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

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of rimsulfuron in or on sorghum, grain, forage; sorghum, grain, grain; and sorghum, grain, stover. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92- 463, notice is hereby given that the Good Neighbor Environmental Board (Board) will hold a public teleconference on November 30, 2015. For further information regarding the teleconference and background materials, please contact Ann-Marie Gantner at the number and email provided below.

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), ``Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) Rebate Program'' (EPA ICR No. 2461.02, OMB Control No. 2060- 0686) 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 October 31, 2015. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on August 25, 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.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of teflubenzuron [N-[[(3,5-dichloro-2,4-difluorophenyl)amino]carbonyl]- 2,6-difluorobenzamide] in or on multiple commodities which are identified and discussed later in this document. BASF Corporation requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The ICR, entitled: ``Notification of Chemical ExportsTSCA Section 12(b)'' and identified by EPA ICR No. 0795.15 and OMB Control No. 2070- 0030, represents the renewal of an existing ICR that is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2016. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection that is summarized in this document. The ICR and accompanying material are available in the docket for public review and comment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), General Hazardous Waste Facility Standards (EPA ICR No. 1571.11, OMB Control No. 2050-0120) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Before doing so, the EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through February 29, 2016. 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 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing four public hearings to be held on the proposed ``Federal Plan Requirements for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Electric Utility Generating Units Constructed on or before January 8, 2014; Model Trading Rules; Amendments to Framework Regulations.''

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will accept requests, from December 1, 2015 through January 31, 2016, for grants to establish and enhance State and Tribal Response Programs. This notice provides guidance on eligibility for funding, use of funding, grant mechanisms and process for awarding funding, the allocation system for distribution of funding, and terms and reporting under these grants. EPA has consulted with state and tribal officials in developing this guidance. The primary goal of this funding is to ensure that state and tribal response programs include, or are taking reasonable steps to include, certain elements of a response program and establishing a public record. Another goal is to provide funding for other activities that increase the number of response actions conducted or overseen by a state or tribal response program. This funding is not intended to supplant current state or tribal funding for their response programs. Instead, it is to supplement their funding to increase their response capacity. For fiscal year 2016, EPA will consider funding requests up to a maximum of $1.0 million per state or tribe. Subject to the availability of funds, EPA regional personnel will be available to provide technical assistance to states and tribes as they apply for and carry out these grants.

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), ``Emission Guidelines for Existing Other Solid Waste Incineration Units (40 CFR part 60, subpart FFFF) (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 2164.05, OMB Control No. 2060-0562), 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 October 31, 2015. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (80 FR 32116) on June 5, 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 neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), ``Part 70 State Operating Permit Program (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 1587.13, OMB Control No. 2060-0243) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through October 31, 2015. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 8, 2015. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. This ICR renewal covers state, local and tribal (state) air quality operating permitting programs under 40 CFR part 70, as authorized under Title V of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the period of November 1, 2015, through October 31, 2018. 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 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve three state implementation plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (Oregon or ODEQ) and a specific portion of a fourth SIP submittal identified in a supplementary letter. These SIP submittals primarily include rule amendments related to control measures for volatile organic compounds from gasoline dispensing facilities in the Portland- Vancouver, Medford-Ashland, and Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Study air quality management areas, as well as all of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. The EPA received the SIP submittals from the ODEQ on February 5, 2009, November 1, 2010, May 25, 2011, and April 20, 2015, and the supplementary letter on September 18, 2015. The EPA is approving the SIP submittals because they are consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (Act or CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to revise the Minnesota Federal implementation plan (FIP) for visibility, to establish emission limits for Northern States Power Company's (NSP's) Sherburne County Generating Station (Sherco), pursuant to a settlement agreement. The settlement agreement, signed by representatives of EPA, NSP, and three environmental groups, was for resolution of a lawsuit filed by the environmental groups for EPA to address any contribution from Sherco to reasonably attributable visibility impairment (RAVI) that the Department of Interior (DOI) certified was occurring at Voyageurs and Isle Royale National Parks.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to update a portion of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Air Regulations. Requirements applying to OCS sources located within 25 miles of States' seaward boundaries must be updated periodically to remain consistent with the requirements of the corresponding onshore area (COA), as mandated by the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (the Act). The portion of the OCS air regulations that is being updated pertains to the requirements for OCS sources for which Maryland is the designated COA. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is taking this action 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 Clean Air Act (CAA) requires each State Implementation Plan (SIP) to contain adequate provisions prohibiting emissions that will have certain adverse air quality effects in other states. On May 11, 2015, the State of Washington made a submittal to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address these requirements. The EPA is proposing to approve the submittal as meeting the requirement that each SIP contain adequate provisions to prohibit emissions that will contribute significantly to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance of the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in any other state.

