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

This notice announces that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final permit decision for a Clean Air Act Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit and Minor New Source Review (NSR) Permit in Indian Country to Arizona Public Service Company (APS) for the construction of add-on pollution controls for the Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP). Specifically, the permit authorizes APS to construct and operate selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, including ancillary equipment, on two existing coal-fired electric steam generating units at FCPP.

Notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement agreement and order on consent for conducting removal action at the Former Synergy Superfund Site in Claremont, New Hampshire with the settling party, AmeriGas Propane, L.P. The proposed settlement calls for AmeriGas Propane, L.P. to conduct the removal action and allows the settling party to submit a claim(s) for reimbursement to the Hazardous Substance Superfund (``Fund'') for its necessary costs incurred in completing the removal action, but in no event shall settling party's total claim(s) against the Fund under the proposed settlement exceed the sum of $1,500,000; any costs incurred beyond this sum shall be assumed by AmeriGas Propane, L.P. In addition to conducting the removal action, AmeriGas Propane, L.P. will create a contingency fund of $75,000 for the City of Claremont, New Hampshire to use for future contingencies related to the site. In exchange, EPA will provide AmeriGas Propane, L.P. with a covenant not to sue or take administrative action against it, or its related corporate entities for the work and future response costs incurred at the site. The settlement has been approved by the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice. For 30 days following the date of publication of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The United States will consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109-3912.

In accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9600 et seq., notice is hereby given that a proposed Agreement and Covenant Not to Sue (Prospective Purchaser Agreement) associated with the San Gabriel Valley Area 2 Superfund Site was executed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 25, 2015. The proposed Prospective Purchaser Agreement would resolve certain potential claims of the United States under sections 106 and 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606 and 9607(a) against Reichhold LLC, a Delaware corporation (the Purchaser). The Purchaser plans to acquire Reichhold, Inc.'s chemical plant, comprising approximately 8.878 acres, located at 237 South Motor Avenue, Azusa, California, within the Baldwin Park Operable Unit (BPOU) of the San Gabriel Valley Area 2 Superfund Site. The proposed settlement would provide the following benefit to EPA: The purchaser will pay $800,000 in cash, to be held in reserve in a special account for future cleanup work at the BPOU, as needed. Reichhold, Inc., is not a signatory to the Prospective Purchaser Agreement. The Purchaser is not directly affiliated with Reichhold, Inc. For 30 calendar days following the date of publication of this notice, EPA will receive written comments relating to the proposed settlement. EPA's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a revision to the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District (NSAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). The submitted SIP revision contains the District's demonstration regarding Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The submitted SIP revision also contains negative declarations for volatile organic compound (VOC) source categories for the NSAQMD. We are proposing to approve the submitted SIP revision under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve a July 25, 2013 State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The revision includes a correction to the definition of ``regulated NSR [New Source Review] pollutant'' as it relates to condensable particulate matter under Virginia's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. 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) is approving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's request to redesignate to attainment the Allentown Nonattainment Area (Allentown Area or Area) for the 2006 24- hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS or standard). EPA has determined that the Allentown Area attained the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS and that it continues to attain the standard. In addition, EPA is approving, as a revision to the Pennsylvania State Implementation Plan (SIP), the Allentown Area maintenance plan to show maintenance of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS through 2025 for the Area. The maintenance plan includes the 2017 and 2025 PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOX) mobile vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the Area for the 2006 24- hour PM2.5 NAAQS, which EPA is approving for transportation conformity purposes. Furthermore, EPA is approving the 2007 base year emissions inventory, also included in the maintenance plan, for the Area for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. These actions are being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of two secondary alkane (C13- C17) sulfonates (CAS Reg. Nos. 85711–69–9 and 97489–15–1) when used as inert ingredients (surfactant) in pesticide formulations applied to growing crops at a maximum concentration not to exceed 40% by weight. Exponent, on behalf of Clariant Corporation, submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requesting establishment of an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of secondary alkane (C13-C17) sulfonates.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the attainment demonstration and associated contingency measures and motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for the Washington, DC-MD-VA, moderate ozone nonattainment area (Washington Area) for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) as submitted by the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia as revisions to each of their State Implementation Plans (SIPs). EPA has determined that each of the three SIP revisions including specifically the attainment demonstration, contingency measures and MVEBs meet the applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), and EPA is approving each revision.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amends the EPA Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR) to update policy, procedures, and contract clauses. The proposed rule updates the EPAAR clause Level of EffortCost-Reimbursement Term Contract, modifies the clause title, and updates the corresponding EPAAR clause prescription.

