[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 92 (Friday, May 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21460-21462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11755]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5502-9]


Agency Information Collection Activities Up for Renewal

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request 
(ICR) listed below is coming up for renewal. Before submitting the 
renewal package to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is soliciting 
comments on specific aspects of the collection as described below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 9, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Phaseout Manager, Stratospheric Protection Division, U.S. 
EPA (6205J), 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. Materials 
relevant to this proposed rulemaking are contained in Public Docket No. 
A-92-13. This docket is located in Room M-1500, Waterside Mall (Ground 
Floor), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. Dockets 
may be inspected from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. A 
reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Land, Stratospheric Protection 
Division, U.S. EPA (6205J), 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460, 
(202) 233-9185, phone: (202) 233-9185, fax: (202) 233-9637. For 
questions only, you may use the electronic address: 
[email protected]. All comments must be sent to the docket.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Affected entities: Entities affected by this action are companies 
that produce, import, export, transform, and destroy controlled ozone-
depleting substances, as well as suppliers of laboratory ozone-
depleting chemicals and companies deemed to have an essential use of 
these chemicals beyond the phaseout.
    Title: ``Recordkeeping and Periodic Reporting of the Production, 
Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction, Transhipment and Feedstock Use 
of Ozone-depleting Substances.'' OMB Control Number: 2060-0170. EPA 
Control Number: 1617.06. Expiration Date: September 30, 1996.
    Abstract: EPA accelerated the phaseout of controlled class I ozone-
depleting substances under Section 606 of the Clean Air Act Amendments 
of 1990 (CAA) in regulations published on December 10, 1993, in the 
Federal Register (58 FR 65018) and codified in 40 CFR Subpart B 
(Sec. 82.1 et seq.) These regulations were amended in the Federal 
Register on May 10, 1995, (60 FR 24970) in order to ensure an orderly 
phaseout and account for exempted production and consumption. Under the 
Montreal Protocol and Title VI of the CAA, consumption is defined as 
production plus imports minus exports. The ICR renewal indicates 
changes in reporting requirements resulting from the phaseout. The 
reasons information is collected, the way information is used, and 
whether the requirements are mandatory, voluntary, or required to 
obtain a benefit, are described below. The ICR renewal will not include 
any burden for third-party or public disclosures not previously 
reviewed and approved by OMB.
    EPA monitors production, import, export, transformation, 
destruction of controlled substances and special

[[Page 21461]]

exemptions beyond the phaseout of class I controlled substances through 
reporting requirements published in regulations. These reporting 
requirements are designed to:
    (1) Satisfy U.S. obligations under the international treaty, the 
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer;
    (2) Fulfill statutory obligations under Section 603(b) of Title VI 
of the CAA;
    (3) Report to Congress on the production, use and consumption of 
class I and class II controlled substances as statutorily required in 
Section 603(d) of the CAA;
    (4) Address Federal and industry concerns regarding illegal imports 
of newly produced and previously used controlled substances that are 
undercutting U.S. markets.
    The information submitted to EPA is maintained in a Tracking System 
that allows the Agency:
    (1) to maintain control over total production and consumption of 
controlled substances to satisfy conditions of the CAA and fulfill U.S. 
obligations under the Protocol,
    (2) to monitor compliance with limits and restrictions on 
production, imports, exports and specific exemptions to the phaseout 
for individual U.S. companies
    (3) to enforce against illegal importers and other violations 
related to the control of class I and class II controlled substances.
    The Montreal Protocol and Title VI of the CAA establish limits on 
total U.S. production, import and export of class I and class I 
controlled substances. As of January 1, 1996, the U.S. is obligated 
under the Protocol to cease production and import of class I controlled 
substances (except methyl bromide) with exemptions for essential-uses, 
transformation, destruction and previously used material. The Protocol 
also establishes a limit on total consumption of class II controlled 
substances beginning in 1996. The CAA has its own limits on production 
and consumption of controlled substances that EPA must enforce using 
the information submitted.
    To ensure U.S. compliance with the limits and restrictions 
established by the Protocol and the CAA, the regulation establishes 
controls on individual companies. The limits and restrictions for 
individual U.S. companies are monitored by EPA through the reporting 
requirements established in the regulation. The information provided is 
entered into EPA's Stratospheric Protection Tracking System. The 
Tracking System allows EPA to conduct compliance monitoring for 
individual companies, as well as compliance monitoring for the U.S. 
with respect to Protocol obligations and statutory requirements under 
the CAA.
    EPA uses the information to direct special attention to illegal 
activities associated with the import of both newly produced and 
previously used controlled substances. Illegal imports and the 
avoidance of the tax on these chemicals make them more available, 
reduce the incentive to shift to alternatives, and penalize companies 
who are complying with U.S. laws. EPA is an active part of the Federal 
inter-agency taskforce conducting nation-wide enforcement actions. The 
information provided to EPA in response to the accelerated phaseout 
regulations often form the basis for cases.
    The regulation outlines both recordkeeping and reporting 
requirements. EPA has produced a new Guidance Document that explains 
the simplifications and changes in post-phaseout reporting and includes 
the revised forms. In conjunction with the new Guidance Document, EPA 
is developing a new industry electronic version of the reporting/
tracking system for industry reporting. EPA is also initiating a review 
of all reporting requirements under the Montreal Protocol and plans on 
leading an international effort to simplify them to reduce U.S. burden 
and burden for reporting companies.
    The EPA would like to solicit comments to:
    (i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed collection of information;
    (iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and
    (iv) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses.
    An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information, unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations are displayed in 40 CFR Part 9.
    Burden Statement: The burden hours shown represent the hours in the 
information collection request (ICR) renewal. The renewal significantly 
reduces overall burden hours due to the transition to the post-phaseout 
period. The annual burden hours prior to the phaseout were estimated to 
be 34,110 hours. Today's ICR renewal estimates annual burden hours to 
be 10,532 hours.
    The following is a Table summarizing the burden hours for compiling 
information and submitting it to EPA Headquarters:

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                                                  Number of    Responses/     Total      Hours per              
              Collection activity                respondents   respondent   responses     response   Total hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Producer's Report..............................            8            4           32           16          512
Importer's Report..............................            6            4           24           16          384
Notification of Trade..........................            2            1            2            2            4
Export Report..................................           10            1           10          120         1200
Lab Certification..............................         1000            1         1000            1         1000
Class II Report................................           14            4           56           16          896
Transformation and Destruction.................           15            1           15          120         1800
Essential Use and..............................           12            4           48           32         1536
Lab Suppliers..................................           25            4          100           32         3200
                                                                                                    ------------
      Total burden hrs.........................  ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........        10532
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    This estimate includes the time needed to review instructions; 
develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the 
purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, 
processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing 
information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any

[[Page 21462]]

previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to 
be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; 
complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or 
otherwise disclose the information.
    Send comments regarding these matters, or any other aspects of the 
information collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden, 
to the address listed above under ADDRESS near the top of this Notice.

    Dated: April 30, 1996.
Paul M. Stolpman,
Director, Office of Atmospheric Programs.
[FR Doc. 96-11755 Filed 5-9-96; 8:45 am]
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