The Environmental Protection Agency is approving a request from the State of New York that EPA withdraw its approval of a provision of the New York State plan that implements and enforces the Emission Guidelines for existing sewage sludge incineration units. This action withdraws the EPA's approval of a provision of the State sewage sludge incineration plan allowing for affirmative defenses of Clean Air Act violations in the case of malfunctions. No other provision in the State plan is affected by this action.

Pursuant to Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 505(b)(2) and 40 CFR 70.8(d), the EPA Administrator signed an Order, dated September 24, 2015, granting in part and denying in part two petitions asking EPA to object to operating permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for Shell Chemical LP's Deer Park Chemical Plant and Shell Oil Company's Deer Park Refinery (Title V operating permit numbers O1668 and O1669). The EPA's September 24, 2015 Order responds to the two petitions, dated May 19, 2014, submitted by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Sierra Club, and Air Alliance Houston. Sections 307(b) and 505(b)(2) of the CAA provide that a petitioner may ask for judicial review by the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit of those portions of the Order that deny issues raised in the petition. Any petition for review shall be filed within 60 days from the date this notice appears in the Federal Register, pursuant to section 307(b) of the CAA.

Based on its review of the air quality criteria for ozone (O3) and related photochemical oxidants and national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for O3, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising the primary and secondary NAAQS for O3 to provide requisite protection of public health and welfare, respectively. The EPA is revising the levels of both standards to 0.070 parts per million (ppm), and retaining their indicators (O3), forms (fourth-highest daily maximum, averaged across three consecutive years) and averaging times (eight hours). The EPA is making corresponding revisions in data handling conventions for O3 and changes to the Air Quality Index (AQI); revising regulations for the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) program to add a transition provision for certain applications; and establishing exceptional events schedules and providing information related to implementing the revised standards. The EPA is also revising the O3 monitoring seasons, the Federal Reference Method (FRM) for monitoring O3 in the ambient air, Federal Equivalent Method (FEM) analyzer performance requirements, and the Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS) network. Along with exceptional events schedules related to implementing the revised O3 standards, the EPA is applying this same schedule approach to other future new or revised NAAQS and removing obsolete regulatory language for expired exceptional events deadlines. The EPA is making minor changes to the procedures and time periods for evaluating potential FRMs and equivalent methods, including making the requirements for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) consistent with the requirements for O3, and removing an obsolete requirement for the annual submission of Product Manufacturing Checklists by manufacturers of FRMs and FEMs for monitors of fine and coarse particulate matter. For a more detailed summary, see the Executive Summary below.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing approval of the State of Florida's March 10, 2015, State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision, submitted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). This submittal fulfills Florida's commitment to EPA to provide a regional haze SIP revision with a Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions limit for Unit 1 at the Lakeland ElectricC.D. McIntosh Power Plant (McIntosh) reflecting best operating practices for good combustion. States are required to address the BART provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and EPA's regional haze regulations as part of a program to prevent any future and remedy any existing anthropogenic impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I areas (national parks and wilderness areas) caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area (also referred to as the ``regional haze program'') and to assure reasonable progress toward the national goal of achieving natural visibility conditions in Class I areas. In this action, EPA is approving the BART NOx emissions limit for Unit 1 at McIntosh into the Florida SIP.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving into Oregon's State Implementation Plan (SIP) a submittal from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) dated July 7, 2014, containing revisions to the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency's (LRAPA) open burning rules adopted on March 14, 2008. The revised LRAPA open burning rules make clarifications and provide for additional controls of open burning activities in Lane County, would reduce particulate emissions in Lane County, and would strengthen Oregon's SIP. The EPA is also approving a submittal from the ODEQ dated June 30, 2014, to update Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) that relate to procedures in contested cases (appeals), enforcement procedures, and civil penalties. The EPA is approving most of the submitted provisions because the revisions clarify and strengthen the SIP and are consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA is not approving certain provisions of the submitted rules that do not relate to the requirements for SIPs under section 110 of the CAA. Finally, the EPA is correcting the SIP pursuant to the authority of section 110(k)(6) of the CAA to remove certain provisions previously approved by the EPA that do not relate to the requirements for SIPs under section 110 of the CAA.

