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

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve state implementation plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of Georgia through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD) on July 2, 2020, and November 4, 2021. Both submittals address the emissions statements requirements for the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for the Atlanta, Georgia 2015 8-hour ozone nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the ``Atlanta Area''). These requirements apply to all ozone nonattainment areas. The Atlanta Area is comprised of seven counties in and around metropolitan Atlanta (Bartow, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry). This action is being proposed pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Primary Copper Smelters (EPA ICR No. 1850.09, OMB Control No. 2060-0476), 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 November 30, 2021. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register on February 8, 2021 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.

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator's October 16, 2017, Directive Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements, notice is hereby given of a proposed consent decree to address several claims in a lawsuit filed by Sierra Club, Center for Environmental Law and Policy, and plaintiff-intervenor, the Spokane Tribe of Indians (``Plaintiffs'') in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. On October 21, 2011, the Plaintiffs Sierra Club and Center for Environmental Law and Policy filed a complaint alleging, among other things, that EPA failed to perform duties mandated by the Clean Water Act (``CWA'') with respect to Total Maximum Daily Loads (``TMDLs'') for segments of the Spokane River and adjacent water bodies that were listed as impaired due to polychlorinated biphenyls (``PCBs''). EPA seeks public input on the proposed consent decree prior to its final decision-making to settle the litigation.

This rule codifies in the regulations the prior approval of Louisiana's hazardous waste management program and incorporates by reference authorized provisions of the State's statutes and regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses the regulations entitled ``Approved State Hazardous Waste Management Programs'' to provide notice of the authorization status of State programs and to incorporate by reference those provisions of the State statutes and regulations that are authorized and that EPA will enforce under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The EPA previously provided notices and opportunity for comments on the Agency's decisions to authorize the State of Louisiana program and the EPA is not now reopening the decisions, nor requesting comments, on the Louisiana authorizations as previously published in the Federal Register documents specified in Section I.C of this final rule document.