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

Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving portions of the revisions to the Arkansas State Implementation Plan (SIP) including revisions to the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission's (``Commission'' or APC&EC) Rule No. 19, Rules of the Arkansas Plan of Implementation for Air Pollution Control submitted by the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) via the Arkansas Governor's Office on June 22, 2022. Most of the revisions are administrative in nature and make the SIP current with Federal rules.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a public comment period on the benchmark dose (BMD) model code and BMD modeling output files associated with the Draft IRIS Toxicological Review of Inorganic Arsenic. The original Federal Register notice associated with the draft IRIS inorganic arsenic assessment was published on October 16, 2023, and closed on December 15, 2023. After reviewing the comments received on the draft assessment, EPA is opening an additional public comment period on the BMD model code and the BMD modeling output files that were not accessible by the public during the original comment period due to a technical issue. For submissions received during this public comment period, EPA will only address comments on the BMD model code and BMD modeling output files, which are available at: https://gaftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/ORD/ DRAFTiAsToxReview/.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for purposes of enhancing an existing emission statement program for stationary sources in New York State. The SIP revision consists of amendments to regulations in New York's Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) applicable to the emission statements. These provisions establish electronic reporting requirements for annual emission statements filed by facilities subject to Title V operating permits of the Act beginning in 2022 (for calendar year 2021 emission reporting). The Emission Statement rule also improves the EPA's and the public access to facility-specific emission related data. This action is being taken in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (Act or CAA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 15- day extension of the public comment period on the draft revision of the Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis (EJ Technical Guidance). The original Federal Register document announcing the public comment period was published on November 15, 2023. The EPA is extending the deadline of the comment period from January 15, 2024 to January 30, 2024.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR)'' (EPA ICR Number 2606.03, OMB Control Number 2040-0297) 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 LCRR ICR, which is currently approved through December 31, 2023. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on July 24, 2023, during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities, EPA ICR Number 2609.03, OMB Control Number 2050-0223 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 December 31, 2023. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 1, 2023 during a 60-day comment period.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern a rule that includes definitions for certain terms that are necessary for the implementation of local rules that regulate sources of air pollution. We are proposing to approve the rule under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is promulgating this final rule to adjust the level of the maximum (and minimum) statutory civil monetary penalty amounts under the statutes the EPA administers. This action is mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended through the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (``the 2015 Act''). The 2015 Act prescribes a formula for annually adjusting the statutory maximum (and minimum) amount of civil monetary penalties to reflect inflation, maintain the deterrent effect of statutory civil monetary penalties, and promote compliance with the law. The rule does not establish specific civil monetary penalty amounts the EPA may seek in particular cases. The EPA calculates those amounts, as appropriate, based on the facts of particular cases and applicable agency penalty policies. The EPA's civil penalty policies, which guide enforcement personnel on how to exercise the EPA's discretion within statutory penalty authorities, take into account a number of fact-specific considerations, e.g., the seriousness of the violation, the violator's good faith efforts to comply, any economic benefit gained by the violator as a result of its noncompliance, and the violator's ability to pay.

This notice announces EPA's order for the cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses, voluntarily requested by the registrants, and accepted by the Agency, of the products listed in Table 1, Table 1A & Table 2 of Unit II, pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This cancellation order follows an October 16, 2023, Federal Register Notice of Receipt of Requests from the registrants listed in Table 3 of Unit II, to voluntarily cancel and/or amend to terminate uses of certain product registrations. In the October 16, 2023, notice, EPA indicated that it would issue an order implementing the cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses, unless the Agency received substantive comments within the 30-day comment period that would merit its further review of these requests, or unless the registrants withdrew their requests. The Agency did not receive any comments on the notice. Further, the registrants did not withdraw their requests. Accordingly, EPA hereby issues in this notice a cancellation order granting the requested cancellations and/or amendments to terminate uses. Any distribution, sale, or use of the products subject to this cancellation order is permitted only in accordance with the terms of this order, including any existing stocks provisions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is amending a provision of the recently finalized Technology Transitions Program under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act). This action allows one additional year, until January 1, 2026, solely for the installation of new residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump systems using components manufactured or imported prior to January 1, 2025. The existing January 1, 2025, compliance date for the installation of certain residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump systems may result in significant stranded inventory that was intended for new residential construction. EPA is promulgating this action to mitigate the potential for significant stranded inventory in this subsector. In addition, EPA is clarifying that residential ice makers are not included in the household refrigerator and freezer subsector under the Technology Transitions Rule and are not subject to the restrictions for that subsector. EPA is requesting comments on all aspects of this rule.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it has adopted regulations applicable to new 2026 and subsequent model year (MY) California on- road light- and medium-duty vehicles, hereinafter the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulations. The ACC II regulations include two sets of requirements, one for conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines and one for zero-emission vehicles (with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles subject to both sets). By letter dated May 22, 2023, CARB submitted a request that EPA grant a waiver of preemption under section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the ACC II regulations. This notice announces that EPA has scheduled a public hearing concerning California's request and that EPA is accepting written comment on the request.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the Waste Reduction Model (WARM) version 16 and its supporting documentation, along with the WARM v16 methodology external peer review report and the WARM v16 data quality assessment report. WARM is a tool that estimates the potential greenhouse gas emissions, energy savings and economic impacts of baseline and alternative waste management practices of materials. This Notice is inviting public comment on WARM v16 and its supporting documentation from a broad range of individuals and organizations. The EPA will consider the public comments received to inform future improvements to WARM.

