Environmental Protection Agency 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is announcing its receipt of test data submitted pursuant to a test rule issued by EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). As required by TSCA, this document identifies each chemical substance and/or mixture for which test data have been received; the uses or intended uses of such chemical substance and/or mixture; and describes the nature of the test data received. Each chemical substance and/or mixture related to this announcement is identified in Unit I. under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

In this notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notifying the public that EPA has found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) in the Maryland portion of the Metropolitan Washington, DC, (DC-MD-VA) 1997 Fine Particulate (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) Nonattainment Area (hereafter, the Washington Area) Maintenance Plan, submitted as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), are adequate for transportation conformity purposes.

In accordance with Section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9622(i), notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement with two parties for recovery of response costs concerning the Santa Fe Springs Drums Superfund Site in Santa Fe Springs, California. The settlement is entered into pursuant to Section 122(h)(1) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9622(h)(1), and it requires the settling parties to pay $90,000 to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Agency). The settlement includes a covenant not to sue the settling parties pursuant to Sections 106 or 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606 or 9607(a). For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this Notice in the Federal Register, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The Agency will consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations which indicate the proposed settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.

This action establishes more stringent vehicle emissions standards and will reduce the sulfur content of gasoline beginning in 2017, as part of a systems approach to addressing the impacts of motor vehicles and fuels on air quality and public health. The gasoline sulfur standard will make emission control systems more effective for both existing and new vehicles, and will enable more stringent vehicle emissions standards. The vehicle standards will reduce both tailpipe and evaporative emissions from passenger cars, light-duty trucks, medium-duty passenger vehicles, and some heavy-duty vehicles. This will result in significant reductions in pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, and air toxics across the country and help state and local agencies in their efforts to attain and maintain health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Motor vehicles are an important source of exposure to air pollution both regionally and near roads. These vehicle standards are intended to harmonize with California's Low Emission Vehicle program, thus creating a federal vehicle emissions program that will allow automakers to sell the same vehicles in all 50 states. The vehicle standards will be implemented over the same timeframe as the greenhouse gas/fuel efficiency standards for light- duty vehicles (promulgated by EPA and the National Highway Safety Administration in 2012), as part of a comprehensive approach toward regulating emissions from motor vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Consumer Products (EPA ICR No. 1764.06, OMB Control No. 2060-0348), 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 April 30, 2014. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (79 FR 3799) on January 23, 2014, during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comment. 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.

This document announces the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) responses to Agency Clearance requests, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. Seq.). 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 OMB control numbers for EPA regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92- 463, notice is hereby given that the Good Neighbor Environmental Board will hold a public meeting on Thursday, May 8 and Friday, May 9, 2014 in El Paso, TX. The meeting is open to the public.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving several State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The revisions add new monitoring, inspection, maintenance and testing requirements for certain fossil fuel utilization facilities, rename and clarify stationary source emission reporting requirements, and establish compliance and certification standards for new boilers. The intended effect of this action is to approve the Commonwealth's revised ``Fossil Fuel Utilization Facility'' regulation, ``Source Registration'' regulation, and new ``Industrial Performance Standards for Boilers.'' This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.

Notice is hereby given that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tentatively approved revisions to the State of Ohio's public water system supervision program. Ohio EPA has revised two of its rules to comply with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, including the Long-Term 1 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT1ESWTR) and the Lead and Copper Rule Short-Term Revisions and Clarifications. EPA has determined that these revisions are consistent with and no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulations. Therefore, EPA intends to approve these revisions to the State of Ohio's public water system supervision program, thereby giving Ohio EPA primary enforcement responsibility for these regulations. Ohio EPA has been implementing the LT1ESWTR since August 3, 2004, and Ohio EPA has been administering the revised lead and copper requirements since July 24, 2009. Any interested party may request a public hearing. A request for a public hearing must be submitted by May 23, 2014 to the Regional Administrator at the EPA Region 5 address shown below. The Regional Administrator may deny frivolous or insubstantial requests for a hearing. However, if a substantial request for a public hearing is made by May 23, 2014 EPA Region 5 will hold a public hearing, and a notice of such hearing will be given in the Federal Register and a newspaper of general circulation. If EPA Region 5 does not receive a timely and appropriate request for a hearing and the Regional Administrator does not elect to hold a hearing on her own motion, this determination shall become final and effective on May 23, 2014. Any request for a public hearing shall include the following information: The name, address, and telephone number of the individual, organization, or other entity requesting a hearing; a brief statement of the requesting person's interest in the Regional Administrator's determination and a brief statement of the information that the requesting person intends to submit at such hearing; and the signature of the individual making the request, or, if the request is made on behalf of an organization or other entity, the signature of a responsible official of the organization or other entity.

