Environmental Protection Agency December 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve a revision to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department's (MCAQD or County) portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision addresses Arizona's reasonably available control technology (RACT) SIP obligations for the Phoenix- Mesa ozone nonattainment area that is classified as Moderate nonattainment for the 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). We are approving a local rule that regulates emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and particulate matter (PM) from power plants under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to determine the applicable volume requirements for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for years after those specified in the statute. This action proposes the applicable volumes and percentage standards for 2023 through 2025 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel. This action also proposes the second supplemental standard addressing the remand of the 2016 standard-setting rulemaking. Finally, this action proposes several regulatory changes to the RFS program including regulations governing the generation of qualifying renewable electricity and other modifications intended to improve the program's implementation.

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Clay Ceramics Manufacturing, Glass Manufacturing, and Secondary Nonferrous Metals Processing Area Sources (EPA ICR Number 2274.07, OMB Control Number 2060-0606), 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, 2023. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register on July 22, 2022 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 Georgia, through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), via a letter dated October 20, 2021. The SIP revision includes a Limited Maintenance Plan (LMP) for the Macon 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) maintenance area (hereinafter referred to as the Macon 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS Area or Macon Area or Area). The Macon 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS Area consists of all of Bibb County and a portion of Monroe County located in middle Georgia. EPA is proposing to approve the Macon Area LMP because it provides for the maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS within the Area through the end of the second 10-year portion of the maintenance period. The effect of this action would be to make certain commitments related to maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Macon Area federally enforceable as part of the Georgia SIP.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NSPS for Hospital/Medical/ Infectious Waste Incinerators (EPA ICR Number 1730.12, OMB Control Number 2060-0363) 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, 2023. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on July 22, 2022 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), NESHAP for Petroleum Refineries: Catalytic Cracking Units, Catalytic Reforming Units, and Sulfur Recovery Units (EPA ICR Number 1844.12, OMB Control Number 2060-0554), 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, 2023. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register, on July 22, 2022 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 Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of the Michigan Environment Great Lakes, & Energy (EGLE) request to revise/modify certain of its EPA-authorized programs to allow electronic reporting.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted the following information collection request (ICR), Reporting in the FIFRA Grant Database (EPA ICR Number 2511.03, OMB Control Number 2070-0198) 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 December 31, 2022. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on March 28, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. The ICR, which is summarized in this document, describes the collection activities and 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 announcing the availability of the final revision to the risk determination for the carbon tetrachloride risk evaluation issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The revision to the carbon tetrachloride risk determination reflects the announced policy changes to ensure the public is protected from unreasonable risks from chemicals in a way that is supported by science and the law. EPA determined that carbon tetrachloride, as a whole chemical substance, presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health when evaluated under its conditions of use. In addition, this revised risk determination does not reflect an assumption that workers always appropriately wear personal protective equipment (PPE). EPA understands that there could be adequate occupational safety protections in place at certain workplace locations; however, not assuming use of PPE reflects EPA's recognition that unreasonable risk may exist for subpopulations of workers that may be highly exposed because they are not covered by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, or their employers are out of compliance with OSHA standards, or because many of OSHA's chemical- specific permissible exposure limits largely adopted in the 1970's are described by OSHA as being ``outdated and inadequate for ensuring protection of worker health,'' or because EPA finds unreasonable risk for purposes of TSCA notwithstanding OSHA requirements. This revision supersedes the condition of use-specific no unreasonable risk determinations in the November 2020 Carbon Tetrachloride Risk Evaluation and withdraws the associated TSCA order included in the November 2020 Carbon Tetrachloride Risk Evaluation.

This notice announces that pesticide and chemical related information submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including information that may have been claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) by the submitter, will be transferred to Datawiz Corporation and its subcontractors, DMI and WIPRO, in accordance with the CBI regulations governing the disclosure of potential CBI. Datawiz Corporation and its subcontractors, DMI and WIPRO, have been awarded a contract to perform work for the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), and access to this information will enable Datawiz Corporation and its subcontractors, DMI and WIPRO, to fulfill the obligations of the contract.

In accordance with the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA or the Act), notice is given of a proposed consent decree in Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. Regan, No. 3:22-cv-00052-WHO (N.D. Cal.). On January 5, 2022, Plaintiffs Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Environmental Health filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. On April 22, 2022, Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. Plaintiffs alleged that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) failed to perform certain non-discretionary duties in accordance with the Act to timely determine the attainment status of certain areas with respect to the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to sign notices of final rulemaking.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator signed an Order, dated November 8, 2022, denying the petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and the Town of Carrboro, North Carolina (Petitioners), objecting to a proposed Clean Air Act (CAA) title V operating permit issued to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Permittee) located in Orange County, North Carolina. The Order responds to an October 1, 2021, petition requesting that the EPA object to the final operating permit no. 03069T36. The title V permit was issued by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality (DAQ). The Order constitutes a final action on the petition addressed therein.

