Environmental Protection Agency May 16, 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve an October 27, 2023, submittal from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to align provisions approved in the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan (SIP) with current Wisconsin administrative rules and statutes. WDNR requested that certain provisions previously approved into the Wisconsin SIP under now obsolete numbering schemes be renumbered to ensure citations in the Wisconsin SIP reflect the current numbering systems of the Wisconsin Administrative Code (WAC) and the Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stats.). WDNR also requested that EPA approve rule and statute provisions that have been revised since they were approved into the Wisconsin SIP. Finally, WDNR requested removal of rules and statutes from the Wisconsin SIP that are no longer in effect in Wisconsin. Approval of these changes in the Wisconsin SIP will not impact the state's air quality or ability to meet Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is retroactively applying the approved modification of the Federal Equivalent Method (FEM) designation for the Teledyne Advanced Pollution Instrumentation Model T640 particulate matter (PM) mass monitor including the 640X option (hereafter T640 and T640X) to all of the concentration data for PM with a diameter 2.5 micrometers or smaller (PM2.5) from the T640 and T640X monitors in the EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) that was reported prior to the modification. The EPA processed the unmodified hourly PM2.5 concentration data in AQS using collocated or paired ambient temperature when available.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Delaware (Delaware SIP). This revision approves amendments Delaware made to its underlying regulation to standardize the public notices requirements across various permits covered by Delaware regulation 1102. That process will be consistent with EPA's October 18, 2016 final rule which amended the notice and comment requirements for title V, new source review and outer continental shelf (OCS) permit programs. EPA is approving these revisions to the Delaware SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This action finalizes amendments to the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) that apply to the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturing Industry (SOCMI) and amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) that apply to the SOCMI (more commonly referred to as the Hazardous Organic NESHAP or HON) and Group I and II Polymers and Resins (P&R I and P&R II, respectively) Industries. The EPA is finalizing decisions resulting from the Agency's technology review of the HON and the P&R I and P&R II NESHAP, and its review of the NSPS that apply to the SOCMI. The EPA is also finalizing amendments to the NSPS for equipment leaks of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in SOCMI based on its reconsideration of certain issues raised in an administrative petition for reconsideration. Furthermore, the EPA is finalizing emission standards for ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions and chloroprene emissions after considering the results of a risk assessment for the HON and for Neoprene Production processes subject to the P&R I NESHAP, and is finalizing a fenceline monitoring work practice standard for certain hazardous air pollutants (HAP). Lastly, the EPA is finalizing the removal of exemptions from standards for periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM), adding work practice standards for such periods where appropriate, finalizing standards for previously unregulated HAP, and adding provisions for electronic reporting of performance test reports and periodic reports.