The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (doing business as The National Environmental Education Foundation or NEEF) was created by Section 10 of Public Law 101-619, the National Environmental Education Act of 1990. It is a private 501(c)(3) non- profit organization established to promote and support education and training as necessary tools to further environmental protection and sustainable, environmentally sound development. It provides the common ground upon which leaders from business and industry, all levels of government, public interest groups, and others can work cooperatively to expand the reach of environmental education and training programs beyond the traditional classroom. The Foundation promotes innovative environmental education and training programs such as environmental education for medical healthcare providers and broadcast meteorologists; it also develops partnerships with government and other organizations to administer projects that promote the development of an environmentally literal public. The Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as required by the terms of the Act, announces the following appointment to the National Environmental Education Foundation Board of Directors. The appointee is Ms. Jeniffer Harper-Taylor, president of the Siemens Foundation, where she leads one of the nation's preeminent nonprofit organizations dedicated to STEM education.

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 Bill Green (``Plaintiff''): Bill Green v. McCarthy, No. 4:14-cv-05093-TOR (E.D. WA). On September 10, 2014, Plaintiff filed this complaint alleging that Gina McCarthy, in her official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``the Agency''), failed to perform a non-discretionary duty to grant or deny within 60 days two petitions submitted by Plaintiff. In his petitions, Plaintiff requested that EPA object to a CAA title V permit issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology to the United States Department of Energy, for purposes of operating the Hanford Site in Benton County, Washington. The proposed consent decree would establish a deadline for EPA to respond to these petitions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) receives from time to time Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documentation received or issued by EPA or data contained in EPA database systems pertaining to the export and import of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste from/to the United States, the export of cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and spent lead acid batteries (SLABs) from the United States, and the export and import of RCRA universal waste from/to the United States. These documents and data may identify or reference multiple parties, and describe transactions involving the movement of specified materials in which the parties propose to participate or have participated. The purpose of this notice is to inform ``affected businesses'' about the documents or data sought by these types of FOIA requests in order to provide the businesses with the opportunity to assert claims that any of the information sought that pertains to them is entitled to treatment as confidential business information (CBI), and to send comments to EPA supporting their claims for such treatment. Certain businesses, however, do not meet the definition of ``affected business,'' and are not covered by today's notice. They consist of any business that actually submitted to EPA any document at issue pursuant to applicable RCRA regulatory requirements and did not assert a CBI claim as to information that pertains to that business in connection with the document at the time of its submission; they have waived their right to do so at a later time. Nevertheless, other businesses identified or referenced in the documents that were submitted to EPA by the submitting business may have a right to assert a CBI claim concerning information that pertains to them and may do so in response to this notice.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval of a revision to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This regulation establishes requirements and procedures for the District's quantification of emission reductions achieved through incentive funding programs implemented in the San Joaquin Valley. The effect of this action would be to make these requirements and procedures federally enforceable as part of the California SIP. Under authority of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), this action simultaneously approves the local rule and directs California to correct rule deficiencies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Background Checks for Contractor Employees (Renewal)EPA ICR No. 2159.06, OMB Control No. 2030-0043, 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, 2015. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (80 FR 6956) on February 9, 2015, 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.

EPA issued a notice in the Federal Register of February 25, 2015, concerning Amendments to Terminate Uses in Certain Pesticide Registrations. This document corrects the uses being terminated for registration number 39967-118.

