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

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NSPS for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (EPA ICR Number 2498.04, OMB Control Number 2060-0697), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through January 31, 2021. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register, on May 12, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. An agency may neither conduct nor 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) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maine. This revision addresses the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Today's proposed action includes all elements of these infrastructure requirements except for the ``Good Neighbor'' or ``transport'' provisions, which will be addressed in a future action. The infrastructure requirements are designed to ensure that the structural components of each state's air quality management program are adequate to meet the state's responsibilities under the CAA. EPA is also proposing to approve State of Maine submittals of amendments to Chapter 110, Ambient Air Quality Standards, and of statutory conflict-of-interest provisions in 38 Maine Revised Statutes Annotated (MRSA) Section 341-A and 341-C. These two submittals support the state's infrastructure submittal for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. In addition, we are proposing to convert previous conditional approvals of the sub-element of section 110(a)(2)(E) that addresses State Board Requirements in Maine's infrastructure SIPs for the 2008 ozone; 2008 lead (Pb); 2010 nitrogen dioxide (NO2); 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2); 1997, 2006, and 2012 fine particle (PM2.5) NAAQS to full approvals. We are also proposing to convert to full approval previous conditional approvals of section 110(a)(2)(A) (Emission limits and other control measures) in Maine's infrastructure SIPS for the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5. Finally, EPA is proposing to approve SIP revisions submitted by Maine that provide the state's determination, via a negative declaration for the 2008 and 2015 ozone standards, that there are no facilities within its borders subject to EPA's 2016 Control Technique Guideline (CTG) for the oil and gas industry. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is issuing a memorandum to provide guidance to the regulated community and permitting authorities on applying the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020), in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program for point source discharges that travel through groundwater before reaching a water of the United States. Consistent with EPA Guidance; Administrative Procedures for Issuance and Public Petitions, published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2020, EPA solicited public comments on the draft guidance for thirty days, beginning on December 10, 2020. EPA has developed a responsiveness summary to address major concerns and comments, and it is available in the docket for this action. This guidance does not have the force and effect of law and it does not bind the public in any way. By issuing this guidance, the Agency intends only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or Agency policies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of C.I. Pigment Violet 29. 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 C.I. Pigment Violet 29 present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. For those conditions of use for which EPA has found an unreasonable risk, EPA must move 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.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), gives notice of a virtual meeting of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) Executive Committee (EC) to review the draft reports of the Homeland Security (HS) and Safe and Sustainable Water Resources (SSWR) subcommittees. Due to unforeseen circumstances, EPA is announcing this meeting with less than 15 calendar days' notice.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), gives notice of a series of virtual meetings of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) Chemical Safety for Sustainability and Health and Environmental Risk Assessment (CSS-HERA) Subcommittee to review the recent progress and activities for High- Throughput Toxicology (HTT), Rapid Exposure Modeling and Dosimetry (REMD), Virtual Tissue Modeling (VTM) and Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) progress on the CSS StRAP. Due to unforeseen circumstances, EPA is announcing this meeting with less than 15 calendar days' notice.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Brownfields Program Accomplishment Reporting (EPA ICR Number 2104.08, OMB Control Number 2050-0192) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through January 31, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on June 18, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 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.

EPA has received a number of petitions last year for a waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations that apply in 2019 and 2020. These petitions argue that recent events warrant EPA exercising its general waiver authority on the basis of severe economic harm. In late March, a group of small refineries requested a waiver of the 2019 and 2020 obligations of their individual small refineries. In April and May, the Governors of several states submitted three separate petitions for waivers of the nationwide volumes. The Clean Air Act grants EPA the discretion to waive the requirements of the RFS program in whole or in part if the Administrator determines, after notice and comment, that implementation of the applicable annual volume requirements would severely harm the economy or environment of a State, region, or the United States. EPA is inviting comment on the petitions we have received.

On October 8, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent the Commonwealth of Virginia (Virginia) a letter acknowledging that Virginia's delegation of authority to implement and enforce the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) had been updated, as provided for under previously approved delegation mechanisms. To inform regulated facilities and the public, EPA is making available a copy of EPA's letter to Virginia through this notice.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting comment on guidance on petitions for a No Migration Variance (NMV) under the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs) pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Under existing regulations, persons may apply for an NMV to allow for the land placement (e.g., landfill, impoundment, waste pile) of hazardous waste that, if approved, would allow for the placement of hazardous waste in such a unit where the waste does not meet applicable LDR treatment standards. This guidance provides information to persons applying for an NMV for a waste pile temporarily located within a RCRA-permitted landfill cell.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a revision to the Feather River Air Quality Management District (FRAQMD or ``District'') portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision concerns emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from surface preparation and clean-up operations. We are proposing to approve a local rule to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the ``Act''). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

EPA currently requires fuel dispenser labels for gasoline- ethanol blends of greater than 10 volume percent (vol%) ethanol and up to 15 vol% ethanol (E15). The label was designed to alert consumers to the appropriate and lawful use of the fuel. EPA is co-proposing to either modify the E15 label or remove the label requirement entirely and seeking comment on whether state and local governments may be preempted from requiring different labels on fuel dispensers. To facilitate the proper storage of E15 in underground storage tank systems (USTs), EPA is proposing to modify the UST regulations to grant certain allowances for compatibility demonstration for storage of ethanol blends. EPA is also proposing compatibility requirements for future UST installations or component replacements that would ensure compatibility with higher blends of ethanol.

In accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (``CERCLA''), notice is hereby given that a proposed administrative settlement agreement for recovery of response costs (``Proposed Agreement'') associated with the ``Delta Shipyard'' Superfund Site in Houma, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana (``Site'') was executed by the Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') and is now subject to public comment, after which EPA may modify or withdraw its consent if comments received disclose facts or considerations that indicate that the Proposed Agreement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing amendments to address the results of the residual risk and technology review (RTR) that the EPA is required to conduct in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) with regard to the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Refractory Products Manufacturing. The EPA is proposing to find the risks due to emissions of air toxics from this source category under the current standards to be acceptable and that the standards provide an ample margin of safety to protect public health. We are proposing no revisions to the existing numerical emission limits based on these analyses; however, we are proposing new provisions for certain hazardous air pollutants (HAP). The EPA is also proposing to amend provisions addressing emissions during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) and provisions addressing emissions during periods of scheduled maintenance; to amend provisions regarding electronic reporting of performance test results; and to make miscellaneous clarifying and technical corrections.

This notice announces that pesticide related information submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including information that may have been claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) by the submitter, will be transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and parties to certain litigation. This transfer of data is in accordance with the CBI regulations governing the disclosure of potential CBI in litigation.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve, or conditionally approve, all or portions of a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of California to meet Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or ``standards'') in the Nevada County (Western part), California ozone nonattainment area (``Western Nevada County''). The SIP revision is the ``Ozone Attainment Plan, Western Nevada County, State Implementation Plan for the 2008 Primary Federal 8-Hour Ozone Standard of .075 ppm'' (``2018 Western Nevada County Ozone Plan'' or ``Plan''). The 2018 Western Nevada County Ozone Plan addresses the Serious nonattainment area requirements for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, including the requirements for emissions inventories, attainment demonstration, reasonable further progress, reasonably available control measures, and contingency measures, among others; and establishes motor vehicle emissions budgets. The EPA is proposing to approve the 2018 Western Nevada County Ozone Plan as meeting all the applicable ozone nonattainment area requirements except for the contingency measures requirement, for which the EPA is proposing conditional approval. In addition, the EPA is beginning the adequacy process for the 2020 motor vehicle emissions budgets in the 2018 Western Nevada County Ozone Plan through this proposed rulemaking.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted the following information collection request (ICR), Pesticide Program Public Sector Collections (FIFRA Sections 18 & 24(c)) (EPA ICR Number 2311.04 and OMB Control Number 2070-0182), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of ICR, which is currently approved through February 28, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on August 17, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 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) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NSPS for Asphalt Processing and Roofing Manufacture (EPA ICR Number 0661.13, OMB Control Number 2060- 0002), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through February 28, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 12, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. An agency may neither conduct nor 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 has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NSPS for Small Industrial- Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units (EPA ICR Number 1564.11, OMB Control Number 2060-0202), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through February 28, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 12, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR, including its estimated burden and cost to the public, is given below. An agency may neither conduct nor 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) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Solvent Extraction for Vegetable Oil Production (40 CFR part 63, subpart GGGG) (EPA ICR Number 1947.10, OMB Control Number 2060-0471), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through February 28, 2021. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register on May 12, 2020, during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. An agency may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

This notice announces the availability of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 14 (Plan 14). EPA prepared Plan 14 pursuant to Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 304(m) as described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. Plan 14 provides updates on activities discussed in Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 14 (Preliminary Plan 14) and discusses comments that were received during the public comment period.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing updates and adjustments to the 2018 fees rule established under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TSCA requires EPA to review and, if necessary, adjust the fees every three years, after consultation with parties potentially subject to fees. This document describes the proposed modifications to the TSCA fees and fee categories for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024, and explains the methodology by which these TSCA fees were determined. EPA is proposing to add three new fee categories: A Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notice, a Notice of Commencement of Manufacture or Import, and an additional fee associated with test orders. In addition, EPA is proposing exemptions for entities subject to certain fee triggering activities; including: An exemption for research and development activities, an exemption for entities manufacturing less than 2,500 lbs. of a chemical subject to an EPA-initiated risk evaluation fee; an exemption for manufacturers of chemical substances produced as a non-isolated intermediate; and exemptions for manufacturers of a chemical substance subject to an EPA- initiated risk evaluation if the chemical substance is imported in an article, produced as a byproduct, or produced or imported as an impurity. EPA is updating its cost estimates for administering TSCA, relevant information management activities and individual fee calculation methodologies. EPA is proposing a volume-based fee allocation for EPA-initiated risk evaluation fees in any scenario where a consortium is not formed and is proposing to require export-only manufacturers to pay fees for EPA-initiated risk evaluations. EPA is also proposing various changes to the timing of certain activities required throughout the fee payment process.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing the results of the residual risk and technology review (RTR) of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for mercury emissions from Mercury Cell Chlor-Alkali Plants, as required by the Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA is proposing to find risks due to emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) to be acceptable from the Mercury Cell Chlor-Alkali Plants source category, and to determine that the current NESHAP provides an ample margin of safety to protect public health and that no more stringent standards are necessary to prevent, taking into consideration costs, energy, safety, and other relevant factors, an adverse environmental effect. The EPA is proposing to amend the requirements for cell room fugitive mercury emissions to require work practice standards for the cell rooms and to require instrumental monitoring of cell room fugitive mercury emissions under the technology review. Furthermore, under our technology review and maximum achievable control technology (MACT) analysis, we are proposing to not require conversion to non-mercury production technology and invite comments and data and information regarding this proposed determination. In addition, the EPA is proposing standards for fugitive chlorine emissions from mercury cell chlor-alkali plants, which are not currently regulated under the NESHAP. The EPA is proposing to address applicability for thermal mercury recovery units when chlorine and caustic are no longer produced in mercury cells. The EPA is also proposing revisions related to emissions during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM); provisions for electronic submission of performance test results, performance evaluation reports, and Notification of Compliance Status (NOCS) reports; and correction of various compliance errors in the current rule.