National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Ethylene Oxide Emissions Standards for Sterilization Facilities Residual Risk and Technology Review Reconsideration

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Ethylene Oxide Emissions Standards for Sterilization Facilities Residual Risk and Technology Review Reconsideration; Extension of Comment Period

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Rationale. On March 17, 2026, the EPA proposed a rule titled "National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Ethylene Oxide Emissions Standards for Sterilization Facilities Residual Risk and Technology Review Reconsideration."  ⁽¹⁾ The comment period on this proposed rule was originally scheduled to close on May 1, 2026. The EPA received multiple requests for additional time to review and comment on this proposed rule, and the EPA has decided to extend the comment period until May 15, 2026. The public comment period will now end on May 15, 2026.

Docket. The EPA established a docket for this rulemaking under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0178. All documents in the docket are listed at https://www.regulations.gov. Although listed, some information is not publicly available, e.g., Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. The EPA does not place certain other material, such as copyrighted material, on the internet; this material is publicly available only as portable document format (PDF) versions accessible only on EPA computers in the docket office reading room. The public cannot download certain databases and physical items from the docket but may request these items by contacting the docket office at 202-566-1744. The docket office has 10 business days to respond to such requests. With the exception of such material, publicly available docket materials are available electronically at https://www.regulations.gov.

Written Comments. Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0178. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be CBI or other information for which a statute restricts disclosure. Do not submit electronically to https://www.regulations.gov any information that you consider to be CBI or other information for which a statute restricts disclosure. You should submit this type of information as discussed below.

The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. A written comment must accompany multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc. ). The EPA considers the written comment to be the official comment, and it should include discussion of all points the commenter wishes 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 https://www.regulations.gov website allows you to submit your comment anonymously, which means the EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment directly to the EPA without going through https://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the internet. If you submit an electronic comment, the EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any digital storage media you submit. If the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should not include special characters or any form of encryption and should be free of any defects or viruses. For additional information about the EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

Submitting CBI. Do not submit information containing CBI to the EPA through https://www.regulations.gov. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information on any digital storage media that you mail to the EPA, note the docket ID, mark the outside of the digital storage media as CBI, and identify electronically within the digital storage media the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comments that includes information claimed as CBI, you must submit a copy of the comments that does not contain the information claimed as CBI directly to the public docket through the procedures outlined in Written Comments section of this document. If you submit any digital storage media that does not contain CBI, mark the outside of the digital storage media clearly that it does not contain CBI and note the docket ID. The public docket and the EPA's electronic public docket will include information not marked as CBI without prior notice. The EPA will not disclose information marked as CBI except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2.

Our preferred method to receive CBI is electronic transmittal, using email attachments, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), or other online file sharing services ( e.g., Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive). You must send electronic submissions directly to the Office of Clean Air Programs (OCAP) CBI Office at the email address [email protected], and, as described above, you should include clear CBI markings and note the docket ID. If you need assistance with submitting large electronic files that exceed the file size limit for email attachments, and if you do not have your own file sharing service, please email [email protected] to request a file transfer link. If sending CBI information through the U.S. Postal Service, please send it to the following address: U.S. EPA, Attn: OCAP Document Control Officer, Mail Drop: C404-02, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 12055, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0078. You should double-wrap and clearly mark the mailed CBI material. Any CBI markings should not show through the outer envelope.

⁽¹⁾  91 FR 12700, March 17, 2026.