Environmental Protection Agency – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), ``EPA's Responsible Appliance Disposal Program (RAD) Program (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR Number 2254.04, OMB Control Number 2060-0703) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through January 31, 2024. An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing new and amended requirements concerning the assertion and treatment of confidential business information (CBI) claims for information reported to or otherwise obtained by EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Amendments to TSCA in 2016 included many new provisions concerning the assertion, Agency review, and treatment of confidentiality claims. This document finalizes procedures for submitting such claims in TSCA submissions. It addresses issues such as substantiation requirements, exemptions, electronic reporting enhancements (including expanding electronic reporting requirements), maintenance or withdrawal of confidentiality claims, and provisions in current rules that are inconsistent with amended TSCA. The rule also addresses EPA procedures for reviewing and communicating with TSCA submitters about confidentiality claims.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions related to volatile organic compound (VOC) reasonably available control technology (RACT), submitted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (``Wisconsin'' or ``WDNR'') on June 28, 2022. The SIP revisions consist of several additions, corrections, and clarifications to the Wisconsin Administrative Code (WAC) NR 400 series and update the VOC RACT requirements for the Miscellaneous Industrial Adhesives and Miscellaneous Metal and Plastic Parts Coatings Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) source categories. Also, EPA is approving Wisconsin's August 10, 2022, request to remove three previously approved Administrative Orders from the SIP. The request to remove these Administrative Orders includes a Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 110(l) demonstration highlighting that the revisions to Wisconsin's rules do not interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment or any other applicable requirement of the CAA because this SIP revision is a direct replacement for the previously approved orders. These SIP revisions apply to nonattainment areas in Wisconsin classified as moderate or above under the 2008 or later ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (``NAAQS'' or ``standard''). These revisions are consistent with the CTG documents issued by EPA in 2008 and are approvable because they serve as SIP strengthening measures. EPA proposed to approve this action on January 30, 2023, and received no adverse comments.

On August 31, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave notice that, in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Agency had performed a 5-year review of the Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Other Solid Waste Incineration (OSWI) Units, which includes certain very small municipal waste combustion (VSMWC) and institutional waste incineration (IWI) units. In the same action, the EPA proposed to modify the OSWI definition of ``municipal waste combustion unit,'' effectively removing pyrolysis/combustion units from the definition. In this action, the EPA is withdrawing that proposed modification.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to the New York State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the purposes of implementing controls of air pollution by particulate matter (PM). The SIP revision consists of amendments to existing regulations outlined within New York's Codes, Rules, and Regulations (NYCRR) that impose control measures for sources of PM. This action is being taken in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

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 4/1/ 2023 to 4/30/2023.

The Director of the Water Division, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 6 provides in this notice that the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit No. GMG290000 for existing and new sources and new dischargers in the Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category, located in and discharging to the Outer Continental Shelf offshore of Louisiana and Texas was reissued on May 11, 2023 with an effective date of May 11, 2023. The discharge of produced water to that portion of the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Subcategory facilities located in the territorial seas of Louisiana and Texas is also authorized by this permit.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to approve a revision to the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD or ``District'') portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision concerns emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) from Portland cement kilns. We are approving a local rule that regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). Approving this rule corrects a deficiency identified in MDAQMD's reasonably available control technology (RACT) demonstrations for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

Notice is hereby given that a reissuance 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 Dow Beaumont Texas Operations for two Class I hazardous waste injection wells at the Dow Beaumont Aniline Plant located in Nederland, Texas.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator signed an Order dated May 1, 2023, denying two petitions dated July 23, 2022 (the Premcor Petition) and November 14, 2022, (the ExxonMobil Petition), submitted by an anonymous petitioner, C23D32 (the Petitioner). The Petitions requested that EPA object to two Clean Air Act (CAA) title V operating permits issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to Premcor Refining Group's Alsip Distribution Center (Premcor) and ExxonMobil Pipeline Company's Des Plaines Terminal (ExxonMobil), both located in Cook County, Illinois.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is announcing a public meeting of the chartered Science Advisory Board. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss recommendations received from the SAB Work Group for Review of Science Supporting EPA Decisions concerning SAB review of EPA planned regulatory actions.

