EPA expanded the list of acceptable substitutes under the significant new alternatives policy program to include additional substitutes for use in the refrigeration and air conditioning and fire suppression sectors.

SIP Approval: Texas (vehicle inspection and maintenance requirements in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria serious ozone nonattainment areas for the 2008 eight-hour ozone NAAQS).

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration proposed revisions to the pipeline safety regulations to require operators of gas distribution pipelines to update their distribution integrity management programs, emergency response plans, operations and maintenance manuals, and other safety practices.

SIP Approval: Ohio (attainment plan for the 2010 primary, health-based one-hour sulfur dioxide NAAQS in the Muskingum River nonattainment area).

BLM proposed a new rule to govern the management of surface resources and Special Areas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A); the rule would revise the framework for designating and assuring maximum protection of Special Areas’ significant resource values, and would protect and enhance access for subsistence activities throughout the NPR-A.

United States v. Tadano Ltd., No. 4:23-cv-03232 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 31, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CAA defendants that imported, introduced into commerce, and sold heavy nonroad construction equipment containing diesel engines that were not certified to model year engine emission standards must collectively pay a civil penalty of $40 million and complete a project to mitigate harm caused by excess nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions from the noncompliant engines.

SIP Approval: New Hampshire (reasonably available control technology requirements for the 2008 and 2015 ozone NAAQS).

NOAA created a temporary special use area for coral restoration located approximately five miles southeast of Tavernier, on the island of Key Largo, within federal waters of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary from September 6, 2023, to November 6, 2023.

SIP Approval: Connecticut (updates to new source review procedural requirements, substantive review criteria, provisions related to the control of volatile organic compounds, and infrastructure requirements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS).

The U.S. Sentencing Commission amended the policy statement and commentary in the Guidelines Manual that provides for a reduction in a defendant's term of imprisonment as a result of an amended guideline range.