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[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 16 (Thursday, January 26, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 8499-8501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01822]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 22, 51, 52, 61, 68, 80, 81, 124, 147, 171, 239, 259, 
300, and 770

[FRL-9958-87-OP]

Delay of Effective Date for 30 Final Regulations Published by the 
Environmental Protection Agency Between October 28, 2016 and January 
17, 2017

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective dates.

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SUMMARY: 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.

DATES: This regulation is effective January 26, 2017. The effective 
date of each regulation listed in the table below is delayed to a new 
effective date of March 21, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Rees, Director, Office of 
Regulatory Policy and Management, Office of Policy, Mail code 1804, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW., 
Washington, DC

[[Page 8500]]

20460; (202) 564-1986; rees.sarah@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA bases this action on 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.'' That memorandum directed the heads of 
Executive Departments and Agencies to temporarily postpone for sixty 
days from the date of the memorandum the effective dates of all 
regulations that had been published in the Federal Register but had not 
yet taken effect. The memorandum also noted certain exceptions that do 
not apply here. EPA identified 30 regulations that meet those criteria. 
Those regulations are listed in the table below. The new effective date 
for all 30 regulations is March 21, 2017.
    The Agency's implementation of this action without opportunity for 
public comment is based on the good cause exceptions in 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(B) and 553(d)(3), in that seeking public comment is 
impracticable, unnecessary and contrary to the public interest. The 
temporary delay in effective dates until March 21, 2017, is necessary 
to give Agency officials the opportunity for further review and 
consideration of new regulations, consistent with the memorandum of the 
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, dated January 20, 2017. 
Given the imminence of these effective dates, seeking prior public 
comment on this temporary delay would have been impractical, as well as 
contrary to the public interest in the orderly promulgation and 
implementation of regulations. In addition, to the extent any 
regulation below is a procedural rule, it is exempt from notice and 
comment under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A).
    Some of the regulations listed below would not have taken effect 
until late February or March. For those regulations, the length of 
today's delay is necessarily shorter than the delay established for 
regulations that would have taken effect in January or early February. 
The good cause exception applies here as well, because soliciting 
comment would be contrary to the public interest. First, by announcing 
today that all eligible regulations would be delayed until a single 
fixed date (March 21, 2017), the Agency provides immediate notice of 
its intention to further review and consider those regulations in 
addition to the others that would have taken effect sooner. This allows 
the later-published regulations to be considered more easily in context 
of the earlier-published regulations. Second, by focusing its attention 
on the substance of those later regulations rather than soliciting 
comment on a decision to delay their effective date until March 21, 
2017, the Agency can minimize or obviate the need for further temporary 
delays beyond March 21. Third, as a practical matter, the new effective 
date for these regulations would extend by only a few weeks their 
original effective dates.
    For the foregoing reasons, the good cause exceptions in 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(B) and 553(d)(3) also apply to EPA's decision to make today's 
action effectively immediately.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Publication      Original      New effective
  Federal  Register  citation                 Title                    date       effective date       date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
81 FR 74927...................  State of Kentucky Section 1425          10/28/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Underground Injection Control
                                 (UIC) Program Primacy Approval.
81 FR 95047...................  Approval and Promulgation of            12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; New York
                                 Prevention of Significant
                                 Deterioration of Air Quality
                                 and Nonattainment New Source
                                 Review; Infrastructure State
                                 Implementation Plan
                                 Requirements.
81 FR 95041...................  Air Plan Approval; KY; RACM             12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Determination for the KY
                                 Portion of the Louisville Area
                                 1997 Annual PM2.5.
81 FR 95043...................  Air Plan Approval; Wisconsin;           12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Infrastructure SIP Requirements
                                 for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS.
81 FR 95051...................  Approval and Promulgation of            12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans and
                                 Designation of Areas for Air
                                 Quality Planning Purposes;
                                 Louisiana; Redesignation of
                                 Baton Rouge 2008 8-Hour Ozone
                                 Nonattainment Area to
                                 Attainment.
81 FR 95480...................  State of Kentucky Underground           12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Injection Control (UIC) Class
                                 II Program; Primacy Approval.
81 FR 95475...................  Air Plan Approval; Illinois;            12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Volatile Organic Compounds
                                 Definition.
81 FR 95473...................  Approval of California Air Plan         12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Revisions, Great Basin Unified
                                 Air Pollution Control District.
81 FR 95472...................  Approval of California Air Plan         12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Revisions, South Coast Air
                                 Quality Management District.
82 FR 729.....................  Partial Approval and Partial              1/4/17        2/3/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Disapproval of Attainment Plan
                                 for the Idaho Portion of the
                                 Logan, Utah/Idaho PM2.5
                                 Nonattainment Area.
82 FR 2760....................  Addition of a Subsurface                  1/9/17        2/8/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Intrusion Component to the
                                 Hazard Ranking System.
82 FR 2237....................  Approval and Promulgation of              1/9/17        2/8/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; Rhode
                                 Island; Clean Air Act
                                 Infrastructure State and
                                 Federal Implementation Plans.
81 FR 89746...................  Renewable Fuel Standard Program:        12/12/16       2/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Standards for 2017 and Biomass-
                                 Based Diesel Volume for 2018.
81 FR 89674...................  Formaldehyde Emission Standards         12/12/16       2/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 for Composite Wood Products.
82 FR 3171....................  Approval and Promulgation of             1/11/17       2/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; Texas;
                                 Control of Air Pollution from
                                 Visible Emissions and
                                 Particulate Matter.
81 FR 89868...................  Determination of Attainment of          12/13/16       2/13/2017       3/21/2017
                                 the 2012 Annual Fine
                                 Particulate Matter Standard;
                                 Pennsylvania; Delaware County
                                 Nonattainment Area.
82 FR 3639....................  Air Plan Approval; TN                    1/12/17       2/13/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Infrastructure Requirements for
                                 the 2010 NO2 NAAQS.
82 FR 3637....................  Approval and Promulgation of             1/12/17       2/13/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; Alabama;
                                 Infrastructure Requirements for
                                 the 2010 Sulfur Dioxide
                                 National Ambient Air Quality
                                 Standard.
82 FR 5182....................  Revisions to the Guideline on            1/17/17       2/16/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Air Quality Models:
                                 Enhancements to the AERMOD
                                 Dispersion Modeling System and
                                 Incorporation of Approaches to
                                 Address Ozone and Fine
                                 Particulate Matter.

