Environmental Protection Agency March 26, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are holding a 1-day workshop to provide an update on the status of interagency efforts to further develop interim scientific methods that were issued in November 2013 by EPA, the Services, and USDA in response to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report entitled, ``Assessing Risks to Endangered and Threatened Species from Pesticides''. This workshop builds upon public meetings held in November and December 2013, and April and October 2014, and provides a forum for stakeholders to offer scientific and technical feedback on the ongoing efforts to develop draft Biological Evaluations (BEs) for three pilot chemicals (chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion). This workshop provides an opportunity to continue the dialogue on the implementation of the enhanced stakeholder engagement process that was finalized in March 2013. The workshop is not designed, or intended, to be a decision-making forum; consensus will not be sought, or developed at the meeting. This meeting furthers the agencies' goal of developing a consultation process for assessing pesticide's impacts on listed species that is efficient, inclusive, and transparent.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), ``Effluent Guidelines and Standards for the Airport Deicing Category (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 2326.03, OMB Control No. 2040-0285) 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 March 31, 2015. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (79 FR 78428) on December 30, 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.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (``CERCLA'' or ``the Act''), as amended, requires that the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (``NCP'') include a list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants throughout the United States. The National Priorities List (``NPL'') constitutes this list. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``the agency'') in determining which sites warrant further investigation. These further investigations will allow the EPA to assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with the site and to determine what CERCLA-financed remedial action(s), if any, may be appropriate. This rule proposes to add six sites to the General Superfund section of the NPL.

On February 2, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a direct final rule approving revisions to the Albuquerque/ Bernalillo County, New Mexico State Implementation Plan. These revisions add definitions and clarifying changes to the general provisions and add a new emissions inventory regulation that establishes reporting requirements for stationary sources in Albuquerque/Bernalillo County. The direct final rule was published without prior proposal because EPA anticipated no adverse comments. EPA stated in the direct final rule that if we received relevant, adverse comments by March 4, 2015, EPA would publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register. EPA received a comment on February 20, 2015 from the Sierra Club stating in relevant part, that an Acting Regional Administrator cannot sign approvals, disapprovals, or any combination of approvals or disapproval, in whole or in part, due to the fact that the authority to act on agency actions on state implementation plans is delegated only to, and therefore can only be signed by, the Regional Administrator. EPA considers this a relevant, adverse comment and accordingly we are withdrawing our direct final rule approval, and in a separate subsequent final rulemaking we will address the comment received. The withdrawal is being taken pursuant to section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).