In this action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a federal plan to implement the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission guidelines (EGs) for existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units (EGUs) under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The EGs were proposed in June 2014 and finalized on August 3, 2015 as the Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units (also known as the Clean Power Plan or EGs). This proposal presents two approaches to a federal plan for states and other jurisdictions that do not submit an approvable plan to the EPA: a rate- based emission trading program and a mass-based emission trading program. These proposals also constitute proposed model trading rules that states can adopt or tailor for implementation of the final EGs. The federal plan is an important measure to ensure that congressionally mandated emission standards under the authority of the CAA are implemented. The proposed federal plan is related to but separate from the final EGs. The final EGs establish the best system of emission reduction (BSER) for applicable fossil fuel-fired EGUs in the form of a carbon dioxide (CO2) emission performance rate for steam- fired EGUs and a CO2 emission performance rate for natural gas-fired combined cycle (NGCC) units, and provide guidance and criteria for the development of approvable state plans. The purpose of the proposed federal plan is to establish requirements directly applicable to a state's affected EGUs that meet these emission performance levels, or the equivalent statewide goal, in order to achieve reductions in CO2 emissions in the case where a state or other jurisdiction does not submit an approvable plan. The stringency of the emission performance levels established in the final EGs will be the same whether implemented through a state plan or a federal plan. The EPA is also proposing enhancements to the CAA section 111(d) framework regulations related to the process and timing for state plan submissions and EPA actions. The EPA intends to finalize both the rate-based and mass-based model trading rules in summer 2016.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing new source performance standards (NSPS) under Clean Air Act (CAA) section 111(b) that, for the first time, will establish standards for emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) for newly constructed, modified, and reconstructed affected fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units (EGUs). This action establishes separate standards of performance for fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units and fossil fuel-fired stationary combustion turbines. This action also addresses related permitting and reporting issues. In a separate action, under CAA section 111(d), the EPA is issuing final emission guidelines for states to use in developing plans to limit CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired EGUs.

In accordance with the requirements of sections 104, 106(a), 107, and 122 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (``CERCLA''), 42 U.S.C. 9604, 9606(a), 9607 and 9622, notice is hereby given of the proposed administrative settlement under section 107 and 122 of CERCLA, between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') and bona fide prospective purchaser Columbine Strategies LLC (``Settling Party''). The proposed Settlement Agreement requires the Settling Party to conduct work under EPA oversight in exchange for a covenant not to sue pursuant to sections 106 and 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9606 and 9607(a) for existing contamination at the Site. The Settling Party consents to and will not contest the authority of the United States to enter into this Agreement or to implement or enforce its terms. The Settling Parties recognize that this Agreement has been negotiated in good faith and that this Agreement is entered into without the admission or adjudication of any issue of fact or law.

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act (the ``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement to resolve two cases filed by the WildEarth Guardians (``Guardians'') and Sierra Club involving EPA actions under the CAA Title V operating permit program. On January 7, 2015, Guardians and Sierra Club filed petitions with the Environmental Appeal Board (``EAB'') challenging a Part 71 Operating Permit issued by EPA Region 8 on December 5, 2014, to Deseret Power Cooperative (``Deseret'') to operate the Bonanza Power Plant (``Bonanza Plant'') (In re Deseret Power Cooperative Bonanza Power Plant, CAA Appeal Nos. 15-1, 15-2). Under the proposed settlement agreement, Deseret would submit an application for a minor New Source Review (NSR) permit to implement the specific terms of the agreement; and EPA would draft and provide for public notice of the proposed permit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing revisions to a Federal implementation plan (FIP) addressing the requirement for best available retrofit technology (BART) for taconite plants in Minnesota and Michigan. In response to petitions for reconsideration, we are proposing to revise the nitrogen oxides (NOX) limits for taconite furnaces at facilities owned and operated by Cliffs Natural Resources (Cliffs) and ArcelorMittal USA LLC (ArcelorMittal). We are also proposing to revise the sulfur dioxide (SO2) requirements at two of Cliffs' facilities. We are proposing these changes because new information has come to light that was not available when we originally promulgated the FIP on February 6, 2013.