EPA issued a cancellation order in the Federal Register of May 20, 2011 to, among other things, terminate use of products containing methyl bromide on golf courses. The effective date of cancellation for that use was December 31, 2013. The order provided that existing stocks of methyl bromide products that include the use on golf courses could be sold and distributed for 120 days after the effective date of cancellation, that is, until April 30, 2014. Two registrants have requested that EPA revise the cancellation order for the pesticide product registrations identified in Table 1 of Unit II to extend the last allowable date for sale and distribution of existing stocks of those products from April 30, 2014 to November 30, 2014 to allow sale and distribution of those existing stocks for golf course resurfacing during the 2014 use season. In this notice, EPA is amending the existing stocks provisions in the May 20, 2011 order to allow the sale or distribution of existing stocks of the identified methyl bromide products only for use on golf courses through November 30, 2014, and to limit the use of existing stocks of those products that are purchased after April 30, 2014 to use only on golf courses.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office published a notice in the Federal Register on April 9, 2014, concerning a public teleconference of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the CASAC Ozone Review Panel. The notice contained an incorrect date and time of the teleconference. In the Federal Register of April 9, 2014, in 79 FR 19613 in the second column, correct the DATES caption to read:

EPA issued a final rule in the Federal Register of February 12, 2014, concerning the establishment of tolerances for residues of linuron in or on multiple commodities and the removal of a tolerance with regional registrations in or on parsley leaves. This document corrects an error in the listing of the registrant associated with this action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby issues notice of the proposed 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 EPA in March of 2008. This proposed withdrawal action will not affect the TMDLs for Siltation/Turbidity established in the same TMDL document. The aforementioned withdrawal action is being proposed based upon EPA's determination that the lead TMDL for Big Creek near Sheridan (reach 08040203-904) should not have been established due to data quality concerns which have been recently identified. Such concerns relate primarily to the location of the ambient monitoring station for Big Creek near Sheridan, and its questionable representativeness of the reach when it was first listed in 2004. In May of 2008, the monitoring station was relocated to a new site which is more representative of the reach. Should new data indicate impairment for lead, the reach would be placed back on the 303(d) list, and a TMDL would be required at that time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is promulgating amendments to the New Source Review (NSR) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program that amend certain outdated language that limited the EPA's ability to delegate the federal PSD program to interested Indian tribes. This final action provides consistency with the current federal PSD regulatory requirements by allowing the EPA to delegate the PSD program to interested tribes for their attainment areas. The EPA regulations already provide for the administrative delegation of the PSD program to state and local governments for their attainment areas and administrative delegation of the nonattainment NSR program to states, tribes and local governments. This final rule deletes a restriction on tribes' ability to take delegation of the PSD program and includes tribes, along with state and local governments, to make it clear that tribes, as well as states and local governments, may voluntarily request and assume direct delegation of the NSR program in areas that are currently attaining the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). This final rule does not create any new requirements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) are publishing for public comment a proposed rule defining the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA), in light of the U.S. Supreme Court cases in U.S. v. Riverside Bayview, Rapanos v. United States, and Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC), and Rapanos v. United States (Rapanos). This proposal would enhance protection for the nation's public health and aquatic resources, and increase CWA program predictability and consistency by increasing clarity as to the scope of ``waters of the United States'' protected under the Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency is announcing plans to hold a forum of public health experts in June 2014 to discuss the public health implications of discharges of `blended' effluent from publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) served by separate sanitary sewers into waterways. The discussion will include public health implications of such discharges. Today's notice asks for recommendations of public health experts who would be interested and qualified to participate in the forum. In addition, today's notice seeks recommendations of wastewater treatment plant design and operation experts to serve as advisors to the public health forum participants. Today's notice also provides the public with an opportunity to submit data regarding the performance of municipal wastewater treatment plants during wet weather conditions. Blending is a practice used by some POTWs to manage wastewater when flows to the plant exceed the capacity of the secondary treatment units, which happens most often during wet weather conditions. POTWs engaged in the practice of blending divert excess flow around secondary treatment units and subsequently blend the diverted flows to the portion of flow that received secondary treatment. In some cases the diverted flows receive some additional treatment before blending. The Agency is interested in evaluating the public health implications of different blending scenarios, including scenarios where the diverted flow is subject to supplemental physical/chemical treatment prior to blending and where the diverted flows do not receive any additional treatment prior to blending. The Agency is undertaking this outreach to help advance the Clean Water Act (CWA) objective to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters (CWA, Section 101(a)).

