[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 226 (Thursday, November 21, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59226-59229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29796]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5653-5]


Toxic Chemical Release Reporting, Recordkeeping, Supplier 
Notification and Petitions; Renewal Submission to OMB; OMB No. 2070-
0093

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.), and 5 CFR 1320.12(c) of its implementing regulations, this 
notice announces that the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances has forwarded the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review and approval pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.12(a)(2). The ICR, which 
is entitled: Toxic Chemical Release Reporting, Recordkeeping, Supplier 
Notification, and Petitions under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning 
and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPA ICR No. 1363.06; OMB Approval No. 
2070-0093), describes the nature of the information collection, its 
expected cost and burden, and the actual data collection instrument or 
form. The Agency is requesting that OMB renew its approval of this ICR, 
which has been approved under a Congressional legislative extension of 
an OMB approval in 1992 and is effective until the Agency promulgates 
revisions to the Form R and Instructions pursuant to law. On August 30, 
1996, EPA issued a Federal Register notice proposing this submission 
and providing 60 days for public comment on the request and the 
contents of this ICR (61 FR 45964). EPA received several comments 
during the comment period, many of which related to a recent, but 
separate, proposed rule to expand reporting under EPCRA section 313, 
those comments were forwarded to the EPA staff working on that 
rulemaking. Comments directly related to this ICR have been addresssed 
within the revised ICR submitted to OMB.

DATES: Any additional comments must be submitted to the addresses 
listed below on or before December 23, 1996.

FOR A COPY CALL: Sandy Farmer at EPA, 202-260-2740, or via e-mail at 
``[email protected]'' and refer to EPA ICR No. 1363.06; OMB 
No. 2070-0093.

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 (2136), 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. 1363.06 and OMB 
Control No. 2070-0093 in any correspondence.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Review Requested: This is a request to extend the approval for a 
current information collection.
    ICR Numbers: EPA ICR No. 1363.06 and OMB No. 2070-0093.
    Current Expiration Date: Congress legislatively extended the 
approval granted by OMB in May 1992 until EPA promulgates changes to 
the Form R and Instructions. As indicated within this ICR, EPA is 
amending the Form R and Instructions in response to several comments.
    Respondents: The statute applies the reporting requirement to 
owners and operators of facilities that have 10 or more full-time 
employees, manufacture or process more than 25,000 pounds or otherwise 
use more than 10,000 pounds of a listed chemical, and are in Standard 
Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 20 through 39. The SIC code 
determination applies to all operations within each two-digit category, 
including all sub-categorizations to the four-digit level. The 
following listing identifies the SIC codes and corresponding categories 
at the two-digit level:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  SIC                                                                   
 code                            Industry Group                         
------------------------------------------------------------------------
20....  Food                                                            
21....  Tobacco                                                         
22....  Textiles                                                        
23....  Apparel                                                         
24....  Lumber and Wood                                                 
25....  Furniture                                                       
26....  Paper                                                           
27....  Printing/Publishing                                             
28....  Chemicals                                                       
29....  Petroleum                                                       
30....  Rubber and Plastics                                             
31....  Leather                                                         
32....  Stone, Clay, and Glass                                          
33....  Primary Metals                                                  
34....  Fabricated Metals                                               
35....  Machinery (ex. electrical)                                      
36....  Electrical/Electronic equipment                                 
37....  Transportation Equipment                                        
38....  Instruments                                                     
39....  Miscellaneous Manufacturing                                     
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Establishments that are part of a multi-establishment facility have 
the option to report separately, provided that all of the releases and 
waste management data from all of the establishments in that facility 
are reported.
    Title: Toxic Chemical Release Reporting, Recordkeeping, Supplier 
Notification, and Petitions under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning 
and Community Right-to-Know Act.
    Abstract: This Information Collection Request (ICR) covers the 
information collection requirements for toxic chemical release 
reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community 
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) (42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq.) and the information 
collection in section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) (42 
U.S.C. 11071 to 11079). In short, EPCRA Sec. 313 requires owners or 
operators of certain facilities (i.e., currently manufacturing 
facilities in Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 20 through 
39) manufacturing, processing, or otherwise using any of over 600 
listed toxic chemicals and chemical categories (hereafter ``toxic 
chemicals'') in excess of the applicable threshold quantities, and 
meeting certain requirements (i.e., at least 10 employees), to report 
environmental releases and transfers of and waste management activities 
for such chemicals annually. Under section 6607 of the PPA, facilities 
must provide information on the quantities of the toxic chemicals in 
waste streams and the efforts made to reduce or eliminate those 
quantities. Currently, facilities subject to the TRI reporting 
requirements may either use the EPA Toxic Chemical Release Inventory 
Form R (EPA Form 9350-1), or the EPA Toxic Chemical Release Inventory 
Form A (formerly ``Certification Statement'',

