Environmental Protection Agency March 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), ``Renewable Fuels Standard Program (RFS2Supplemental)'' (EPA ICR No. 2380.02, OMB Control No. 2060-0637) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through March 31, 2013. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (77 FR 69620) on November 20, 2012 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The EPA proposes to amend the compliance certification requirements for state and federal operating permits programs that were published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2003. In that action, one sentence was removed from the rules in error. This action proposes to restore the sentence to its original location in the rules.

EPA is taking direct final action to convert a conditional approval of specified provisions of the Ohio state implementation plan (SIP) to a full approval. Ohio submitted a request to approve revised particulate matter (PM) rules on February 23, 2012. The PM rule revisions being approved establish work practices for coating operations, add a section clarifying that sources can be subject to both stationary source and fugitive source PM restrictions, and add a PM emission limitation exemption for jet engine testing. Pursuant to a state commitment underlying a previous conditional approval of this rule, the revised rule provides that any exemption from the work practice requirements that the state grants to large coating sources must be submitted to EPA for approval.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of clothianidin in or on tea, dried and increases the tolerance level for pepper to support a shorter pre-harvest interval (PHI). These tolerances were requested by Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) and Valent U.S.A. Corporation, respectively, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Sierra Club in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia: Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Sierra Club v. Jackson, Case No. 12- 1096 (D.D.C.) (``LEAN v. Jackson''). Plaintiffs filed this suit to compel the Administrator to respond to two administrative petitions (the ``June 2010 petition'' and the ``May 2011 petition'') requesting, among other things, that EPA object to CAA Title V operating permits issued by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to Consolidated Environmental Management, Inc. Nucor Steel Louisiana for a pig iron manufacturing process and for a direct reduced iron manufacturing process in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, EPA would agree to sign an order granting or denying one objection (``Specific Objection I'') in the May 2011 petition under 42 U.S.C. 7661d(b)(2) by April 29, 2013, and to sign an order or orders granting or denying the June 2010 petition and May 2011 petition (except for Specific Objection I) under 42 U.S.C. 7661d(b)(2) by October 17, 2013.

EPA is taking final action to withdraw its previous approvals of state implementation plan revisions submitted by the State of California to meet the vehicle-miles-traveled emissions offset requirement under the Clean Air Act for the Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin 1-hour and 8-hour ozone nonattainment areas. EPA is also taking final action to disapprove the same plan revisions. EPA is finalizing the withdrawal and disapproval actions in response to a remand by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Association of Irritated Residents v. EPA. The effect of this action is to trigger deadlines by which new plan revisions meeting the applicable requirements must be submitted by the State of California and approved by EPA to avoid sanctions and to avoid an obligation on EPA to promulgate a federal implementation plan.

EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision concerns volatile organic compounds (VOC) from organic liquid storage. We are approving a local rule that regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

EPA issued direct final significant new use rules (SNURS) in the Federal Register of December 20, 2012 for 9 chemical substances which were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs). For the chemical substance identified generically as aromatic sulfonic acid amino azo dye salts (PMN P-12-276) a typographical error has been identified. This document is being issued to correct the typographical error.

EPA issued a document in the Federal Register of September 30, 2009 (74 FR 50187) (FRL-8437-7) concerning the cancellations and amendments of pesticide products containing organic arsenicals. A portion of the voluntary cancellation request giving rise to the 2009 document was conditioned upon the convening of a public scientific peer review process that would address the mode of action for carcinogenic effects of inorganic arsenic. Because the peer review process has not yet occurred, the cancellations of the sod farm, golf course, and highway rights-of-way uses identified in the 2009 document were improperly finalized, and the existing stocks provisions for all remaining products containing the organic arsenical monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA) will be corrected as noted in Unit II. of this document. In addition, this document clarifies that existing stocks of products already in the hands of users as of December 31, 2010, containing MSMA labeled for all uses, except cotton, sod farms, golf courses, and highway rights-of-way and products containing disodium methanearsonate (DSMA), calcium acid methanearsonate (CAMA), and cacodylic acid and its sodium salt, can be used legally until they are exhausted, provided that such use complies with the EPA-approved label and labeling accompanying the affected product.

