Environmental Protection Agency December 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve Alabama's August 20, 2018, State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission pertaining to the ``good neighbor'' provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2010 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The good neighbor provision requires each state's implementation plan to address the interstate transport of air pollution in amounts that contribute significantly to nonattainment, or interfere with maintenance, of a NAAQS in any other state. In this action, EPA is proposing to determine that Alabama will not contribute significantly to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance of the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS in any other state. Therefore, EPA is proposing to approve the August 20, 2018, SIP revision as meeting the requirements of the good neighbor provision for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the comment period for the proposed rule titled ``Air Plan Approval; New Mexico; Interstate Transport Requirements for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS'' that was published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2019. The proposal provided for a public comment period ending January 2, 2020. The EPA received a request from the public to extend this comment period. The EPA is extending the comment period to a 45-day public comment period ending January 17, 2020.

Notice is hereby given that a reissuance of an exemption to the Land Disposal Restrictions, under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, has been granted to Blanchard for three Class I hazardous waste injection wells located at their Texas City, Texas facility. The company has adequately demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by the petition reissuance application and supporting documentation that, to a reasonable degree of certainty, there will be no migration of hazardous constituents from the injection zone for as long as the waste remains hazardous. This final decision allows the underground injection by Blanchard of the specific restricted hazardous wastes identified in this exemption reissuance request, into Class I hazardous waste injection wells WDW-80, 127 and 128 until December 31, 2037, unless the EPA moves to terminate this exemption. Additional conditions included in this final decision may be reviewed by contacting the EPA Region 6 Ground Water/UIC Section. The public comment period for this decision was from 9/30-11/15/19 and no comments were received. This decision constitutes final Agency action and there is no Administrative appeal.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to conditionally approve two revisions to the Maricopa County portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning fuel-burning equipment and internal combustion engines. The EPA is also proposing to disapprove one revision to the Maricopa County portion of the Arizona SIP concerning power plants. We are proposing action on Maricopa County rules that regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the ``Act''). We are taking comments on these proposals and plan to follow with final actions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve portions of the Georgia and North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) submissions provided on September 24, 2018 and September 27, 2018, respectively, for inclusion into their respective SIPs. This proposal pertains to the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). Whenever EPA promulgates a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA. Georgia and North Carolina certified that their SIPs contain provisions that ensure the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in their State. EPA is proposing to determine that the Georgia and North Carolina infrastructure SIP submissions satisfy certain required infrastructure elements for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator's October 16, 2017 Directive Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements, notice is hereby given of three proposed settlement agreements to address petitions for review of EPA's final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permits for discharges of stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) in Massachusetts and New Hampshire under Clean Water Act (CWA). The proposed settlements represent the results of mediation supervised by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Mediation Program between EPA and petitioners the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Massachusetts, Inc. (HBRAMA), the New Hampshire Home Builders Association (NHHBA), the Center for Regulatory Reasonableness (CRR), the Massachusetts Coalition for Water Resources Stewardship (MCWRS), the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, (Franklin), the City of Lowell, Massachusetts (Lowell), the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), and the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA). Two of the proposed settlement agreements include commitments for EPA to propose certain modifications to the 2016 Massachusetts Small MS4 General Permit and the 2017 New Hampshire Small MS4 General Permit, and then to take final action on each proposal. The third settlement agreement commits EPA to process an individual small MS4 permit application from the City of Lowell, Massachusetts.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Connecticut that addresses the interstate transport of air pollution requirements of the Clean Air Act for the 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) (i.e., ozone transport SIP). The intended effect of this action is to propose approval of the transport SIP as a revision to the Connecticut SIP. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission, provided by the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), through a letter dated September 13, 2018, for inclusion into the Tennessee SIP. This action pertains to the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). Whenever EPA promulgates a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA. TDEC certified that the Tennessee SIP contains provisions that ensure the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in Tennessee. EPA has determined that portions of Tennessee's SIP submission satisfy certain required infrastructure elements for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes the Semiannual Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions online at https://www.reginfo.gov and at https://www.regulations.gov to update the public. This document contains information about: Regulations in the Semiannual Agenda that are under development, completed, or canceled since the last agenda; and Reviews of regulations with small business impacts under Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

This regulation establishes a time-limited tolerance for residues of fenpropathrin in or on fuzzy kiwifruit. This action is in response to EPA's granting of an emergency exemption under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of the pesticide on fuzzy kiwifruit. This regulation establishes a maximum permissible level for residues of fenpropathrin in or on this commodity. The time-limited tolerance expires on December 31, 2022.

EPA (or the Agency) is proposing to not impose financial responsibility requirements for facilities in the Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing industry under Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Section 108(b) addresses the promulgation of regulations that require classes of facilities to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility consistent with the degree and duration of risk associated with the production, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous substances.

Notice is hereby given that the State of Arizona revised its approved Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) by adopting the Public Notice (PN) Rule, Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule, Public Water System (PWS) Definition and Administrative Penalty Authority. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that these revisions by the State of Arizona are no less stringent than the corresponding Federal regulations and otherwise meet applicable SDWA primacy requirements. Therefore, the EPA intends to approve these revisions as part of the State of Arizona's PWSS Program.

