Environmental Protection Agency July 2, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to extend the period during which certain electronic reports required by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) may be submitted as portable document format (PDF) files using the Emissions Collection and Monitoring Plan System (ECMPS) Client Tool. This action will extend the end date of that period from June 30, 2018, to July 1, 2020. This extension is necessary because the electronic reporting system that owners or operators of affected MATS sources will be required to use when PDF filing is no longer allowed will not be available by June 30, 2018. This extension does not alter the responsibility of owners or operators of affected MATS sources to comply with the applicable MATS and report their compliance information to the appropriate authority. In addition, this extension ensures that the compliance information can be submitted in a timely manner and made available to the public. Finally, this rule is effective on July 1, 2018, to provide the regulated community a continuous and viable vehicle to submit compliance reports.

Addressing childhood lead exposure is a priority for EPA. As part of EPA's efforts to reduce childhood lead exposure, EPA evaluated the current dust-lead hazard standards (DLHS) and the definition of lead-based paint (LBP). Based on this evaluation, EPA is proposing to lower the DLHS from 40 [mu]g/ft\2\ and 250 [mu]g/ft\2\ to 10 [mu]g/ ft\2\ and 100 [mu]g/ft\2\ on floors and window sills, respectively. EPA is proposing no changes to the current definition of LBP due to insufficient information to support such a change.