On or about May 31, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will make available for public comment the draft document, Draft Policy Assessment for the Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur and Particulate MatterExternal Review Draft (PA). This draft document was prepared as a part of the current review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur and Particulate Matter. When final, the PA serves to ``bridge the gap'' between the currently available scientific and technical information and the judgments required of the Administrator in determining whether to retain or revise the existing secondary NO2, SO2 and PM NAAQS. The secondary NAAQS for oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulfur and particulate matter are set to protect the public welfare from known or anticipated effects of these pollutants in the ambient air.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is exempting a class of plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) that have been created using genetic engineering from certain registration requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and from the requirements to establish a tolerance or tolerance exemption for residues of these substances on food or feed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Specifically, EPA is finalizing its exemptions as described in its October 2020 proposal for PIPs now termed ``PIPs created through genetic engineering from a sexually compatible plant'' and ``loss-of-function PIPs,'' finalizing the process through which the Agency determines their eligibility for exemption, and finalizing the associated recordkeeping requirements. This set of exemptions reflects the biotechnological advances made since 2001, when EPA first exempted PIPs derived through conventional breeding and excluded from the exemptions those PIPs that are created through biotechnology. EPA anticipates that today's exemptions will benefit the public by ensuring that human health and the environment are adequately protected, while also reducing the regulatory burden for the regulated community. These exemptions may also result in increased research and development activities, commercialization of new pest control options for farmers, particularly in minor crops, and increase the diversity of options for pest and disease management, which could provide environmental benefits.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving, as a revision to the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP), the state's plan for maintaining the 1997 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard) through 2032 in St. Louis, MO-IL area. The original St. Louis nonattainment area for the 1997 ozone standard included Jersey, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair Counties in Illinois and Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Louis Counties and St. Louis City in Missouri. The SIP, submitted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) on August 24, 2022, addresses the second maintenance plan required for Jersey County, Illinois. EPA proposed to approve this action on March 14, 2023 and received no adverse comments.

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR). ``Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements for Fuels Regulatory Streamlining (EPA ICR No. 2607.03, OMB Control No. 2060-0731) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through January 31, 2024. An Agency may not conduct, or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing amendments to the new chemicals procedural regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These amendments are intended to align the regulatory text with the amendments to TSCA's new chemicals review provisions contained in the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, enacted on June 22, 2016, improve the efficiency of EPA's review processes, and update the regulations based on existing policies and experience implementing the New Chemicals Program. The proposal includes amendments that would reduce the need to redo all or part of the risk assessment by improving information initially submitted in new chemicals notices, which should also help reduce the length of time that new chemicals notices are under review. EPA is also proposing several amendments to the regulations for low volume exemptions (LVEs) and low release and exposure exemptions (LoREXs), which include requiring EPA approval of an exemption notice prior to commencement of manufacture, making per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) categorically ineligible for these exemptions, and providing that certain persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) chemical substances are ineligible for these exemptions, consistent with EPA's 1999 PBT policy.