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Emissions Certification and Compliance Requirements for Nonroad Compression-ignition Engines and On-highway Heavy Duty Engines'' (EPA ICR No. 1684.18, OMB Control No. 2060-0287) 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 and revision of the ICR, which is currently approved through August 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.

Notice is hereby given that the State of Alabama is revising its approved Public Water System Supervision Program. Alabama has adopted the following rule: Ground Water Rule. The EPA has determined that Alabama's rule is no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulation. Therefore, the EPA is tentatively approving this revision to the State of Alabama's Public Water System Supervision Program.

EPA has received several applications to register pesticide products containing active ingredients not included in any currently registered pesticide products. Pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and opportunity to comment on these applications.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing approval of revisions to the El Dorado County Air Quality Management District (EDAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This action was proposed in the Federal Register on October 25, 2013 and concerns negative declarations for volatile organic compound (VOC) source categories for EDAQMD. We are approving these negative declarations under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of establishing a revision to the state operating permit for the control of visibility-impairing emissions from GP Big Island, LLC on a shutdown of an individual unit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a direct final action to approve revisions submitted to the applicable State Implementation Plans (SIPs) addressing the requirements of EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) for Arkansas and Louisiana. EPA is approving revisions to the CAIR NOX Ozone Season allocation methodology submitted by the State of Arkansas as revisions to the Arkansas SIP on September 16, 2009. EPA is also approving revisions to the CAIR NOX Annual and Ozone Season Abbreviated SIP for the annual and ozone season NOX allocation methodologies and the CAIR SO2 SIP submitted by the State of Louisiana as revisions to the Louisiana SIP on July 1, 2009. EPA has evaluated the CAIR SIP revisions for Arkansas and Louisiana and determined these revisions to be consistent with the requirements of CAIR and the Clean Air Act (Act or CAA). This action is being taken under section 110 of the Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to find that the Idaho State Implementation Plan (SIP) meets the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) promulgated for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on January 22, 2010, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) on June 2, 2010. Whenever a new or revised NAAQS is promulgated, the CAA requires states to submit a plan for the implementation, maintenance and enforcement of such NAAQS. The plan is required to address basic program elements, including but not limited to regulatory structure, monitoring, modeling, legal authority, and adequate resources necessary to assure attainment and maintenance of the standards. These elements are referred to as infrastructure requirements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a revision to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The particulate matter (PM) rules that were submitted consist of emission control requirements for coating operations along with exemptions from certain coating operations that produce minimal PM emissions. EPA is also proposing to take no action on one section submitted by Indiana, as it pertains to a definition in an unapproved portion of Indiana's Title V regulations. Indiana submitted this request to approve PM rules on April 27, 2012.