[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 119 (Friday, June 19, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37057-37059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13222]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR 83
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-00044; FRL 10011-13-OAR]
RIN 2060-AU51
Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits
and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process; Extension of Comment
Period and Public Hearing
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period and
notification of public hearing.
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SUMMARY: On June 11, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
published the proposed rulemaking ``Increasing Consistency and
Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act
Rulemaking Process.'' The EPA is extending the comment period on the
proposed rulemaking. The EPA is also announcing that a virtual public
hearing
[[Page 37058]]
will be held for the proposed rulemaking.
DATES:
Comments: The comment period for the proposed rulemaking published
June 11, 2020 (85 FR 35612), is extended. The EPA must receive comments
on the proposed action on or before August 3, 2020.
Public hearing: The EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on July
1, 2020. Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for
additional information on the public hearing.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2020-00044, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-00044 for this rulemaking. Comments received may be
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any
personal information provided. For detailed instructions on sending
comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the
``Public Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document. Out of an abundance of caution for members of
the public and our staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room was
closed to public visitors on March 31, 2020, to reduce the risk of
transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff will continue to provide
remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the
public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov or email, as
there is a temporary suspension of mail delivery to EPA, and no hand
deliveries are currently accepted. For further information on EPA
Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us online
at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
Virtual Public Hearing. The virtual public hearing will be held via
teleconference July 1, 2020. Refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section below for additional information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leif Hockstad, Office of Air Policy
and Program Support, Office of Air and Radiation, Environmental
Protection Agency, Mail Code 6103A, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460; (202) 343-9432; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document extends the public comment
period for the proposed rulemaking to ensure that the public has
sufficient time to review and comment on the proposal. The comment
period on the proposed rulemaking will close on August 3, 2020.
The EPA is proposing processes that it would be required to
undertake in promulgating regulations under the CAA to ensure that
information regarding the benefits and costs of regulatory decisions is
provided and considered in a consistent and transparent manner. The
public hearing will provide interested parties the opportunity to
present data, views, or arguments concerning EPA's proposed
requirements for benefits and costs analyses for CAA rulemakings.
Written statements and supporting information submitted during the
comment period will be considered with the same weight as any oral
comments and supporting information presented at the public hearings.
Written Comments. Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-00044, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred
method), or the other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once
submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The
EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not
submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you
wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web,
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Reading
Room for public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19.
Written comments submitted by mail are temporarily suspended and no
hand deliveries will be accepted. Our Docket Center staff will continue
to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. We
encourage the public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov. For further information and updates on EPA Docket
Center services, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.
Participation in Virtual Public Hearing. Please note that EPA is
deviating from its typical approach because the President has declared
a national emergency. Because of current CDC recommendations, as well
as state and local orders for social distancing to limit the spread of
COVID-19, EPA cannot hold in-person public meetings at this time. The
EPA will begin pre-registering speakers and attendees for the hearing
upon publication of this document in the Federal Register. The EPA will
accept registrations on an individual basis. To register to speak at
the virtual hearing, individuals may use the online registration form
available via EPA's Increasing Consistency and Transparency in
Considering Costs and Benefits in the Rulemaking Process web page for
this hearing (https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/increasing-consistency-and-transparency-considering-costs-and-benefits) or contact
Leif Hockstad at (202) 343-9432 or [email protected]. The last day
to pre-register to speak at the hearing will be June 26, 2020. On June
30, 2020, the EPA will post a general agenda for the hearing that will
list pre-registered speakers in approximate order at: https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/increasing-consistency-and-transparency-considering-costs-and-benefits.
The EPA will make every effort to follow the schedule as closely as
possible on the day of the hearing; however, please plan for the
hearing to run either ahead of schedule or behind schedule.
Additionally, requests to speak will be taken the day of the hearing at
the end of each session as timing allows. The EPA will make every
effort to accommodate all speakers.
Each commenter will have 5 minutes to provide oral testimony. The
EPA recommends submitting the text of your oral comments as written
comments to the rulemaking docket. The EPA may ask clarifying questions
during the oral presentations but will not respond to the presentations
at that time. Written statements and supporting information submitted
during the comment period will be considered with the same weight as
oral comments and supporting information presented at the public
hearing.
[[Page 37059]]
The EPA is also asking hearing attendees to pre-register for the
hearing, even those who don't intend to provide testimony. This will
help the EPA ensure that sufficient phone lines will be available.
Please note that any updates made to any aspect of the hearing
logistics, including potential additional sessions, will be posted
online at the EPA's Increasing Consistency and Transparency in
Considering Costs and Benefits in the Rulemaking Process website
(https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/increasing-consistency-and-transparency-considering-costs-and-benefits). While the EPA expects
the hearing to go forward as set forth above, please monitor our
website or contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section to determine if there are any updates.
If you require the services of a translator or special
accommodations such as audio description, please pre-register for the
hearing and describe your needs by June 26, 2020. EPA may not be able
to arrange accommodations without advanced notice.
How can I get copies of the proposed action and other related
information?
The EPA has also established the official public docket for the
proposed action under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-00044. A copy of
the proposed action is available at https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/increasing-consistency-and-transparency-considering-costs-and-benefits, and any detailed information related to the proposed
action will be available in the public docket prior to the public
hearings. Verbatim transcripts of the hearings and written statements
will be included in the rulemaking docket.
John Shoaff,
Director, Office of Air Policy and Program Support.
[FR Doc. 2020-13222 Filed 6-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P