Environmental Protection Agency November 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that the period for providing public comments on the October 6, 2014, supplemental proposed rule titled ``National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Ferroalloys Production'' is being extended for 18 days.

This document notifies the public as required by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) that the EPA Administrator has forwarded to the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) a draft regulatory document concerning the certification of pesticide applicators rule revisions. The draft regulatory document is not available to the public until after it has been signed and made available by EPA.

EPA is proposing revisions to its pesticide tolerance crop grouping regulations, which allow the establishment of tolerances for multiple, related crops based on data from a representative set of crops. EPA is proposing five new crop groups, two new and two revised commodity definitions, and revisions to the regulations on the interaction of crop group tolerances with processed food tolerances and meat, milk, and egg tolerances. Once final, EPA expects these revisions to promote greater use of crop groupings for tolerance-setting purposes, both domestically and in countries that export food to the United States. This is the fourth in a series of planned crop group updates expected to be proposed over the next several years.

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement to address a lawsuit filed by Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia: Environmental Integrity Project v. McCarthy, Case No. 1:14-cv-01196 (D.D.C.). On July 16, 2014, Plaintiffs filed this complaint alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA''), failed to perform a non-discretionary duty to grant or deny within 60 days three petitions submitted by Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club requesting that EPA object to three CAA Title V permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to Luminant Generating Company to operate three power plants in Texas. The proposed settlement agreement would establish deadlines for EPA to take such action.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a public meeting and webinar to discuss the agency's preliminary determinations on whether or not to develop drinking water regulations for five unregulated contaminants listed on the third Contaminant Candidate List (CCL3). The EPA published and requested public comment on its preliminary regulatory determinations of these five contaminants in the Federal Register (FR) on October 20, 2014. In that FR document, the agency announced its preliminary determinations to regulate one contaminant (i.e., strontium) and to not regulate four contaminants (i.e., 1,3-dinitrobenzene, dimethoate, terbufos and terbufos sulfone). On December 9, 2014, EPA will hold a public meeting and webinar to present and solicit public input on the process to identify, and the information used to evaluate, contaminants for the third Regulatory Determination effort; and the preliminary regulatory determinations for the aforementioned five unregulated contaminants listed on CCL3, including the supporting rationale for these determinations.

On April 23, 2013, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), submitted a request to redesignate the Alabama portion of the Chattanooga, TN-GA fine particulate matter (PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``Chattanooga TN-GA Area'' or ``Area'') to attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for the Alabama portion of the Chattanooga TN-GA Area. The Alabama portion of the Chattanooga TN-GA Area is comprised of a portion of Jackson County in Alabama. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the redesignation request and the related SIP revision, including the plan for maintaining attainment of the PM2.5 standard, for the Alabama portion of the Chattanooga TN-GA Area. EPA is also proposing to approve the on-road motor vehicle insignificance determination for direct PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOX) for the Alabama portion of the Chattanooga TN-GA Area. On September 14, 2012, Georgia submitted a request to redesignate the Georgia portion of the Chattanooga TN-GA Area, and EPA is expecting Tennessee to submit a request to redesignate the Tennessee portion of the Chattanooga TN-GA Area. EPA will be taking separate action on the requests from Georgia and Tennessee.

Notice is hereby given that the State of Tennessee is revising its approved Public Water System Supervision Program. Tennessee has adopted the following rules: Ground Water Rule, and Lead and Copper Rule Short-Term Regulatory Revisions and Clarifications. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that Tennessee's rules are no less stringent than the corresponding Federal regulations. Therefore, the EPA is tentatively approving this revision to the State of Tennessee's Public Water System Supervision Program.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving, through a ``direct final'' procedure, the straight delegation of authority and approval of the mechanism used for the implementation and enforcement of certain unchanged Federal section 112 rules to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), pursuant to section 112(l) of the Clean Air Act (Act or CAA). A more detailed description of the procedures used to implement the delegation is set forth in a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between ADEQ and EPA, dated September 17, 2014, a copy of which may be found in the docket for this rulemaking, as discussed below. The delegation only encompasses sources subject to one or more Federal section 112 standards (Part 63 standards specifically) which are also subject to the requirements of the Title V operating permits program. The delegation of authority under this action does not include authorities contained in CAA section 112(r).

