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Actions Initiated by Month
From this page, you can learn about the rules and other regulatory actions we initiate each month.
- September 2008 Action Initiation List (AIL)
- August 2008 AIL
- What is an AIL?
- How Do I Access Past AILs?
- How Do I Know When a New List Has Been Posted?
- What Does Each Column in an AIL Mean?
September 2008 Action Initiation List
Download the September 2008 AIL (PDF) (4 pp, 38K, About PDF).
RIN What's This? |
Title |
Stage What's This? |
Contact |
Abstract |
Projected Publication Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-AA24 | Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Articles Exemption Clarification Proposed Rule | NPRM | Steven DeBord 202-566-0731 DeBord.Steven@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2060-AP33 | National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Aerosol Coatings; Amendments | Direct Final | Kaye Whitfield 919-541-2509 Whitfield.Kaye@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2060-AP35 | Rulemaking to Reaffirm and Repromulgate Revisions to the Acid Rain Program Rules | Direct Final | Meg Victor 202-343-9193 Victor.Meg@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2060-AP36 | National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines | NPRM | Melanie King 919-541-2469 King.Melanie@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
August 2008 Action Initiation List
Download the August 2008 AIL (PDF) (5 pp, 61K, About PDF).
RIN What's This? |
Title |
Stage What's This? |
Contact |
Abstract |
Projected Publication Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-AA48 | Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Environmental Effects Abroad of EPA Actions | Direct Final | Robert Hargrove 202-564-7157 Hargrove.Robert@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2060-AP31 | Protocols for Monitoring and Measuring Mercury Emissions | Direct Final | William Grimley 919-541-1065 Grimley.William@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2020-AA01 | Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Environmental Protection Agency | Final | Peggy Love 202-564-1784 Love.Peggy@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2040-AF01 | Repeal of Regulation Identifying “Dumping Sites Designated on an Interim Basis” under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act | Direct Final | Katherine Weiler 202-566-1280 Weiler.Katherine@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2050-AG47 | Direct Final Rule (with companion NPRM) to Add Reference to New Forestland Phase I Standard to Referenced Compliant Standards in All Appropriate Inquires Final Rule | Direct Final | Patricia Overmeyer 202-566-2774 Overmeyer.Patricia@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
|
| 2025-AA23 | Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation (CROMERR) Technical Amendment -- Direct Final Action | Direct Final | Evi Huffer 202-566-1697 Huffer.Evi@epa.gov |
12 months or less |
Abstracts for September 2008 AIL
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Articles Exemption Clarification Proposed Rule
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting is required by Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). The purpose of this proposed rule is to clarify the scope of the exemption from TRI reporting requirements for items that qualify as articles. [See 40 C.F.R. Section 372.38(b).] EPA believes that language contained in the regulation and the subsequent guidance should be clarified for the regulated community concerning what items qualify as articles and are therefore exempt from TRI threshold determinations and TRI release and other waste management calculations and reporting. In this rulemaking EPA proposes to clarify that an item may not be considered an article after it has been manufactured if the manufactured item, and all like items considered together, continue to release more than 0.5 pound of a toxic chemical over the course of the calendar year. - Back
National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Aerosol Coatings; Amendments
Under this rule, regulated entities are allowed to petition the Agency to add compounds to the Tables of Reactivity Factors (Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C). This is a new action in response to the petitions the Agency received since promulgation. Three petitions were received from regulated entities. This action will add compounds to Table 2 and make minor corrections. - Back
Rulemaking to Reaffirm and Repromulgate Revisions to the Acid Rain Program Rules
This action will repromulgate certain long-standing Acid Rain Program (ARP) provisions. The action will not change any existing provisions of the ARP rules but will ensure that existing provisions, which have been in effect and in use since 2006, will remain in effect. The Federal Register notices promulgating the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and CAIR Federal Implementation Plan (FIP), published May 12, 2005 and April 28, 2006, respectively, included three types of revisions to the ARP rules. These revisions would have been adopted even in the absence of CAIR and the CAIR FIP. The first type of ARP revisions changed the allowance-holding and -transfer requirements in the SO2 trading program from unit-level to facility-level. The second type of ARP revisions explicitly allowed the use of agents by designated representatives, while holding designated representatives ultimately responsible for any agent's actions. The third type of ARP revisions was a miscellaneous group of minor, technical changes streamlining the