Environmental Protection Agency May 16, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 518 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), enacted as part of the 1987 amendments to the statute, authorizes EPA to treat eligible Indian tribes with reservations in a manner similar to states (TAS) for a variety of purposes, including administering each of the principal CWA regulatory programs and receiving grants under several CWA authorities. Since 1991, EPA has followed a cautious interpretation that has required tribes, as a condition of receiving TAS regulatory authority under section 518, to demonstrate inherent authority to regulate waters and activities on their reservations under principles of federal Indian common law. The Agency has consistently stated, however, that its approach was subject to change in the event of further congressional or judicial guidance addressing tribal authority under CWA section 518. Based on such guidance, EPA in the interpretive rule we are finalizing today concludes definitively that section 518 includes an express delegation of authority by Congress to Indian tribes to administer regulatory programs over their entire reservations, subject to the eligibility requirements in section 518. This reinterpretation streamlines the process for applying for TAS, eliminating the need for applicant tribes to demonstrate inherent authority to regulate under the Act and allowing eligible tribes to implement the congressional delegation of authority. The reinterpretation also brings EPA's treatment of tribes under the CWA in line with EPA's treatment of tribes under the Clean Air Act, which has similar statutory language addressing tribal regulation of Indian reservation areas. This interpretive rule does not revise any regulatory text. Regulatory provisions remain in effect requiring tribes to identify the boundaries of the reservation areas over which they seek to exercise authority and allowing the adjacent state(s) to comment to EPA on an applicant tribe's assertion of authority. This rule will reduce burdens on applicants associated with the existing TAS process and has no significant cost.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to revise the minimum monitoring requirements for near-road nitrogen dioxide (NO2) monitoring by removing the existing requirements for near-road NO2 monitoring stations in Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) having populations between 500,000 and 1,000,000 persons, that are due by January 1, 2017. Current near-road NO2 monitoring data indicate air quality levels in the near- road environment are well below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the oxides of nitrogen. In light of this information, and due to the relationship between population, traffic, and expected NO2 concentrations in the near-road environment, it is anticipated that measured near-road NO2 concentrations in relatively smaller CBSAs (e.g., CBSAs with populations less than 1,000,000 persons) would exhibit similar, and more likely, lower concentrations, than what is being measured in larger urban areas.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 60- day public comment period for the draft IRIS Toxicological Review of tert-Butyl Alcohol. The draft document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). EPA is releasing this draft IRIS assessment for public comment and discussion during the June 29-30, 2016 IRIS Public Science Meeting. This draft assessment is not final, as described in EPA's information quality guidelines, and it does not represent, and should not be construed to represent Agency policy or views. EPA will consider all public comments submitted in response to this notice when revising this document.

EPA is promulgating significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 55 chemical substances which were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs). Ten of these chemical substances are subject to TSCA section 5(e) consent orders issued by EPA. This action requires persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process any of these 55 chemical substances for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification will provide EPA with the opportunity to evaluate the intended use and, if necessary, to prohibit or limit that activity before it occurs.