[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 154 (Thursday, August 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41407-41408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20249]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5547-8]


Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review; 
Renewal Request for OMB No. 2070-0143

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 Office of Prevention, 
Pesticides and Toxic Substances has forwarded the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) entitled: Alternate Threshold for Low Annual 
Reportable Amounts; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (EPA ICR #1704.03; 
OMB Approval #2070-0143), which is abstracted below, to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes 
the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and 
burden; where appropriate, it includes the actual data collection 
instrument. The Agency is requesting the renewal of the existing 
approval, which is scheduled to expire on September 30, 1996. A Federal 
Register notice proposing this submission and providing 60 days for 
public comment on the request and the contents of this ICR was issued 
on May 15, 1996 (61 FR 24488). EPA only received one comment during the 
comment period, which expressed support for the maintenance of the 
Alternate Reporting Threshold, urging OMB to promptly approve the 
renewal request in order to ensure its continued availability.

DATES: Any comments must be submitted to the addresses listed below on 
or before September 9, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY CALL: Sandy Farmer at EPA, 202-260-
2740, and refer to EPA ICR No. 1704.03.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, or any other 
aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for 
reducing the burden, to the following addresses: Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Information Policy Branch (2137), 401 
M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, with a copy also sent to the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20503. Please refer to EPA ICR No. 1704.03 and OMB 
Control No. 2070-0143 in any correspondence.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Review Requested: This is a request to renew a currently approved 
information collection.
    ICR Numbers: EPA ICR No. 1704.03 and OMB No. 2070-0143.
    Current Expiration Date: Current OMB approval expires on September 
30, 1996.
    Title: Alternate Threshold for Low Annual Reportable Amounts; Toxic 
Chemical Release Reporting.
    Abstract: This information collection request (ICR) covers the 
public reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with toxics 
release inventory (TRI) reporting based on an alternate threshold for 
facilities with low amounts of chemicals in waste, under section 313 of 
the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) 
(42 U.S.C. 11023(f)(2)).
    Section 313 of EPCRA requires certain facilities manufacturing, 
processing, or otherwise using listed toxic chemicals in excess of the 
applicable threshold quantities to report their environmental releases 
of such chemicals annually. Each covered facility must file a separate 
Form R for each listed chemical

[[Page 41408]]

manufactured, processed or otherwise used in excess of the reporting 
thresholds established in section 313(f)(1). EPA has authority to 
revise these threshold amounts pursuant to section 313(f)(2); however, 
such revised threshold amounts must obtain reporting on a substantial 
majority of total releases of the chemical at all facilities subject to 
section 313. A revised threshold may be based on classes of chemicals 
or categories of facilities. Section 328 provides EPA with general 
rulemaking authority to develop regulations necessary to carry out the 
purposes of the Act.
    EPA has established an alternate threshold for those facilities 
with low amounts of a listed toxic chemical in wastes. A facility that 
meets the current section 313 reporting thresholds, but estimates that 
the total amount of the chemical in total waste does not exceed 500 
pounds per year, can take advantage of an alternate manufacture, 
process or otherwise use threshold of 1 million pounds per year, for 
that chemical, provided that certain conditions are adhered to. The 
amounts in total waste are the combined total of amounts released at 
the facility, treated at the facility (as represented by amounts 
destroyed or converted by treatment processes), recovered at the 
facility as a result of recycling operations, combusted for the purpose 
of energy recovery at the facility, and transferred from the facility 
to off-site locations for the purpose of recycling, energy recovery, 
treatment, or disposal.
    Each qualifying facility that chooses to apply the revised 
manufacture, process or otherwise use threshold must file an annual 
certification statement in lieu of a complete Form R. This annual 
certification is submitted to both the EPCRA reporting center and the 
designated state recipient in the same manner that the Form R is 
submitted. The annual certification provides a signed statement that 
the sum of the amount of the TRI chemical in wastes did not exceed 500 
pounds for this reporting year, and that the chemical was manufactured, 
processed, or otherwise used in an amount not exceeding 1 million 
pounds during this reporting year.
    The primary function served by the certification statement is to 
satisfy the statutory requirement to maintain reporting on a 
substantial majority of releases for all listed chemicals. Without the 
certification statement, users of TRI data would have no access to any 
information on these chemicals. The certification statement can also be 
considered a de facto range report that indicates that the sum of 
amounts of the chemical in waste did not exceed 500 pounds, which can 
be useful to any party interested in amounts being handled at a 
particular facility or for broader statistical purposes. Additionally, 
the certification statement provides compliance monitoring and 
enforcement programs along with other interested parties a means to 
track chemical management activities and verify overall compliance with 
the rule.
    This ICR is similar to the one previously approved by OMB, but has 
been amended slightly to reflect TRI delisting actions that have 
occurred since the last ICR and which impact the estimated number of 
potential certifications. To date, EPA has either completely removed or 
modified the listing for 7 chemicals. This reduces the number of 
certification statements estimated by approximately 12 percent compared 
to the previous ICR for the alternate threshold, which acts to reduce 
the estimated burden for this data collection.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 34.5 
hours per response. 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 
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. No person is 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.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Chemical facilities that 
manufacture, process or otherwise use certain toxic chemicals and which 
are required, under EPCRA section 313, to report annually to EPA their 
environmental releases of such chemicals.
    Estimated No. of Respondents: 10,257
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 709,784 hours.
    Frequency of Collection: Annual.

    Dated: July 31, 1996.
Joseph Retzer,
Director, Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 96-20249 Filed 8-7-96; 8:45 am]
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