Environmental Protection Agency August 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the comment period for the proposed rule "Air Plan Limited Approval and Limited Disapproval; Texas; Attainment Plan for the Rusk and Panola Counties 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard Nonattainment Area; Finding of Failure To Attain the Primary 2010 One-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Standard for Rusk and Panola Counties" that was published on August 2, 2024. The proposal provided for a public comment period ending September 3, 2024. The EPA received two requests from the public to extend this comment period. The EPA is extending the comment period to October 18, 2024.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving elements of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission from Wisconsin regarding the infrastructure requirements of section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 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.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the Ohio regional haze state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio or Ohio EPA) on July 30, 2021, which Ohio EPA supplemented on August 6, 2024, as satisfying applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's Regional Haze Rule for the program's second implementation period. EPA proposes to find that Ohio's SIP submission addresses the requirement that States must periodically revise their long-term strategies for making reasonable progress towards the national goal of preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I Federal areas, and also addresses other applicable requirements for the second implementation period of the regional haze program. EPA is taking this action pursuant to sections 110 and 169A of the CAA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE), the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Stationary Compression Ignition (CI) Internal Combustion Engines, and the NSPS for Stationary Spark Ignition (SI) Internal Combustion Engines, to add electronic reporting provisions. The addition of electronic reporting provisions will provide for simplified reporting by sources and enhance availability of data on sources to the EPA and the public. In addition, a small number of clarifications and corrections to these rules are being finalized to provide clarification and correct inadvertent and other minor errors in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), particularly related to tables.

This regulation revokes the tolerance exemption for residues of the antimicrobial pesticide ingredient phenol when used as an inert ingredient (solvent/cosolvent) in pesticide formulations applied to growing crops. This rulemaking is established on the Agency's own initiative under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to implement a tolerance action the Agency determined was appropriate during the registration review conducted under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for phenol.

This regulation removes the duplicative exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of lactic acid and l-lactic acid, herein referred to as l-lactic acid, when applied/used in dairy processing equipment and food processing equipment and utensils. In addition, the Agency is amending an existing exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for lactic acid to also include l-lactic acid. The Agency is also establishing exemptions from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of l-lactic acid when used as a fruit and vegetable wash in or on all raw agricultural commodities, and for indirect or inadvertent residues of l-lactic acid in or on all livestock commodities, when residues are present therein as a result of animal drinking water coming into contact with hard non-porous surfaces treated with l-lactic acid (i.e., troughs). These tolerance exemptions are established on the Agency's own initiative under the Federal, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), in order to implement the tolerance actions EPA identified during its review of this chemical as part of the Agency's registration review program under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Rhode Island has applied to EPA for final authorization of revisions to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended. EPA proposes to grant final authorization to Rhode Island for these revisions by a final action, which can be found in the "Rules and Regulations" section of this Federal Register. We have explained the reasons for this authorization in the preamble to the final action. The action also corrects errors made in the State authorization citations published in the March 12, 1990, March 5, 1992, October 2, 1992, and August 9, 2002 Federal Register. Unless EPA receives written comments that oppose this authorization during the comment period, the final action will become effective on the date it establishes and EPA will not take further action on this proposal.

The State of Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final authorization of revisions to its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended. The EPA has reviewed Rhode Island's application and has determined that Rhode Island's hazardous waste program revision satisfies all of the requirements necessary to qualify for final authorization. Additionally, this document corrects errors made in the State authorization citations published in the March 12, 1990, March 5, 1992, October 2, 1992, and August 9, 2002 Federal Register. The EPA is authorizing the State program revisions through this final action. In the "Proposed Rules" section of this Federal Register, the EPA is also publishing a separate document that serves as the proposal to authorize these revisions. Unless the EPA receives written comments that oppose this authorization during the comment period, the decision to authorize Rhode Island's revisions to its hazardous waste program will take effect.

This action proposes revisions, updates, and corrections to EPA's streamlined fuel quality regulations. This action does not propose to change the stringency of the existing fuel quality standards.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is announcing the scheduling of two virtual public meetings to provide information regarding existing chemical pre-prioritization and prioritization activities under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Prioritization is the initial step in the process of evaluating existing chemicals under TSCA and implementing regulations. The purpose of prioritization is to designate a chemical substance as being either high priority for immediate further risk evaluation, or low priority, for which risk evaluation is not warranted at the time. The webinars will take place on two separate days, but the content presented at each meeting will be identical. EPA will explain the prioritization process and provide an overview of information that may be used to inform the considerations that ultimately support a High- or Low-Priority Substance designation, such as information on conditions of use and health effects resulting from exposure to the chemicals of interest. In addition, the list of candidate chemical substances currently being considered for future prioritization actions will be presented for stakeholders to comment on the data and scientific research available that may be used to help EPA determine which chemical substances may undergo prioritization in the near term. EPA is committed to engaging with the public to identify potentially relevant information on chemical substances being considered for future prioritization actions during pre-prioritization timeframes.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to transfer confidential business information (CBI) collected from numerous industries under a newly awarded blanket purchase agreement (BPA), effective July 19, 2024, to ICF International, LLC (ICF) and its subcontractors. In addition, the EPA intends to transfer CBI collected from the meat and poultry products (MPP) industry to ICF and its subcontractors under a task order on a different contract, effective July 3, 2024. Transfer of this information is necessary for ICF to assist the Office of Water in the preparation of effluent guidelines and standards and with its effluent guidelines planning and review activities. Much of the information being transferred was or will be collected under the authority of section 308 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Interested persons may submit comments on this intended transfer of information to the address noted below.

