Environmental Protection Agency September 24, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education is soliciting applications for environmental education professionals for consideration to serve on the National Environmental Education Advisory Council (NEEAC). There are two vacancies on the Advisory Council that must be filled. We are seeking applications to fill one State Department of Education and/or Natural Resources position and one Business and Industry position. Additional avenues and resources may be utilized in the solicitation of applications. In an effort to obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations of women and men of all racial and ethnic groups.

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Environmental Effects Abroad of EPA Actions'' (EPA ICR No. 2243.08, OMB Control No. 2020-0033) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. 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 January 31, 2020. 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) Region 4 announces the deletion of the soil, sediment, surface water, surficial aquifer, and the intermediate aquifer of this Site with the exception of a limited area (5000-8000 square feet) of the intermediate aquifer below the 1C clay in the vicinity of monitoring wells IMW-01B, MW-128, and OW-143 of the Townsend Saw Chain Co. Superfund Site (Site) located in Pontiac, South Carolina, from the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). This partial deletion pertains to the soil, sediment, surface water, surficial aquifer, and the intermediate aquifer of this Site. A limited area (5000-8000 square feet) of the intermediate aquifer below the 1C clay in the vicinity of monitoring wells IMW-01B, MW-128, and OW-143 of the Townsend Saw Chain Co. will remain on the NPL and is not being considered for deletion as part of this action. The EPA and the State of South Carolina, through the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC), have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other than operation and maintenance, monitoring and five-year reviews, have been completed. However, this partial deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

This action proposes reconsideration amendments to the new source performance standards (NSPS). These amendments, if finalized, would remove sources in the transmission and storage segment from the source category, rescind the NSPS (including both the volatile organic compounds (VOC) and methane requirements) applicable to those sources, and rescind the methane-specific requirements (the ``methane requirements'') of the NSPS applicable to sources in the production and processing segments. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also proposing, as an alternative, to rescind the methane requirements of the NSPS applicable to all oil and natural gas sources, without removing any sources from the source category. Furthermore, the EPA is taking comment on alternative interpretations of its statutory authority to regulate pollutants under the Clean Air Act (CAA), and associated record and policy questions.