Environmental Protection Agency May 13, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree to address a lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado: WildEarth Guardians v. McCarthy, Civil Action No. 1:13-cv-03457-JLK (D. Colo.). On December 23, 2013, Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA''), failed to take action on an application for an Operating Permit under Title V of the CAA, and EPA's implementing regulations for the Deseret Bonanza coal-fired power plant, which is located in Uintah County in northeastern Utah, within the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, in the timeframe required. The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take such action.

EPA is announcing the availability of draft updated national recommended water quality criteria for the protection of human health for the purpose of obtaining public comments. EPA has updated its national recommended water quality criteria for human health for ninety-four chemical pollutants to reflect the latest scientific information and current EPA policies. This draft update is based on EPA's current methodology for deriving human health criteria as described in ``Methodology for Deriving Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health (2000)'' and does not establish new policy. EPA's recommended water quality criteria provide technical information for States and authorized Tribes to establish water quality standards under the Clean Water Act to protect human health.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve a request submitted on June 21, 2012, by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, through Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD), to redesignate the Macon, Georgia, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``Macon Area'' or ``Area'') to attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The Macon Area is comprised of Bibb County and a portion of Monroe County in Georgia. EPA's approval of the redesignation request is based on the determination that Georgia has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). EPA is also approving a revision to the Georgia State Implementation Plan (SIP) to include the 1997 Annual PM2.5 maintenance plan for the Macon Area. Additionally, EPA is approving into the Georgia SIP the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and PM2.5 for the year 2023 for the Macon Area that are included as part of Georgia's maintenance plan for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Furthermore, EPA is approving a determination that the Area is expected to maintain the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS through the year 2024. EPA is also correcting an inadvertent error in the proposed rulemaking for this action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a rule directing state and tribal air agencies (air agencies) to provide data to characterize current air quality in areas with large sources of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions if such areas do not have sufficient air quality monitoring in place to identify maximum 1-hour SO2 concentrations. The proposed rule describes criteria for identifying the sources around which air agencies would need to characterize SO2 air quality. It also describes a process and timetables by which air agencies would characterize air quality around sources through ambient monitoring and/or air quality modeling techniques and submit such data to the EPA. The EPA has issued separate non-binding draft technical assistance documents on how air agencies can conduct such monitoring or modeling. The air quality data developed by the states in accordance with this rulemaking would be used by the EPA in future rounds of area designations for the 1-hour SO2 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).