To VI HSE Committee, VI Eco-Standards Council, and PVC MACT Working Group,

The email below announces EPA’s open forum call next Monday to listen to public comments on air regulation impacts. EPA is also accepting written comments on this topic as set forth in the attached Federal Register notice. Comments are due by May 15, 2017.

Our attached comments to the Department of Commerce are a good starting point and may not need significant edits. Please review the VI’s March 31 submissions and determine what other information may be beneficial to EPA. Your comments and questions are appreciated. Here is a link to Monday’s Washington Post article that discusses the range of comments submitted to the Department of Commerce on this subject.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/epa-emerges-as-major-target-after-trump-solicits-policy-advice-from-industry/2017/04/16/87a8a55a-205d-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html

Regards,

Rich

Consistent with Executive Order 13777, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) is hosting a public teleconference on April 24, 2017, from 11:00am to 2:00pm EDT to solicit input on specific air and radiation actions that could be repealed, replaced, or modified to make them less burdensome.

On February 24, 2017, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13777 on Enforcing the Regulatory Agenda. The Executive Order (EO) establishes the “policy of the United States to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the American people.” Among other things, it requires each agency to create a Regulatory Reform Task Force to evaluate existing regulations and to identify regulations that should be repealed, replaced, or modified.

OAR is holding a public meeting via teleconference on April 24, 2017 so that we can listen and learn from those directly impacted by our regulations. The focus of this teleconference will be on air and radiation actions only. We invite you to provide input on these actions during the public teleconference or by submitting comments to the EPA-wide docket using docket number: EPA-HQ-OA-2017-0190. The docket, which is accessible through www.regulations.gov, will remain open through May 15, 2017. OAR will give equal consideration to input provided through either of these methods.

Additional information on joining the teleconference and submitting comments through the docket are below. For questions about this process, please contact oarinvitations@epa.gov. For more information about this effort, please visit https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/regulatory-reform.

Teleconference Details:

Date: April 24, 2017
Time: 11:00 – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Participant Dial-in Number: (800) 305-3182
Conference ID#: 8535873

OAR’s public teleconference will be an operator assisted call. The call with start with brief remarks from EPA and the remainder of the call will be dedicated to listening to public input. Participants wishing to speak or listen do not need to register in advance for the teleconference. To hear the opening remarks, please dial in 10 minutes before the start time. You may call into the teleconference at any time during the three-hour period.

If you wish to speak, at any time, you may nominate yourself to speak by hitting *1 on your phone. Your name will be added to a queue. Speakers will be asked to deliver 3 minutes of remarks and will be called on a first come, first served basis. OAR will do our best to hear from everyone who wishes to speak. The teleconference will be transcribed and will be added to the docket. If you do not have the opportunity to speak on the call, please submit your input to the docket (docket number: EPA-HQ-OA-2017-0190). OAR will give equal consideration to input provided through either of these methods.

Providing Input through the Docket:

Comments can be submitted to the public docket, EPA-HQ-OA-2017-0190, which is available at www.regulations.gov. The docket will be open until May 15, 2017.

We also recommend that you clearly include the subject area on which you are providing input at the beginning of your comment. The subject area could include, but is not limited to, a reference to any of the following:

  • Code of Federal Regulations regulatory cite or Part/Subpart cite (e.g., 40 CFR part 1900, 40 CFR 1900.10(b), etc.);
  • Federal Register citation;
  • Regulatory program or rulemaking title;
  • Title of guidance document.

Detailed instructions on how to submit comments to the docket are available at: https://www.regulations.gov/help. Also, EPA’s Tips for Effective Comments can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets#tips.

Additional Resources

EPA Request for Comment on Evaluation of Existing Regulations

Executive Order 13777

VI Comments Packet on US DOC 3-7-17 RFI Domestic Manufacturing_Impact VC…

VI Comments Packet on US DOC 3-7-17 RFI Domestic Manufacturing_Impact VC…