This action proposes amendments to the implementing regulations that govern the processes and timelines for state and Federal plans that implement emission guidelines under Clean Air Act (CAA) section 111(d). The proposed amendments include revisions to the timing requirements for state plan submittal, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s action on state plan submissions, the EPA's promulgation of a Federal plan, and for when states must establish increments of progress. These proposed amendments address the vacatur of certain timing requirements by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) in American Lung Association. v. EPA. The EPA is also proposing to add regulatory mechanisms to improve flexibility and efficiency in the submission, review, approval, revision, and implementation of state plans. This action further proposes new requirements for meaningful engagement with pertinent stakeholders as part of state plan development, including, but not limited to, industry, small businesses, and communities most affected by and vulnerable to the impacts of the plan. This action additionally proposes clarifying requirements for states' consideration of `remaining useful life and other factors' (RULOF) in applying a standard of performance. This action proposes to amend the definition of standard of performance and provide clarification associated with CAA section 111(d) compliance flexibilities, including trading or averaging. Finally, this action proposes requirements for the electronic submission of state plans and several other clarifications and minor revisions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to conditionally approve portions of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission provided by the State of Mississippi, through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), via a letter dated January 25, 2021, and supplemented through a letter dated November 18, 2022. This proposal pertains to certain infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or standards). Whenever EPA promulgates a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of that NAAQS. The January 25, 2021, SIP submission addresses all infrastructure elements except for those pertaining to the contribution to nonattainment or interference with maintenance of the NAAQS in other states. EPA is proposing to conditionally approve the portions of the submittal related to the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) infrastructure elements and the air quality modeling element.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Georgia, through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), on October 20, 2021. The SIP revision includes the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) Limited Maintenance Plan (LMP) for the portion of Murray County, Georgia, previously designated nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS (hereinafter referred to as the Murray County 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS Area or Murray County Area or Area). EPA is proposing to approve the Murray County Area LMP because it provides for the maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS within the Murray County Area through the end of the second 10-year portion of the maintenance period. The effect of this action would be to make certain commitments related to maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Murray County Area federally enforceable as part of the Georgia SIP.

With this direct final rule, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is promulgating approval of revisions to the Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program (title V) of the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SDCAPCD or District) in California. The EPA is taking this final action in accordance with Federal regulations and the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'').

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (``CERCLA'' or ``the Act''), as amended, requires that the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (``NCP'') include a list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants throughout the United States. The National Priorities List (``NPL'') constitutes this list. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the Environmental Protection Agency (``the EPA'' or ``the agency'') in determining which sites warrant further investigation. These further investigations will allow the EPA to assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with the site and to determine what CERCLA-financed remedial action(s), if any, may be appropriate. This rule adds two sites to the General Superfund section of the NPL.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of simazine in or on citrus fruits (crop group 10-10), pome fruits (crop group 11-10), stone fruits (crop group 12-12), and tree nuts (crop group 14-12) and amends the tolerance for residues in or on almond hulls. Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The EPA is proposing to grant the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) the authority to implement and enforce the amended Rhode Island Code of Regulations, Control of Emissions from Organic Solvent Cleaning (Organic Solvent Cleaning Rule), and the General Definitions Regulation (General Definitions Rule) in place of the National Emission Standard for Halogenated Solvent Cleaning (Halogenated Solvent NESHAP) as a partial rule substitution as it applies to organic solvent cleaning machines in Rhode Island. Upon approval, RI DEM's amended Organic Solvent Cleaning Rule and General Definitions Rule would apply to all sources that otherwise would be regulated by the Halogenated Solvent NESHAP, except for continuous web cleaning machines, for which the Halogenated Solvent NESHAP would continue to apply. The EPA has reviewed RI DEM's request and has preliminarily determined that the State's amended Organic Solvent Cleaning Rule and General Definitions Rule satisfy the requirements necessary for approval. Thus, the EPA is proposing to approve the request. This approval would make RI DEM's amended Organic Solvent Cleaning Rule and General Definitions Rule federally enforceable. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), EPA herby provides notice of a meeting for the Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) on the date and time described below. This meeting will be open to the public. For information on public attendance and participation, please see the registration information under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or ``Agency'') is seeking public nominations of scientific and technical experts that EPA can consider for service as ad hoc reviewers assisting the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) with the peer review of two draft documents entitled: ``Draft Proposed Principles of Cumulative Risk Assessment Under the Toxic Substances Control Act'' and ``Draft Proposed Approach for Cumulative Risk Assessment of High-Priority Phthalates and a Manufacturer Requested Phthalate Under the Toxic Substance Control Act.'' The two draft documents will be submitted to the SACC and released for public review and comment in late February 2023. EPA is also announcing the scheduling of a 4-day virtual public meeting for the SACC to consider and review the two draft documents.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces a public meeting with a webcast of the Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB). The meeting will be shared in real-time via webcast and public comments may be provided in writing in advance or virtually via webcast. Please see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for further details. The purpose of the meeting will be for the EFAB to provide updates on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund charge and previous EFAB deliverables, consider possible future advisory topics, and receive updates on EPA activities. The meeting will be conducted in a hybrid format of in- person and virtual via webcast.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating the regulatory materials incorporated by reference into the Oregon State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations addressed in this action were previously submitted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) and approved by the EPA in prior rulemakings. In this action, the EPA is also notifying the public of corrections to typographical errors, and minor formatting changes to the incorporation by reference tables. This update affects the SIP materials that are available for public inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration and the EPA Regional Office.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the California state implementation plan (SIP) concerning vehicle miles traveled (VMT) offset demonstrations for the Los AngelesSouth Coast Air Basin (South Coast), Riverside County (Coachella Valley), Los AngelesSan Bernardino Counties (West Mojave Desert), and San Joaquin Valley nonattainment areas (NAAs) for the 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The EPA is proposing to approve these revisions because they demonstrate that California has added or implemented specific enforceable transportation control strategies and transportation control measures to offset the growth in emissions from growth in VMT and vehicle trips. We are proposing to approve these revisions under the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``the Act''), which establishes VMT offset demonstration requirements for ozone nonattainment areas classified as ``Severe'' or ``Extreme.''

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Off-Site Waste and Recovery Operations (EPA ICR Number 1717.13, OMB Control Number 2060- 0313), 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, 2023. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register, on April 8, 2022 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.