Environmental Protection Agency January 4, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of Asbestos Part 1 (Chrysotile Asbestos). The purpose of conducting risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment under the conditions of use, including an unreasonable risk to a relevant potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulation, without consideration of costs or other nonrisk factors. EPA has determined that specific conditions of use of Chrysotile Asbestos present an unreasonable risk of injury to health. For those conditions of use for which EPA has found an unreasonable risk, EPA must take regulatory action to address that unreasonable risk through risk management measures enumerated in TSCA. EPA has also determined that specific conditions of use do not present unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. For those conditions of use for which EPA has found no unreasonable risk to health or the environment, the Agency's determination is a final Agency action and is issued via order in the risk evaluation. EPA is currently developing Part 2 of the TSCA risk evaluation for Asbestos which will evaluate risk of injury to health or the environment for legacy uses and associated disposals of asbestos. The Agency plans to release a draft scope for Part 2 of the risk evaluation for Asbestos for public comment mid-year 2021.

In accordance with the Clean Air Act, as amended (``CAA'' or the ``Act''), notice is hereby given of a proposed Settlement Agreement to resolve petitions for review filed by the State of Wyoming (``Wyoming'') and PacifiCorp with respect to PacifiCorp's Wyodak electric generating unit (EGU). In 2014, Wyoming and PacifiCorp filed petitions for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, challenging EPA's final rule, in which the Agency partially approved and partially disapproved elements of Wyoming's Regional Haze State Implementation Plan (SIP), and promulgated a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) to address the disapproved elements. In the Final rule, EPA, inter alia, disapproved Wyoming's determination concerning nitrogen oxide (NOX) best available retrofit technology (BART) for Wyodak and promulgated a FIP addressing NOX BART requirements for Wyodak. The Settlement Agreement would resolve Wyoming's and PacifiCorp's challenges to the final rule. Under the proposed Settlement Agreement, the parties agree to take certain specified actions.