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

EPA has received a specific exemption request from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to use the pesticide ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) (CAS No. 643-79-8) to treat the International Space Station internal active thermal control system (IATCS) coolant including the United States (U.S.) Laboratory, the Japanese Experiment Module, the Columbus and Node with a total volume of 829 L with a maximum of 1,974 cm\3\ OPA resin/year to control aerobic/microaerophilic water bacteria. The applicant proposes the use of a new chemical which has not been registered by EPA. EPA is soliciting public comment before making the decision whether or not to grant the exemption.

EPA is granting the California Air Resources Board (CARB) its request for a waiver of preemption for emission standards and related test procedures contained in its urban bus regulations as they affect the 2002 and later model years. Urban buses are conventionally powered by a heavy-duty diesel engine that falls within the heavy-duty vehicle classification of greater than 33,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, and are intended primarily for intra-city operation, i.e., within the confines of a city or greater metropolitan area.

EPA is announcing a 45-day public comment period on the draft IRIS assessment titled, ``Evaluation of the Inhalation Carcinogenicity of Ethylene Oxide'' (EPA/635/R-13/128a) and on the draft peer review charge questions. The draft assessment and draft peer review charge questions were prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD). The 45-day public comment period on the draft Evaluation of the Inhalation Carcinogenicity of Ethylene Oxide and on the draft peer review charge questions begins on the day EPA posts the draft assessment and the draft peer review charge questions on the IRIS Web site and ends 45 days later. EPA anticipates posting the draft assessment and draft charge questions on or around July 23, 2013. Shortly after the draft carcinogenicity assessment is posted on the IRIS Web site, EPA will initiate a peer review of the draft assessment, which EPA anticipates will be undertaken by the Science Advisory Board. EPA is releasing this draft carcinogenicity assessment for the purpose of public comment. This draft assessment is not final, as described in EPA's information quality guidelines, and it does not represent and should not be construed to represent Agency policy or views.

EPA issued a proposed rule in the Federal Register of June 10, 2013, concerning a third-party certification framework for the formaldehyde standards for composite wood products. This document extends the comment period from August 9, 2013 to August 26, 2013. After receiving requests for an extension, EPA believes it is appropriate to extend the comment period in order to give stakeholders additional time to assess the impacts of the proposal, review technical documents in the docket, and prepare comments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes the semiannual regulatory agenda online (the e-Agenda) at https:// www.reginfo.gov and at www.regulations.gov to update the public about: Regulations and major policies currently under development, Reviews of existing regulations and major policies, and Rules and major policymakings completed or canceled since the last agenda.

EPA is authorizing uses that qualify for the 2013 critical use exemption (CUE) and specifying the amount of methyl bromide that may be produced or imported for those uses. EPA is also amending the regulatory framework to remove certain requirements related to sale of pre-phaseout inventory for critical uses. EPA is taking this action under the authority of the Clean Air Act to reflect a consensus decision taken by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer at the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties.

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting public nominations for technical experts to form a CASAC ad hoc panel to provide advice through the chartered CASAC on primary (human health-based) air quality standards for sulfur oxides (SOX).

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), ``40 CFR Part 6: Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Environmental Effects Abroad of EPA Actions'' (EPA ICR No. 2243.07, OMB Control No. 2020-0033) 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 August 31, 2013. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (78 FR 12308) on February 22, 2013 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 Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), ``Standards for Pesticide Containers and Containment'' (EPA ICR No. 1632.04; OMB Control No. 2070-0133) 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 July 31, 2013. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection activity and its expected burden and costs. Copies of the ICR and related documents are available in the docket.

Kansas has applied to EPA for final authorization for changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA proposes to grant final authorization to Kansas.

EPA is proposing to approve the State of Connecticut's June 22, 2012 request to redesignate the Connecticut portion of the New York-N. New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT fine particle (PM2.5) area (i.e., New Haven and Fairfield Counties; herein called the ``Southwestern CT Area'' or ``the Area'') from nonattainment to attainment for the 1997 annual National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standard), as well as for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. As part of these proposed approvals, EPA proposes to approve (1) a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a 10-year maintenance plan for the Area; (2) a 2007 base- year emissions inventory for the Area; and (3) new motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the years 2017 and 2025 that are contained in the 10-year PM2.5 maintenance plan for the Area. In addition, in the course of proposing to approve Connecticut's request to redesignate the Southwestern CT Area, EPA addresses a number of additional issues, including the effects of two decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit Court): (1) The Court's August 21, 2012 decision to vacate and remand to EPA the Cross-State Air Pollution Control Rule (CSAPR), and (2) the Court's January 4, 2013 decision to remand to EPA two final rules implementing the 1997 PM2.5 standard. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This document announces the Agency's receipt of several initial filings of pesticide petitions requesting the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

EPA has entered into a Consent Agreement with T-Mobile US, Inc. (T-Mobile US), which formed following the merger of MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (MetroPCS) and T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile USA), to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and their implementing regulations. The Administrator is hereby providing public notice of this Consent Agreement and proposed Final Order (CAFO), and providing an opportunity for interested persons to comment on the CWA, EPCRA, CAA and RCRA portions of the CAFO, pursuant to CWA Section 311(b)(6)(C), 33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(6)(C). Upon closure of the public comment period, the CAFO and any public comments will be forwarded to the Agency's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB).

