Environmental Protection Agency November 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA has received applications to register pesticide products containing active ingredients not included in any currently registered pesticide products. Pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and opportunity to comment on these applications.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) on April 1, 2022. The proposed revision corrects definitions, updates, and removes outdated references, clarifies rule applicability in several rules within the Florida SIP, and removes methods to determine visible emissions.

All ten Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regions are proposing for public comment the draft 2026 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Pesticide General Permit (PGP) the draft 2026 PGP. The draft 2026 PGP covers point source discharges from the application of pesticides to waters of the United States. Once finalized, the draft 2026 PGP will replace the existing permit, the 2021 PGP, which was issued for a five-year term in the Federal Register on October 31, 2021, and expires October 31, 2026, at midnight. The draft 2026 PGP largely has the same conditions and requirements as EPA's previously issued PGPs, and would authorize certain point source discharges from the application of pesticides to waters of the United States in accordance with the terms and conditions described therein. EPA proposes to issue this permit for five (5) years in all areas of the country where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority. EPA solicits public comment on all aspects of the draft 2026 PGP. This Federal Register document describes the draft 2026 PGP in general and seeks comment as described in Section III.C of this document. The Fact Sheet accompanying the permit contains supporting documentation. EPA encourages the public to read the Fact Sheet to better understand the draft 2026 PGP.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving adoptions, repeals, and amendments to the New Jersey State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning exemptions to improve resiliency during emergency situations, updates to hazardous air pollutant (HAP) reporting thresholds, updates to the certification and submission of emission statements, and the addition of Federal New Source Review (NSR) requirements for fine particles (PM2.5). The intended effect of New Jersey's revisions are to enable government and business entities to be more resilient during and following disruptions from natural and human-caused disasters; update HAP unit risk factors and reference concentrations to reflect current research, scientific, and technological advancements; update provisions to require the reporting of PM2.5 and ammonia (NH3) emissions at the source level and update the electronic reporting of emission statements to adapt with advancements and Federal requirements; and conform the State's rules on air permits to the EPA's NSR requirements for PM2.5 to ensure a source does not adversely impact the EPA-established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Other revisions New Jersey made, which the EPA is approving with this notice of final rulemaking, will conform administrative penalties to the approved rules and correct errors and inconsistencies throughout the State's SIP. This action is being taken in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act. The EPA proposed to approve this rule on September 28, 2023, and received no comments.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to grant a treatability variance from the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) treatment standards for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for approximately 2,000 gallons of mixed low-activity waste from the Hanford Site in Washington State. The petitioner demonstrated that treatment of the waste to the specified standard is technically inappropriate, and the treatment variance is sufficient to minimize threats to human health and the environment posed by land disposal of the waste. If the variance is granted, the waste will be stabilized subject to specified conditions, and disposed at EnergySolutions in Clive, Utah and/or Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas. The variance would allow DOE, Washington, and EPA to evaluate the regulatory pathways by which separation, pretreatment, stabilization, and offsite disposal could be implemented for other Hanford mixed low-activity waste.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Textile Mills Industry Data Collection'' (EPA ICR No. 2798.01, OMB Control No. 2040-NEW) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a request for approval of a new collection. This notice allows for 60 days for public comments.

EPA has received applications to register pesticide products containing active ingredients not included in any currently registered pesticide products. Pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and opportunity to comment on these applications.

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of tolpyralate in or on barley, wheat and livestock commodities. ISK Biosciences Corporation requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

Notice is hereby given of the membership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Performance Review Board for 2023.

In the Federal Register of October 18, 2023, EPA issued a notice to announce the availability of EPA's interim registration review decisions for the following chemicals: Citric acid and salts, and linalool; and the closure of the registration review case for triadimenol. That notice incorrectly included a DATES section that established a comment deadline of December 18, 2023. A comment period is not necessary or appropriate for that document because the decisions announced in that document are final for triadimenol, and final for the interim phase of the process for citric acid and salts, and linalool. This document corrects that document by reaffirming the nature of all the decisions announced in that document and by closing the comment period it incorrectly established.

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of oxathiapiprolin in or on peanut, hay. Syngenta Crop Protection requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing revisions to the regulations for decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) and phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)), two of the five persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals addressed in final rules issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in January 2021. After receiving additional comments following the issuance of the 2021 PBT final rules, the Agency has determined that revisions to the decaBDE and PIP (3:1) regulations are necessary to address implementation issues and to reduce further exposures. As required under TSCA, these proposed requirements would, if finalized, reduce the potential for exposures to humans and the environment to decaBDE and PIP (3:1) to the extent practicable. The Agency is not proposing to revise the existing regulations for the other three PBT chemicals (2,4,6-TTBP, HCBD, and PCTP) at this time.

EPA has granted emergency exemptions under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for use of pesticides as listed in this notice. The exemptions were granted during the period July 1, 2023, to September 30, 2023, to control unforeseen pest outbreaks.

