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California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Small Off-Road Engines; Request for Authorization; Opportunity for Public Hearing and Comment: Notice and Virtual Public Hearing on 27 June 2023 - The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified EPA that it has adopted two sets of amendments to its Small Off-Road Engine regulation (SORE Amendments) . By letter dated 20 December 2022, CARB asked that EPA authorize these amendments pursuant to section 209(e) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This notice announces that EPA will hold a public hearing to consider California's authorization request and that EPA is now accepting written comment on the requests.

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Listing of Substitutes Under the Significant New Alternatives Policy Program in Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration: Notice of proposed rulemaking - Pursuant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Significant New Alternatives Policy program, this action proposes to list certain substances in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector. Specifically, EPA proposes to list several substitutes as acceptable, subject to use conditions, for retail food refrigeration, commercial ice machines, industrial process refrigeration, cold storage warehouses, and ice skating rinks. Through this action, EPA is proposing to incorporate by reference standards which establish requirements for commercial refrigerating appliances and commercial ice machines, safe use of flammable refrigerants, and safe design, construction, installation, and operation of refrigeration systems. This action also proposes to exempt propane, in the refrigerated food processing and dispensing end-use, from the prohibition under the Clean Air Act (CAA) on knowingly venting, releasing, or disposing of substitute refrigerants, on the basis of current evidence that the venting, release, or disposal of this substance in this end-use does not pose a threat to the environment.

Updates to New Chemicals Regulations Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Proposed rule - The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing amendments to the new chemicals procedural regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These amendments are intended to align the regulatory text with the amendments to TSCA's new chemicals review provisions contained in the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, enacted on 22 June 2016, improve the efficiency of EPA's review processes, and update the regulations based on existing policies and experience implementing the New Chemicals Program. The proposal includes amendments that would reduce the need to redo all or part of the risk assessment by improving information initially submitted in new chemicals notices, which should also help reduce the length of time that new chemicals notices are under review. EPA is also proposing several amendments to the regulations for low volume exemptions (LVEs) and low release and exposure exemptions (LoREXs), which include requiring EPA approval of an exemption notice prior to commencement of manufacture, making per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) categorically ineligible for these exemptions, and providing that certain persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) chemical substances are ineligible for these exemptions, consistent with EPA's 1999 PBT policy.

Perchloroethylene (PCE); Regulation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Proposed rule - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to address the unreasonable risk of injury to human health presented by perchloroethylene (PCE) under its conditions of use as documented in EPA's December 2020 Risk Evaluation for PCE and December 2022 revised risk determination for PCE prepared under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). PCE is a widely used solvent in a variety of occupational and consumer applications including fluorinated compound production, petroleum manufacturing, dry cleaning, and aerosol degreasing. EPA determined that PCE presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health due to the significant adverse health effects associated with exposure to PCE, including neurotoxicity effects from acute and chronic inhalation exposures and dermal exposures, and cancer from chronic inhalation exposures to PCE. TSCA requires that EPA address by rule any unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment identified in a TSCA risk evaluation and apply requirements to the extent necessary so the chemical no longer presents unreasonable risk. (...) To address the identified unreasonable risk, EPA is proposing to prohibit most industrial and commercial uses of PCE; the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution in commerce of PCE for the prohibited industrial and commercial uses; the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution in commerce of PCE for all consumer use; and, the manufacture (including import), processing, distribution in commerce, and use of PCE in dry cleaning and related spot cleaning through a 10-year phaseout. For certain conditions of use that would not be subject to a prohibition, EPA is also proposing to require a PCE workplace chemical protection program that includes requirements to meet an inhalation exposure concentration limit and prevent direct dermal contact. (...)

Significant New Use Rules on Certain Chemical Substances (23- 2.5e): Proposed rule - EPA is proposing significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for certain chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs) and are also subject to an Order issued by EPA pursuant to TSCA. The SNURs require persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process any of these chemical substances for an activity that is proposed as a significant new use by this rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification initiates EPA's evaluation of the use, under the conditions of use for that chemical substance, within the applicable review period. Persons may not commence manufacture or processing for the significant new use until EPA has conducted a review of the notice, made an appropriate determination on the notice, and has taken such actions as are required by that determination.

Flame Retardants; Significant New Uses Rules for Certain Non-Ongoing Uses: Proposed rule - Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA is proposing significant new use rules (SNURs) for three flame retardants, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), 4,4'-(1-methylethylidene)bis[2, 6-dibromophenol], also known as "tetrabromobisphenol A," (TBBPA), and triphenyl phosphate (TPP), which are all undergoing TSCA risk evaluations. The proposed significant new uses are manufacture (including import) or processing for any use, with the exception that the conditions of use the Agency expects to consider within the scope of the TSCA section 6 risk evaluations are not proposed as significant new uses. Persons subject to the SNUR would be required to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing any manufacturing (including import) or processing of the chemical substance for a significant new use. Once EPA receives a notification, EPA must review and make an affirmative determination on the notification, and take such action as is required by any such determination before the manufacture (including import) or processing for the significant new use can commence.

Implementing Statutory Addition of Certain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) to the Toxics Release Inventory Beginning With Reporting Year 2023: Final rule - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating the list of chemicals subject to toxic chemical release reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). Specifically, this action updates the regulations to identify nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that must be reported pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020 NDAA) enacted on 20 December 2019. As this action is being taken to conform the regulations to a Congressional legislative mandate, notice and comment rulemaking is unnecessary.

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines and New Source Performance Standards: Internal Combustion Engines; Electronic Reporting: Proposed rule - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE), the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Stationary Compression Ignition (CI) Internal Combustion Engines, and the NSPS for Stationary Spark Ignition (SI) Internal Combustion Engines, to add electronic reporting provisions. The addition of electronic reporting provisions will provide for simplified reporting by sources and enhance availability of data on sources to the EPA and the public. In addition, a small number of clarifications and corrections to these rules are being proposed to correct inadvertent and other minor errors in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), particularly related to tables. Finally, information is being solicited on the provisions specifying that emergency engines can operate for up to 50 hours per year to mitigate local transmission and/ or distribution limitations to avert potential voltage collapse or line overloads that could lead to the interruption of power supply in a local area or region.

Hazardous Materials: FAST Act Requirements for Real-Time Train Consist Information: Notice of proposed rulemaking - PHMSA proposes amendments to its Hazardous Materials Regulations to require all railroads to generate in electronic form, maintain, and provide to first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel, certain information regarding hazardous materials in rail transportation to enhance emergency response and investigative efforts. The proposal responds to a safety recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board and statutory mandates in The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, as amended, and complements existing regulatory requirements pertaining to the generation, maintenance, and provision of similar information in hard copy form, as well as other hazard communication requirements.

Asbestos; Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Final rule - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing reporting and recordkeeping requirements for asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA is requiring certain persons who manufactured (including imported) or processed asbestos and asbestos-containing articles, including as an impurity, in the four years prior to the date of publication of this final rule to electronically report certain exposure-related information. This action results in a one-time reporting requirement. EPA emphasizes that this requirement includes asbestos that is a component of a mixture. The information sought includes presence, types, and quantities of asbestos (including asbestos that is a component of a mixture) and asbestos-containing articles that were manufactured (including imported) or processed, types of use, and employee data. EPA and other Federal agencies will use reported information in considering potential future actions, including risk evaluation and risk management activities.