### A ction Initiation List

– September 2012 Page 1 of 5 

## September 2012 Ac tion Initiation List (as of 10 / 23 /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

– September 2012 Page 2 of 5 Action Title Stage Contact Abstract Projected

Publication

Date

Renewable Fuel Standards

Renewable Identification Number (RIN) Quality Assurance Program NPRM Holly Pugliese

734

- 214

- 4288 Pugliese.Holly@epa.gov EPA is responsible for developing and implementing regulations to ensure that transportation fuel sold in the United States contains a

minimum volume of renewable fuel. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program regulations finalized in 2007 (RFS1) and 2010 (RFS2) were developed in collaboration with refiners, renewable fuel producers, and many other stakehol ders. The RFS compliance program is based on the use of unique renewable identification

numbe rs (RINs) assigned to batches of renewable fuel by renewable fuel producers and importers. These RINs can then be sold or traded, and used by any obligated party to demonstrate compliance with the applicable standard. It has recently come to EPA’s attentio n that the production, transfer, and use of invalid RINs has resulted in violations for parties that were not awa re that the RINs were invalid. The action will propose a voluntary mechanism for ensuring that RINs have been appropriately generated. 12

mont hs or

less

Federal Plan Requirements for Sewage Sludge Incineration

Units Constructed on or Before October 14, 2010 NPRM Amy Hambrick

919 541

- 0964 Hambrick.Amy@epa.gov On March 21, 2011, EPA promulgated new source performance standards and emission guidelines for sewage sludge incineration units located at wastewater treatment facilities designed to treat domestic sewage sludge. The final rule will set limits for nine po llutants

under section 129 of the Clean Air Act: c admium, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, lead, mercury, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, polychlorinated dibenzo

- p

- dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and sulfur dioxide. Section 129(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act directs states with existing sewage sludge incinerators subject to the emission guidelines to submit plans to the EPA that implement and enforce the emission guidelines. The deadline for states to submit new state plans

to the EPA for rev iew was March 21, 2012. If a state with existing sewage sludge incinerators does not submit an approvable plan within 2 years after promulgation of t he emission guidelines, section 129(b)(3) of the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to develop, implement

and e nforce a federal plan for sewage sludge incinerators in the state. This action proposes the sewage sludge incinerators federal plan to implement the emission guidelines adopted on March 21, 2011, for those states that do not have an approved new state plan implementing the emission guidelines, as amended, in place by March
21, 2012. 12 months

or less

### A ction Initiation List

– September 2012 Page 3 of 5 Action Title Stage Contact Abstract Projected

Publication

Date Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Reducing the Number of Reporting Due

Dates under EPA’s Fuels Programs Direct

Final Ben Larson

202

- 343

- 9565 Larson.Ben@epa.gov EPA’s Fuels Programs will reduce regulatory burden by decreasing the number of reporting due dates across all of the fuel related programs. This action will lay the foundation for the overall goal of combining required reports together and eventually significantly reducing the burden hours associated with reporting. This overall effort responds to Executive Orders 13563 and 13610 and is one of the prototype efforts under the Age ncy’s “E

- Enterprise” reporting model.

Currently under 40 CFR Part 79 and 40 CFR Part 80 there are 10 separate reporting dates each year (11 in a leap year). The Fuels Programs will change all of these dates to be simply one per quarter. To minimize ambigu ity the reporting deadline will also change to the 1st of the month, two months after each quarter ends to June 1st (quarter 1), September 1st (quarter 2), December 1st (quarter 3), and March 1st (quarter 4).

This change will either delay or maintain curr ent deadlines for nearly all required reports. Only one annual report that’s due on March 31st each year will have an earlier deadline by 30 days, starting in 2014.

Respondents will still have the option of reporting before each deadline

as needed. Additi onally, this change will lead to a single web

- form that collects all required data and maximizes the capability of web

- forms with data reuse, no duplicate fields, and a user

- friendly interface. 12 months

or less

Certain Nonylphenols and
Nonylphenol Ethoxylates;
Significant New Use Rule NPRM John Schaeffer

202

- 564

- 8173 Schaeffer.John@epa.gov EPA intends to propose a significant new use rule (SNUR) under

S ection 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for related chemicals known commonly as nonylphenols (NPs) and n onylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs). The SNUR would require persons who intend to manufacture, import, or process certain NP and NPE chemicals for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by the proposed rule to notify E PA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification would provide EPA with the opportunity to evaluate the intended use and, if necessary, to prohibit or limit that activity before it occurs to prevent unreasonable risk to human health or the environment. The NP and NPE chemicals that would be subject to this SNUR are toxic to aquatic organisms, and can be used in a variety of industrial and consumer applications that lead to releases to

the environment. 12 months

or less

### A ction Initiation List

– September 2012 Page 4 of 5 Action Title Stage Contact Abstract Projected

Publication

Date

National Emission Standards

for Hazardous Air Pollutants for
Wool Fiberglass Manufacturing NPRM Susan Fairchild

919

- 541

- 516 Fairchild.Susan@epa.gov In 2012, EPA received responses from wool fiberglass companies which conducted furnace emissions testing for chromium compounds under a section 114 letter. Industry data show that wool fiberglass area sources emit chromium from all furnace types.

Emissions of chromium compounds from the wool fiberglass industry's area sources total over 50 pounds per year. Additionally, one major source facility is expected to become an area source through changes to a process downstream and independent of the furnace; one furnace at t hat source has been measured as emitting over 500 pounds per year of chromium compounds. EPA plans to list and regulate area sources in the wool fiberglass source category for all processes that emit Hazardous Air

Pollutants

. 12 months or

less

### A ction Initiation List

– September 2012 Page 5 of 5 

# 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 writi ng 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 Rulemakin g (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 Publica tion 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.