Environmental Protection Agency 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing reporting and recordkeeping requirements for asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA is requiring certain persons who manufactured (including imported) or processed asbestos and asbestos- containing articles, including as an impurity, in the four years prior to the date of publication of this final rule to electronically report certain exposure-related information. This action results in a one-time reporting requirement. EPA emphasizes that this requirement includes asbestos that is a component of a mixture. The information sought includes presence, types, and quantities of asbestos (including asbestos that is a component of a mixture) and asbestos-containing articles that were manufactured (including imported) or processed, types of use, and employee data. EPA and other Federal agencies will use reported information in considering potential future actions, including risk evaluation and risk management activities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a request submitted by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) on January 12, 2023, and supplemented on April 19, 2023, to revise the Michigan state implementation plan (SIP) for particulate matter (PM). The revision updates the fugitive dust plan for the Detroit EdisonRiver Rouge Power Plant (DTE Energy) located in River Rouge, Michigan. The facility is no longer in operation and therefore, the plan eliminates requirements to reflect plant shut down.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing action on two permitting rules submitted as a revision to the Placer County Air Pollution Control District (PCAPCD or ``District'') portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). We are proposing an approval of one rule and proposing a limited approval and limited disapproval of the second rule. These revisions concern the District's New Source Review (NSR) permitting program for new and modified sources of air pollution under title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This action updates the District's applicable SIP with revised rules that the District has amended to address deficiencies identified in a previous limited approval and limited disapproval action, as well as other updates related to NSR requirements. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is announcing a public meeting of the Science Advisory Board Environmental Justice Screen (EJScreen) Review Panel. The purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the Panel's draft report on the EPA's EJScreen mapping and screening tool.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 60- day public comment period associated with release of the draft IRIS Toxicological Review of Perfluorohexane Sulfonate (PFHxS) and Related Salts. The draft assessment was prepared by the Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment (CPHEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). EPA is releasing this draft IRIS assessment for public comment in advance of a contractor-led peer review. Public comments received will be provided to the external peer reviewers. ERG, a contractor to EPA, will convene a public meeting to discuss the draft report during Step 4 of the IRIS Process. The external peer reviewers will consider public comments submitted in response to this notice and those provided at the public meeting when reviewing this assessment. EPA will consider all comments received when revising the assessment post-peer review. This draft assessment is not final as described in EPA's information quality guidelines, and it does not represent, and should not be construed to represent Agency policy or views.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to the Wisconsin state implementation plan (SIP) revising air emissions reporting requirements codified in Chapter 438 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code (Wis. Admin. Code). Additionally, EPA is approving a related infrastructure requirement under section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 2012 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The infrastructure requirements are designed to ensure that the structural components of each state's air quality management program are adequate to meet the state's responsibilities under the CAA. EPA proposed to approve this action on March 23, 2023, and received no adverse comments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is removing the ``emergency'' affirmative defense provisions from the EPA's title V operating permit program regulations. These provisions established an affirmative defense that sources could have asserted in enforcement cases brought for noncompliance with technology-based emission limitations in operating permits, provided that the exceedances occurred due to qualifying emergency circumstances. These provisions, which have never been required elements of state operating permit programs, are being removed because they are inconsistent with the EPA's interpretation of the enforcement structure of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) in light of prior court decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The removal of these provisions is also consistent with other recent EPA actions involving affirmative defenses and would harmonize the EPA's treatment of affirmative defenses across different CAA programs. Through this document, the EPA is also providing guidance on the implementation process resulting from the removal of the emergency affirmative defense provisions from the EPA's regulations, including the need for some state, local, and tribal permitting authorities to submit program revisions to the EPA to remove similar title V affirmative defense provisions from their EPA-approved title V programs, and to remove similar provisions from individual operating permits.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to determine that the West Pinal County, Arizona nonattainment area (``West Pinal County'' or ``area'') did not attain the 1987 24- hour national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or ``standards'') for particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or smaller (PM10) by its December 31, 2022 ``Serious'' area attainment date. This action is based on the EPA's calculation of the PM10 design value for the nonattainment area over the 2020- 2022 period, using complete, quality-assured, and certified PM10 monitoring data. With this final determination that West Pinal County has failed to attain the PM10 NAAQS by its attainment date, the State of Arizona is required to submit a revision to the Arizona state implementation plan (SIP) that, among other elements, provides for expeditious attainment of the PM10 standards and for a five percent annual reduction in the emissions of direct PM10 or a PM10 plan precursor pollutant in the nonattainment area.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending existing regulations to implement certain provisions of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. This rule establishes the methodology for allocating hydrofluorocarbon production and consumption allowances for the calendar years of 2024 through 2028. EPA is also amending the consumption baseline to reflect updated data and to make other adjustments based on lessons learned from implementation of the hydrofluorocarbon phasedown program thus far, including to: codify the existing approach of how allowances must be expended for import of regulated substances, revise recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and implement other modifications to the existing regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the comment period for the proposed rule entitled ``Significant New Use Rules on Certain Chemical Substances (23-2.5e)'' that published in the Federal Register on June 20, 2023, with an established public comment period that was scheduled to end on July 20, 2023. In response to requests for additional time to develop and submit comments on the proposed rule, EPA is extending the comment period for an additional 30 days, i.e., from July 20, 2023, to August 19, 2023.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice of its final action entitled July 2023 Denial of Petitions for RFS Small Refinery Exemptions (``July 2023 SRE Denial Action'') in which EPA denied 26 small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. EPA is providing this notice for public awareness of, and the basis for, EPA's decision announced on July 14, 2023.