[[Page 59227]]

EPA Form 9350-2, which is approved under OMB Number 2070-0143). The 
Form R must be completed if a facility manufactures, processes, or 
otherwise uses any listed chemical above threshold quantities and meets 
certain other criteria. For the Form A, EPA established an alternate 
threshold for those facilities with low annual reportable amounts of a 
listed toxic chemical. A facility that meets the appropriate reporting 
thresholds, but estimates that the total annual reportable amount of 
the chemical 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 met, and submit the Form A instead of the Form R.
    In accordance with EPCRA section 313 (and PPA section 6607 because 
of its linkage to EPCRA), EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics (OPPT) collects, processes, and makes available to the public 
all of the information collected. The information gathered under these 
authorities is stored in a database maintained at both EPA and the 
National Library of Medicine (NLM); NLM provides public access to the 
TRI database through the Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET). The TRI has 
been used extensively by both EPA and the public sector. Program 
offices within EPA have used the TRI, along with other sources of data, 
to establish priorities, evaluate potential exposure scenarios, and for 
enforcement activities. Environmental and public interest groups have 
used the data in several studies and reports, making the public more 
aware of releases of chemicals in their communities.
    Comprehensive publicly-available data about releases, transfers, 
and other waste management activities of toxic chemicals at the 
community level, outside of EPCRA section 313, are generally not 
available. Permit data are often difficult to obtain, are not cross-
media and present only a limited perspective on a facility's overall 
performance. With TRI, and the real gains in understanding it has 
produced, communities and governments know what listed toxic chemicals 
industrial facilities (SIC 20-39) in their area release, transfer, or 
otherwise manage as waste. In addition, industries have an additional 
tool for evaluating efficiency and progress on their pollution 
prevention goals.
    OMB approved the reporting and recordkeeping requirements related 
to Form R, supplier notification, and petitions under OMB Control No. 
2070-0093 (EPA ICR No. 1363). Although that OMB approval would have 
ordinarily expired on November 30, 1992, Congress extended the approval 
legislatively in September of 1992, until EPA promulgates changes to 
the Form R and Instructions. This approval was contained in the 1993 
Department of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and 
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, Pub.L. 102-389, signed October 
6, 1992, which specifically states that:

    Notwithstanding the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 or any 
requirements thereunder the Environmental Protection Agency Toxic 
Chemical Release Inventory TRI Form R and instructions, revised 1991 
version issued May 19, 1992, and related requirements (OMB No. 2070-
0093), shall be effective for reporting under section 6607 of the 
Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-508) and section 
313 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1990 
(Public Law 99-499) until such time as revisions are promulgated 
pursuant to law.