ARP rules. After the ARP revisions were final and effective, EPA modified its electronic allowance tracking system and electronic emissions reporting system to reflect these revisions by, for example, removing individual-unit allowance accounts and creating instead allowance accounts for each facility or "source". All three types of revisions were implemented in 2006, and many of the revisions, particularly the first two types of revisions, have been widely used by regulated companies since mid-2006. On July 11, 2008 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the CAIR and CAIR FIP rules but has not yet issued its mandate in the case. Absent clarification by the Court that the ARP revisions are outside the scope of the vacatur, the issuance of the mandate may effectively require EPA to remove these revisions from the ARP rules. Removal of these ARP revisions, particularly those concerning the allowance-holding and-transfer and designated representatives' use of agents, would potentially interfere with EPA's ability to run the existing allowance and emissions tracking systems and thus would potentially disrupt operation of the ARP and the SO2 allowance market. To ensure that such disruption is avoided, EPA will, in this action, repromulgate these ARP revisions unchanged. - Back
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines
This action will develop national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for existing stationary reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE) smaller than 500 horsepower (hp) located at major sources, as well as existing stationary RICE located at area sources. Stationary RICE are listed as significant emitters of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) under section 112 of the CAA. The EPA has previously promulgated a NESHAP for new stationary RICE located at major sources and area sources. This regulation will complete our statutory obligation to set MACT standards for stationary engines at major and area sources.
This rule will also address emissions of existing diesel engines. EPA is under a settlement agreement to propose emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for non-emergency stationary diesel engines of 300 HP or greater manufactured prior to 1996. The standards for these engines will be included in this rulemaking. - Back
Abstracts for August 2008 AIL
Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Environmental Effects Abroad of EPA Actions
The Environmental Protection Agency is taking direct final action on its revisions to “Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Effects Abroad of EPA Actions.” These revisions make two minor, technical corrections to the regulations. The first change is to correct the number of extraordinary circumstances from 14 to 10, as referenced at 40 CFR Part 6.204 (f)(2)(vi). The second change clarifies the language in a categorical exclusion (found at 40 CFR Part 6.204 (a)(2)(ii)) to include vacant land. Neither of these changes affects the substantive conditions of the regulations. - Back
Protocols for Monitoring and Measuring Mercury Emissions
This action would codify two optional mercury emissions test methods and two optional performance specifications for mercury emissions monitoring. These standardized test methods and monitoring specifications may be used at the discretion of emission sources, states, testing organizations and others to characterize vapor phase mercury emissions from boilers and other sources of mercury; the test methods may also be used to perform relative accuracy test audits of mercury emissions monitoring systems. The mercury test methods, an instrumental test method and a sorbent trap-based test method, may be preferred over existing standardized mercury test methods because of decreased costs, simpler implementation, and/or more timely results; they will be codified in Appendix A of 40 CFR Part 60. The mercury monitoring specifications will provide for standardization of mercury monitoring measurements and would be codified in Appendix B of 40 CFR Part 60. This action does not change any emission standards or add any recordkeeping or reporting requirements. - Back
Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency will, with the concurrence of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), revise the Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Environmental Protection Agency (regulation) at 5 C.F.R. Part 6401. The regulation supplements the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (Standards) issued by OGE. The revisions to the regulation are necessary to update, clarify, and address ethical issues unique to EPA employees. The regulation prohibits certain EPA employees from holding certain financial interests, including compensated outside employment with certain persons; and it requires EPA employees to obtain prior approval to engage in certain categories of outside employment. - Back
Repeal of Regulation Identifying “Dumping Sites Designated on an Interim Basis” under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act
This final rule would remove 40 CFR 228.14 "Dumping sites designated on an interim basis" from the Ocean Dumping regulations. Under section 506 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1992, the authority to use these dumping sites expired in January 1997. Though no interim sites have been designated since the WRDA amendments, the interim site designation has been revised three times since then to delete individual sites that were designated on a final basis. The removal of section 228.14 is needed as a housekeeping measure to implement the 1992 Act. Additionally, the regulated community is confused by the fact that the interim sites are listed in the regulation yet unavailable for use. - Back
