[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 13, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14716-14717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5550]



[[Page 14716]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 60

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960; FRL-9644-1]


Notice of Availability: Draft Documents Related to the 
Development of Emissions Estimating Methodologies for Broiler Animal 
Feeding Operations and Lagoons and Basins for Swine and Dairy Animal 
Feeding Operations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is requesting public comment on draft documents 
titled, ``Development of Emissions Estimating Methodologies for Broiler 
Animal Feeding Operations'' and ``Development of Emissions Estimating 
Methodologies for Lagoons and Basins at Swine and Dairy Animal Feeding 
Operations.'' These documents contain EPA's draft emissions estimating 
methodologies for determining daily and annual emissions from a broiler 
chicken animal feeding operation and from a lagoon or basin located at 
a swine or dairy animal feeding operation.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 11, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your information, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
HQ-OAR-2010-0960, by one of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the 
online instructions for submitting data.
    Email: Send your information via electronic mail to [email protected], Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960.
    Facsimile: Fax your comments to (202) 566-1741, Attention Docket ID 
Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960.
    Mail: Send your information to: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-
2010-0960. Please include two copies. We request that a separate copy 
also be sent to the contact person identified below (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).
    Hand Delivery: Deliver your information to: EPA Docket Center (EPA/
DC), EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the normal hours of operation 
(8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays) and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your data and information to Docket ID Number 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. The EPA's policy is that all information received 
will be included in the public docket and may be made available online 
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the submission includes information claimed to be 
confidential business information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI, or otherwise protected, through http://www.regulations.gov or email. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means the EPA will not know 
your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body 
of your information. If you send an email directly to the EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the information that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit the electronic data and information, the EPA recommends that you 
include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
information and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If the EPA cannot 
read your information due to technical difficulties and cannot contact 
you for clarification, the EPA may not be able to consider your 
information. Electronic files should avoid the use of special 
characters or any form of encryption and should be free of any defects 
or viruses.
    Docket: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. All documents in the docket are 
listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the 
index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only 
in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available 
either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 
the EPA's Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the EPA's Docket Center is (202) 
566-1742.
    Submitting CBI: Do not submit information you consider to be CBI 
electronically through http://www.regulations.gov or email. Send or 
deliver information identified as CBI to only the following address: 
Mr. Larry Elmore, c/o Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards 
Document Control Officer (Room C404-02), U.S. EPA, Research Triangle 
Park, NC 27711, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. 
Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be 
CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA, 
mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify 
electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that 
is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the 
information claimed as CBI, a copy of the information that does not 
contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion 
in the public docket. Information marked as CBI will not be disclosed 
except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    If you have any questions about CBI or the procedures for claiming 
CBI, please consult the person identified in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Larry Elmore, Natural Resources 
Group, Sector Policies and Programs Division, (E143-03), Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
(919) 541-5433; Facsimile number: (919) 541-3470; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In January 2005, the EPA announced the 
voluntary Air Compliance Agreement (Agreement) with the animal feeding 
operations (AFO) industry. Under the Agreement, participating AFOs were 
responsible for funding the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study 
(NAEMS)--a 2-year study of animal confinement structures and manure 
storage and treatment units in the broiler chicken, egg-layer, swine 
and dairy industries. The study's purpose was to gather emissions data 
that the EPA could use to develop emissions estimating methodologies 
(EEMs). To provide a framework for the NAEMS, AFO industry experts, 
university and government scientists, and other stakeholders 
collaborated to develop a comprehensive monitoring plan. The study was 
designed to generate scientifically credible data to characterize 
emissions from the participating animal sectors. The

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NAEMS began in the summer of 2007 and consisted of 24 monitoring sites 
located in nine states. In addition, Tyson Foods, Inc. collected data 
from two broiler sites, which are also included in the NAEMS dataset. 
Academic researchers from various universities conducted the NAEMS 
study with EPA oversight. At the animal confinement sites, the study 
was designed to collect process and emissions data for ammonia 
(NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), total suspended 
particulate matter (TSP), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters 
less than 10 micrometers (PM10), PM with aerodynamic 
diameters less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), and volatile 
organic compounds (VOCs). For lagoons and basins, the study was 
designed to collect NH3, H2S and VOCs.
    In accordance with the Agreement's monitoring protocol, the EPA 
developed draft EEMs for animal housing structures and manure storage 
and treatment units using the emissions and process data collected 
under the NAEMS and other relevant information. Once the draft EEMs are 
final, the EPA expects that the AFO industry will use the EEMs to 
estimate daily and annual emissions for use in determining AFOs' 
regulatory responsibilities under the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the 
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.
    The draft documents describe the sites monitored, the statistical 
methodology used to analyze the data, and the EEMs.
    The agency is requesting comment on the draft documents with 
particular emphasis on the statistical methodology used to develop the 
emissions estimating methodologies. Please submit comments within 90 
days of the date of this notice. Electronic copies of the documents are 
available at www.epa.gov/airquality/agmonitoring.
    On February 17, 2012, EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards sent a memorandum to the EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 
Office titled, ``Animal Feeding Operations Air Emissions Estimating 
Methodologies from the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study'' asking 
the Science Advisory Board to review and provide comments on these 
documents.
    In response to EPA's memorandum, the EPA's Science Advisory Board 
has formed an expert panel to review and provide comments on these 
documents. The Science Advisory Board review process is an independent 
process. Information on submitting comments to the Science Advisory 
Board can be found at www.epa.gov/sab. Additional information about the 
Science Advisory Board process can be found at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/0/ae6639dd6b79360e852579a4004e5529!OpenDocument. The Science Advisory 
Board anticipates multiple meetings of the expert panel to cover the 
documents in this notice.
    The EPA will consider public comments received in response to this 
notice, public comments submitted to the Science Advisory Board, and 
the Science Advisory Board panel recommendations as the final emissions 
estimating methodologies are developed.

    Dated: February 29, 2012.
Janet McCabe,
Acting Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012-5550 Filed 3-12-12; 8:45 am]
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