[[Page 8501]]

 
81 FR 91839...................  Air Plan Approval; Michigan;            12/19/16       2/17/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Part 9 Miscellaneous Rules.
81 FR 94262...................  National Oil and Hazardous              12/23/16       2/21/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Substances Pollution
                                 Contingency Plan; National
                                 Priorities List: Partial
                                 Deletion of the North Penn Area
                                 6 Superfund Site.
81 FR 93624...................  Determination of Attainment of          12/21/16       2/21/2017       3/21/2017
                                 the 2008 Ozone National Ambient
                                 Air Quality Standards; Mariposa
                                 County, California.
81 FR 85438...................  Adequacy of Washington Municipal        11/28/16       2/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Solid Waste Landfill Permit
                                 Program--Direct Final Rule.
81 FR 95477...................  Approval and Promulgation of            12/28/16       2/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans;
                                 Louisiana; State Boards.
82 FR 952.....................  Pesticides; Certification of              1/4/17        3/6/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Pesticide Applicators.
82 FR 1206....................  Air Plan Approval; Georgia:               1/5/17        3/6/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Procedures for Testing and
                                 Monitoring Sources of Air
                                 Pollutants.
82 FR 2230....................  Consolidated Rules of Practice            1/9/17       3/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Governing the Administrative
                                 Assessment of Civil Penalties,
                                 Issuance of Compliance or
                                 Corrective Action Orders, and
                                 the Revocation/Termination or
                                 Suspension of Permits;
                                 Procedures for Decisionmaking.
82 FR 2239....................  Approval of Arizona Air Plan              1/9/17       3/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Revisions; Ajo and Morenci,
                                 Arizona; Second 10-Year Sulfur
                                 Dioxide Maintenance Plans and
                                 Technical Correction.
82 FR 4594....................  Accidental Release Prevention            1/13/17       3/14/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Requirements: Risk Management
                                 Programs Under the Clean Air
                                 Act.
82 FR 5142....................  Revisions to National Emission           1/17/17       3/20/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Standards for Radon Emissions
                                 from Operating Mill Tailings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Where appropriate, the Agency may consider delaying the effective 
dates of the above-referenced regulations beyond March 21, 2017. If the 
Agency were to do so, consistent with the memorandum of the Assistant 
to the President and Chief of Staff, the Agency would propose any later 
effective date for public comment.

    Dated: January 23, 2017.
Catherine McCabe,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-01822 Filed 1-24-17; 11:15 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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