In accordance with the Prospective Purchaser Agreement, notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement concerning Delphi 1 Anderson Site in Anderson, Indiana with the following Settling Party: J. Jarvis Holdings, LLC. The settlement requires the Settling Party to, if necessary, execute and record a Declaration of Restrictive Covenant; provide access to the Site and exercise due care with respect to existing contamination. The settlement includes a covenant not to sue the Settling Party pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act with respect to the Existing Contamination. Existing Contamination is defined as any hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants or Waste Material present or existing on or under the Property as of the Effective Date of the Settlement Agreement; any hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants or Waste Material that migrated from the Property prior to the Effective Date; and any hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants or Waste Material presently at the Site that migrates onto, on, under, or from the Property after the Effective Date. For thirty (30) days following the date of publication of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to the settlement. The Agency will consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. The proposed settlement is available for public inspection at https://www.regulations.gov. The Agency's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at the EPA, Region 5, Records Center, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., 7th Fl., Chicago, Illinois 60604. Commenters may request an opportunity for a public hearing in the affected area, in accordance with Section 7003(d) of RCRA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve Indiana's state plan to control air pollutants from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Landfills. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) submitted the state plan on March 20, 2023. The Indiana MSW landfill state plan was submitted to fulfill the state's obligations under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to implement and enforce the requirements under the MSW Landfills Emission Guidelines. The EPA is proposing to approve the state plan.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that states periodically submit, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approve or disapprove, lists of waters (called ``Section 303(d) lists'') for which existing technology-based pollution controls are not stringent enough to attain or maintain State water quality standards and for which total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) must be prepared. Waters identified on Section 303(d) lists are called ``water quality-limited segments.'' This notice announces the EPA's identification of certain additional water quality-limited segments for West Virginia's Combined 2018-2020- 2022 Section 303(d) list and requests public comment on those additions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 proposes to modify the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Idaho excluding Tribal lands (Permit). EPA proposes to modify the Permit to establish monitoring conditions for the subsurface discharges of pollutants from production areas and dry weather surface and subsurface discharges from land application areas at these CAFOs to waters of the United States. A Petition for Review was filed on September 22, 2020, in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Permit; the Court granted the petition. The modified permit includes new and revised conditions to address the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal's Order and Opinion filed on December 16, 2021 (Food & Water Watch et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (No. 20-71554)).

On September 7, 2022, EPA Region 10 proposed to reissue a general permit for Federal Aquaculture Facilities and Aquaculture Facilities Located in Indian Country in Washington. In response to requests from the regulated community, EPA extended the end of the public comment period from November 7 to December 22, 2022. With this document, EPA is initiating a second public comment period focused exclusively on four changes made to the General Permit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting of the Chartered Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and CASAC Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur, and Particulate Matter Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) Panel, hereafter, referred to as the CASAC NOX/SOX/PM Panel to discuss a draft CASAC report on EPA's Policy Assessment (PA) for the Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur and Particulate Matter, External Review Draft.

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator's March 18, 2022 Memorandum, Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements to Resolve Environmental Claims Against the Agency, notice is hereby given of a proposed stipulated settlement agreement in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in the case of Center for Biological Diversity, et. al., v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 3:11-cv- 0293 (N.D. Cal.). Plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to comply with certain duties under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Defendant- Intervenors join this proposed stipulated settlement agreement.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of and soliciting comment on draft guidance to expand the availability of virucidal claims for antimicrobial pesticides and provide framework for registrants who seek to make such claims. This draft guidance reiterates recommended test methods and guidance for the addition of virucidal claims to products that meet the criteria for hard surface disinfections claims and the addition of virucidal claims to products that meet the criteria for food/non-food contact sanitizer claims consistent with current test guidelines. This draft guidance specifically covers the addition of a virucidal claims to a product that has met the criteria for a bactericidal disinfectant and/or sanitizer. The methods and performance standards applicable to this expanded availability of virucidal claims are the same test methods and performance standards that are currently used to support existing virucidal claims and thus there are no expectations on reduction of product performance against viruses.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve portions of state implementation plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of California to meet Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') requirements for the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or ``standards'') in the San Joaquin Valley PM2.5 nonattainment area. Specifically, the EPA is proposing to approve those portions of the submitted SIP revisions as they pertain to the Serious nonattainment area and CAA section 189(d) requirements for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, except for the requirement for contingency measures. In addition, the EPA is proposing to approve 2020 and 2023 motor vehicle emissions budgets and the trading mechanism for use in transportation conformity analyses for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The EPA will accept comments on this proposed rule during a 30-day public comment period.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve the ``Coso Junction PM10 Planning Area Second 10-Year Maintenance Plan'' (``Coso Junction Second Maintenance Plan'' or ``Plan'') as a revision to the state implementation plan (SIP) for the State of California. The Coso Junction Second Maintenance Plan includes, among other elements, a base year emissions inventory, a maintenance demonstration, and contingency provisions. The EPA is finalizing this action because the SIP revision meets the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for such plans. The EPA is also taking final action to find the contribution of motor vehicle emissions to the area's continued attainment of the 1987 PM10 standards to be insignificant. Once this insignificance finding is finalized, the area will not have to complete a regional emissions analysis for any transportation conformity determinations necessary for the Coso Junction Planning Area (CJPA).

On June 13, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a rule titled ``Air Plan Approval; Revision to Air Pollution Control Rules'' to approve revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for Oklahoma submitted by the State of Oklahoma on January 30, 2023. The EPA is extending the comment period on this proposed rule that currently closes on July 13, 2023, to allow additional time for stakeholders to review and comment on the proposal.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby provides notice that the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) will meet on the dates and times described below. The meeting is open to the public. Due to unforeseen administrative circumstances, EPA is announcing this meeting with less than 15 calendar days public notice. For additional information about registering to attend the meeting or to provide public comment, please see Registration under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Pre-Registration is required.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking final action to correct the production baseline to reflect corrected calculations for the phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons pursuant to the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act.