Environmental Protection Agency February 23, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces EPA's order for the cancellations, voluntarily requested by the registrants and accepted by the Agency, of the products listed in Table 1 of Unit III, pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

When municipal discharges cause violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA), EPA sets a schedule for the municipality to address them as soon as possible. When developing schedules to implement the control measures, EPA considers factors such as public health, environmental protection, and a community's financial capability. The Proposed 2022 Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) Guidance describes the financial information and formulas the Agency intends to use to assess the financial resources a community has available to implement control measures. The Proposed 2022 FCA directly incorporates relevant portions of the 1997 Combined Sewer OverflowsGuidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development (1997 FCA Guidance) and EPA's 2014 Financial Capability Assessment Framework for Municipal Clean Water Act Requirements (2014 FCA Framework) as Appendices. Once finalized, EPA intends for the Proposed 2022 FCA to replace the 1997 FCA Guidance to evaluate a community's capability to fund CWA control measures in both the permitting and enforcement context. Additionally, EPA intends Section IV.g of the 2022 FCA to assist states and authorized tribes in the consideration of economic impacts to public entities for supporting revisions to designated uses, water quality standard (WQS) variances, and antidegradation reviews for high quality waters. The Proposed 2022 FCA reflects EPA's consideration of public comments received in response to its September 18, 2020 Federal Register publication. The contents of this guidance document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.

This proposal presents the results of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) review of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Lead Acid Battery Manufacturing Plants and the technology review (TR) for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Lead Acid Battery Manufacturing Area Sources as required under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA is proposing revised lead (Pb) emission limits for grid casting, paste mixing, and lead reclamation operations for both the area source NESHAP (for new and existing sources) and under a new NSPS subpart (for lead acid battery facilities that begin construction, reconstruction, or modification after February 23, 2022). In addition, the EPA is proposing the following amendments for both the area source NESHAP (for new and existing sources) and under a new NSPS subpart (for lead acid battery facilities that begin construction, reconstruction or modification after February 23, 2022): Performance testing once every 5 years to demonstrate compliance; work practices to minimize emissions of fugitive lead dust; increased inspection frequency of fabric filters; bag leak detection systems for facilities above a certain size; clarification of activities that are considered to be lead reclamation activities; electronic reporting of performance test results and semiannual compliance reports; and the removal of exemptions for periods of start-up, shut down, and malfunctions. The EPA is also proposing a revision to the applicability provisions in the area source NESHAP such that facilities which make lead-bearing battery parts or process input material, including but not limited to grid casting facilities and lead oxide manufacturing facilities, will be subject to the area source NESHAP.