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to enter into forty-nine Individual settlements with fifty-three parties concerning the Bennett Landfill Fire Site located in Chester, South Carolina. The proposed settlements address recovery of CERCLA costs for a cleanup that was performed at the Site and costs incurred by EPA. The individual proposed settlements are as follows: Rock Hill School District 3, CERCLA-04-2023-2506(b); Carlisle Finishing LLC, CERCLA-04-2022-2506(b); Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc. f/k/a South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, CERCLA-04-2022-2512(b); Signet Mills, Inc. f/k/a Green Textile Associates, Inc., CERCLA-04-2022- 2513(b); AstenJohnson, Inc., CERCLA-04-2022-2508; Hexion Inc., CERCLA- 04-2022-2515(b); Target Contractors, LLC, CERCLA-04-2022-2517(b); Inman-Campobello Water District, CERCLA-04-2022-2523(b); Laurens County School District #56, CERCLA-04-2022-2520(b); McLeod Medical Center Dillon, CERCLA-04-2022-2519(b); Michelin North America, Inc., CERCLA- 04-2022-2521(b); Anderson County, South Carolina, CERCLA-04-2022-2511; Aiken County, South Carolina, CERCLA-04-2022-2510; Anderson County School District 5, CERCLA-04-2023-2500(b); Boulevard Baptist Church of Anderson, Inc., CERCLA-04-2023-2501(b); Owens Corning, CERCLA-04-2023- 2502(b); School District of Pickens County, CERCLA-04-2023-2503(b); Midland Industries, LLC f/k/a Midland Capital Corp. CERCLA-04-2022- 2522(b); Milliken & Company, CERCLA-04-2022-2524(b); Mohawk Industries, Inc., CERCLA-04-2022-2525(b); Richloom Fabrics Group, Inc., CERCLA- 042023-2504(b); South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, CERCLA-04-2023-2508(b); Self Regional Healthcare, CERCLA-04-2023- 2509(b); SERRUS Real Estate Fund II, LLC and SERRUS Capital Partners, Inc., CERCLA-04-2023-2510(b); Snyder Investments, Inc. and Snyder Electric Company, Inc., CERCLA-04-2023-2515(b); South Carolina Regional Housing Authority No. 1, CERCLA-04-2023-2516(b); Spartanburg County, CERCLA-04-2023-2517(b); Spartanburg District Five Schools, CERCLA-04- 2023-2519(b); The Timken Company, CERCLA-04-2023-2518(b); Tri-County Technical College, CERCLA-04-2023-2511(b); Trinity United Methodist Church of Enoree, SC, CERCLA-04-2023-2512(b); Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., CERCLA-04-2023-2513(b); Wofford College, CERCLA-04-2023-2514(b); BASF Corporation, CERCLA-04-2022-2507; Cherokee Avenue Baptist Church, CERCLA-04-2022-2507(b); W.R. Floyd Services, Inc., d/b/a J. F. Floyd Mortuary, CERCLA-04-2022-2518(b); Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District, CERCLA-04-2022-2514(b); City of York, South Carolina, CERCLA- 04-2022-2510(b); Converse University f/k/a Converse College, CERCLA-04- 2022- 2516(b); Royal Adhesives and Sealants, LLC, and Simpsonville Properties LLC, CERCLA-04-2023-2507(b); Spartanburg County School District Three, CERCLA-04-2023-2520(b); City of Landrum, South Carolina, CERCLA-04- 2022-2508(b); Cooper Standard Automotive Inc., CERCLA-04-2022-2511(b); Brixmor Property Group Inc., ERP Hillcrest, LLC, and Excel Realty Partners LP, CERCLA-04-2022-2509(b); School District of Newberry County, CERCLA-04-2023-2522(b); Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board CERCLA-04-2022-2509; Inman Mills, CERCLA-04-2023-2528(b); Price Construction, Inc., CERCLA-04-2023-2525(b); Winthrop University, United States General Services Administration and United States Postal Service, CERCLA-04-2023-2527(b).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to find that California has failed to submit state implementation plan (SIP) elements required under the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') to implement the 2012 national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin (``South Coast''). California was required to submit by June 9, 2022, a SIP submission that meets the Serious area plan requirements for a base year emissions inventory and best available control measures (BACM). The State submitted the required SIP elements, but subsequently withdrew its submission. If the EPA has not affirmatively found that the State has submitted a complete SIP to correct these deficiencies within 18 months of this finding, the offset sanction will apply in the area. If within six additional months the EPA has still not affirmatively determined that the State has submitted a complete SIP to correct the deficiencies, the highway funding sanction will apply in the area. No later than two years after the EPA makes this finding, if the State has not submitted and the EPA has not approved each of the required SIP elements, the EPA must promulgate a federal implementation plan (FIP) to address the remaining requirements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9 is proposing to reissue a general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for water discharges from facilities classified as low threat located in the Navajo Nation (Permit No. NNG990001). The permit will be reissued upon completion of the notice and comment period and after due consideration has been given to all comments received. The permit, upon issuance, will be valid for five years. Use of a general NPDES permit in the location described above allows EPA and dischargers to allocate resources in a more efficient manner, obtain timely permit coverage, and avoid issuing resource intensive individual permits to each facility, while simultaneously providing greater certainty and efficiency to the regulated community and ensuring consistent permit conditions for comparable facilities. This notice announces the availability of the proposed general NPDES permit and the corresponding fact sheet for public comment which can be found at EPA Region 9's website at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/npdes- permits-epas-pacific-southwest-region-9.

Pursuant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Significant New Alternatives Policy program, this action proposes to list certain substances in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector. Specifically, EPA proposes to list several substitutes as acceptable, subject to use conditions, for retail food refrigeration, commercial ice machines, industrial process refrigeration, cold storage warehouses, and ice skating rinks. Through this action, EPA is proposing to incorporate by reference standards which establish requirements for commercial refrigerating appliances and commercial ice machines, safe use of flammable refrigerants, and safe design, construction, installation, and operation of refrigeration systems. This action also proposes to exempt propane, in the refrigerated food processing and dispensing end-use, from the prohibition under the Clean Air Act (CAA) on knowingly venting, releasing, or disposing of substitute refrigerants, on the basis of current evidence that the venting, release, or disposal of this substance in this end-use does not pose a threat to the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Underground Storage Tank Finder Application (EPA ICR Number 2696.01, OMB Control Number 2080-NEW), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a request for approval of a new collection. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on September 15, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified EPA that it has adopted two sets of amendments to its Small Off-Road Engine regulation (SORE Amendments). By letter dated December 20, 2022, CARB asked that EPA authorize these amendments pursuant to section 209(e) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This notice announces that EPA will hold a public hearing to consider California's authorization request and that EPA is now accepting written comment on the requests.

EPA has received applications to register new uses for pesticide products containing currently registered active ingredients. Pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and opportunity to comment on these applications.