Compliance Regulations and Guidance Affecting your Industry

This final rule authorizes uses of methyl bromide that qualify for the 2010 critical use exemption and the amount of methyl bromide that may be produced, imported, or supplied from existing pre-phaseout inventory for those uses in 2010. EPA is taking action under the authority of the Clean Air Act to reflect a recent consensus decision taken by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer at the Twentieth Meeting of the Parties.

DATES: This rule is effective on May 3, 2010.

 

EPA is taking direct final action to amend certain of the Renewable Fuel Standard program regulations published on March 26, 2010, that are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2010 (the ‘‘RFS2 regulations’’). Following publication of the RFS2 regulations, promulgated in response to the requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, EPA discovered some technical errors and areas within the final RFS2 regulations that could benefit from clarification or modification. This direct final rule amends the RFS2 regulations to make the appropriate corrections, clarifications, and modifications.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on July 1, 2010 without further notice.

 

EPA is approving the requests of Ohio and Indiana to redesignate the Ohio and Indiana portions of the Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH–KY–IN 8-hour ozone nonattainment area, ‘‘the Cincinnati-Hamilton area,’’ to attainment for that standard, because these requests meet the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) submitted these requests on December 14, 2009, and January 21, 2010, respectively. (EPA will address the Kentucky portion of the Cincinnati- Hamilton area in a separate rulemaking action.) These approvals involve several related actions. EPA is making a determination under the CAA that the Cincinnati-Hamilton area has attained the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The Cincinnati-Hamilton area includes Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, and Warren Counties in Ohio, Lawrenceburg Township in Dearborn County, Indiana, and Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties in Kentucky. This determination is based on three years of complete, quality-assured ambient air quality monitoring data for the 2007– 2009 ozone seasons that demonstrate that the 8-hour ozone NAAQS has been attained in the entire Cincinnati- Hamilton area. EPA is also approving, as revisions to the Ohio and Indiana State Implementation Plans (SIPs), the States’ plans for maintaining the 8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2020 in the area. EPA is approving the 2002 base year emissions inventory submitted by IDEM on June 13, 2007, as meeting the base year emissions inventory requirement of the CAA for the Indiana portion of the Cincinnati-Hamilton area. EPA is approving the 2005 base year emissions inventory submitted by Ohio EPA as part of its redesignation request as meeting the base year emissions inventory requirements of the CAA for the Ohio portion of the Cincinnati- Hamilton area. Finally, EPA finds adequate and is approving the States’ 2015 and 2020 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the Ohio and Indiana portion of the Cincinnati- Hamilton area.

DATES: This final rule is effective May 11, 2010.

 

EPA is amending 40 CFR 180.560 to add a reference to the active ingredient flucarbazone-sodium (wheat only) to the tolerance for the inert ingredient cloquintocet-mexyl (acetic acid [(5-chloro-8-quinolinyl) oxy]-, 1- methylhexyl ester; CAS Reg. No. 99607– 70–2) and its acid metabolite (5-chloro- 8-quinolinoxyacetic acid) on wheat forage, wheat grain, wheat hay, and wheat straw. Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC requested this tolerance amendment under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

DATES: This regulation is effective March 31, 2010.

 

EPA has made a final decision to continue applying the Agency’s existing interpretation of a regulation that determines the scope of pollutants subject to the Federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). In a December 18, 2008 memorandum, EPA established an interpretation clarifying the scope of the phrase ‘‘subject to regulation’’ found within the definition of the term ‘‘regulated NSR pollutant.’’ After considering comments on alternate interpretations of this term, EPA has decided to continue to interpret it to include each pollutant subject to either a provision in the CAA or regulation adopted by EPA under the CAA that requires actual control of emissions of that pollutant. Thus, this action explains that EPA will continue following the interpretation in the December 18, 2008 memorandum with one exception. EPA is refining its interpretation to establish that the PSD permitting requirements will not apply to a newly regulated pollutant until a regulatory requirement to control emissions of that pollutant ‘‘takes effect.’’ In addition, this notice addresses several questions regarding the applicability of the PSD and Title V permitting programs to greenhouse gases (GHGs) upon the anticipated promulgation of EPA regulations establishing limitations on emissions of GHGs from vehicles under Title II of the CAA. Collectively, these conclusions result in an EPA determination that PSD and Title V permitting requirements will not apply to GHGs until at least January 2, 2011.