    OMB's approval of this ICR will replace the Congressional extension 
of OMB's 1992 approval described above, requiring EPA to seek 
subsequent OMB approvals pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 
(Pub. L. 104-13, codified at 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and the procedures 
specified at 5 CFR 1320.12. As specified by 5 CFR 1320.12(a)(1), EPA 
issued a Federal Register notice on August 30, 1996, which sought 
comments as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d) regarding the burden estimates 
and the information collection activities described in the proposed ICR 
(61 FR 45964). EPA has reviewed the comments received during the 60-day 
comment period, and is submitting this final ICR to OMB for review and 
approval, pursuant to 1320.12(a)(2). Until OMB approves EPA's proposed 
changes to the Form R and Instructions, as described in this ICR, the 
Congressional extension of OMB's 1992 approval and use of the previous 
Form R and instructions will continue in effect.
    A commenter to the proposed ICR stated that the Congressional 
extension of OMB's 1992 approval, which basically exempted the Agency 
from the requirements of the PRA, was superseded by the reauthorization 
and amendment of the PRA in 1995. In essence asserting that the 
Congressional extension of OMB's 1992 approval expired in 1995 because 
Congress cited the 1980 PRA, which ceased to exist when the 1995 PRA 
was enacted in its place. The commenter asserts that the Agency was, 
therefore, required to seek OMB approval even though no changes to the 
Form R and Instructions were made. The flaws in this interpretation are 
obvious because it is clear that the 1995 reauthorization and 
amendments to the PRA did not in any way invalidate or otherwise 
change, any of the OMB approvals previously granted. This is especially 
true in light of the legislative interpretation maxim that ``implicit 
repeals are disfavored,'' i.e., when Congress means to repeal an 
earlier exemption, Congress will use explicit language to do so. In 
this case, Congress used no such language and, to the contrary, 
discusses the continuation of previous approvals until their scheduled 
renewals.
    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 states that the Agency must 
certify that each information collection it submits to OMB for review 
and approval meets specified standards. EPA must certify that the 
collection is: 1) necessary for the proper performance of EPA's 
functions, and that it has practical utility; 2) is not unnecessarily 
duplicative of information EPA otherwise can reasonably access; and 3) 
reduces, to the extent practicable and appropriate, the burden on 
persons providing the information to or for EPA. In this ICR, EPA 
clearly demonstrates that the information being collected under EPCRA 
section 313 is necessary for the implementation of the law and is of 
essential use to the Agency in carrying out its functions by listing 
ways in which Agency program offices and outside parties utilize the 
data; that the information collected in EPA reporting Form R is not 
duplicative of information collected by other environmental regulations 
as evidenced by the information contained in chapter 5 of this ICR; 
and, that through use of the alternate threshold reporting option, the 
petition process, automated Form R reporting, the TRI List Review 
effort which evaluates the original list of TRI chemicals and removes 
from the EPCRA section 313 reporting list any chemical which does not 
meet the listing criteria, EPA has reduced, to the best of its ability, 
the burden on persons providing the information being collected under 
EPCRA section 313.
    The existing reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated 
with Form R, supplier notification and petitions are discussed in this 
ICR (EPA ICR No. 1363), which is separate from the ICR related to the 
alternate reporting requirement of Form A. The reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements associated with the alternate reporting 
requirement using Form A are contained in a separate ICR and are 
approved under OMB Control No. 2070-0143 (EPA ICR No. 1704). OMB 
recently extended its approval of EPA ICR No. 1704, which was scheduled 
to expire on

[[Page 59228]]

