### A ction Initiation List

– March 2012 Page 1 of 6 

## March 2012 Ac tion Initiation List , corrected (as of 6 / 06 /201 2 )

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 ea ch 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.ep a.gov/rulemaking/.

If one of the rules on this AIL is in RegDaRRT, a link to the rule's profile i s 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 Re gulatory 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.regu lations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=UnifiedAgenda&agency=EPA&pubperiod=200710)

### A ction Initiation List

– March 2012 Page 2 of 6 Action Title Stage Contact Abstract Projected

Publication

Date

Review of the NO2 Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) NPRM Scott Jenkins

919

- 5 41

- 1167
Jenkins.Scott @epa.gov The last review of the Nitrogen dioxide ( NO2 ) primary (health

- based) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) was completed in January 2010, with the final decision published in the F ederal Register in Feb ruary 2010. In that decision,

EPA added a new 1

- hour NO2 standard, with a level of 100 ppb, to the existing annual standard, with a level of 53 ppb. The Clean Air Act establishes a 5

- year review cycle for all NAAQS. EPA is now in the process of conducting the next review of the NO2 primary NAAQS. More than

12 months

Heavy

- Duty Highway Program: Revisions for Emergency
Vehicles and SCR

Maintenance NPRM Matt Spears

734

- 214

- 4921 Spears.Matt @epa.gov On January 18, 2001, EPA published in the Federal Register a rule promulgating more stringent Nitrogen oxide ( NOx ) and particulate matter (PM) standards for heavy duty highway engines ("the heavy

- duty highway rule"), entitled "Control of

Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy

- Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards" (66 FR 5001). EPA has previously published clarifications and technical amendments to that final heavy

- duty highway rule. This action would provide additional clarification, modifications and te chnical amendments to the regulations for heavy

- duty highway engines and would clarify, modify and technically amend some provisions in 40 CFR parts 86 and 1068. This action will assist regulated parties to comply with requirements by clarifying and/or

sim plifying those requirements. Specifically, this action would provide flexibility for

on

- highway emergency

- response vehicles with respect to emissions of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen. This action would also amend the requirements for

emission

- r elated scheduled maintenance with respect to replacement of diesel exhaust fluid, which is used in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) control systems. This action is not expected to result in significant changes in regulatory burdens or

costs. 12 months

or less

### A ction Initiation List

– March 2012 Page 3 of 6 Action Title Stage Contact Abstract Projected

Publication

Date

NESHAP from HAP

from Off

- Site Waste and Recovery Operations RTR NPRM Mary Kissell

919

- 541

- 4516 Kissell.Mary@epa.gov In this action EPA will perform risk and technology review for National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) from Off

- Site Waste and Recovery Operations. This NESHAP has a consent decree for proposal by 10/31/2012, and promulgation by November 2013. Clean Air Act (CAA) section s 112(f)(2) and 112(d)(6) require EPA to conduct residual risk and technology reviews. Under the "technology review" provision of CAA section 112, EPA is required to review maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards

and to revise them "as neces sary (taking into account developments in practices, processes and control technologies)" no less frequently than every 8 years. Under the "residual risk" provision of CAA section 112, EPA must evaluate the MACT standards within 8 years after promulgation and promulgate standards if required to provide an ample margin of safety to protect public health or prevent an adverse environmental effect. EPA will also remove startup, shutdown, and malfunction exemptions as required by recent court decisions. 12

months or

less

Heavy

- Duty On

Highway and Non

Road Engine and Vehicle Regulation Streamlining and

Technical

Amendments NPRM Matt Spears

734

- 214

- 4921 Spears.Matt@epa.gov In January 2001, EPA finalized more stringent Particulate Matter (PM) , NOx, and Hydrocarbon emissions standards for on

- highway heavy

- duty engines and vehicles (66 FR 5002). In June 2004, EPA finalized similar PM, NOx, and Hydrocarbon emissions standards for heavy

- duty non

- road diesel engines (69 FR 38958). In September 2011 , in response to the 2010 Presidential Memorandum Regarding Fuel Efficiency Standards, EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) jointly finalized the first ever greenhouse gas emissions standards (GHG standards) and fuel efficiency st andards for on

- highway medium

and heavy

- duty engines and vehicles (76 FR 57106).To better align the emissions test procedures in the 2001 and 2004 rulemakings with the heavy

- duty hybrid engine and vehicle test procedures in the 2011 rulemaking, this amend ment would provide PM, NOx, and Hydrocarbon emissions certification test procedures specifically for heavy