EPA has authorized its contractor CGI Federal Inc (CGI) of Fairfax, VA to access information which has been submitted to EPA under all Sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Some of the information may be claimed or determined to be Confidential Business Information (CBI).

On November 16, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a rule titled ``National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Rubber Tire Manufacturing Amendments.'' The EPA is extending the comment period on this proposed rule that currently closes on January 2, 2024, by 13 days. The comment period will now remain open until January 15, 2024, to allow additional time for stakeholders and Tribal Nations to review and comment on the proposal.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of Pesticide Registration Notice (PR Notice) 2023-2, entitled ``Establishment of the Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV) Program.'' PR Notices are issued by the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) to inform pesticide registrants and other interested persons about important program policies, procedures, and registration related decisions, and serve to provide guidance to pesticide registrants and OPP personnel. This PR Notice establishes and describes the new VERV Program. The implementation of the VERV Program will incentivize the development of new insecticides to control and prevent the spread of vector-borne disease.

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, 2022. The revision seeks to change Georgia's Rules for Air Quality Control in the SIP by removing the 1971 annual and 24-hour ambient air quality primary standard for sulfur dioxide (SO2), which no longer applied in Georgia as of April 30, 2022. EPA is proposing to approve this SIP revision because the State has demonstrated that this change is consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a revision to the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District's (GBUAPCD or ``District'') portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision governs the District's issuance of permits for stationary sources, and focuses on the preconstruction review and permitting of major sources and major modifications under part D of title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``the Act'').

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve, as a revision of the Nevada state implementation plan (SIP), the State's second 10-year plan for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone standard in Clark County (``Clark County Second Maintenance Plan'' or ``Plan''). The Clark County Second Maintenance Plan includes, among other elements, a base year emissions inventory, a maintenance demonstration, contingency provisions, and motor vehicle emissions budgets for use in transportation conformity determinations to ensure the continued maintenance of the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone (``1997 ozone NAAQS'' or ``1997 8-hour ozone standard''). With this proposed rulemaking, the EPA is initiating the adequacy process for the 2017, 2023, and 2033 motor vehicle emissions budgets. The EPA is proposing these actions because the SIP revision meets the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for such plans and motor vehicle emissions budgets.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is correcting a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on November 28, 2023. The document issues a final rule approving adoptions, repeals, and amendments to the New Jersey State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) on December 17, 2017, and August 23, 2018, that concern exemptions to improve resiliency during emergency situations, updates to hazardous air pollutant (HAP) reporting thresholds, updates to the certification and submission of emission statements, the addition of Federal New Source Review (NSR) requirements for fine particles (PM2.5), and conform administrative penalties to the approved rules and correct inconsistencies throughout the State's SIP. This correction addresses errors in the amendatory instructions published on November 28, 2023.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim final determination that the State of California has submitted revisions to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) that satisfy the requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') for nonattainment areas classified as ``Serious'' for the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), and for contingency measures for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS and the 2012 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) nonattainment area. This determination is based on a proposed approval, published on July 14, 2023, of SIP revisions addressing the Serious area requirements for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS (except contingency measures) and on proposed approvals, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, of SIP revisions addressing the contingency measure requirements for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2012 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The effect of this interim final determination is to stay the application of the offset sanction and to defer the application of the highway sanction that were triggered by previous EPA actions that included disapproval of the certain Serious area SIP elements submitted for the San Joaquin Valley for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS (including the contingency measure element), and disapproval of the contingency measure SIP elements for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS and the 2012 annual PM2.5 NAAQS.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve portions of two state implementation plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of California to meet Clean Air Act requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or ``standards'') and the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the San Diego County ozone nonattainment area (``San Diego County area'' or ``area''). The first SIP revision, ``2020 Plan for Attaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone in San Diego County'' (``2020 San Diego County Ozone SIP'' or ``2020 Plan''), addresses most of the SIP requirements for the area. The second SIP revision, referred to as the ``Smog Check Certification,'' supplements the motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program portion of the 2020 Plan. The EPA is proposing to approve the 2020 Plan, and the San Diego County portion of the Smog Check Certification, as meeting all the applicable ozone nonattainment area requirements for the 2008 and 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS addressed by the plan except for the emissions statement requirement that the EPA previously found to have been met and the contingency measure requirements, for which the EPA is deferring action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is announcing two public meetings of the Science Advisory Board Inorganic Arsenic Review Panel. The purpose of the meetings is to receive a briefing from EPA, review and discuss charge questions, listen to public comments and peer review the EPA's draft IRIS Toxicological Review of Inorganic Arsenic.

This regulation extends time-limited tolerances for residues of kasugamycin in or on almond and almond, hulls as identified in this document. This action is in response to EPA's granting of an emergency exemption under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizing use of this pesticide. In addition, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) requires EPA to establish a time- limited tolerance or exemption from the requirement for a tolerance for pesticide chemical residues in food that will result from the use of a pesticide under an emergency exemption granted by EPA. Further, EPA issued a final rule in the Federal Register of November 3, 2023, that extended time-limited tolerances for multiple chemicals on various commodities in response to EPA's granting of emergency exemptions. EPA inadvertently omitted the detailed instructions for the revision of the tolerances for kasugamycin. Therefore, EPA is issuing this final rule to rectify this omission.