Environmental Protection Agency June 3, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA received several comments during the open comment period on the March 23, 2016, proposed rule to authorize Nevada's changes to the State Hazardous Waste Management program. EPA is responding to one comment opposing the action and reaffirming the effective date of the direct final rule as June 6, 2016.

The Agency is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on a draft Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice) entitled ``Guidance for Pesticide Registrants on Pesticide Resistance Management Labeling.'' PR Notices are issued by the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) to inform pesticide registrants and other interested persons about important policies, procedures, and registration related decisions, and serve to provide guidance to pesticide registrants and OPP personnel. This draft PR Notice provides guidance for registrants to follow when developing resistance management information to include on their pesticide labels. This draft PR Notice would update the guidance in PR Notice 2001-5.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve elements of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission from the State of Louisiana for National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), lead (Pb), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). This submission addresses how the existing SIP provides for implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of the NAAQS for these pollutants (also referred to as an infrastructure SIP or i-SIP). These i-SIPs ensure that the State's SIP is adequate to meet the state's responsibilities under the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving elements of State Implementation Plan (SIP) submissions from Connecticut regarding the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2008 lead, 2008 ozone, 2010 nitrogen dioxide, and 2010 sulfur dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). EPA is also converting conditional approvals for several infrastructure requirements for the 1997 ozone NAAQS and for the 1997 and 2006 fine particle (PM2.5) NAAQS to full approval under the CAA. Furthermore, we are conditionally approving elements of Connecticut's infrastructure requirements of the CAA regarding prevention of significant deterioration requirements to treat nitrogen oxides as a precursor to ozone and to establish a minor source baseline date for PM2.5 emissions. Lastly, EPA is approving three statutes submitted by Connecticut in support of its demonstration that the infrastructure requirements of the CAA have been met. The infrastructure requirements are designed to ensure that the structural components of each state's air quality management program are adequate to meet the state's responsibilities under the CAA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a federal implementation plan (FIP) that applies to new true minor sources and minor modifications at existing true minor sources in the oil and natural gas production and natural gas processing segments of the oil and natural gas sector that are locating or expanding in Indian reservations or in other areas of Indian country over which an Indian tribe, or the EPA, has demonstrated the tribe's jurisdiction. The FIP satisfies the minor source permitting requirement under the ``Federal Minor New Source Review (NSR) Program in Indian Country'' (referred to as the ``Federal Indian Country Minor NSR rule''). For the oil and natural gas production and natural gas processing segments of the oil and natural gas sector, the FIP requires compliance with emission limitations and other requirements from certain federal emission standards as written at the time of construction or modification for compression ignition and spark ignition engines; process heaters; combustion turbines; fuel storage tanks; glycol dehydrators; completion of hydraulically fractured oil and natural gas wells; reciprocating and centrifugal compressors (except those located at well sites); pneumatic controllers; pneumatic pumps; storage vessels; and fugitive emissions from well sites, compressor stations and natural gas processing plants. The EPA is also finalizing several amendments to the Federal Indian Country Minor NSR rule, including adding new text regarding the purpose of the program, revising the program overview provision, revising certain provisions to incorporate compliance with the FIP, revising the applicability provision to establish that oil and natural gas sources are required to comply with the FIP unless they either opt to obtain a source-specific permit or are otherwise required to do so, and revising the source registration provision for oil and natural gas sources constructing under this FIP. Also, we are revising the applicability of the Federal Indian Country Minor NSR rule to comport with a court decision that addressed the scope of the EPA's jurisdiction to implement the Federal Indian Country Minor NSR rule in Indian country: Oklahoma Dept. of Environmental Quality v. EPA, 740 F.3d 185 (D.C. Cir. 2014). This court decision has the same effect on the scope of the EPA's jurisdiction under the Federal Major New Source Review Program for Nonattainment Areas in Indian Country and so we are changing the applicability of the Federal Indian Country Nonattainment Major NSR rule as well.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Information Collection Effort for Oil and Gas Facilities'' (EPA ICR No. 2548.01, OMB Control No. 2060-NEW) 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 request for approval of a new collection of information. 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.