This regulation raises tolerances for residues of abamectin (also known as avermectin B1 a mixture of avermectins containing greater than or equal to 80% avermectin B1a (5-O- demethyl avermectin A1) and less than or equal to 20% avermectin delta-8,9-isomer) in or on cotton and strawberries. Syngenta Crop Protection Inc. requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of emamectin benzoate in or on the cucurbit vegetable crop group 9. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

EPA is granting reconsideration of the compliance date for the Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) emission limits for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) at the Reid Gardner Generating Station (RGGS) promulgated in a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) on August 23, 2012. EPA is also proposing to extend the compliance date for the NOX emission limits applicable to Units 1, 2, and 3 at RGGS by 18 months from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. We seek comment only on the aspects of the FIP specifically identified in this notice. We are not opening for reconsideration any other provisions of our FIP for RGGS or our partial approval of the Nevada Regional Haze SIP.

Due to the receipt of an adverse comment, EPA is withdrawing the January 31, 2013, direct final rule approving a revision to the Minnesota State Implementation Plan (SIP). EPA will address the comment in a subsequent final action based upon the proposed rulemaking action, also published on January 31, 2013. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this action.

EPA is proposing to approve, as a revision of the California state implementation plan, a request from the California Air Resources Board to redesignate the San Diego County ozone nonattainment area to attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (1997 ozone standard) because the request meets the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air Act. EPA is also proposing to approve the State's plan for maintaining the 1997 ozone standard in San Diego County for ten years beyond redesignation, and the inventories and related motor vehicle emissions budgets within the plan, because they meet the applicable requirements for such plans and budgets.

The EPA is announcing the reopening of the public comment period for the EPA's responses to state and tribal designation recommendations for the 2010 Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The EPA sent the responses directly to the states and tribes on or about February 7, 2013. On February 15, 2013, the EPA published a notice of availability in the Federal Register that the EPA had posted the responses on its Internet Web site and the EPA invited public comment. In the notice of availability, the EPA stated that public comments must be received on or before March 18, 2013. The EPA has received several requests from stakeholders for additional time to prepare their comments. Some of the requesters asserted that they needed additional time to review the EPA's response to state's proposed designation and prepare their responses due to the complexity of the issues impacting their area. Taking that into consideration, the EPA is reopening the comment period until April 8, 2013. The EPA intends to make final the designation determinations for the areas of the country addressed by these responses in June 2013.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of banda de Lupinus albus doce (BLAD), a naturally occurring polypeptide from the catabolism of a seed storage protein ([beta]-conglutin) of sweet lupines (Lupinus albus), in or on all food commodities when applied as a fungicide and used in accordance with label directions and good agricultural practices. On behalf of Consumo Em Verde S.A., Bert Volger of Ceres International LLC 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 BLAD under the FFDCA.

EPA is requesting comment on draft EPA guidance to auto manufacturers for weighting the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a flexible fuel vehicle operating on E85 with the GHG emissions of the vehicle operating on conventional gasoline, when calculating the compliance value to use for EPA's GHG emissions standards. EPA also invites comment on the analysis used by EPA to determine the weighting factor.

