Environmental Protection Agency September 30, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing approval of a revision to Wisconsin's state implementation plan (SIP), revising portions of the State's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and ambient air quality programs to address deficiencies identified in EPA's previous narrow infrastructure SIP disapprovals and Finding of Failure to Submit. This SIP revision request is consistent with the Federal PSD rules and addresses the required elements of the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) PSD Increments, Significant Impact Levels (SILs) and Significant Monitoring Concentration (SMC) Rule. EPA is also proposing to approve elements of SIP submissions from Wisconsin regarding PSD infrastructure requirements of section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 1997 PM2.5, 1997 ozone, 2006 PM2.5, 2008 lead, 2008 ozone, 2010 nitrogen dioxide (NO2), 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2), and 2012 PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). 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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the release of materials for public comment that relate to the expert peer review of documents intended to support the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act decision making for perchlorate. This request is one of two Federal Register notices being published concurrently, seeking public comment on two separate sets of materials. This notice requests comments on the interim list of peer review candidates and the draft charge for the expert peer review panel, to be sent to EPA's contractor, Versar, Inc. The comments will be considered to help inform the final selection of expert panelists and the development of the peer review panel's charge. A companion notice, published today, requests comments on draft materials to inform the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act decision making on perchlorate; those materials are the draft Biologically Based Dose-Response Model and an accompanying draft model report entitled ``Biologically Based Dose-Response Models for the Effect of Perchlorate on Thyroid Hormones in the Infant, Breast Feeding Mother, Pregnant Mother, and Fetus: Model Development, Revision, and Preliminary Dose-Response Analyses.'' Versar, Inc., will consider the comments received on this notice in selecting the final peer review panel, which will collectively provide appropriate expertise spanning the subject matter areas covered by the draft model and draft report and, to the extent feasible, best provide a balance of perspectives.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve, in part, and disapprove in part, the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission, submitted by the State of Mississippi, through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), on June 20, 2013, for inclusion into the Mississippi SIP. This final action pertains to the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2010 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). The CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure SIP submission.'' MDEQ certified that the Mississippi SIP contains provisions that ensure the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in Mississippi. EPA has determined that Mississippi's infrastructure SIP submission, provided to EPA on June 20, 2013, satisfies certain required infrastructure elements for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to extend the implementation deadline for certain facilities subject to the final rule establishing pretreatment standards under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for discharges of pollutants into publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) from onshore unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction facilities (81 FR 41845; June 28, 2016). EPA is making this revision in response to new information suggesting that there are likely facilities subject to the final rule not presently meeting the zero discharge requirements in the final rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP), authorizing temporary alternate opacity limits (TAOLs) at the American Electric Power, Rockport (AEP Rockport) facility during periods of boiler startup and shutdown. This action is consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Indiana SIP, and EPA policy regarding emissions during periods of startup and shutdown. Indiana has provided an air quality analysis demonstrating that this revision will continue to protect the applicable National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Spencer County, Indiana.