September 30, 1996, providing a new expiration date of May 31, 1998. 
Please note that these two ICRs function entirely separately, such that 
the OMB action taken with regard to EPA ICR No. 1704 applies only to 
the alternate reporting requirements and Form A, and that any OMB 
action taken with regard to this ICR (EPA ICR No. 1363.06), will apply 
only to the existing reporting and recordkeeping requirements 
associated with Form R, supplier notification and petitions. The 
revised form discussed in this ICR will not become effective until OMB 
approves it.
    In addition, EPA recently proposed to amend the TRI reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements by proposing to add several additional 
industry groups to the universe of respondents subject to reporting (61 
FR 33588, June 27, 1996). As required by section 3507(d) of the PRA and 
5 CFR 1320.11, EPA announced and sought comment on the proposed 
Expansion of the List of Industrial Groups ICR (EPA ICR No. 1784), 
which provided burden estimates for the information collection 
contained in the proposed rule. Since the comment period for the 
industrial group expansion rule was extended for an additional 30 days, 
the public had a total of 90 days to provide comments on the 
information collection requirements contained in that proposed rule.
    When the final rule for Industry Expansion is issued, the 
information collection requirements contained in the final rule will be 
reflected in a revised EPA ICR No. 1784, which will be submitted to OMB 
for review and approval pursuant 5 CFR 1320.11(h). That submission must 
occur no later than publication of that final rule in the Federal 
Register and the submission must be announced in a Federal Register 
(issued either separately or as part of the final rule). Upon OMB's 
approval of the expansion related ICR (ICR No. 1784.02), EPA will amend 
add the expansion burdens to the existing burdens associated with 
overall TRI reporting and recordkeeping (i.e., those in ICR Nos. 1363 
and 1704). Specifically, EPA would amend the existing ICRs by 
submitting an Information Correction Worksheet to OMB requesting that 
the burden hours associated with each ICR be adjusted to include the 
new burden hours imposed by that final rule.
    EPA received several comments on this ICR during its 60 day comment 
period. In general, the commenters submitting information to EPA ICR 
No. 1363.06 were comprised mainly of industry members in addition to 
two commenters from the Federal Government. Copies of these comments 
can be found in docket number OPPTS-198. Comments received focused 
mainly on the practical utility of the information collected by EPA 
under EPCRA section 313; the Agency's definition of ``release'' as 
reflected in TRI reporting Form R, Secs. 5.4 and 5.5.1; EPA's adherence 
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 and 1995; the purported need for 
EPA to measure risk, not releases; and, the need for further 
consideration by the Agency of an expanded use of TRI reporting Form A, 
the alternate threshold reporting form. EPA has provided additional 
information and discussion herein, as applicable, in response to the 
comments submitted to the ICR. Those issues that related solely to the 
requirements contained in the alternate reporting threshold rule, or 
those contained in the recently proposed expansion rule, were forwarded 
to the appropriate staff for consideration in relationship to those 
requirements.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 47.1 
hours per Form R submitted. 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: 23,725.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 5,538,727 hours.
    Frequency of Collection: Annual.
    Accordingly, this ICR has been submitted to OMB for review and 
approval.
    Changes in Burden Estimates: The total respondent burden has 
increased approximately 651,000 hours from the previous ICR. A table in 
the ICR (Table 16), illustrates the major program changes and 
adjustments that have occurred since the previous ICR and the 
corresponding changes in the number of expected Form R Forms and 
related annual burden estimates. The impacts of the 1995 and 1996 
program changes on the Form A ICR (No. 1704) burden are also included 
in the discussion, but the burdens are not included in the total 
estimates for this ICR. The changes in burden can be attributed to 
several factors, as briefly discussed below:
    1994 Program Change--Chemical Expansion Rule. In November 1994, EPA 
added 286 chemicals and chemical categories to the EPCRA section 313 
list of chemicals and chemical categories. These new chemicals were 
reportable beginning with the 1995 reporting year. This program change 
would, at full compliance, add up to 14,036 reports, or an additional 
729,872 burden hours. The Chemical Expansion Rule would, at full 
compliance, also result in an additional 407 supplier notification 
facilities, for an increase in total annual burden of 9,768 hours. The 
total impacts due to the Chemical Expansion Rule are therefore an 
additional 14,036 reports and an increase in burden of 739,640 hours.
    A. 1995 Program Change--Alternate Threshold Rule. In 1995, EPA 
provided a simplified reporting option for facilities with an annual 
reportable amount of less than 500 pounds for a chemical. Facilities 
that do not exceed the reportable amount of 500 pounds and that do not 
exceed the alternate activity threshold of one million pounds have the 
option of reporting on Form A (a two page certification) in lieu of the 
nine page Form R. Up to 23,288 fewer Form Rs may be filed as a result, 
for a decrease in annual burden of 1,210,976 hours.
    1995 and 1996 Program Changes--Petition Delistings. The list of 
toxic chemicals subject to reporting under EPCRA section 313 is not 
static. The list can be modified either as a result of an Agency-
initiated action or as a result of a petition submitted by the public. 
If a listed chemical does not meet the toxicity criteria of EPCRA 
section 313(d)(2), the Administrator may delete the chemical from the 
EPCRA section 313 list. Since the previous ICR, a number of chemicals 
have been delisted, or had their listings modified in such a way as to 
reduce reporting. These include ammonia, sulfuric acid, acetone, butyl 
benzyl phthalate, certain copper phthalocyanine compounds, hydrochloric 
acid, and diethyl phthalate. At full compliance, this is estimated to 
reduce the number of Form

[[Page 59229]]

Rs by 12,386 reports and total annual burden by 644,072 hours.
    I. Adjustments. Several adjustments were made to update burden 
estimates. In 1994, the unit burden for the compliance activities of 
calculations and report completion and recordkeeping needed for Form R 
completion was increased, resulting in a total increase in burden of 
1,523,016 hours. Additional adjustments include an increase in the 
burden for compliance determination, a further increase in the burden 
for calculations and report completion, a decrease in the respondent 
universe from 188,232 to 185,266 facilities, and an adjustment for the 
burden of completing petitions. These adjustments combined result in a 
burden increase of 1,766,455 hours.
    A. Wage Rates. An increase in wage rates from the previous ICR to 
account for inflation, while not affecting respondent burden, has 
increased the unit cost to respondents.
    The program changes reduced burden by an estimated 1,115,408 hours 
while the adjustments resulted in an estimated increase of 1,766,455 
hours, yielding a net increase of 651,047 hours.
    Dated: November 15, 1996.
Richard T. Westlund,
Acting Director, Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 96-29796 Filed 11-20-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P