Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 2 / Friday, January 3, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 347 

1There is also a termination premium, which is 

unaffected by this final rule. 

Environmental Review 

The FAA has determined that this 

action qualifies for categorical exclusion 

under the National Environmental 

Policy Act in accordance with FAA 

Order 1050.1E, ‘‘Environmental 

Impacts: Policies and Procedures,’’ 

paragraph 311a. This airspace action is 

not expected to cause any potentially 

significant environmental impacts, and 

no extraordinary circumstances exist 

that warrant preparation of an 

environmental assessment. 

Lists of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71 

Airspace, Incorporation by reference, 

Navigation (air). 

Adoption of the Amendment 

In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Federal Aviation Administration 

amends 14 CFR Part 71 as follows: 

PART 71—DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, 

B, C, D AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR 

TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND 

REPORTING POINTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for Part 71 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g); 40103, 40113, 

40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959– 

1963 Comp., p. 389. 

§ 71.1 [Amended] 

■ 2. The incorporation by reference in 

14 CFR 71.1 of Federal Aviation 

Administration Order 7400.9X, Airspace 

Designations and Reporting Points, 

dated August 7, 2013, effective 

September 15, 2013, is amended as 

follows: 

Paragraph 6002 Class E Airspace Areas 

Extending Upward From the Surface of the 

Earth. 

* * * * * 

AEA VA E2 Leesburg, VA [New] 

Leesburg Executive Airport, VA 

(Lat. 39°04′41′′ N., long. 77°33′27′′ W.) 

That airspace extending upward from the 

surface within a 6-mile radius of Leesburg 

Executive Airport. 

Issued in College Park, Georgia, on 

December 19, 2013. 

Paul Lore, 

Acting Manager, Operations Support Group, 

Eastern Service Center, Air Traffic 

Organization. 

[FR Doc. 2013–31062 Filed 1–2–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY 

CORPORATION 

29 CFR Part 4007 

RIN 1212–AB26 

Payment of Premiums; Large-Plan FlatRate Premium 

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Based on its regulatory review 

under Executive Order 13563 

(Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review), the Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation (PBGC) is moving the flatrate premium due date for large plans to 

later in the premium payment year—to 

the same date as the variable-rate 

premium due date for such plans— 

starting with the 2014 plan year. Thus, 

large calendar-year plans’ 2014 flat-rate 

premiums will be due October 15, 2014. 

This action implements part of a PBGC 

project to make its premium rules more 

effective and less burdensome by 

simplifying due dates, coordinating the 

due date for terminating plans with the 

termination process, making conforming 

and clarifying changes to the variablerate premium rules, providing for relief 

from penalties, and making other 

changes. The rest of the project will be 

implemented by a separate final rule. 

DATES: Effective January 3, 2014. 

Applicable to plan years that begin on 

or after January 1, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Catherine B. Klion, Assistant General 

Counsel for Regulatory Affairs 

(klion.catherine@pbgc.gov), or Deborah 

C. Murphy, Deputy Assistant General 

Counsel for Regulatory Affairs 

(murphy.deborah@pbgc.gov), Office of 

the General Counsel, Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street 

NW., Washington DC 20005–4026; 202– 

326–4024. (TTY and TDD users may call 

the Federal relay service toll-free at 

800–877–8339 and ask to be connected 

to 202–326–4024.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Summary—Purpose of the 

Regulatory Action 

This rulemaking is needed as part of 

a larger project to make PBGC’s 

premium rules more effective and less 

burdensome. The rule contributes to the 

simplification and streamlining of due 

dates by making the flat-rate premium 

due date for large plans the same as the 

variable-rate premium due date for such 

plans. 

PBGC’s legal authority for this action 

comes from section 4002(b)(3) of the 

Employee Retirement Income Security 

Act of 1974 (ERISA), which authorizes 

PBGC to issue regulations to carry out 

the purposes of title IV of ERISA, and 

section 4007 of ERISA, which gives 

PBGC authority to set premium due 

dates and to assess late payment 

penalties. 