This notice announces EPA's receipt of an application 100-EUP- RRA from Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC requesting an experimental use permit (EUP) for the termiticide Altriset containing the active ingredient chlorantraniliprole. The Agency has determined that the permit may be of regional and national significance. Therefore, because of the potential significance, EPA is seeking comments on this application.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is establishing air quality designations in the United States (U.S.) for the 2012 primary annual fine particle (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for five areas in Georgia and neighboring counties in Alabama and South Carolina. The EPA is also changing the initial designation of one area in Ohio, two areas in Pennsylvania, one area shared between Indiana and Kentucky, and one area shared between Kentucky and Ohio for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS. These states have recently submitted complete, quality-assured, and certified air quality data for 2014, and based on that data the EPA is finalizing appropriate initial designations for these areas. Lastly, the EPA is making one minor technical amendment to correct an inadvertent error in the initial designation for a county in Pennsylvania with respect to the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS.

EPA proposes a Clean Water Act (CWA) regulation that would better protect human health and the environment and protect the operational integrity of publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) by establishing pretreatment standards that would prevent the discharge of pollutants in wastewater from onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction facilities to POTWs. Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction wastewater can be generated in large quantities and contains constituents that are potentially harmful to human health and the environment. Because they are not typical of POTW influent wastewater, some UOG extraction wastewater constituents can be discharged, untreated, from the POTW to the receiving stream; can disrupt the operation of the POTW (e.g., by inhibiting biological treatment); can accumulate in biosolids (sewage sludge), limiting their use; and can facilitate the formation of harmful disinfection by-products (DBPs). Based on the information collected by EPA, the requirements in this proposal reflect current industry practices for unconventional oil and gas extraction facilities, therefore, EPA does not project the proposed rule will impose any costs or lead to pollutant removals, but will ensure that such current industry best practice is maintained over time.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is publishing this document on behalf of the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) to announce the availability of the Draft Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment for a sixty-day public review. Comments will be carefully reviewed by the relevant chapter author teams. Following revision and further review, a revised draft will undergo final federal interagency clearance.

This notice announces EPA's receipt of an application 59639- EUP-RI from Valent U.S.A. Corp., requesting an experimental use permit (EUP) for Clothianidin. The Agency has determined that the permit may be of regional and national significance. Therefore, because of the potential significance, EPA is seeking comments on this application.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve the State of Washington Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program revisions as required by rule under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Agency determined that the state's program revisions are consistent with the provisions of the SDWA and are as stringent as all applicable federal regulations to prevent underground injection activities that endanger underground sources of drinking water. The state revised its UIC Class V Program regulations and transferred oversight authority from the Department of Ecology to the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to issue UIC permits at energy facilities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State of Tennessee Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program for primacy to implement and enforce state regulations for all UIC injection wells located within the state, except for Class VI wells and all wells on Indian lands, as required by rule under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Agency determined that the state's program is consistent with the provisions of the SDWA and is as stringent as all applicable federal regulations to prevent underground injection activities that endanger underground sources of drinking water. EPA requests public comment on this proposed rule and supporting documentation. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, the Agency published EPA's approval of the state's program as a direct final rule without a prior proposed rule. If the Agency receives no adverse comment, EPA will not take further action on this proposed rule.

EPA is proposing reporting and recordkeeping requirements for certain chemical substances when they are manufactured or processed at the nanoscale as described in this rule. Specifically, EPA proposes to require persons that manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process, or intend to manufacture or process these chemical substances to electronically report to EPA certain information, which includes the specific chemical identity, production volume, methods of manufacture and processing, exposure and release information, and existing data concerning environmental and health effects. This proposal involves one-time reporting for existing nanoscale materials and one-time reporting for new discrete nanoscale materials before they are manufactured or processed. This information would facilitate EPA's evaluation of the materials and a determination of whether further action, including additional information collection, is needed. Consistent with the President's memorandum for Executive Agencies regarding Principles for Regulation and Oversight of Emerging Technologies, this proposed rule would facilitate assessment of risks and risk management, examination of the benefits and costs of further measures, and making future decisions based on available scientific evidence.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a public hearing to be held for the proposed rule titled, ``Fine Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards: State Implementation Plan Requirements'' which published in the Federal Register on March 23, 2015. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Washington, DC The EPA is also announcing extension of the comment period for the proposed rule to May 29, 2015, to allow for sufficient time after the public hearing for commenters to submit comments.