[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 2 (Friday, January 3, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 365-366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-57]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 372

[OPPTS-400106B; FRL-5581-2]
RIN 2070-AD08


Addition of Community Right-to Know; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: In the Federal Register of October 1, 1996, EPA issued an 
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to announce EPA's 
intention to expand its Community Right-to-Know initiatives to increase 
the information available to the public on chemical use, and to solicit 
comments on all aspects of chemical use data and its collection. Based 
on a request for additional time submitted by the U.S. Department of 
Energy's Office of Environmental Policy and Assistance, EPA is 
extending the comment period on the ANPR by 60 days.

DATES: Comments must be received by February 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted in triplicate to: OPPT 
Docket Clerk, TSCA Document Receipt Office (7407), Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. E-G099, 401 
M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. Comments containing information 
claimed as confidential must be clearly marked as confidential business 
information (CBI). If CBI is claimed,

[[Page 366]]

three additional sanitized copies must also be submitted. 
Nonconfidential versions of comments will be placed in the record for 
this action and will be available for public inspection. Comments 
should include the docket control number for the ANPR, OPPTS-400106 and 
the EPA contact. Unit II. of this document contains additional 
information on submitting comments containing information claimed as 
CBI.
    Comments and data may also be submitted electronically by sending 
electronic mail (e-mail) to: [email protected]. Electronic 
comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption. Comments and data will also be 
accepted on disks in WordPerfect 5.1 file format or ASCII file format. 
All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by the 
docket number OPPTS-400106. No CBI should be submitted through e-mail. 
Electronic comments on this ANPR may be filed online at many Federal 
Depository Libraries. Additional information on electronic submissions 
can be found in Unit IV. of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Gillen at 202-260-1801, e-mail: 
[email protected] for specific information regarding this 
Notice. For further information on EPCRA section 313 contact the 
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Hotline, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mail Stop 5101, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 
20460. Toll free: 1-800-535-0202, in Virginia and Alaska: 703-412-9877 
or Toll free TDD: 800-553-7672.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic Availability: An electronic copy 
of the documents listed in Unit I of this document are available from 
the EPA Public Access gopher (gopher.epa.gov) at the Environmental 
SubSet entry under ``Rules and Regulations.''

I. Introduction

    In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Planning and Community 
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Section 313 of EPCRA requires certain 
businesses to submit reports each year on the amounts of toxic 
chemicals their facilities release into the environment or otherwise 
manage. The information is placed in a publicly accessible data base 
known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The purpose of this 
requirement is to inform the public, government officials, and industry 
about the chemical management practices of specified toxic chemicals.
    EPA is interested in expanding the information available via TRI to 
include chemical use information such as materials accounting data. The 
Agency began reviewing this issue in 1993 and held public meetings in 
1994 and 1995. On August 8, 1995, President Clinton directed EPA to 
develop and implement, on an expedited schedule, a process for 
consideration of reporting use information under TRI. In response, EPA 
has begun the regulatory development process for additional review of 
chemical use reporting, which the Agency believes may provide a more 
detailed and comprehensive picture to the public about environmental 
performance and about toxic chemicals in their communities. EPA 
published the ANPR on October 1, 1996 (61 FR 51322) (FRL-5387-6), to 
give notice of EPA's consideration of this issue and to solicit 
comments on all aspects of chemical use and the collection of chemical 
use data. At the same time, the Agency also released ``Issues Paper No. 
3'' which describes previous stakeholder comments on chemical use 
reporting. EPA also held three public meetings in October and December 
of 1996 to provide public forums for interested parties to provide 
input on the issues raised by the ANPR. This issues paper and ANPR can 
be obtained from the EPCRA hotline at the telephone numbers listed in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT unit of this document, or 
electronically via the EPA's TRI Homepage at: http://www.epa.gov/
opptintr/tri.
    The original comment period for the ANPR was due to expire on 
December 30, 1996. However, on November 26, 1996, the Department of 
Energy submitted a request for an extension of the comment period to 
allow time to gather and consolidate comments from various DOE 
facilities, and to account for DOE's need to comment on another EPA 
reporting initiative during the same period. EPA has decided to grant 
this request and to extend the comment period for an additional 60 
days, or until February 28, 1997.

II. Rulemaking Record and Electronic Filing of Comments

    A record has been established for the ANPR under docket number 
``OPPTS-400106'' (including comments and data submitted electronically 
as described below). A public version of this record, including printed 
paper versions of electronic comments, which does not include any 
information claimed as CBI, is available for inspection from noon to 4 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The public 
record is located in the TSCA Nonconfidential Information Center, Room 
NE-B607, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460.
    Any person who submits comments claimed as CBI must mark the 
comments as ``confidential,'' ``CBI,'' or other appropriate 
designation. Comments not claimed as confidential at the time of 
submission will be placed in the public file. Any comments marked as 
confidential will be treated in accordance with the procedures in 40 
CFR part 2. Any person submitting comments claimed to be confidential 
must prepare a nonconfidential public version of the comments in 
triplicate that EPA can place in the public file.
    Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at 
[email protected]. Electronic comments must be submitted as an 
ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of 
encryption. The official record for this action, as well as the public 
version, as described above will be kept in paper form. Accordingly, 
EPA will transfer all comments received electronically into printed 
paper form as they are received and will place the paper copies in the 
official record which will also include all comments submitted directly 
in writing. The official record is the paper record maintained at the 
address in ADDRESSES at the beginning of this document.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 372

    Environmental protection, Community right-to-know, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Toxic chemicals.

    Dated: December 23, 1996.
Lynn R. Goldman,
Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances.

[FR Doc. 97-57 Filed 1-2-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F