40 CFR Part 61, Subpart W - National Emission Standards for Radon Emissions From Operating Mill Tailings

In accordance with the Presidential directive as expressed in the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” this action temporarily delays until March 21, 2017, the effective date of the regulations listed in the table below. EPA identified 30 regulations that meet those criteria.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to revise certain portions of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Radon Emissions from Operating Mill Tailings. The revisions for this final action are based on the EPA's determination as to what constitutes generally available control technology or management practices (GACT) for this area source category. We are also adding new definitions to the NESHAP, revising existing definitions and clarifying that the NESHAP also applies to uranium recovery facilities that extract uranium through the in-situ leach method and the heap leach method.

This action promulgates technical and editorial corrections and revisions to regulations related to source testing of emissions. We have made corrections and updates to testing provisions, and added newly approved alternatives to existing testing regulations. These revisions will improve the quality of data and provide flexibility in the use of approved alternative procedures. The revisions do not impose any new substantive requirements on source owners or operators.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the comment period for the proposed rule titled, “Revisions to Test Methods, Performance Specifications, and Testing Regulations for Air Emission Sources,” that was published in the Federal Register on September 8, 2015. The 60-day comment period in the proposed rule is scheduled to end on November 9, 2015. The extended comment period will close on December 9, 2015. The EPA recently added a technical justification to the docket for the revision in the proposed rule regarding Subpart JJJJ of Part 60 (Standards of Performance for Stationary Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engines). We also added background information to support our reasoning for soliciting comment about Method 7E stratification. Therefore, the EPA is extending the comment period to allow the public additional time to submit comments and supporting information on these and other aspects of the proposed rule.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a public hearing for the proposed rule titled, “Revisions to Test Methods, Performance Specifications, and Testing Regulations for Air Emission Sources,” that was published in the Federal Register on September 8, 2015. The hearing will be held in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The EPA is proposing technical and editorial corrections and revisions to regulations related to source testing of emissions. The EPA is proposing to make corrections and updates to testing provisions that contain inaccuracies and outdated procedures, and to provide alternatives to existing testing regulations. The revisions will improve the quality of data and provide testers flexibility to use recently-approved alternative procedures. Many of the changes were suggested by testers and other end-users and will not impose new substantive requirements on source owners or operators.

This action proposes technical and editorial corrections and revisions to regulations related to source testing of emissions. This proposed rule will make corrections and updates to testing provisions that contain inaccuracies and outdated procedures, and provide alternatives to existing testing regulations. These revisions will improve the quality of data and provide testers flexibility to use recently-approved alternative procedures. Many of these changes were suggested by testers and other end-users, and they will not impose new substantive requirements on source owners or operators.

This notice announces our approval of the Alternative Means of Emission Limitation (AMEL) requests for the operation of multi-point ground flares (MPGF) at The Dow Chemical Company's (Dow) Propane Dehydrogenation Plant and Light Hydrocarbons Plant located at its Texas Operations site in Freeport, Texas, and the ExxonMobil Chemical Company (ExxonMobil) Olefins Plant in Baytown, Texas, and its Plastics Plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas. This approval notice also specifies the operating conditions and monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for demonstrating compliance with the AMEL that these facilities must follow. In addition, this notice solicits comments on an all aspects of an AMEL request from Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC) in which long-term MPGF burner stability and destruction efficiency have been demonstrated on different pressure-assisted MPGF burners that OCC has proposed for use in controlling emissions at its Ingleside, Texas, ethylene plant. Lastly, this notice presents and solicits comments on all aspects of a framework of both MPGF burner testing and rule-specific emissions control equivalency demonstrations that we anticipate, when followed, would afford us the ability to approve future AMEL requests for MPGF in a more efficient and streamlined manner.

On February 24, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a direct final rule approving the updated delegation of EPA authority for implementation and enforcement of National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) for all sources (both part 70 and non-part 70 sources) to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ). The direct final rule was published without prior proposal because EPA anticipated no adverse comments. EPA stated in the direct final rule that if EPA received relevant, adverse comments by March 26, 2015, EPA would publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register . EPA received a relevant, adverse comment on March 25, 2015, and accordingly is withdrawing the direct final rule, and in a separate subsequent final rulemaking will address the comment received.

