### Action Initial List

– October 2010 Page 1 of 4 

## October 2010 Action Initiation List (as of 1 1 / 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 e ach 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 Gate way ( 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. F or all rules

– those that are in the Gateway and thos e 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’ progr ess, 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 am ount 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 receive d 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 rulem aking (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 monito ring 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 enviro nment that are at or above levels of concern for adverse effects, including endocrine

related effects. 12 months or less

2070

- AJ84 Exemption for Plant Virus Derived Plant

Incorporated 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 releva nt 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 th e 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 15 th ).



# 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, RI Ns 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 a n EPA RIN is 2050

- AG37. It is composed of two parts. The first part (i.e., 2050) id entifies 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 : Sel f

- 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 acti on) 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 Not ice 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

- Noti ce 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.



## Pro jected 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.