Executive Summary—Major Provisions 

of the Regulatory Action 

In recent years, premium due dates 

have depended on size of plan and type 

of premium. Large plans have paid the 

flat-rate premium early in the premium 

payment year and the variable-rate 

premium later in the year. Mid-size 

plans have paid both the flat- and 

variable-rate premiums by that same 

later due date. Small plans have paid 

the flat- and variable-rate premiums in 

the following year. On July 23, 2013, 

PBGC proposed to simplify the due-date 

rules by providing that all annual 

premiums for plans of all sizes will be 

due on the same day in the premium 

payment year—the historical variablerate premium due date. As part of that 

simplification process, this rule 

eliminates the separate due date for the 

flat-rate premiums of large plans 

beginning with the 2014 plan year. 

Background 

PBGC administers the pension plan 

termination insurance program under 

title IV of the Employee Retirement 

Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). 

Under ERISA sections 4006 and 4007, 

plans covered by the program must pay 

premiums to PBGC. PBGC’s premium 

regulations—on Premium Rates (29 CFR 

part 4006) and on Payment of Premiums 

(29 CFR part 4007)—implement ERISA 

sections 4006 and 4007. 

There are two kinds of annual 

premiums.1 The flat-rate premium is 

based on the number of plan 

participants, determined as of the 

participant count date. The participant 

count date is generally the last day of 

the plan year preceding the premium 

payment year; in some cases, however 

(such as for plans that are new or are 

involved in certain mergers or spinoffs), 

the participant count date is the first 

day of the premium payment year. The 

variable-rate premium (which applies 

only to single-employer plans) is based 

on a plan’s unfunded vested benefits 

(UVBs)—the excess of its premium 

funding target over its assets. 

Section 4007 of ERISA authorizes 

PBGC to set premium due dates and 

assess penalties for failure to pay 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with RULES
348 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 2 / Friday, January 3, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

2See PBGC final rule at 63 FR 68684 (Dec. 14, 

1998). 

3This requirement was adopted in response to a 

recommendation in the 1984 report of the Grace 

Commission (the President’s Private Sector Survey 

on Cost Control). See PBGC final rule at 50 FR 

12533 (Mar. 29, 1985). The requirement was 

effective for 1985 for very large plans (those with 

10,000 or more participants) and for 1986 for all 

other large plans. 

4See http://www.pbgc.gov/documents/plan-forregulatory-review.pdf. 

5To conform to this change in the large-plan flatrate premium due date, which makes unnecessary 

the penalty safe harbors for under-estimates of large 

plans’ flat-rate premiums, this final rule eliminates 

those safe harbor provisions from the premium 

payment regulation. 

premiums timely. Beginning in 1999,2

PBGC set the variable-rate premium due 

date for plans of all sizes as 91⁄2 calendar 

months after the beginning of the 

premium payment year (October 15 for 

calendar-year plans). This was done so 

that the due date would correspond 

with the extended due date for the 

annual report for the prior year that is 

filed on Form 5500. Coordination of the 

premium and Form 5500 due dates 

promotes consistency and simplicity 

and avoids confusion and 

administrative burden. In 2008, 

however, to conform to changes made 

by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 

(PPA 2006), small-plan due dates were 

extended to 16 months after the 

beginning of the premium payment year 

(April 30 of the following year for 

calendar-year plans). 

Most plans’ flat-rate premiums have 

been due at the same time as variablerate premiums. However, flat-rate 

premiums for large plans (those with 

500 or more participants) are due two 

calendar months after the beginning of 

the premium payment year (the end of 

February for calendar-year plans).3

Because of the impracticality of 

counting participants so soon after the 

participant count date, the premium 

payment regulation provides an 

elaborate system of safe harbors from 

late-payment penalties for estimated 

large-plan flat-rate premiums, and the 

practice of most large plans has been to 

pay an estimate of the flat-rate premium 

at the early due date and ‘‘true up’’ 

when they pay the variable-rate 

premium later in the year. 