EPA has authorized its contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) of Reston, VA, to access information which has been submitted to EPA under all sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Some of the information may be claimed or determined to be Confidential Business Information (CBI).

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of flutianil in or on the following commodities: Berry, low growing, subgroup 13-07G; cherry subgroup 12-12A; fruit, small, vine climbing, except fuzzy kiwifruit, subgroup 13-07F; hop, dried cones; and vegetable, cucurbit, group 9. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

Maine has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final authorization of changes to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended. EPA has reviewed Maine's application and has determined that these changes satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for final authorization. Therefore, we are proposing to authorize the State's changes. EPA seeks public comment prior to taking final action.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to revise several New Source Review (NSR) regulations by making the following types of corrections: Correct typographical and grammatical errors, remove court vacated rule language, remove or update outdated or incorrect cross references, conform certain provisions to changes contained in the 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) Amendments, and remove certain outdated exemptions (grandfathering/transitional).

This notice announces the availability of EPA's interim registration review decision for the following chemicals: Aviglycine hydrochloride, Bacteriophage active against Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria and Bacteriophage active against Pseudomonas syringae pv. Tomato, bispyribac-sodium, diclosulam, flucarbazone-sodium, florasulam, imazamox, imazapic, imazaquin, imazethapyr, L-Glutamic Acid (LGA) and Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), penoxsulam, phosphorous acid and its salts, Polyoxin D Zinc Salt, penoxsulam, pyriproxyfen, and thiobencarb. In addition, it announces the closure of the registration review cases for meat meal because the last U.S. registrations for this pesticide have been canceled.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is correcting a direct final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on November 1, 2019. The document is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the State of New Hampshire's Underground Storage Tank (UST) program submitted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). This action also codifies EPA's approval of New Hampshire's state program and incorporates by reference those provisions of the State regulations that meet the requirements for approval.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising regulations that are designed to reduce the risk of accidental releases of hazardous chemicals. These regulations are part of the EPA's Risk Management Program (RMP), which the Agency established under authority in the Clean Air Act and recently amended on January 13, 2017. After a process of reconsidering several parts of the 2017 rule, EPA has concluded that a better approach is to improve the performance of a subset of facilities by achieving greater compliance with RMP regulations instead of imposing additional regulatory requirements on the larger population of facilities that is generally performing well in preventing accidental releases. For this and other reasons, EPA is rescinding recent amendments to these regulations that we no longer consider reasonable or practicable relating to safer technology and alternatives analyses, third-party audits, incident investigations, information availability, and several other minor regulatory changes. EPA is also modifying regulations relating to local emergency coordination, emergency response exercises, and public meetings. In addition, the Agency is changing compliance dates for some of these provisions.

The Clean Air Act requires each State Implementation Plan (SIP) to contain adequate provisions prohibiting emissions that will have certain adverse air quality effects in other states. On October 25, 2018, the State of Alaska made a submission to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address these requirements for the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The EPA approves the Alaska SIP as meeting the requirement that each SIP contain adequate provisions to prohibit emissions that will significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance of the 2015 ozone NAAQS in any other state.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission provided by the State of Florida, through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), through a letter dated September 18, 2018, for inclusion into the Florida SIP. This proposal pertains to the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Whenever EPA promulgates a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by EPA. FDEP certified that the Florida SIP contains provisions that ensure the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in Florida. EPA is proposing to determine that Florida's SIP submission satisfies certain required infrastructure elements for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

Notice is hereby given that the State of Tennessee is revising its approved Public Water System Supervision Program. Tennessee has adopted drinking water regulations for the Revised Total Coliform Rule. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that Tennessee's regulations are no less stringent than the federal rule and the revision otherwise meets applicable Safe Drinking Water Act requirements. Therefore, EPA intends to approve this revision to the State of Tennessee's Public Water System Supervision Program.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing source category. The EPA is proposing decisions concerning the residual risk and technology review (RTR), including proposing amendments pursuant to the technology review for equipment leaks and heat exchange systems, and also proposing amendments pursuant to the risk review to specifically address ethylene oxide emissions from storage tanks, process vents, and equipment leaks. The EPA is also proposing amendments to correct and clarify regulatory provisions related to emissions during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM), including removing general exemptions for periods of SSM, adding work practice standards for periods of SSM where appropriate, and clarifying regulatory provisions for certain vent control bypasses. Lastly, the EPA is proposing to add monitoring and operational requirements for flares that control ethylene oxide emissions and flares used to control emissions from processes that produce olefins and polyolefins; and add provisions for electronic reporting of performance test results and reports, performance evaluation reports, and compliance reports. We estimate that, if finalized, these proposed amendments (not including the potential excess emission reductions from flares) would reduce hazardous air pollutants (HAP) emissions from this source category by 116 tons per year (tpy) and would reduce ethylene oxide emissions from this source category by approximately 10 tpy.