Environmental Protection Agency August 20, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting comment on an application from Honda Motor Company (``Honda'') for off- cycle carbon dioxide (CO2) credits under EPA's light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards. ``Off-cycle'' emission reductions can be achieved by employing technologies that result in real-world benefits, but where that benefit is not adequately captured on the test procedures used by manufacturers to demonstrate compliance with emission standards. EPA's light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas program acknowledges these benefits by giving automobile manufacturers several options for generating ``off-cycle'' CO2 credits. Under the regulations, a manufacturer may apply for CO2 credits for off-cycle technologies that result in off-cycle benefits. In these cases, a manufacturer must provide EPA with a proposed methodology for determining the real-world off-cycle benefit. Honda has submitted an application that describes a methodology for determining off-cycle credits from technologies described in their application. Pursuant to applicable regulations, EPA is making this off-cycle credit calculation methodology available for public comment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the public comment period for the document titled, ``Availability of the IRIS Assessment Plan for Oral Exposure to Vanadium and Compounds.'' The original Federal Register document announcing the public comment period was published on July 24, 2020. The public science webinar will still convene on August 19, 2020.

This document notifies the public as required by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) that the EPA Administrator has forwarded to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) a draft regulatory document concerning ``Pesticides; Exemptions of Certain Plant-Incorporated Protectants (PIPs) Derived from Newer Technologies.'' The draft regulatory document is not available to the public until after it has been signed and made available by EPA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards applicable to certain classes of engines used by certain civil subsonic jet airplanes with a maximum takeoff mass greater than 5,700 kilograms and by certain civil larger subsonic propeller-driven airplanes with turboprop engines having a maximum takeoff mass greater than 8,618 kilograms. These proposed standards are equivalent to the airplane CO2 standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2017 and would apply to both new type design airplanes and in-production airplanes. The standards proposed in this rule are the equivalent of the ICAO standards, consistent with U.S. efforts to secure the highest practicable degree of uniformity in aviation regulations and standards. The proposed standards would, if finalized, also meet the EPA's obligation under section 231 of the Clean Air Act to adopt GHG standards for certain classes of airplanes as a result of the 2016 ``Finding That Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Aircraft Cause or Contribute to Air Pollution That May Reasonably Be Anticipated To Endanger Public Health and Welfare'' (hereinafter ``2016 Findings'') for six well-mixed GHGs emitted by certain classes of airplane engines. Airplane engines emit only two of the six well-mixed GHGs, CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O). Accordingly, EPA is proposing to use the fuel-efficiency-based metric established by ICAO, which reasonably serves as a surrogate for controlling both the GHGs emitted by airplane engines, CO2 and N2O.