Action Initial List – October 2010 Page 1 of 4

October 2010 Action Initiation List (as of 11/01/2010)

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 Rulemaking Gateway 

(www.epa.gov/rulemaking/). 

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

those that are in the Gateway 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)

To assist you in tracking actions’ progress, the RINs in the table below are also displayed in the Semiannual Regulatory Agenda and 

the Rulemaking Gateway.
Action Initial List – October 2010 Page 2 of 4

RIN Action Title Stage Contact Abstract

Projected

Publication 

Date

2040-AF26 Effluent 

Guidelines and 

Standards for the 

Dental Point 

Source Category

NPRM Janet Goodwin

202-566-1060

Goodwin.Janet@epa.gov

EPA is considering establishing pretreatment standards for 

pollutant discharges from dental offices. When dentists place 

or remove amalgam fillings, some material is flushed into the 

sewer. Dental amalgam contains mercury and other metals 

that have the potential to pass through or interfere with 

municipal wastewater treatment at Publicly Owned 

Treatment Works (POTWs). A control technology--amalgam 

separators-can reduce the amount of amalgam discharged 

from dental offices. EPA will consider the effectiveness and 

economic achievability of installing amalgam separators to 

reduce discharges of amalgam to POTWs.

More than 

12 months

2040-AF27 Effluent 

Guidelines and 

Standards for the 

Construction and 

Development 

Industry -

Revision

NPRM Janet Goodwin

202-566-1060

Goodwin.Janet@epa.gov

Follow this rule on the 

Rulemaking Gateway.

This action will address an error that was identified in the 

Effluent Limitations Guidelines for the Construction & 

Development (C&D) Point Source Category. The C&D rule 

was issued on December 1, 2009 and became effective on 

February 1, 2010. This rule contains a numeric effluent limit 

for turbidity, based on the application of passive treatment 

technology. This is the first time that a numeric limit has 

been imposed on a national basis. Subsequent to 

promulgation, EPA received two petitions for reconsideration 

of the C&D rule. The petitions pointed out a potential error in 

the calculation of the numeric limit. Based on EPA’s 

examination of the underlying dataset, the calculations in the 

existing administrative record are not adequate to support 

the numeric effluent limit. Consequently, EPA intends to 

propose a correction rule for public comment and then take 

final action on a revised limitation.

12 months or 

less
Action Initial List – October 2010 Page 3 of 4

RIN Action Title Stage Contact Abstract

Projected

Publication 

Date

2070-AJ83 Testing of 

Bisphenol A 

(BPA)

ANPRM Mary Dominiak

202-564-8104

Dominiak.Mary@epa.gov

Follow this rule on the 

Rulemaking Gateway.

Bisphenol A (BPA), a high production volume chemical, is a 

reproductive, developmental, and systemic toxicant in animal 

studies and is weakly estrogenic. EPA intends to develop an 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to request 

comment on requiring toxicity testing to determine the 

potential for BPA to cause endocrine-related adverse effects 

in environmental organisms at low concentrations. The 

ANPRM will also seek comment on requiring sampling and 

monitoring of surface water, ground water, drinking water, 

soil, sediment, sludge, and landfill leachate in the vicinity of 

expected BPA releases to determine whether potentially 

sensitive organisms may currently be exposed to 

concentrations of BPA in the environment that are at or above 

levels of concern for adverse effects, including endocrinerelated effects.

12 months 

or less

2070-AJ84 Exemption for 

Plant Virus 

Derived PlantIncorporated 

Protectants

(PVCP-PIPs) In 

Hawaiian Papaya 

Line 55-1 and 

Squash Lines 

CZW-3 and 

ZW-20

NPRM Kenneth Haymes

202-564-0306

haymes.kenneth@epa.gov

EPA is proposing a specific exemption from regulation under 

the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 

(FIFRA) for two squash lines (CZW-3 and ZW-20) and for the 

Hawaiian papaya line 55-1. There is a long history of 

hundreds, if not thousands of years, of humans using foods 

containing plant-incorporated protectants. Virus infected 

plants have always been a part of the natural environment, 

and organisms that interact with plants have likely been 

exposed to plant virus coat proteins over long periods of 

time. EPA is proposing this exemption because the Agency, 

which has completed a review of the relevant data, believes 

that these PVCP-PIPs covered by this exemption would be of 

a character that is unnecessary to be subject to FIFRA in 

order to carry out the purposes of the Act. EPA believes that 

these PVCP-PIPs (Squash line CZW-3, Squash line ZW-20 

and Hawaiian papaya line 55-1) meet the criteria in 40 CFR 

174.21 and can be exempt from the requirements of FIFRA.

More than 

12 months
Action Initial List – October 2010 Page 4 of 4

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 2008 AIL will post sometime around May 15th).

What Does Each Column in the AIL Mean?

RIN: RIN stands for "Regulation Identifier Number." A RIN is assigned by the Regulatory Information Service Center, a component of the U.S. General Services 

Administration, to identify each regulatory action listed in our Semiannual Regulatory Agenda and Annual Regulatory Plans. Also, RINs are included in the headings 

of our rules when they are published in the Federal Register to make it easier for you to track our actions. An example of an EPA RIN is 2050-AG37. It is composed 

of two parts. The first part (i.e., 2050) identifies which office within EPA is in charge of the action. In this case, it is the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response. The second part (e.g., AG37) is an alpha-numeric code automatically generated as rules are assigned a RIN. 

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

• Direct Final - Direct Final Action

• NPRM - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

• Supplemental - Supplemental NPRM 

• 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 Rulemaking Gateway 

(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.