The States of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska and the local agencies of Lincoln-Lancaster County, Nebraska, and the city of Omaha, Nebraska, have submitted updated regulations for delegation of EPA authority for implementation and enforcement of NSPS, NESHAP, and MACT standards. The submissions cover new EPA standards and, in some instances, revisions to standards previously delegated. EPA's review of the pertinent regulations shows that they contain adequate and effective procedures for the implementation and enforcement of these Federal standards. This action informs the public of delegations to the above-mentioned agencies.

The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board (ABCAQCB) has submitted updated regulations for receiving delegation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority for implementation and enforcement of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) for all sources (both part 70 and non-part 70 sources). The delegation of authority under this action applies only to sources located in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, and does not extend to sources located in Indian Country. EPA is providing notice that it is updating the delegation of certain NSPS to ABCAQCB, and taking direct final action to approve the delegation of certain NESHAPs to ABCAQCB.

On August 5, 2014, The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) requested an Alternative Means of Emission Limitation (AMEL) under the Clean Air Act (CAA) in order to operate pressure-assisted multi-point ground flares at its Propane Dehydrogenation Plant and its Light Hydrocarbons Plant at its Texas Operations site located in Freeport, Texas. On October 21, 2014, ExxonMobil Chemical Company (ExxonMobil) requested an AMEL under the CAA for its pressure-assisted multi-point ground flares at its' Olefins Plant in Baytown, Texas, and its' Plastics Plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas. In this document, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting comment on all aspects of the AMEL requests and the resulting alternative operating conditions that are necessary to achieve a reduction in emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) at least equivalent to the reduction in emissions required by various standards in 40 CFR parts 60, 61 and 63 that apply to emission sources controlled by these pressure-assisted multi-point ground flares. These standards point to the operating requirements for flares in the General Provisions to parts 60 and 63, respectively, to comply with the emission reduction requirements. Because pressure-assisted multi-point ground flares cannot meet the velocity requirements in these General Provisions, Dow and ExxonMobil are seeking an AMEL.

The Environmental Protection Agency is announcing an extension of the public comment period for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) requesting public comment and information on revisions to the EPA's “National Emission Standards for Radon Emissions from Operating Mill Tailings”. The EPA published the NPRM on May 2, 2014 in the Federal Register , which included a request for comments on or before July 31, 2014. The purpose of this action is to extend the public comment period an additional 90 days.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to revise certain portions of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for radon emissions from operating uranium mill tailings. The proposed revisions are based on EPA's determination as to what constitutes generally available control technology or management practices (GACT) for this area source category. We are also proposing to add new definitions to this rule, revise existing definitions and clarify that the rule applies to uranium recovery facilities that extract uranium through the in-situ leach method and the heap leach method.

This action promulgates technical and editorial corrections for source testing of emissions and operations. Some current testing provisions contain inaccuracies and outdated procedures, and new alternatives that have been approved are being added. These revisions will improve the quality of data and will give testers additional flexibility to use the newly approved alternative procedures.

The States of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska and the local agencies of Lincoln-Lancaster County, Nebraska, and the city of Omaha, Nebraska, have submitted updated regulations for delegation of EPA authority for implementation and enforcement of NSPS, NESHAP, and MACT standards. The submissions cover new EPA standards and, in some instances, revisions to standards previously delegated. EPA's review of the pertinent regulations shows that they contain adequate and effective procedures for the implementation and enforcement of these Federal standards. This action informs the public of delegations to the above-mentioned agencies.

EPA is amending its regulations to reflect a change in address for EPA's Region 7 office. This action is editorial in nature and is intended to provide accuracy and clarity to the Agency's regulations.

EPA is amending its regulations to reflect a change in address for EPA's Region 4 office as well as the state agencies for Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and local agencies for Forsyth County, Mecklenburg County Land Use & Environmental Services Agency and Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency. The jurisdiction of EPA Region 4 includes the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Certain EPA air pollution control regulations requiring submittal of notifications, reports and other documents to the EPA Regional office must also be submitted to the appropriate authorized state or local agency. This technical amendment updates and corrects the addresses for submitting such information to the EPA's Region 4 office as well as the state and local agency offices.