Environmental Protection Agency April 2, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites nominations of scientific experts from a range of disciplines to be considered for appointment to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is adding language to the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) to broaden the methods by which the EPA can notify the public about certain Superfund activities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of meeting the requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA) section 128. This rulemaking action also proposes to approve an infrastructure element directly related to the regulations being added for several previously submitted infrastructure SIPs for the 2008 Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the 2008 Ozone NAAQS, the 2010 Nitrogen Dioxide NAAQS, and the 2010 Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS. In the Final Rules section of this issue of the 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 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 If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule.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) is taking final action to approve in part and disapprove in part, the August 20, 2012, State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission, provided by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for inclusion into the Alabama SIP. This final rulemaking pertains to the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) infrastructure requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP submission. ADEM certified that the Alabama SIP contains provisions that ensure the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in Alabama. With the exception of provisions pertaining to prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permitting, interstate transport, and visibility protection requirements for which EPA is taking no action in this rulemaking, and provisions respecting state boards for which EPA is taking action to disapprove, EPA is taking final action to approve Alabama's infrastructure SIP submission provided to EPA on August 20, 2012, as satisfying the required infrastructure elements for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.