DATES: This final action is applicable as of March 29, 2010.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is taking Direct Final action on a number of technical changes that correct or clarify several parts of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste regulations that relate to hazardous waste identification, manifesting, the hazardous waste generator requirements, standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities, standards for the management of specific types of hazardous waste and specific types of hazardous waste management facilities, the land disposal restrictions program, and the hazardous waste permit program. These changes correct existing errors in the hazardous waste regulations that have occurred over time in numerous final rules published in the Federal Register, such as typographical errors, incorrect or outdated citations, and omissions. Someof the corrections are necessary to make conforming changes to all appropriate parts of the RCRA hazardous waste regulations for new rules that have since been promulgated. In addition, these changes clarify existing parts of the hazardous waste regulatory program and update references to Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations that have changed since the publication of various RCRA hazardous waste final rules.

DATES: This Direct Final Rule is effective on June 16, 2010 without further notice unless EPA receives adverse comments by May 3, 2010. If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the Direct Final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take effect.

 

This action clarifies regulatory text of the ‘‘Revision of Source Category List for Standards Under Section 112(k) of the Clean Air Act; National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Paints and Allied Products Manufacturing Area Source Standards’’ which was issued as a final rule on December 3, 2009. These technical corrections will not change the level of health protection the final rule provides or the standards and other requirements established by the rule.

Effective Date: March 5, 2010

 

This regulation amends the current tolerance for combined residues of pendimethalin and its metabolite, expressed as pendimethalin equivalents, in or on alfalfa forage. BASF Corporation requested this tolerance amendment under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

DATES: This regulation is effective April 7, 2010. Objections and requests for hearings must be received on or before June 7, 2010, and must be filed in accordance with the instructions provided in 40 CFR part 178.

EPA is taking final action to approve a request submitted on February 26, 2009, from the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Air Pollution Control Division, to redesignate the Tennessee portion of the bi-state Memphis, Tennessee-Arkansas 8-hour ozone nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘bi-state Memphis Area’’) to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The bi-state Memphis 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment area is composed of Shelby County, Tennessee and Crittenden County, Arkansas. EPA’s approval of the redesignation request is based on the determination that the bistate Memphis Area has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA), including the determination that the bi-state Memphis Area has attained the 1997 8- hour ozone standard. Additionally, EPA is approving a revision to the Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP) including the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for Shelby County, Tennessee that contains the new 2006, 2009, 2017, and 2021 motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NOX ) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) for Shelby County, Tennessee. This action also approves the emissions inventory submitted with the maintenance plan (under the CAA section 182(a)(1)). The State of Arkansas has submitted a similar redesignation request and maintenance plan for the Arkansas portion of this 1997 8-hour ozone area. EPA is taking action on Arkansas’ redesignation request, emissions inventory and maintenance plan through a separate rulemaking action. On March 12, 2008, EPA issued a revised 8-hour ozone standard. EPA later announced on September 16, 2009, that it may reconsider this revised ozone standard. The current action, however, is being taken to address requirements under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Requirements for the bi-state Memphis Area under the 2008 standard will be addressed in the future.

Effective Date: This rule will be effective February 3, 2010.

 

This report is required by 49 CFR Part 191. Failure to report may result in a civil penalty not to exceed $100,000 for each violation Form Approved for each day the violation continues up to a maximum of $1,000,000 as provided in 49 USC 60122.

EPA is taking direct final action to amend the general provisions for the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting Rule. The amendments do not change the requirements of the regulation for facilities and suppliers covered by the 2009 final rule. Rather, the amendments are minor changes to the format of several sections of the general provisions to accommodate the addition of new subparts in the future in a simple and clear manner. These changes include updating the language for the schedule for submitting reports and calibrating equipment to recognize that subparts that may be added in the future would have later deadlines. These revisions do not change the requirements for subparts included in the 2009 final rule

Effective Date: This rule is effective May17,2010

This ANNUAL REPORT FOR CALENDAR YEAR 20 HAZARDOUS LIQUID OR CARBON DIOXIDE SYSTEMS is required by 49 CFR Part 195. Failure to report may result in a civil penalty not to exceed $100,000 for each violation Form Approved for each day the violation ontinues up to a maximum of $1,000,000 as provided in 49 USC 60122.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is adopting energy conservation standards for small electric motors. DOE has determined that these standards will result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.

Effective Date: The effective date of this rule is April 8, 2010. The standards established in today’s final rule will be applicable starting March 9, 2015.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is establishing metal halide lamp ballast test procedures in today’s final rule by which manufacturers will demonstrate compliance with the metal halide lamp fixture energy conservation standards mandated by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended. These test procedures are based primarily on and incorporate by reference provisions of American  National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard C82.6–2005, ‘‘Ballasts for High-Intensity Discharge Lamps— Methods of Measurement.’’ As further required by EPCA, DOE is establishing a test method for measuring standby mode power consumption and explaining why off mode power consumption does not apply to metal halide lamp ballasts. The test procedures’ standby mode provisions are based on the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard 62301, ‘‘Household electrical appliances—Measurement of standby power.’’ This rule also adopts a number of definitions for key terms.

