Environmental Protection Agency April 30, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR), National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Architectural Coatings (EPA ICR Number 1750.09, OMB Control Number 2060-0393) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through June 30, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on September 16, 2020, during a 60-day comment period. This document 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) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), Public Health Emergency Workplace Response System (EPA ICR Number 2676.02, OMB Control Number 2030-0049) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through June 30, 2021. 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), EPA's Light-Duty In-Use Vehicle Testing Program (EPA ICR Number 0222.12, OMB Control Number 2060-0086) 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 June 30, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on October 9, 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) is partially withdrawing three previous proposed rules which proposed to add five sites to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is the list of sites of national priority among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States and its territories. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation.

EPA is proposing significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for chemical substances which are the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs). This action would require persons to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or processing of any of these chemical substances for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this proposed rule. This action would further require that persons not commence manufacture or processing for the significant new use until they have submitted a Significant New Use Notice (SNUN), and EPA has conducted a review of the notice, made an appropriate determination on the notice, and has taken any risk management actions as are required as a result of that determination.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking this action to address interstate transport of ozone pollution under the ``good neighbor provision'' of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This final action is taken in response to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's (D.C. Circuit) remand of the Cross- State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) Update in Wisconsin v. EPA on September 13, 2019. The CSAPR Update finalized Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs) for 22 states to address their good neighbor obligations for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The D.C. Circuit found that the CSAPR Update, which was published on October 26, 2016 as a partial remedy to address upwind states' obligations prior to the 2018 Moderate area attainment date under the 2008 ozone NAAQS, was unlawful to the extent it allowed those states to continue their significant contributions to downwind ozone problems beyond the statutory dates by which downwind states must demonstrate their attainment of the air quality standards. On the same grounds, the D.C. Circuit also vacated the CSAPR Close-Out in New York v. EPA on October 1, 2019. This final rule resolves 21 states' outstanding interstate ozone transport obligations with respect to the 2008 ozone NAAQS. This action finds that for 9 of the 21 states for which the CSAPR Update was found to be only a partial remedy (Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin), their projected ozone precursor emissions in the 2021 ozone season and thereafter do not significantly contribute to a continuing downwind nonattainment and/or maintenance problem, and therefore the states' CSAPR Update FIPs (or the SIPs subsequently approved to replace certain states' CSAPR Update FIPs) fully address their interstate ozone transport obligations with respect to the 2008 ozone NAAQS. This action also finds that for the 12 remaining states (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia), their projected 2021 ozone season nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions significantly contribute to downwind states' nonattainment and/or maintenance problems for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. In this final action, EPA is issuing new or amended FIPs for these 12 states to replace their existing CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Group 2 emissions budgets for electricity generating units (EGUs) with revised budgets via a new CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Group 3 Trading Program. EPA is requiring implementation of the revised emission budgets beginning with the 2021 ozone season. Based on EPA's assessment of remaining air quality issues and additional emission control strategies for EGUs and other emissions sources in other industry sectors (non-EGUs), EPA is further determining that these NOX emission reductions fully eliminate these states' significant contributions to downwind air quality problems for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. In this action, EPA is also finalizing an error correction of its June 2018 approval of Kentucky's good neighbor SIP.