Environmental Protection Agency March 17, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA intends to authorize its contractors, Plateau, and their subcontractor, Eastern Research Group (ERG) as well as SRA International, Inc. to access Confidential Business Information (CBI) which has been submitted to EPA under the authority of all sections of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976, as amended. EPA has issued regulations that outline business confidentiality provisions for the Agency and require all EPA offices that receive information designated by the submitter as CBI to abide by these provisions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia. Whenever new or revised national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or standards) are promulgated, the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires states to make an initial SIP submission to provide for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of such NAAQS. This submission is required to address basic program elements, including, but not limited to, regulatory structure, monitoring, modeling, legal authority, and adequate resources necessary to assure attainment and maintenance of the standards. This type of SIP revision is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP and elements addressed in such a submission are referred to as infrastructure requirements. West Virginia made a submittal addressing most of the infrastructure requirements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS and later supplemented the submittal to address the interstate transport elements; EPA is not acting on the interstate transport elements at this time. EPA is approving these revisions in accordance with the requirements of the CAA.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is allocating production and consumption allowances for specific hydrochlorofluorocarbons, a type of ozone-depleting substance, for the years 2020 through 2029. These hydrochlorofluorocarbons may be used to service certain equipment manufactured before 2020. The EPA is also updating other requirements under the program for controlling production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances, as well as making edits to the regulatory text for improved readability and clarity. These updates include revising the labeling requirements for containers of specific hydrochlorofluorocarbons; prohibiting the transfer of hydrochlorofluorocarbon allowances allocated through this rulemaking into allowances for hydrochlorofluorocarbons that have already been phased out; requiring the use of an electronic reporting system for producers, importers, exporters, transformers, and destroyers of controlled ozone-depleting substances; revising and removing recordkeeping and reporting requirements; improving the process for petitioning to import used ozone-depleting substances for reuse, including by creating more flexibility for imports of used halon from certain halon banks and exempting imports of aircraft bottles containing halon 1211 for hydrostatic testing from the petition process; creating a certification process for importing both used and virgin ozone-depleting substances for destruction; and restricting the sale of known illegally imported substances. This rule includes clarifications to the certification requirements for methyl bromide quarantine and preshipment uses. The EPA is also adding polyurethane foam systems containing ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons to the list of nonessential products. Lastly, the Agency is updating the definition of ``destruction'' as used in the context of the production and consumption phaseout and removing obsolete provisions.