Proposed Rule 

On January 18, 2011, the President 

issued Executive Order 13563, 

‘‘Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review,’’ to ensure that Federal 

regulations seek more affordable, less 

intrusive means to achieve policy goals, 

and that agencies give careful 

consideration to the benefits and costs 

of those regulations. In response to and 

in support of the Executive Order, PBGC 

on August 23, 2011, promulgated its 

Plan for Regulatory Review,4 noting 

several regulatory areas—including 

premiums—for immediate review. 

PBGC reviewed its premium 

regulations and identified a number of 

ways to simplify and clarify the 

regulations, reduce burden, provide 

penalty relief, and generally make the 

regulations work better. On July 23, 

2013 (at 78 FR 44056), PBGC published 

a proposed rule to replace the system of 

three premium due dates (based on plan 

size and premium type) with a single 

due date corresponding to the Form 

5500 extended due date, to coordinate 

the due date for terminating plans with 

the termination process, to make 

conforming and clarifying changes to 

the variable-rate premium rules, to 

provide for relief from penalties, and to 

make other changes. Under the 

proposal, large plans would no longer 

have to pay flat-rate premiums early and 

small plans would have the same due 

dates as other plans but get more time 

to value benefits. 

PBGC received comments from six 

commenters—two employer 

associations, two associations of 

pension practitioners, an actuarial firm, 

and an individual actuary. All of the 

commenters approved of the proposal, 

and one specifically urged that it be 

made effective for 2014. The 

commenters also had suggestions for 

additional changes PBGC might make in 

its premium regulations or procedures. 

None of those suggestions dealt with the 

large-plan flat-rate premium due date. 

The first large-plan flat-rate filing 

deadline for 2014 is February 28, 2014. 

Thus the provision of the proposed rule 

setting the flat-rate premium due date 

for large plans later in the year—on the 

same date as the variable-rate premium 

due date for such plans—is by far the 

most time-sensitive aspect of the 

proposal. For that reason, and in light of 

the fact that this provision generated 

only positive comments, PBGC is 

finalizing this one change separately 

and ahead of the other changes in the 

proposal. 

PBGC expects to deal with all other 

aspects of the July 23 proposal in a 

separate final rule to be issued in time 

to provide all plans with adequate 

advance guidance for timely compliance 

with the new procedures in 2014. If the 

situation changes, PBGC will advise the 

public as appropriate. 

Regulatory Changes Made by This Final 

Rule 

This final rule makes the flat-rate 

premium due date for large plans the 

same as their variable-rate due date. For 

calendar-year plans, that due date will 

be October 15.5

For many large plans, making the flatrate premium due when the variablerate premium is due will cut the number 

of premium transactions with PBGC by 

two, rather than just one. That is 

because underestimating the flat-rate 

premium has typically given rise not 

only to penalties (which are often 

waived) but also to interest charges 

(which cannot be waived). Thus, after 

paying an estimate of the flat-rate 

premium, and then paying the balance 

due, a large plan has usually had to 

make yet another payment, of the 

interest on the amount by which its 

initial estimated payment fell short of 

the correct amount. Eliminating the 

need for flat-rate premium estimates 

will eliminate interest payments on 

shortfalls in those estimates. 

The due date change will mean that 

plan consultants can do all of a plan’s 

premium filing work at one time, once 

a year. PBGC will receive one premium 

filing for each plan each year and will 

be able to process a plan’s entire annual 

premium in a single operation. 

Reducing the number of due dates will 

be simpler for all concerned. Less 

complexity means less chance for 

mistakes and the time and expense of 

correcting them. Moving to a single due 

date will also simplify PBGC’s premium 

processing systems and save PBGC 

money on future periodic changes to 

those systems (because it is less 

expensive to modify simpler systems). 