This document announces the Agency's receipt of an initial filing of a pesticide petition requesting the establishment or modification of regulations for residues of pesticide chemicals in or on various commodities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) to establish enforceable emission limits for attaining the 2010 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO2) primary national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for the Rusk and Panola Counties, Texas nonattainment area (Rusk-Panola area). The EPA is proposing the FIP to address deficiencies in Texas' 2022 Rusk-Panola area attainment State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision, as identified in the EPA's proposed limited approval and limited disapproval of that SIP, and which can be found in the same docket as this action. Under the limited approval, if finalized, the entire SIP submission would become federally enforceable. The limited disapproval, if finalized, would trigger the 2-year deadline for EPA to finalize a FIP that addresses the deficiencies in the SIP as well as the 18-month deadline to impose mandatory emission offsets and highway funding sanctions. The EPA is proposing to determine that the proposed FIP would provide for attainment of the 2010 1-hour primary SO2 NAAQS in the Rusk- Panola SO2 nonattainment area and meets the other applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This regulation establishes a tolerance for residues of ethaboxam in or on leaf petiole vegetable subgroup 22B. The Interregional Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested this tolerance under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

This regulation establishes an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of oxirane, phenyl-, polymer with oxirane, mono(dihydrogen phosphate), decyl ether, minimum number average molecular weight 1300 Daltons (CAS Reg. No. 308336-53-0) when used as an inert ingredient in a pesticide chemical formulation. Evonik Corporation, submitted a petition to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. This regulation eliminates the need to establish a maximum permissible level for residues of oxirane, phenyl-, polymer with oxirane, mono(dihydrogen phosphate), decyl ether on food or feed commodities when used in accordance with these exemptions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to conditionally approve a revision to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department's (MCAQD or "Department") portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). This rule revision establishes a program allowing fleet owners/operators to generate emission reduction credits (ERCs) by either retrofitting or replacing existing fleet vehicles with lower emitting vehicles and meeting other ongoing requirements. These ERCs are intended for use as offsets under the Department's nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) program. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice that one chapter of the current EPA Air Pollution Control Cost Manual (Control Cost Manual) has been updated. The EPA is requesting comment on: Chapter 1, Section 6, "Fabric Filters." This Control Cost Manual chapter covers control measures for particulate matter (PM), including fine particulate (PM2.5) emissions.

EPA is proposing significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs) and a Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN) and are also subject to a TSCA Order. The SNURs require persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process any of these chemical substances for an activity that is proposed as a significant new use by this rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification initiates EPA's evaluation of the conditions of use for that chemical substance. In addition, the manufacture or processing for the significant new use may not commence until EPA has conducted a review of the required notification, made an appropriate determination regarding that notification, and taken such actions as required by that determination.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or "the Agency") is proposing to approve the regional haze State implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by Delaware on August 8, 2022, and supplemented on March 7, 2024, as satisfying applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's Regional Haze Rule (RHR) for the program's second implementation period. Delaware's SIP submission addresses the requirement that States must periodically revise their long-term strategies for making reasonable progress towards the national goal of preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I Federal areas. The SIP submission also addresses other applicable requirements for the second implementation period of the regional haze program. EPA is taking this action pursuant to sections 110 and 169A of the CAA.

In this notice of proposed rulemaking, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to act on two Utah State implementation plan (SIP) submissions related to visibility protection. First, we are proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove a regional haze SIP submission for the second implementation period that Utah submitted on August 2, 2022. The regional haze SIP submission addresses the requirement that states revise their long-term strategies every implementation period to make reasonable progress towards the national goal of preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I Federal areas. Utah's regional haze SIP submission also addresses other applicable requirements for the second implementation period of the regional haze program. The EPA is taking this action on Utah's regional haze SIP submission pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). Second, the EPA is proposing to disapprove a portion of Utah's infrastructure SIP submission submitted on January 9, 2020, to address the applicable requirements of CAA section 110(a)(2) for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Our proposed disapproval is based on CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II)'s requirement that a state's SIP contain adequate provisions prohibiting emissions that will interfere with measures to protect visibility required to be included in any other state's SIP (known as interstate transport "prong 4"). The EPA is taking this action on Utah's infrastructure SIP submission pursuant to section 110 of the CAA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing approval of a source-specific revision to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department's (MCAQD or "Department") portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision consists of certain permit conditions related to emissions offsets generated from the replacement of existing diesel-fueled solid waste collection trucks promulgated by the MCAQD and submitted by the State of Arizona for inclusion in the Maricopa County portion of the Arizona SIP under the Clean Air Act (CAA or "Act"). The permit conditions have been submitted for SIP approval to ensure that they are federally enforceable, which is the basis for qualifying certain emissions reductions as creditable offsets under the CAA. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking nominations for technical experts to serve on its Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), a Federal advisory committee to the Office of Research and Development (ORD). Submission of nominations should be made via the BOSC website at: https://www.epa.gov/bosc.

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Administrator's March 18, 2022, memorandum regarding "Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements to resolve Environmental Claims Against the Agency," notice is hereby given of a proposed settlement agreement in Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 1:22-cv-486-BAH (D.D.C.). On February 24, 2022, the Plaintiff Center for Biological Diversity filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the EPA alleging that the Agency had violated the Administrative Procedure Act and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in connection with EPA's 1993, 1998, and 2007 approvals under the Clean Water Act of Washington State's water quality criteria for cyanide. EPA seeks public input on a proposed settlement agreement prior to its final decision-making with regard to potential settlement of the litigation.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes the Semiannual Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions online at https://www.reginfo.gov to periodically update the public. This document contains information about: Regulations in the Semiannual Agenda that are under development, completed, or canceled since the last agenda; and Reviews of regulations with small business impacts under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA).