December 2014 Action Initiation List (as of 1/15/2015)

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/. 

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 – December 2014 Page 1 of 3
Action Title Stage Contact Abstract

Projected

Publication 

Date

Protection of 

Stratospheric Ozone: 

Update to the 

Refrigerant Management 

Requirements under 

Section 608 of the Clean 

Air Act

NPRM Luke Hall-Jordan 

202-343-9591

Hall-Jordan.Luke@epa.gov

This rule proposes to implement the Clean Air Act prohibition against 

knowingly releasing refrigerants during the course of maintaining, 

servicing, repairing, or disposing of appliances by updating and then 

extending the existing standards for ozone-depleting refrigerants to nonozone-depleting refrigerants like hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This action 

would reduce emissions of high global warming potential refrigerants.

12 months 

or less 

Proposed Revision of 

Certain Federal Water 

Quality Criteria 

Applicable to 

Washington

NPRM Erica Fleisig 

202-566-1057

Fleisig.Erica@epa.gov

Washington’s existing criteria for the protection of human health were 

promulgated by EPA in 1992 as part of the National Toxics Rule (40 CFR 

131.36). EPA is proposing to update these criteria to reflect the latest 

science, including local and regional information and applicable EPA 

policies, guidance, and legal requirements.

12 months 

or less 

Action Initiation List – December 2014 Page 2 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 20 days after the close of the month (e.g., 

the April 2014 AIL will post sometime around May 20th).

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. 

Action Initiation List – December 2014 Page 3 of 3