EPA is amending the list of chemical substances that are partially exempt from reporting additional information under the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule. EPA has determined that, based on the totality of information on the chemical substances listed in this document, the Agency has low current interest in their CDR processing and use information. EPA reached this conclusion after considering a number of factors, including: The risk of adverse human health or environmental effects, information needs for CDR processing and use information, and the availability of other sources of comparable processing and use information.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve portions of three revisions to the Arkansas State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality on July 26, 2010; November 6, 2012; and September 10, 2014. Together, these three submittals update the Arkansas SIP such that the ADEQ has the authority to implement the current National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and regulate and permit emissions of fine particulate matter (particulate matter with diameters less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5)) and its precursors through the Arkansas PSD program. The September 10, 2014, submittal is a request for parallel processing of revisions proposed by the ADEQ on August 22, 2014. The EPA is proposing to find that the Arkansas Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) New Source Review (NSR) SIP meets all Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) requirements for PM2.5 PSD. EPA is also proposing to approve a portion of the December 17, 2007 SIP submittal for the PM2.5 NAAQS pertaining to interstate transport of air pollution and PSD. EPA is proposing these actions under section 110 and part C of the CAA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to extend the laboratory and analytical use exemption for the production and import of class I ozone-depleting substances through December 31, 2021. This action is proposed under the Clean Air Act in anticipation of upcoming actions by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The exemption allows the production and import of controlled substances in the United States for laboratory and analytical uses that have not been already identified by EPA as nonessential.

On October 30, 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a direct final rule in the Federal Register approving North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions, submitted through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), Division of Air Quality (DAQ), regarding the State's enhanced inspection and maintenance (I/M) program. This correcting amendment corrects inadvertent errors for two rule titles in the regulatory text of EPA's October 30, 2002, direct final rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving portions of two revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to the EPA on October 5, 2010, and April 16, 2014. Together, these two SIP submittals revise the Texas Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Program to provide for the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and clarify the applicability of Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for all PSD permit applications. The EPA is approving portions of the October 5, 2010, and April 16, 2014, SIP revisions to the Texas SIP and New Source Review (NSR) permitting program as consistent with federal requirements for PSD permitting of GHG emissions. The EPA is taking no action on the portion of the October 5, 2010, SIP revision which pertains to the Texas Minor NSR program for Qualified Facilities and portions of the April 16, 2014, submittal that appear no longer appropriate for inclusion in the Texas SIP after the recent United States Supreme Court decision discussing greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA is approving this action under Section 110 and Part C of the Clean Air Act (CAA). In a separate but simultaneous action published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, the EPA is also rescinding the GHG PSD Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for Texas, with three limited circumstances for retained authority.

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of 2-propenoic acid, 2-methyl-, phenylmethyl ester, polymer with 2-propenoic acid, peroxydisulfuric acid ([(HO)S(O)2]2O2) sodium salt (1:2)-initiated, compounds with diethanolamine, with a minimum number average molecular weight of 2,000 amu; when used as an inert ingredient in a pesticide formulation. Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry, 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 2- propenoic acid, 2-methyl-, phenylmethyl ester, polymer with 2-propenoic acid, peroxydisulfuric acid ([(HO)S(O)2]2O2) sodium salt (1:2)- initiated, compounds with diethanolamine on food or feed commodities.

This document announces the Agency's receipt of an initial filing of a pesticide petition requesting the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

EPA is continuing to authorize Student Services Contractors access to information which has been submitted to EPA under all sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Some of the information may be claimed or determined to be Confidential Business Information (CBI). Original notice of this access was published in the Federal Register on May 18, 2012.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving revisions to the Washington State Implementation Plan (SIP) that were submitted by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) on January 27, 2014. These revisions update the preconstruction permitting regulations for large industrial (major source) facilities located in designated nonattainment areas, referred to as the Nonattainment New Source Review (major nonattainment NSR or major NNSR) program. While these revisions update Ecology's major NNSR program generally, the most significant change is the incorporation of regulations to implement major NNSR for fine particulate matter, particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5). The major NNSR program is designed to ensure that major stationary sources of air pollution are constructed or modified in a manner that is consistent with attainment and maintenance of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

