[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 11, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24515-24517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10031]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 271 and 272
[EPA-R08-RCRA-2024-0408; FRL-12226-04-R8]
Utah: Final Authorization of State Hazardous Waste Management
Program Revisions and Incorporation by Reference
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final authorization.
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SUMMARY: The Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, commonly referred to
as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), allows the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to authorize States to operate
their hazardous waste management programs in lieu of the Federal
program. Utah has applied to EPA for final authorization of the changes
to its hazardous waste program under RCRA. The EPA has determined that
these changes satisfy all requirements needed to qualify for final
authorization and is authorizing Utah's changes through this final
action. Additionally, the EPA will finalize the codification and
incorporation by reference of the State's authorized hazardous waste
program.
DATES: This final authorization is effective on June 11, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Moye Lin, Land, Chemicals and
Redevelopment Division, EPA Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver,
Colorado 80202-1129; telephone number: (303) 312-6667, email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Why are revisions to State programs necessary?
States that have received final authorization from the EPA under
RCRA section 3006(b) (42 U.S.C. 6926(b)), must maintain a hazardous
waste program that is equivalent to, consistent with, and no less
stringent than the Federal program. As the Federal program changes,
States must change their programs and ask the EPA to authorize the
changes. Changes to state programs may be necessary when Federal or
state statutory or regulatory authority is modified or when certain
other changes occur. Most commonly, States must change their programs
because of changes to the EPA's regulations in 40 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) parts 124, 260 through 268, 270, 273, and 279.
Utah initially received final authorization on October 10, 1984,
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effective October 24, 1984 (49 FR 39683), to implement the RCRA
hazardous waste management program. Utah received authorization for
revisions to its program on February 21, 1989 (54 FR 7417), effective
March 7, 1989; May 23, 1991 (56 FR 23648) and August 6, 1991 (56 FR
37291), both effective July 22, 1991; May 15, 1992 (57 FR 20770),
effective July 14, 1992; February 12, 1993 (58 FR 8232) and May 5, 1993
(58 FR 26689), both effective April 13, 1993; October 14, 1994 (59 FR
52084), effective December 13, 1994; May 20, 1997 (62 FR 27501),
effective July 21, 1997; January 13, 1999 (64 FR 02144), effective
March 15, 1999; October 16, 2000 (65 FR 61109), effective January 16,
2001; May 7, 2002 (67 FR 30599), effective July 7, 2002; June 11, 2003
(68 FR 34829), effective June 11, 2003; and May 23, 2008, effective May
23, 2008 (73 FR 29987).
On April 13, 2023, the State of Utah submitted a final complete
program revision application seeking authorization of their changes in
accordance with 40 CFR 271.21. On December 23, 2024, the EPA published
both a direct final rule (89 FR 104435) granting Utah final
authorization for these revisions to its federally authorized hazardous
waste program and the codification and incorporation by reference of
the State's authorized hazardous waste program, along with a companion
proposed rule announcing the EPA's proposal to grant such final
authorization, codification, and incorporation by reference (89 FR
104486). The EPA announced in both documents that the direct final rule
and the proposed rule were subject to a thirty-day public comment
period. The public comment period ended on January 22, 2025. Further,
the EPA stated in both documents that if it received adverse comments
on its intent to authorize Utah's program revisions that it would (1)
withdraw the direct final rule; (2) proceed with the proposed rule as
the basis for the receipt and evaluation of such comments; and (3)
subsequently publish a final determination responding to such comments
and announce it final decision as to whether to authorize Utah's
program revisions, codification, and incorporation by reference. The
EPA did receive two adverse comments during the public comment period,
and on February 20, 2025, the EPA published a document withdrawing the
direct final rule (90 FR 9954).
This action responds to the comments the EPA received and publishes
the EPA's final determination granting Utah final authorization of its
program revisions and the incorporation by reference of the authorized
program. Further background on the EPA's direct final rule and its
tentative determination to grant authorization to Utah for its program
revisions appears in the aforementioned Federal Register documents. The
issues raised by the commenters are summarized and responded to in
section B. below.
B. What were the comments and responses to the EPA's proposal?
During the public comment period, adverse comments were received
from two sources. The comments did not address specific concerns with
the EPA's approval of the 41 additional RCRA regulatory provisions in
Utah's authorized hazardous waste program; rather the comments were
general in nature: Opposition to Utah administering hazardous waste and
allegations that Utah's State government is incompetent, has not
cleaned the State of air pollution, and created a water crisis related
to overdevelopment and agricultural use. In response to the first
commenter who stated they are ``worried that the EPA is allowing the
state of Utah to alter the hazardous waste plan, because the history of
the state regarding the protection of the people during the uranium
years was not good'' the EPA notes that the authorization of the
additional RCRA regulatory provisions as specified in the direct final
rule will not impact the way Utah regulates hazardous waste. The State
has already adopted these regulatory provisions into the Utah Hazardous
Waste Management Rules. Additionally, the EPA notes that, in general,
this authorization does not address radioactive waste.