In short, PBGC believes that this 

change in the large-plan flat-rate 

premium due date will produce a 

significant reduction in administrative 

burden for both plans and PBGC. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

PBGC has determined, in consultation 

with the Office of Management and 

Budget, that this rulemaking is a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under 

Executive Order 12866. The Office of 

Management and Budget has therefore 

reviewed this rule under Executive 

Order 12866. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 2 / Friday, January 3, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 349 

6PBGC assumes for this purpose that enrolled 

actuaries charge about $350 per hour. 

reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, 

and of promoting flexibility. This final 

rule is associated with retrospective 

review and analysis in PBGC’s Plan for 

Regulatory Review issued in accordance 

with Executive Order 13563. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

require that a comprehensive regulatory 

impact analysis be performed for any 

economically significant regulatory 

action, which, under Section 3(f)(1) of 

Executive Order 12866, is one that ‘‘is 

likely to result in a rule that may . . . 

[h]ave an annual effect on the economy 

of $100 million or more or adversely 

affect in a material way the economy, a 

sector of the economy, productivity, 

competition, jobs, the environment, 

public health or safety, or State, local, 

or tribal governments or communities.’’ 

PBGC premium payments are 

included as receipts in the Federal 

budget, and the large-plan flat-rate 

premium deferral will cause a one-time 

shift of about $1.5 billion (attributable 

primarily to calendar year plans) from 

one fiscal year to the next. Although no 

premium revenue will be lost, there will 

be the appearance of a one-time loss for 

the year when the due dates change, and 

PBGC has therefore determined that this 

final rule is economically significant 

under the criteria in Executive Order 

12866. 

The estimate of the amount of flat-rate 

premium shifted from one fiscal year to 

the next, and the estimate (below) of the 

amount of interest shifted from PBGC to 

plans, are revised from the estimates in 

the proposed rule to reflect projected 

2014 per-participant flat premium rates 

($49 (instead of $35) for single-employer 

plans and $12 (instead of $9) for 

multiemployer plans) and the following 

participant-count data for large plans for 

plan years beginning in 2012 (instead of 

2010): 

Approximate number of participants in large plans (millions) 

All large plans 

Large plans 

whose flat-rate 

premium shifts 

to the next 

fiscal year 

Single-employer ....................................................................................................................................................... 30 28 

Multiemployer ........................................................................................................................................................... 10 9 

In accordance with OMB Circular A– 

4, PBGC has examined the economic 

and policy implications of this final rule 

and has concluded that the action’s 

benefits justify its costs. That 

conclusion is based on the following 

analysis of the impact of the due date 

change. 

The due date change will shift, from 

PBGC to plans, the earnings on 

premium payments by large plans for 

the 7c months between the old and new 

due dates. PBGC estimates that the 

average gain per large plan will be about 

$11,300 per year. To put this figure in 

perspective, large plans pay over $1 

billion in flat-rate premiums—about 95 

percent of PBGC’s flat-rate premium 

income. 

Because earning rates differ between 

PBGC and plans, PBGC’s loss will be 

about one-third as much as plans’ gain. 

PBGC estimates its rate of return, from 

investment in U.S. Government 

securities, at about 2 percent. PBGC 

estimates plans’ rate of return at 6 

percent. The following table shows the 

estimated average interest earnings 

calculated with four rates: two percent 

(PBGC’s best estimate for PBGC’s rate of 

return), six percent (PBGC’s best 

estimate for plans’ rate of return), and 

three and seven percent (the discount 

rates recommended by OMB Circular A– 

4). 