EPA is proposing to update the list of North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes subject to reporting under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to reflect the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 2012 NAICS revision. Facilities would be required to use 2012 NAICS codes when reporting to TRI beginning with TRI reporting forms that are due on July 1, 2014, covering releases and other waste management quantities for the 2013 calendar year. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of today's Federal Register, we are simultaneously publishing the 2012 OMB NAICS revisions for TRI Reporting as a direct final rule without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule. We will withdraw this proposed rule, and the direct final rule will become effective as specified in that rule. If, however, we do receive adverse comment in response to this proposed rule or in response to the direct final rule, then we will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that the direct final rule will not take effect. In that case, we would address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. We will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. For further information about commenting on this rule, see the ADDRESSES section of this document.

The EPA is proposing to approve a request submitted by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) dated November 28, 2012, to establish motor vehicle emission budgets for the Tacoma-Pierce County Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) nonattainment area to meet transportation conformity requirements. Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), new transportation plans, programs, and projects, such as the construction of new highways, must ``conform'' to (i.e., be consistent with) the State Implementation Plan (SIP). The CAA requires federal actions in nonattainment and maintenance areas to ``conform to'' the goals of SIP. This means that such actions will not cause or contribute to violations of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), worsen the severity of an existing violation, or delay timely attainment of any NAAQS or any interim milestone. Under the Transportation Conformity Rule, the EPA can approve motor vehicle emission budgets based on the most recent year of clean data if the EPA approves the request in the rulemaking that determines that the area has attained the NAAQS for which the area is designated nonattainment. In September 2012, the EPA finalized an attainment finding for the Tacoma-Pierce County PM2.5 nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as ``Tacoma-Pierce County Area'' or ``the area''). This finding, also called a clean data determination, was based upon quality-assured, quality-controlled, and certified ambient air monitoring data showing that the area had monitored attainment of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS based on the 2009-2011 data available in the EPA's Air Quality System database. This action proposes to update the previous finding of attainment with more recent 2010-2012 data and proposes to approve motor vehicle emission budgets under the Transportation Conformity Rule.

Notice is hereby given that a reissuance of an exemption to the land disposal Restrictions, under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, has been granted to Blanchard Refining Company LLC (Blanchard) Galveston Bay Refinery for three existing Class I injection wells located at Texas City, Texas. The company has adequately demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Environmental Protection Agency by the petition reissuance application and supporting documentation that, to a reasonable degree of certainty, there will be no migration of hazardous constituents from the injection zone for as long as the waste remains hazardous. This final decision allows the continued underground injection by Blanchard of the specific restricted hazardous wastes identified in this exemption into Class I hazardous waste injection wells Nos. WDW-80, 127, and 128 at the Galveston Bay Refinery facility, until December 31, 2020, unless EPA moves to terminate this exemption. Additional conditions included in this final decision may be reviewed by contacting the Region 6 Ground Water/UIC Section. A public comment period for the proposed approval of this reissuance was May 7, 2013, through June 24, 2013, and no comments were received. This decision constitutes final Agency action and there is no Administrative appeal. This decision may be reviewed/appealed in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

This notice announces that pesticide related information submitted to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including information that may have been claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) by the submitter, will be transferred to CGI Federal, Inc., and its subcontractor, Custom Applications Management, in accordance with the CBI regulations. CGI Federal, Inc., and its subcontractor, Custom Applications Management, have been awarded a contract to perform work for OPP, and access to this information will enable CGI Federal, Inc., and its subcontractor, Custom Applications Management, to fulfill the obligations of the contract.

This document proposes to establish tolerances for residues of spirotetramat in or on persimmon and sweet corn, kernel plus cob with husks removed; and to revise established tolerances in or on feijoa, papaya, and Spanish lime under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The EPA is proposing to approve several revisions to Washington's State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) on February 4, 2005 and August 2, 2006. The submissions contain revisions to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA or PS Clean Air) regulations approved by the PSCAA Board in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) was created by Section 10 of Public Law 101-619, the National Environmental Education Act of 1990. It is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established to promote and support education and training as necessary tools to further environmental protection and sustainable, environmentally sound development. It provides the common ground upon which leaders from business and industry, all levels of government, public interest groups, and others can work cooperatively to expand the reach of environmental education and training programs beyond the traditional classroom. The Foundation supports a grant program that promotes innovative environmental education and training programs; it also develops partnerships with government and other organizations to administer projects that promote the development of an environmentally literate public. The Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as required by the terms of the Act, announces the following appointment to the National Environmental Education Foundation Board of Trustees. The appointee is Shannon Schuyler, Corporate Responsibility Leader and Senior Managing Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

EPA is taking final action to determine that the Sacramento nonattainment area in California has attained the 2006 24-hour fine particle (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard). This determination is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data showing that this area has monitored attainment of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS based on the 2010-2012 monitoring period. Based on the above determination, the requirements for this area to submit an attainment demonstration, together with reasonably available control measures, a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, and contingency measures for failure to meet RFP and attainment deadlines are suspended for so long as the area continues to attain the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Performance Evaluation Studies on Wastewater Laboratories'' (EPA ICR No. 0234.11, OMB Control No. 2080-0021) 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.). Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through January 31, 2014. 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.

Due to comments received, EPA is publishing a partial withdrawal of the direct final approval of revisions to the Georgia State Implementation Plan (SIP). EPA stated in the direct final rule that if EPA received adverse comments by June 17, 2013, the rule would be withdrawn and not take effect.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to the New York State Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone concerning the control of oxides of nitrogen. The SIP revision consists of amendments to Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations Part 200, ``General Provisions,'' Part 212, ``General Process Emission Sources,'' Part 220, ``Portland Cement Plants and Glass Plants,'' and Subpart 227-2, ``Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) For Major Facilities of Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX).'' The intended effect of this action is to approve control strategies, required by the Clean Air Act, which will result in emission reductions that will help attain and maintain the national ambient air quality standards for ozone.