Notice. This Notice summarizes EPA's basis for these actions, and explains how eligible persons may request a hearing and the consequences of requesting or failing to request such a hearing.

EPA is proposing to disapprove in part revisions to the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP) to implement the regional haze program addressing visibility impairment in mandatory Class I areas covered by the requirements related to the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, an optional program for certain western states. These SIP revisions were submitted to address the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) requiring states to prevent any future and remedy any existing impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I areas caused by man-made pollution. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that EPA has found that the 2017 and 2025 motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) in the June 22, 2012 Connecticut State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision are adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The submittal includes MOVES2010 motor vehicle emissions budgets for 2017 and 2025 for the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT fine particle (PM2.5) nonattainment area. On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that budgets in submitted SIPs cannot be used for conformity determinations until EPA has affirmatively found them adequate. As a result of our finding, the State of Connecticut can use the MOVES2010 motor vehicle emissions budgets from the submitted plan for future conformity determinations for the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT PM2.5 area.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a source-specific federal implementation plan (FIP) requiring the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), located on the Navajo Nation, to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) under the Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) in order to reduce visibility impairment resulting from NGS at 11 National Parks and Wilderness Areas. NGS, which was built over 35 years ago, is the largest coal-fired power plant in the West in terms of generating capacity. It is central to the economies of the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe and supplies power to the states of Arizona, Nevada, and California. Electricity produced by NGS is also used to power the Central Arizona Project, which supplies surface water to three counties and numerous Indian tribes in Arizona. NGS is projected to continue operating at least until 2044. EPA is proposing to require NGS to achieve a nearly 80 percent reduction of its current overall NOX emission rate. Our analysis indicates that installation of controls to achieve this reduction would result in significant visibility improvement that is well-balanced with the cost of those controls. For a number of reasons, including the importance of NGS to numerous Indian tribes located in Arizona and the federal government's reliance on NGS to meet the requirements of water settlements with several tribes, EPA is proposing an alternative to BART that would provide flexibility to NGS in the schedule for the installation of new control equipment. We also describe other compliance schedules for consideration and comment. We recognize that there may be other approaches that could result in equivalent or better visibility benefits over time and that there may be changes in energy demand, supply or other developments over the next several decades that may change electricity generation on the Navajo Nation. EPA encourages a robust public discussion of our proposed BART determination and alternative, the additional alternatives described herein, and other possible approaches. EPA is prepared to issue a supplemental proposal if approaches other than the proposed BART determination or proposed alternative articulated in this notice are identified as satisfying the requirements of the Clean Air Act and meeting the needs of the stakeholders. EPA is committed to continuing to engage with stakeholders to develop a final FIP that maintains benefits to tribes and the regional economy while improving visibility in many of our nation's most treasured National Parks and Wilderness Areas.