Approximate average interest earnings per large plan at— 

2 percent 3 percent 6 percent 7 percent 

$3,800 $5,600 $11,300 $13,200 

In addition, PBGC estimates that the 

reduction in large plans’ administrative 

burden attributable to the change in 

their flat-rate premium due date will 

translate into average annual savings of 

3 hours per plan. (PBGC arrived at this 

estimate on the basis of inquiries made 

to pension practitioners.) The dollar 

equivalent of this saving is about 

$1,050.6

Accordingly, PBGC foresees an 

average net benefit (in dollar terms) 

from adoption of the new uniform due 

date of about $12,350 for each large plan 

(about $11,300 in saved interest plus 

about $1,050 in saved administrative 

expenses). 

Immediate Effective Date 

Pursuant to section 553(d)(3) of the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

551 et seq.) and section 808(2) of the 

Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 

et seq.), PBGC for good cause finds that 

notice and public procedure on this 

final rule are unnecessary and contrary 

to the public interest and that this final 

rule should be effective upon 

publication. The project as a whole, 

including the relief provided by this 

final rule, has received only positive 

comment from the public. This rule 

requires no affirmative action by the 

regulated community. On the contrary, 

it provides relief from the restrictive 

large-plan flat-rate early-filing 

requirement for PBGC premiums (see 

section 553(d)(1) of the Administrative 

Procedure Act). The first large-plan flatrate filing deadline for 2014 is February 

28, 2014. To ensure that all large plans 

will be able to rely on this final rule for 

the 2014 plan year, PBGC is making this 

rule effective upon publication. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.) imposes certain 

requirements with respect to rules that 

are subject to the notice and comment 

requirements of section 553(b) of the 

Administrative Procedure Act. Unless 

an agency determines that a final rule is 

not likely to have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities, section 604 of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act requires that the agency 

present a final regulatory flexibility 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with RULES
350 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 2 / Friday, January 3, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

7See, e.g., ERISA section 104(a)(2), which permits 

the Secretary of Labor to prescribe simplified 

annual reports for pension plans that cover fewer 

than 100 participants. 

8See, e.g., Code section 430(g)(2)(B), which 

permits plans with 100 or fewer participants to use 

valuation dates other than the first day of the plan 

year. 

9See, e.g., DOL’s final rule on Prohibited 

Transaction Exemption Procedures, 76 FR 66637, 

66644 (Oct. 27, 2011). 

10See PBGC 2011 pension insurance data table S– 

31, http://www.pbgc.gov/documents/pensioninsurance-data-tables-2011.pdf. 

11The more comprehensive changes to PBGC’s 

premium information collection arising from the 

separate final rule that PBGC anticipates issuing— 

dealing with aspects of the July 23 proposal other 

than the large-plan flat-rate premium due date— 

will be addressed in that separate final rule. 

12This burden estimate reflects both a decrease in 

burden attributable to the change in the large-plan 

flat-rate premium due date under this final rule and 

an increase in burden attributable to a re-estimate 

of the existing premium filing burden. The increase 

in burden due to re-estimation is about 31,300 

hours, and the decrease due to the due date change 

is about 17,000 hours, a net increase of about 14,300 

hours from the currently approved burden (about 

163,600). PBGC assumes that about 95 percent of 

the work is contracted out at $350 per hour, so the 

17,000-hour decrease attributable to the final rule 

is equivalent to about 850 hours of in-house labor 

and about $5,650,000 of contractor costs. 

analysis at the time of the publication of 

the final rule describing the impact of 

the rule on small entities and steps 

taken to minimize the impact. Small 

entities include small businesses, 

organizations and governmental 

jurisdictions. 

Small Entities 

For purposes of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act requirements with 

respect to this final rule, PBGC 

considers a small entity to be a plan 

with fewer than 100 participants. This 

is consistent with certain requirements 

in title I of ERISA 7 and the Internal 

Revenue Code,8 as well as the definition 

of a small entity that the Department of 

Labor (DOL) has used for purposes of 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act.9 Using 

this proposed definition, about 64 

percent (16,500 of 25,600) of plans 

covered by title IV of ERISA in 2011 

were small plans.10

Further, while some large employers 

may have small plans, in general most 

small plans are maintained by small 

employers. Thus, PBGC believes that 

assessing the impact of the rule on small 

plans is an appropriate substitute for 

evaluating the effect on small entities. 

