Action Initiation List – July 2013 Page 1 of 3

July 2013 Action Initiation List (as of 9/18/2013)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The following actions were initiated by EPA this month. Explanations of which EPA actions are included on this list and of each 

element of the table can be found at the end of this document. 

The two most recent Action Initiation Lists (AILs) can always be found at: http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/search/ail.html. But, they 

will not provide updates on the actions listed herein. Updates on priority rulemakings are available from EPA's Regulatory 

Development and Retrospective Review Tracker (RegDaRRT) on www.epa.gov/rulemaking/. 

If one of the rules on this AIL is in RegDaRRT, a link to the rule's profile is included in the table below. For all rules – those that 

are in RegDaRRT and those that are not – you may obtain updates twice a year in EPA’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which 

is accessible from these Web sites:

• EPA’s Laws, Regulations, Guidance and Dockets (http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/search/regagenda.html)

• RegInfo.gov (http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain)

• Regulations.gov 

(http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=UnifiedAgenda&agency=EPA&pubperiod=200710) 
Action Initiation List – July 2013 Page 2 of 3

Action Title Stage Contact Abstract

Projected

Publication 

Date

Standards of Performance 

for Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions from Modified 

Sources: Electric Utility

Generating Units

NPRM Sharon Nizich 

919-541-2825

Nizich.Sharon@epa.gov

On June 25, 2013, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum

directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to work expeditiously 

to complete carbon pollution standards for the power sector. The 

Presidential Memorandum directs EPA to issue proposed carbon pollution 

standards, regulations, or guidelines, as appropriate, for modified and 

existing power plants by no later than June 1, 2014 and issue final 

standards, regulations, or guidelines, as appropriate, by no later than June 

1, 2015. This action will amend the electric generating units (EGU) New 

Source Performance Standards for modified sources for greenhouse 

gas (GHG) under Clean Air Act section 111(b).

12 months 

or less 

Vacatur of the Prevention 

of Significant Deterioration 

(PSD) of PM2.5 Significant 

Impact Levels (SILs) and 

Significant Monitoring 

Concentration (SMC)

Final Ben Garwood 

919-541-1358

Garwood.Ben@epa.gov

This final rule would amend prevention of significant deterioration 

regulations for PM2.5 to remove the vacated portions of the Significant 

Impact Levels (SIL) and Significant Monitoring Concentration (SMC) 

provisions. On January 22, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for 

the District of Columbia Circuit granted an EPA request to vacate and 

remand to the EPA portions of the Significant Impact Levels (SILs) 

provisions for PM2.5. The Court further vacated parts of two Prevention 

of Significant Deterioration (PSD) rules establishing a PM2.5 SMC.

12 months 

or less

Hazardous Waste ExportImport Revisions RuleNPRM Laura Coughlan 

703-308-0005

Coughlan.Laura@epa.gov

EPA is considering the development of proposed revisions to the 

hazardous waste export-import related requirements in 40 CFR Parts 

262-265 for the purpose of (1) making existing export and import 

related requirements more consistent with the current import-export 

requirements required for shipments between members of the 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); 

(2) enabling electronic submittal of all export and import-related 

documents (e.g., export notices, export annual reports); and (3) 

enabling electronic validation of export shipment data prior to exit.

12 months 

or less 
Action Initiation List – July 2013 Page 3 of 3

What EPA Actions Appear on the AILs? 

Generally, AILs include those actions that 1) will appear in upcoming Semiannual Regulatory Agenda and 2) have been approved for 

commencement by EPA’s Regulatory Policy Officer. In rare instances, an action will not appear on an AIL before it appears in the Agenda. 

Also, keep in mind that AILs will not post immediately. You can access a given month's list roughly 15 days after the close of the month (e.g., 

the April 2011 AIL will post sometime around May 15th).

What Does Each Column in the AIL Mean?

Title: Self-explanatory.

Stage: The stage of an action describes where we are in the rule writing process, from the very beginning when a rule (or other action) is 

just an idea to the end when it is published as a final rule (or other action) in the Federal Register. For example, the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NPRM) stage announces a proposed rule or proposed modification to an existing rule. In the AILs, the following acronyms 

are used:

• ANPRM - Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

• NPRM - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

• Supplemental - Supplemental NPRM 

• Direct Final - Direct Final Action

• Interim Final – Interim Final Action

• Final – Final Action

• Section 610 Review – Agency Review under Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act

Contact: Provides the name, phone, and email address for the EPA staff person assigned to this rule. Additionally, if a rule is in EPA's 

RegDaRRT (www.epa.gov/rulemaking/), then a link to the rule's profile will be provided in this column.

Abstract: A brief summary of the action and its purpose. 

Projected Publication Date: Since many variables affect how long it takes to write a rule or other action, it is difficult to predict a firm 

publication date when we have just started working on an action. Therefore, we insert one of two options in the "Projected Publication Date" 

column: 1) "12 months or less" and 2) "more than 12 months." These options give you some idea of how quickly we expect to complete an 

action.