[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: 
hockstad.leif@epa.gov.

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 hockstad.leif@epa.gov. 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