The definition of small entity 

considered appropriate for this purpose 

differs, however, from a definition of 

small business based on size standards 

promulgated by the Small Business 

Administration (13 CFR 121.201) 

pursuant to the Small Business Act. In 

its proposed rule, therefore, PBGC 

requested comments on the 

appropriateness of the size standard 

used in evaluating the impact of the 

proposed rule on small entities. No 

comments were received on this issue. 

Certification 

On the basis of its definition of small 

entity, PBGC certifies under section 

605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

that the amendments in this final rule 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. Accordingly, as provided in 

section 605 of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act, sections 603 and 604 do not apply. 

This certification is based on the fact 

that the change in the large-plan flat-rate 

premium due date will have no impact 

on any small plans. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The information requirements under 

this final rule have been approved by 

the Office of Management and Budget 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (OMB control 

number 1212–0009; expires October 31, 

2015). 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 only changes PBGC is making in 

its premium information collection in 

connection with this final rule are that 

PBGC will give notice that estimated 

flat-rate filings are discontinued for plan 

years starting in 2014. (PBGC will also 

notify private-sector premium filing 

software developers of the change so 

that it can be reflected in their 

products.) 11

PBGC needs the information in a 

premium filing to identify the plan for 

which the premium is paid to PBGC, to 

verify the amount of the premium, to 

help PBGC determine the magnitude of 

its exposure in the event of plan 

termination, to help PBGC track the 

creation of new plans and the transfer 

of plan assets and liabilities among 

plans, and to keep PBGC’s inventory of 

insured plans up to date. PBGC receives 

premium filings from about 25,700 

respondents each year and estimates 

that the total annual burden of the 

collection of information will be about 

8,900 hours and $59,250,000.12

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 4007 

Employee benefit plans, Penalties, 

Pension insurance, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

In consideration of the foregoing, 

PBGC amends 29 CFR part 4007 as 

follows: 

PART 4007—PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 4007 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 29 U.S.C. 1302(b)(3), 1303(A), 

1306, 1307. 

§ 4007.8 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 4007.8, paragraphs (f), (g), (h), 

and (i) are removed and reserved. 

§ 4007.11 [Amended] 

■ 3. In § 4007.11: 

■ a. Paragraph (a) introductory text is 

amended by removing the words ‘‘due 

dates for large plans are prescribed’’ and 

adding in their place the words ‘‘due 

date for large plans is prescribed’’. 

■ b. Paragraphs (a)(3)(i) and (iii) are 

removed and reserved. 

■ c. Paragraph (a)(3)(ii) is amended by 

removing the words ‘‘for the variablerate premium required by § 4006.3(b) of 

this chapter for single-employer plans’’. 

Issued in Washington, DC, this 20 day of 

December 2013. 

Joshua Gotbaum, 

Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2013–31109 Filed 1–2–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7709–02–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 9, 260 and 261 

[EPA–HQ–RCRA–2010–0695; FRL–9904– 

84–OSWER] 

RIN 2050–AG60 

Hazardous Waste Management 

System: Conditional Exclusion for 

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Streams in 

Geologic Sequestration Activities 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) 

is revising the regulations for hazardous 

waste management under the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 

to conditionally exclude carbon dioxide 

(CO2) streams that are hazardous from 

the definition of hazardous waste, 

provided these hazardous CO2 streams 

are captured from emission sources, are 

injected into Underground Injection 

Control (UIC) Class VI wells for 

purposes of geologic sequestration (GS), 

and meet certain other conditions. EPA 

is taking this action because the Agency 

believes that the management of these 

CO2 streams, when meeting certain 

conditions, does not present a 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with RULES