In response to the second commenter who expressed concerns that the
State of Utah should not be entrusted to administer hazardous waste,
commenting that instead, ``the EPA should be fully budgeted and staffed
to manage the program,'' claiming the Utah State government is
incompetent due to other perceived environmental failures. The State of
Utah initially received delegation of the RCRA program in 1984, with
many subsequent authorizations of Federal final rules in the years
since. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) has followed
the process specified in 40 CFR part 271 for submitting an application
for authorization to the EPA and the EPA has conducted a thorough
review of both the application for authorization and the State's
hazardous waste program as a whole. Neither review revealed a basis for
revoking the status of the delegation of the RCRA hazardous waste
program for Utah.
Therefore, we have determined that these comments do not provide a
basis to deny authorization and codification of Utah's hazardous waste
program.
C. What decisions have we made in this final action?
Based on the EPA's response to public comments, we have determined
that approval and codification of Utah's RCRA program revisions should
proceed. The EPA has made a final determination that Utah's application
to revise its authorized program meets all of the statutory and
regulatory requirements established by RCRA; therefore, we grant Utah
final authorization to operate its hazardous waste program with the
changes described in the authorization application. Additionally, the
State's program is approved for codification and incorporation by
reference under 40 CFR part 272. Utah has responsibility for permitting
Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) within its borders,
except in Indian country as that term is defined at 18 U.S.C. 1151, and
for carrying out the aspects of the RCRA program described in its
program application, subject to the limitations of the Hazardous and
Solid Waste amendments of 1984 (HSWA). New Federal requirements and
prohibitions imposed by Federal regulations that the EPA promulgates
under the authority of HSWA take effect in authorized States before
they are authorized for the requirements; thus, the EPA will implement
those requirements and prohibitions in Utah, including issuing permits,
until Utah is authorized to do so. For further background on the scope
and effect of this action to approve Utah's RCRA program and codify and
incorporate by reference the authorized hazardous waste program, please
refer to the preambles of the EPA's December 23, 2024, proposed and
direct final rules at 89 FR 104486 and 89 FR 104435, respectively.
D. Administrative Requirements
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this action
from the requirements of Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, October
4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011); therefore, this
action is not subject to Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065, February 6,
2025) because State hazardous waste program authorization revisions
under Subtitle C of RCRA actions are exempt from review under Executive
Order 12866. For these reasons, this action is not subject to review by
OMB. This action authorizes and codifies State requirements for the
purpose of RCRA 3006 and imposes no
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additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law. Accordingly,
I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this action authorizes
and codifies pre-existing requirements under State law and does not
impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by State
law, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4). For the same reason, this
action also does not significantly or uniquely affect the communities
of Tribal governments, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR
67249, November 9, 2000). This action will not have substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the National
Government and the States, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government, as specified
in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999), because it
merely authorizes and codifies State requirements as part of the State
RCRA hazardous waste program without altering the relationship or the
distribution of power and responsibilities established by RCRA.
This action also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant, and
it does not make decisions based on environmental health or safety
risks. This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions
Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001), because it is not a
significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
Under RCRA 3006(b), the EPA grants a State's application for
authorization as long as the State meets the criteria required by RCRA.
It would thus be inconsistent with applicable law for the EPA, when it
reviews a State authorization application, to require the use of any
particular voluntary consensus standard in place of another standard
that otherwise satisfies the requirements of RCRA. Thus, the
requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. As required
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, Feb. 7, 1996), in
issuing this action, the EPA has taken the necessary steps to eliminate
drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and
provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct. The EPA has
complied with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by
examining the takings implications of this action in accordance with
the ``Attorney General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of
Risk and Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the
Executive order. This action does not impose an information collection
burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
The Congressional Review Act (CRA), 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added
by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996,
generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency
promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy
of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller
General of the United States. The EPA will submit a report containing
this document and other required information to the U.S. Senate, the
U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the
United States prior to publication in the Federal Register. A major
rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the
Federal Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5
U.S.C. 804(2). This action will be effective June 11, 2025.
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 271
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Confidential business information, Hazardous waste, Hazardous waste
transportation, Indian lands, Intergovernmental relations, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
40 CFR Part 272
Environmental protection, Hazardous materials transportation,
Hazardous waste, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental
relations, Water pollution control, Water supply.
Authority: This action is issued under the authority of sections
2002(a), 3006 and 7004(b) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6926, 6974(b).
Dated: May 19, 2025.
Cyrus M. Western,
Regional Administrator, Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2025-10031 Filed 6-10-25; 8:45 am]
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