- duty hybrid engines and vehicles. This better alignment of EPA’s emissions test procedures will streamline the emission certification process

for man ufacturers of heavy

- duty hybrid engines and vehicles. This amendment would provide additional clarifications, modifications, and technical amendments to (1) streamline manufacturer compliance with the rebuilding, remanufacturing, and replacement requiremen ts for engines that were produced prior to the implementation of these two regulations; (2) streamline manufacturer compliance with the implementation of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems on emergency vehicles; (3) streamline manufacturer request s for exemptions under these rules’ hardship provisions; and (4) make minor changes to EPA’s GHG standards. This will assist regulated parties with complying with requirements by clarifying those requirements. This action is not expected to result in signi ficant changes in regulatory burdens or costs. 12

months or

less

### A ction Initiation List

– March 2012 Page 4 of 6 Action Title Stage Contact Abstract Projected

Publication

Date State Implementation

Plans: Call to Amend Provisions Applying to
Source Emissions from Startup, Shutdown, and

Malfunction NPRM Lisa Sutton

919

- 541

- 3450 Sutton.Lisa@epa.gov This proposal will address a petition for rulemaking EPA received from the Sierra Club in June 2011 entitled "Petition to Find Inadequate and Correct Several State Implementation Plans under Section 110 of the Clean Air Act Due to Startup, Shutdown, Malfun ction, and/or Maintenance Provisions." The petition requests EPA to do several things, including to evaluate specific provisions in the state implementation plans (SIPs) for 39 states for consistency with the Clean Air Act and EPA's 1999 policy for excess emissions during start up, shut down, and malfunction (SSM) events. In the upcoming action, EPA will evaluate the petition and grant or deny the petition with respect to each of the state provisions identified in the petition. In the event EPA grants the petition with respect to a specific SSM provision, EPA will elect to issue either a SIP call or an error correction to address the SIP deficiency. In the event EPA issues a SIP call, a state will be required to revise its SIP as necessary to correct the identified inadequacies. EPA will conduct this action by notice and comment rulemaking. The current schedule is to take action on the petition by August 31,

2012. 12

months or

less

2012 Technical Corrections, Clarifying

and Other

Amendments to the
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, and Proposed Confidentiality

Determinations for
Certain Data

Elements of the
Fluorinated Gas Source Category NPRM Akachi Imegwu

202

- 343

- 9709 Imegwu.Akachi@epa.gov This action proposes to amend specific provisions of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule to provide greater clarity and flexibility to facilities subject to reporting emissions from the following source categories, including petroleum and natural gas systems (subpart W), fluorinated gas production (subpart L), and industrial waste landfills (subpart TT), and to the general provisions. These source categories will report GHG data for the first time in September 2012. The proposed change s are not expected to increase burden to reporters. 12

months or

less

### A ction Initiation List

– March 2012 Page 5 of 6 Action Title Stage Contact Abstract Projected

Publication

Date Air Quality: Revision

to Definition of Volatile Organic Compounds

– Exclusion of trans 1

- chloro

- 3,3,3

- trifluoroprop

- 1

- ene NPRM,

Direct

Final Dave Sanders

919

- 541

- 3356 Sanders.Dave@epa.gov This action is deregulatory in nature. The exemption of this compound from

control as a Volatile Organic Compound ( VOC ) will allow industrial users to use the compound without the burden of controlling emissions. This will remove the compound from regulatory requirements related to controlling VOC emissions in order to meet the national ambient air quality standard for

ozo ne. Since this exemption does not impose any new requirements, there

is no cost associated with this action. 12

months or

less

MDI and TDI

- TSCA §8(d) Reporting

- Unpublished Health and Safety Data Final

Action Katherine Sleasman

202

- 564

- 7716 Sleasman.Katherine@epa.gov EPA is developing a rule to require chemical manufacturers (including importers) to submit unpublished health and safety data on diisocyanates. These chemicals have been identified by the Office of Pollution Prevention

and Toxics (OPPT) and recommended for testing consideration by the Interagency Testing Committee (ITC). Fourteen diisocyanates from the ITC list will be added to the 8(d) Health and Safety Rule. There is also an established regulation and process for imposing this one time reporting requirement. 12

months or

less

### A ction Initiation List

– March 2012 Page 6 of 6 

# 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 proces s, 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

p roposed 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 Fi nal

– 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" c olumn: 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.