Effective Date: These test procedures are effective on April 8, 2010. The incorporation by reference of a certain  publication listed in this rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of April 8, 2010.

EPA is taking direct final action to amend the Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs) for the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to provide for automatic withdrawal of the CAIR FIPs in a State upon the effective date of EPA’s approval of a full State implementation plan (SIP) revision meeting the CAIR requirements. All CAIR States are required to revise their SIPs to include control measures to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and/or sulfur dioxide (SO2). The EPA issued the CAIR FIPs on April 28, 2006 as a backstop to implement the CAIR in each CAIR State until that State has an EPA-approved CAIR SIP in place to achieve the required reductions. In the FIP rulemaking, EPA stated it would withdraw the FIPs in a State in coordination with the approval of the CAIR SIP for that State.
In this action EPA makes the FIP withdrawal in a State automatic upon approval of the State’s full CAIR SIP and to the extent of that approval. EPA believes it is appropriate for the FIP withdrawal to be automatic because to the extent EPA approves the State’s full CAIR SIP, this corrects that deficiency that provided the basis for EPA’s promulgation of the FIPs in that State.

The purpose of this Directive is, as a first priority, the prevention of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and in addition, the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of such wastes so as to reduce the disposal of waste. It also seeks to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment, e.g. producers, distributors and consumers and in particular those operators directly involved in the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment

‘© European Communities, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/’

The purpose of this Directive is to approximate the laws of the Member States on the restrictions of the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment and to contribute to the protection of human health and the environmentally sound recovery and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment

‘© European Communities, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/’

The Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), CAIR Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs), and Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) each include an exemption for cogeneration units that meet certain criteria. In light of information concerning biomass-fired cogeneration units that may not qualify for the exemption due to their particular combination of fuel and technical design characteristics, EPA is changing the cogeneration unit definition in CAIR, the CAIR model cap-and-trade rules, the CAIR FIPs, CAMR, and the CAMR model cap-and-trade rule. Specifically, EPA is revising the calculation methodology for the efficiency standard in the cogeneration unit definition to exclude energy input from biomass making it more likely that units co-firing biomass will be able to meet the efficiency standard and qualify for exemption. Because this change will only affect a small number of relatively low emitting units, it will have little effect on the projected emissions reductions and the environmental benefits of these rules. If EPA finalizes the proposed CAMR Federal Plan, it intends to make the definitions in that rule conform to the CAMR model capand- trade rule and thus, with today’s action. This action also clarifies the term ‘‘total energy input’’ used in the efficiency calculation and makes minor technical corrections to CAIR, the CAIR FIPs, CAMR, and the Acid Rain Program rules

Effective Date:This rule is effective November 19, 2007

EPA is taking direct final action to amend the Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs) for the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to provide for automatic withdrawal of the CAIR FIPs in a State upon the effective date of EPA’s approval of a full State implementation plan (SIP) revision meeting the CAIR requirements. All CAIR States are required to revise their SIPs to include control measures to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and/or sulfur dioxide (SO2). The EPA issued the CAIR FIPs on April 28, 2006 as a backstop to implement the CAIR in each CAIR State until that State has an EPA-approved CAIR SIP in place to achieve the required reductions. In the FIP rulemaking, EPA stated it would withdraw the FIPs in a State in coordination with the approval of the CAIR SIP for that State.
In this action EPA makes the FIP withdrawal in a State automatic upon approval of the State’s full CAIR SIP and to the extent of that approval. EPA believes it is appropriate for the FIP withdrawal to be automatic because to the extent EPA approves the State’s full CAIR SIP, this corrects that deficiency that provided the basis for EPA’s promulgation of the FIPs in that State.

Effective Date:This rule is effective January 16, 2008

Pursuant to section 183(e)(3)(C) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA has determined that control technique guideline (CTG) documents will be substantially as effective as national regulations in reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) nonattainment areas from the following Group II product categories: Lithographic printing materials, letterpress printing materials, flexible packaging printing materials, flat wood paneling coatings, and industrial cleaning solvents. EPA is taking final action to list these product categories pursuant to CAA section 183(e). Based on this determination, EPA is issuing final CTGs in lieu of national regulations for the control of VOC emissions from each of these product categories. These CTGs provide guidance to the States concerning EPA(s recommendations for reasonably available control technology (RACT)- level controls for the product categories

Effective Date:This rule is effective  October 5, 2006