Notice is hereby given that an issuance of an exemption to the land disposal restrictions, under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, is granted to Rubicon LLC for one Class I hazardous waste injection well at the Geismar Louisiana Facility located in Geismar, Louisiana.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing amendments to the new source performance standards (NSPS) for secondary lead smelters pursuant to the periodic review required by the Clean Air Act (CAA). Specifically, the EPA is finalizing revisions to the NSPS that applies to affected secondary lead smelters constructed, reconstructed, or modified after December 1, 2022 (NSPS subpart La). The EPA is also finalizing amendments to the NSPS for secondary lead smelters constructed, reconstructed, or modified after June 11, 1973, and on or before December 1, 2022, (NSPS subpart L). In addition, we are finalizing the use of EPA Method 22 (Visual Determination of Fugitive Emissions from Material Sources and Smoke Emissions from Flares) as an alternative for demonstrating compliance with the opacity limit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of and soliciting comment on an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) following the completion of a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel for the proposed New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units. The EPA is seeking public comment on the regulatory flexibilities considered in the IRFA. In addition, the EPA is soliciting comment on whether to include mechanisms to address potential reliability issues raised by small business and other commenters with respect to both proposed New Source Performance Standards and the proposed Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units.

To support further development of multiple funding programs for water infrastructure subject to the requirements of the Build America, Buy America Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites public comment to inform the domestic availability of multiple products used in the construction, alteration, and/or maintenance of water infrastructure. The EPA is inviting comments to enable the agency to have the most comprehensive and current information available on the domestic market for BABA-covered products for its programs and the water infrastructure programs of other agencies. The EPA, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of the Interior, are especially interested in comments detailing domestic materials sourcing, market readiness, other product supply considerations, and whether specific water infrastructure products or their components are manufactured in the United States.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is proposing to revise the Agency's Privacy Act regulations to exempt a system of records, EPA-83, the Personnel Security System (PSS) 2.0, from certain requirements of the Privacy Act because the system will contain information relevant to insider threat inquiries and background investigations. If such information is not kept confidential, it could jeopardize EPA or a referring agency's ability to conduct background investigations, insider threat inquiries, or any related inquiries. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, EPA is simultaneously publishing the revision of the Agency's Privacy Act Regulations to include EPA-83 as a direct final rule without a prior proposed rule. If the Agency receives no adverse comment, it will not take further action on this proposed rule.

EPA is required under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, to make information publicly available and to publish information in the Federal Register pertaining to submissions under TSCA section 5, including notice of receipt of a Premanufacture notice (PMN), Significant New Use Notice (SNUN) or Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN), including an amended notice or test information; an exemption application (Biotech exemption); an application for a test marketing exemption (TME), both pending and/or concluded; a notice of commencement (NOC) of manufacture (including import) for new chemical substances; and a periodic status report on new chemical substances that are currently under EPA review or have recently concluded review. This document covers the period from 10/01/ 2023 to 10/31/2023.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is soliciting information pertaining to and is requesting comments to assist in the potential development of regulations to reinstate the reporting of animal waste air emissions at farms under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). The Agency is soliciting comments under five general categories: health impacts; implementation challenges; costs and benefits; small farm definition and potential reporting exemption; and national report on animal waste air emissions. Requiring reporting of animal waste air emissions may advance the community right-to-know aspect of EPCRA by providing the public with information that may impact their health and the environment. This information may advance EPA's environmental justice goals of increasing the awareness of the potential impact these emissions have on communities with environmental justice concerns. We solicit comments on all aspects of this potential action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 60- day public comment period on the draft revision of the Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis (EJ Technical Guidance). The EJ Technical Guidance was first published in 2016. The EPA is updating it to reflect the state of the science; new peer-reviewed agency guidance; and new terminology, priorities, and direction, including Executive Order 14096. The purpose of this guidance is to outline analytic expectations and discuss technical approaches and methods that can be used by agency analysts to evaluate EJ concerns for regulatory actions. This technical guidance builds on the EPA's experience in evaluating environmental justice concerns within the rulemaking analytic process and underscores the EPA's ongoing commitment to ensuring the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on a white paper describing the benefits of the creation, submission, review, approval, and distribution of structured content and digital pesticide labels. Structured labels are information or content that is organized in a predictable way, and digital content is those categorized fields with metadata. The current process for submitting, reviewing, and approving labels is time-consuming for both registrants and regulators. The increasing complexity of pesticide labels, inconsistent label language across products, and inconsistent placement of information on the labels often creates significant challenges for pesticide users and the public seeking information about how to use the products. Structured content and digital labels could streamline and standardize the submission, review, and access to label content, providing benefits across the spectrum of stakeholders. In addition to developing a framework for structured content and digital labels, EPA intends to identify the key information needed for the structured digital label.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating the materials that are incorporated by reference (IBR) into the Commonwealth of Kentucky's (Commonwealth's) State Implementation Plan (SIP). The regulations affected by this update have been previously submitted by the Commonwealth and approved by EPA. In this notice, EPA is also notifying the public of corrections and clarifying changes to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) tables that identify material incorporated by reference into the Commonwealth's SIP. This update affects the materials that are available for public inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the EPA Regional Office.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on a document that announces several proposed changes to EPA's Safer Choice Standard (``the Standard''), including a name change to the Safer Choice and Design for the Environment (DfE) Standard, an update to the packaging criteria, the addition of a Safer Choice certification for cleaning service providers, a provision allowing for preterm partnership termination under exceptional circumstances, and the addition of several product and functional use class requirements. Safer Choice helps consumers, businesses, and purchasers find products that perform and contain ingredients that are safer for human health and the environment. DfE is a similar program currently used by EPA for the purpose of helping consumers and commercial buyers identify antimicrobial products that meet the health and safety standards of the normal pesticide registration process required by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as well as other EPA DfE criteria. The Agency will hold a webinar and is requesting written stakeholder comment on the proposed changes to the Standard.