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 Sierra Club in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia: Sierra Club v. McCarthy, Case No. 1:14-cv-00833-ESH (D.D.C.). On May 20, 2014, Plaintiff filed a complaint which alleged that Gina McCarthy, in her official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA''), failed to perform her nondiscretionary duty to take action on a number of Texas state implementation plan (``SIP'') submissions for the Dallas/Ft. Worth nonattainment area to address the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS within one year of the date the submissions were deemed complete by operation of law. These SIP submissions include a demonstration of attainment, reasonably available control technology (``RACT'') requirements for volatile organic compounds (``VOCs'') and nitrogen oxides (``NOX''), and provisions for reasonable further progress (``RFP'') toward attainment. Plaintiff's complaint also alleged that the Administrator failed to perform a nondiscretionary duty to determine whether the Dallas/Ft. Worth area attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the June 15, 2013 attainment date and to reclassify the area accordingly. The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take these actions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the Phosphoric Acid Manufacturing and Phosphate Fertilizer Production source categories and to new source performance standards (NSPS) for several phosphate processing categories. The proposed amendments address the results of the residual risk and technology reviews (RTR) conducted as required under the Clean Air Act (CAA), as well as other actions deemed appropriate during the review of these standards. The proposed amendments include numeric emission limits for mercury and work practice standards for hydrogen fluoride (HF) from calciners; work practice standards for hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions from gypsum dewatering stacks and cooling ponds; emission standards requiring HF testing from various affected sources; clarifications to the applicability and monitoring requirements for both source categories to accommodate process equipment and technology changes; changes to remove the exemptions for startup, shutdown and malfunction; work practice standards for periods of startup and shutdown; and revised provisions to address recordkeeping and reporting requirements applicable to periods of startup, shutdown and malfunction. The proposed amendments will reduce mercury emissions, thereby reducing potential mercury exposure to children, including the unborn. Further, the EPA has conducted an 8- year review of the current NSPS for these source categories, and is proposing that no revisions to the numeric emission limits for these standards are appropriate.

This proposed rule revises the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Consolidated Rules of Practice governing the administrative assessment of civil penalties to encompass the assessment of civil penalties under the air pollution control provisions of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. The EPA has not previously established adjudicatory procedures for the assessment of civil penalties under that statute. Establishment of such procedures will provide for the efficient and effective adjudication, including administrative appeals, of such proceedings consistent with statutory requirements. This proposed rule also revises the address for the Environmental Appeals Board to reflect its relocation to the William Jefferson Clinton East Building. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, we are making this same amendment as a direct final rule. If we receive no adverse comment, the direct final rule will go into effect and we will not take further action on this proposed rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), Requirements and Exemptions for Specific RCRA Wastes (EPA ICR No. 1597.11, OMB Control No. 2050-0145) 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 February 28, 2015. 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 (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Engine Test Cells/ Stands (Renewal) (EPA ICR No. 2066.06, OMB Control No. 2060-0483), 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 January 31, 2015. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (79 FR 30117) on May 27, 2014 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.

In accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests by the registrants to voluntarily to amend their methomyl product registrations to delete one or more uses. The requests would delete methomyl use in or on barley, oats, and rye. The requests would not terminate the last methomyl products registered for use in the United States. EPA intends to grant these requests at the close of the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its further review of the requests, or unless the registrants withdraw its requests. If these requests are granted, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted after the use is deleted only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

Due to the receipt of an adverse comment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the September 17, 2014, direct final rule approving a revision to provisions in Title 326 of the Indiana Administrative Code, Article 4, Rule 1, Open Burning Rule.

Effective January 31, 2014 the EPA Superfund program decommissioned the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act Information System (CERCLIS) and adopted a new, more comprehensive data management system. The new data management system, the Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS), serves as a more powerful, integrated platform. Consistent with this action, this proposed rule proposes to make appropriate conforming terminological changes to our regulations. This proposed rule also proposes to add a minor clarification to the description of the remedial preliminary assessment.