9258 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 34 / Friday, February 20, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

authorities are addressing toxic fumes 

generated by blasting. Some, but not all, 

state regulatory authorities have taken 

permitting or enforcement actions in 

response to toxic fumes released during 

blasting. Others, however, are hesitant 

to act because they believe our 

regulations, as currently written, are 

ambiguous as to whether and how toxic 

gases should be controlled. Likewise, 

while a number of mine operators and 

blasters recognize the dangers posed by 

toxic gases from blasting and take 

precautions to manage the risks, many 

do not. We have concluded that the 

current silence in our regulations on 

toxic gases released during blasting is 

no longer acceptable and only 

perpetuates the disparities between the 

various practices of the state regulatory 

authorities. In light of these findings, 

OSMRE intends to propose a number of 

changes to our regulations. We plan to 

propose a definition of ‘‘blasting area’’ 

to help ensure that the areas affected by 

blasting are properly secured and that 

the public is adequately protected. We 

also intend to specify that toxic gases 

are one of the dangers posed by blasting. 

We anticipate clarifying that 30 CFR 

816.67(a) and 817.67(a) require the 

proper management of toxic blasting 

gases in order to protect people and 

property from the adverse effects of coal 

mining. Lastly, we expect to propose 

amendments to the training and testing 

requirements for certified blasters at 30 

CFR 850.13 to ensure that blasters can 

identify and mitigate the impacts of 

blast fumes. 

We believe that revisions to our 

regulations, such as those described 

above, will better (1) ensure a level 

playing field as described in section 

101(g) of SMCRA, 30 U.S.C. 1201(g), 

which specifies that national standards 

are essential in order to ensure ‘‘that 

competition in interstate commerce 

among sellers of coal produced in 

different States will not be used to 

undermine the ability of the several 

States to improve and maintain 

adequate standards on coal mining 

operations within their borders;’’ and, 

most importantly, (2) prevent harm to 

people and property from blasting 

associated with surface coal mining 

operations. 

VI. Procedural Matters and Required 

Determinations 

This notice is not a proposed or final 

rule, policy, or guidance. Therefore, it is 

not subject to the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act, the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act, the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, or 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, 12630, 

13132, 12988, 13175, and 13211. We 

will conduct the analyses required by 

these laws and executive orders when 

we develop a proposed rule. 

In developing this notice, we did not 

conduct or use a study, experiment, or 

survey requiring peer review under the 

Information Quality Act (Pub. L. 106– 

554, section 15). 

This notice is not subject to the 

requirement to prepare an 

Environmental Assessment or 

Environmental Impact Statement under 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), because 

no proposed action, as described in 40 

CFR 1508.18(a) and (b), yet exists. This 

notice only announces the Director’s 

decision to grant the petition and 

initiate rulemaking. We will prepare the 

appropriate NEPA compliance 

documents as part of the rulemaking 

process. 

Dated: February 3, 2015. 

Joseph G. Pizarchik, 

Director, Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 2015–03407 Filed 2–19–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R05–OAR–2014–0504; FRL–9921–43– 

Region 5] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; Illinois; 

VOM Definition 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a 

revision to the Illinois State 

Implementation Plan. The revision 

amends the Illinois Administrative Code 

by updating the definition of volatile 

organic material or volatile organic 

compound to exclude additional 

compounds. This revision is in response 

to EPA rulemakings in 2013 which 

exempted these chemical compounds 

from the Federal definition of volatile 

organic compounds because, in their 

intended uses, the compounds have a 

negligible contribution to tropospheric 

ozone formation. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 23, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R05– 

OAR–2014–0504, by one of the 

following methods: 

1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: Aburano.Douglas@epa.gov. 

3. Fax: (312) 408–2279. 

4. Mail: Douglas Aburano, Chief, 

Attainment Planning and Maintenance 

Section, Air Programs Branch (AR–18J), 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 

Illinois 60604. 

5. Hand Delivery: Douglas Aburano, 

Chief, Attainment Planning and 

Maintenance Section, Air Programs 

Branch (AR–18J), U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson 

Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. 

Such deliveries are only accepted 

during the Regional Office normal hours 

of operation, and special arrangements 

should be made for deliveries of boxed 

information. The Regional Office official 

hours of business are Monday through 

Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding 

Federal holidays. 

Please see the direct final rule which is 

located in the Rules section of this 

Federal Register for detailed 

instructions on how to submit 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Douglas Aburano, Section Chief, 

Attainment Planning and Maintenance 

Section, Air Programs Branch (AR–18J), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353–6960, 

Aburano.Douglas@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

Final Rules section of this Federal 

Register, EPA is approving the State’s 

SIP submittal as a direct final rule 

without prior proposal because the 

Agency views this as a noncontroversial 

submittal and anticipates no adverse 

comments. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no adverse comments are 

received in response to this rule, no 

further activity is contemplated. If EPA 

receives adverse comments, the direct 

final rule will be withdrawn and all 

public comments received will be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on this proposed rule. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period. 

Any parties interested in commenting 

on this action should do so at this time. 

Please note that if EPA receives adverse 

comment on an amendment, paragraph, 

or section of this rule and if that 

provision may be severed from the 

remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt 

as final those provisions of the rule that 

are not the subject of an adverse 

comment. For additional information, 

see the direct final rule which is located 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 34 / Friday, February 20, 2015 / Proposed Rules 9259 

in the Rules section of this Federal 

Register. 

Dated: December 30, 2014. 

Susan Hedman, 

Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

[FR Doc. 2015–03451 Filed 2–19–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2014–0554; FRL–9923–17– 

Region 6] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; Texas; 

Emissions Inventories for the DallasFort Worth and Houston-GalvestonBrazoria Ozone Nonattainment Areas 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve 

revisions to the Texas State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted to 

meet Emissions Inventory (EI) 

requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

for the Dallas-Fort-Worth (DFW) and the 

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) 

nonattainment areas. EPA is proposing 

to approve the SIP revisions because 

they satisfy the CAA EI requirements for 

the DFW and HGB nonattainment areas 

under the 2008 eight-hour ozone 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS). EPA is proposing to approve 

the revisions pursuant to section 110 

and part D of the CAA and EPA’s 

regulations. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before March 23, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to 

Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning 

Section (6PD–L), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, 

Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202–2733. 

Comments may also be submitted 

electronically or through hand delivery/ 

courier by following the detailed 

instructions in the ADDRESSES section of 

the direct final rule located in the rules 

section of this Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nevine Salem, (214) 665–7222, 

salem.nevine@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

final rules section of this Federal 

Register, EPA is approving the State’s 

SIP submittal as a direct rule without 

prior proposal because the Agency 

views this as a noncontroversial 

submittal and anticipates no adverse 

comments. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no adverse comments are 

received in response to this action no 

further activity is contemplated. If EPA 

receives adverse comments, the direct 

final rule will be withdrawn and all 

public comments received will be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on this proposed rule. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period. 

Any parties interested in commenting 

on this action should do so at this time. 

For additional information, see the 

direct final rule which is located in the 

rules section of this Federal Register. 

Dated: February 9, 2015. 

Ron Curry, 

Regional Administrator, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2015–03448 Filed 2–19–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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