Environmental Protection Agency May 13, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing the primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). On or about May 4, 2015, the EPA will make available for public review the document titled Review of the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Nitrogen Dioxide: Risk and Exposure Assessment Planning Document (REA Planning Document). This plan presents considerations and the proposed approach for conducting quantitative analyses of NO2 exposures or health risks in the current review of the primary NO2 NAAQS. This planning document is intended to facilitate Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) advice and public input in advance of reaching decisions on these quantitative analyses.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia (collectively, the States). The submittals are comprised of the 2011 base year emissions inventories for the Washington, DC-MD-VA nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the States' SIP submittals 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 and EPA's Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared in support of this rulemaking action. The TSD is available in the Docket for this rulemaking action. 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 If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule.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 a Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision for control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from degassing of storage tanks, transport vessels and marine vessels. The revision reformats the existing requirement to comply with current rule writing standards, adds additional control options for owner/operators to use when complying, clarifies the monitoring and testing requirements of the rule, and makes non-substantive changes to VOC control provisions that apply in the Beaumont-Port Arthur (BPA) nonattainment area (Hardin, Jefferson and Orange Counties), four counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) nonattainment area (Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant Counties), El Paso County, and the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) nonattainment area (Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller Counties).