The EPA is taking final action to promulgate a Reservation- specific Federal Implementation Plan in order to regulate emissions from oil and natural gas production facilities located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The Federal Implementation Plan includes basic air quality regulations for the protection of communities in and adjacent to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The Federal Implementation Plan requires owners and operators of oil and natural gas production facilities to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds emanating from well completions, recompletions, and production and storage operations. This Federal Implementation Plan will be implemented by the EPA, or a delegated tribal authority, until replaced by a Tribal Implementation Plan. The EPA proposed a Reservation-specific Federal Implementation Plan concurrently with an interim final rule on August 15, 2012. This final Federal Implementation Plan replaces the interim final rule in all intents and purposes on the effective date of the final rule. The EPA is taking this action pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Pub. L. 92463, EPA gives notice that the public meeting for the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) initially scheduled for March 7-8, 2013, was postponed due to the predicted inclement weather that closed the Federal Government. The NACEPT meeting has been rescheduled as a teleconference for April 4, 2013. NACEPT provides advice to the EPA Administrator on a broad range of environmental policy, technology, and management issues. NACEPT represents diverse interests from academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, and local, State, and tribal governments. Purpose of Meeting: NACEPT will discuss and approve draft recommendations in response to the National Academy of Sciences' report on ``Sustainability and the U.S. EPA.'' NACEPT's second letter on sustainability will address two topics: (1) what strengths EPA can leverage to successfully deploy sustainability practices across the Agency, and (2) what 3-5 year breakthrough objectives can help bring about sustainability implementation. The agenda and meeting materials will be available at https://www.epa.gov/ofacmo/nacept/cal-nacept.htm and https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0122.

EPA is proposing to approve the attainment demonstration portion of the attainment plan submitted by the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia as revisions to each of their State Implementation Plans (SIPs). These revisions demonstrate attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (1997 ozone NAAQS) for the Washington, DC-MD-VA, moderate nonattainment area (the Washington Area) by the applicable attainment date of June 2010. EPA has determined that each of the three SIP revisions meet the applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This action is being taken in accordance with the CAA.

EPA is proposing to approve, and in the alternative, conditionally approve in part, the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision, submitted by the State of Tennessee, through the Department of Environment and Conservation, demonstrating that the State meets the requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 2008 Lead national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. Tennessee certified that the Tennessee SIP contains provisions that ensure the 2008 Lead NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in Tennessee (hereafter referred to as an ``infrastructure submission''). EPA is proposing to conditionally approve portions of sections 110(a)(2)(C), 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II), and 110(a)(2)(J) related to prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) requirements, and a portion of section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) of Tennessee's October 19, 2009, infrastructure submission. The current Tennessee SIP does not include provisions to comply with these requirements; however, Tennessee has committed to submit SIP revisions to address these deficiencies. EPA is also proposing, in the alternative, to approve the entire Tennessee SIP, including the sections described above, as meeting the applicable infrastructure requirements for the 2008 Lead NAAQS. Should Tennessee submit, and EPA approve, the necessary provisions to correct the identified infrastructure SIP deficiencies prior to EPA taking final action on the October 19, 2009, infrastructure submission, EPA anticipates finalizing full approval of the infrastructure SIP. If EPA does not approve these necessary provisions prior to taking final action on the October 19, 2009, infrastructure submission, EPA anticipates finalizing conditional approvals for those elements for which the Tennessee infrastructure SIP remains deficient.

In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that the Agency has found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for ozone for the years 2020 and 2025 in the Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan for the 1997 National Ozone Standard for San Diego County (December 2012) (``San Diego Ozone Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan'') are adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The San Diego Redesignation Request and Ozone Maintenance Plan was submitted to EPA on December 28, 2012 by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as a revision to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) and includes a maintenance plan for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard. As a result of our adequacy findings, the San Diego Association of Governments and the U.S. Department of Transportation must use the MVEBs for future conformity determinations.

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.

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.

EPA is revising the format for materials submitted by the State of Washington that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the Washington State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations affected by this format change have all been previously submitted by the State of Washington and approved by EPA. This format revision will primarily affect the ``Identification of plan'' section, as well as the format of the SIP materials that will be available for public inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center located at EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and the EPA Regional Office. EPA is also adding a table in the ``Identification of plan'' section which summarizes the approval actions that EPA has taken on the non-regulatory and quasi-regulatory portions of the Washington SIP.