Environmental Protection Agency June 17, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA received from Nation Ford Chemical (NFC) a request for a waiver from testing requirements promulgated by rule under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act to ascertain whether certain specified chemical substances may be contaminated with halogenated dibenzodioxins (HDDs)/dibenzofurans (HDFs). EPA will accept comments on this request and will publish another Federal Register document on or before July 21, 2014, announcing its decision on this request.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby issues notice of the withdrawal of one Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for lead, as found in the document titled ``TMDLs for Lead and Siltation/ Turbidity for Big Creek near Sheridan, Arkansas.'' The TMDL was established by the EPA in March of 2008. This withdrawal action will not affect the TMDLs for Siltation/Turbidity established in the same TMDL document. The lead TMDL is being withdrawn in this unique circumstance based on uncertainty in the representativeness of the data associated with the original listing for lead in Big Creek near Sheridan (reach 08040203-904) and, therefore, the questionable need for the TMDL.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the standards and practices for conducting all appropriate inquiries under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) to remove the reference to ASTM International's E1527-05 standard practice. This 2005 standard practice recently was replaced with updated standard E1527-13 by ASTM International, a widely recognized standards development organization. Specifically, EPA is proposing to amend the ``All Appropriate Inquiries Rule'' to remove the reference to ASTM International's E1527-05 ``Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process.''

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Delaware for the purpose of amending Delaware's ambient air quality standards. These amendments will bring the regulatory standards of sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, lead, and particulate matter up to date with current Federal requirements. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The revision involves removing the Commonwealth's portable fuel container (PFC) regulation which controlled evaporative emissions from new and in-use portable fuel containers from Pennsylvania's SIP because the Commonwealth's provisions are superseded by new, more stringent Federal PFC regulations. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the Commonwealth's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A more detailed description of the state submittal and EPA's evaluation is included in the notice of direct final rulemaking and the Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared in support of this rulemaking action. The TSD is available on www.regulations.gov under Docket ID No. EPA- R03-OAR-2014-0298. If no adverse comments are received in response to this action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time.