Direct Final Rule (with companion NPRM) to Add Reference to New Forestland Phase I Standard to Referenced Compliant Standards in All Appropriate Inquires Final Rule
This action will recognize the recently revised "ASTM E2247-08 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for Forestland or Rural Property" as a compliant reference standard for the All Appropriate Inquiries Final Rule (AAI). The AAI final rule will be revised to add the new standard to the list of referenced standards in 40 CFR 312.11. By taking this action (Direct Final Rule with accompanying NPRM), EPA will be complying with the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA), which directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory activities. ASTM International, a voluntary standards development organization, formally requested that EPA recognize the E2247-08 standard as compliant with the AAI final rule in a letter to Assistant Administrator Susan Bodine dated June 17, 2008. - Back
Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation (CROMERR) Technical Amendment -- Direct Final Action
EPA published the final Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) on October 13, 2005. The rule establishes a legal framework for electronic reporting by regulated entities to EPA and states, tribes, and local governments that are authorized to administer EPA programs. Specifically CROMERR (1) removes all regulatory obstacles to e-reporting under EPA and EPA-authorized programs; (2) sets requirements for electronic reporting to EPA; (3) requires EPA approval of modifications or revisions to authorized programs that allow or wish to allow e-reporting; (4) creates a special, optional process for obtaining EPA approval of program modifications or revisions to e-reporting and (5) sets mandatory standards for e-reporting systems operated by authorized programs. CROMERR applies to any document submissions required by or permitted under EPA or any authorized program governed by EPA’s regulations in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), if it is submitted electronically.
State, tribal and local government applicants that have an existing electronic document receiving system (as defined in §3.3 of the regulation), originally had until October 13, 2007, to submit their applications to apply for EPA approval of their system under CROMERR. On October 2, 2007, a direct final rulemaking to extend the October 13, 2007, Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation (CROMERR) deadline for authorized programs (states, tribes, or local governments) with existing electronic document receiving systems became effective. Under §3.1000(a)(3) of CROMERR, authorized program applicants that have an existing electronic document receiving system now have until October 13, 2008, to submit their applications for EPA approval of their system under CROMERR.
This action would extend the October 13, 2008 deadline for existing systems by fifteen (15) months, to January 13, 2010, to provide additional time for authorized programs to develop their applications and upgrade their systems, if required. - Back
What is an Action Initiation List (AIL)?
Generally, AILs include those actions that 1) will appear in our 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 an Agenda.
The AILs are a snapshot of the rules EPA initiates each month. Each action appears on only one list. We do not update actions that were listed in previous AILs. Every six months, more up-to-date information is available in our Agenda.
You may track an action by its RIN, which appears in both the AILs and the Agenda.
How Do I Access Past AILs?
Every month's AIL may be found in our AIL docket (#OA-2008-0265) on Regulations.gov. Dockets older than two months are removed from this Web page and are only available in the docket.
How Do I Know When a New List Has Been Posted?
You can sign up to be notified via email when a new list is added to our AIL docket. To do so:
- Go to the Docket Details page for our AIL docket (#OA-2008-0265) on Regulations.gov.
- Click the "Notification" icon found in the upper, right portion of your screen. Fill out the registration form that is presented to you.
- Step 2 of the form asks you to select the types of documents you are interested in. To ensure that you receive a notification every time a document is deposited in the docket, place a check mark in the boxes next to every document type (Rules, Proposed Rules, Notices, Public Submissions, Supporting & Related Materials, and Other).
- Once you have completed the form, click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the form.
- You will receive an email with instructions for how to complete the registration process. Make sure you follow these instructions. You will not begin receiving notifications until you do.
Keep in mind that AILs do 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 an 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 Agendas 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 modification.
In the AILs, the following acronyms are used:
- ANPRM - Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
- Direct Final - Direct Final Action
- NPRM - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
- Supplemental - Supplemental NPRM
Contact
Self-explanatory.
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 impossible 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. You may consult our Semiannual Regulatory Agenda every six months for updates to our estimates.
