[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8722-8724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4752]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5694-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Notification of Episodic Releases of Oil and Hazardous 
Substances

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 EPA is planning to submit the 
following continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB): Notification of Episodic Releases of 
Oil and Hazardous Substances, EPA ICR Number 1049.07, OMB Control 
Number 2050-0046, expiring June 30, 1997. Before submitting the ICR 
renewal package to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting 
comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as 
described below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted in triplicate to the following 
address: Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (5201G), Attention: 
Superfund Docket Clerk, Docket Number 102RQ-ER, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460, (703) 603-
9232. Materials relevant to this rulemaking are contained in Public 
Docket No. 102RQ-ER. This docket is located at 1235 Jefferson Davis 
Highway (ground floor), Arlington, VA. Dockets may be inspected, by 
appointment only, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. A 
reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket material.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Beasley, (703) 603-9086. 
Facsimile number: (703) 603-9104. Electronic address: 
[email protected]. Note that questions but not comments will 
be accepted electronically.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Affected Entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
those persons in charge of a facility or vessel that has released a 
reportable quantity or more of a hazardous substance into the 
environment or that has discharged oil into U.S. waters, causing a 
sheen, violating applicable water quality standards, or causing a 
sludge or emulsion to be deposited beneath the surface of the water or 
upon adjoining shorelines.
    Title: Notification of Episodic Releases of Oil and Hazardous 
Substances, EPA ICR Number 1049.07, OMB Control Number 2050-0046, 
expiring June 30, 1997.
    Abstract: This ICR addresses the reporting and record keeping 
activities required to comply with the release notification 
requirements for hazardous substances and oil specified in section 
103(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended, and section 311 of the 
Clean Water Act (CWA). These reporting requirements are codified at 40 
CFR parts 110, 117, and 302. This ICR renews the collection activity 
previously approved under OMB No. 2050-0046 and applies to the period

[[Page 8723]]

July 1, 1997 through June 30, 2000. Estimates of the burden placed on 
industry to comply with the release notification requirements are 
presented annually.
    CERCLA section 103(a) and CWA section 311 require the person in 
charge of a facility or vessel to immediately notify the National 
Response Center (NRC) of hazardous substance releases into the 
environment and oil discharges into U.S. waters. The regulated 
community is expected to:
     Gather necessary release data, such as the time, quantity, 
and source of the release;
     Brief the facility manager;
     Consult with the environmental compliance expert;
     Report the release to the NRC using a toll-free telephone 
number, a facsimile number, or a telex number; and
     Keep a log of release data such as the time, date, and 
circumstance of the release. (This information is expected, but not 
required under the regulations).
    There are no record keeping requirements specified under CERCLA 
section 103(a), CWA section 311, or their implementing regulations. The 
person in charge of the facility or vessel, however, may elect to 
maintain a log detailing the time, date, and circumstances associated 
with the reported release. The purpose of maintaining a log of reported 
releases is to track correspondence with response authorities and to 
document compliance with release notification requirements under CERCLA 
and the CWA. Because the respondent will probably perform this 
activity, burden and cost estimates associated with record keeping are 
included in the ICR.
    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 listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. For this 
ICR, 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, including the validity of 
the methodology and assumptions used;
    (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 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    Burden Statement: The current ICR assumes that notification 
requires approximately two person-hours for releases of hazardous 
substances and oil, including one hour of technical personnel time and 
one hour of managerial time. Although neither CERCLA nor CWA require 
that records of releases be kept, a facility would probably keep a log 
of any calls made to government organizations. The burden associated 
with internal record keeping is estimated at one technical hour and one 
clerical hour per release; a ratio of one-tenth managerial hour to each 
hour of clerical time is also assumed.
    The estimated costs of completing the episodic release reports 
required under CERCLA and the CWA are a function of the time expended 
by industrial personnel and the hourly rates for the appropriate labor 
categories. The number of burden hours is the same for the renewal ICR 
as for the current ICR. The unit cost estimates for each category of 
activities are based upon a managerial wage rate of $38.72 per hour, a 
technical wage rate of $28.37 per hour, and a clerical wage rate of 
$17.48 per hour. These wage rates, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
are the same as those used in the notice for renewal of the Spill 
Prevention and Control Countermeasure ICR (61 FR 15246, April 5, 1996). 
They include wages and salaries, benefit costs including paid leave, 
supplemental pay, insurance, retirement and savings, legally required 
benefits, severance pay, and supplemental unemployment benefits and 
overhead costs, calculated in December, 1995 dollars.

   Burden Hours and Unit Cost Per Respondent Activity and Annual Burden Hours and Costs Incurred by a Typical   
                                                   Respondent                                                   
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                                    Management       Technical       Clerical      Total burden                 
       Collection activity          (38.72/hr)      ($28.73/hr)      $17.48/hr         hours         Unit cost  
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Initial Telephone Call..........             1.0             1.0               0             2.0          $67.09
Record keeping..................             0.1             1.0             1.0             2.1           49.72
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Annual Burden for a Typical                                                                                     
 Release........................             1.1             2.0             1.0             4.1          116.81
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    Past release reports were used to project future release reports. 
The next exhibit shows the projected annual release reports, burden 
hours, and costs under the current ICR. Projections were based on the 
conservative use of assumptions and methodologies that tend to err on 
the side of over predicting the number of releases.

                                                         Estimated Annual Burden Hours and Costs                                                        
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                                                                                            Number of       Unit                 Total                  
                Type of release                            Collection activity             reportable      burden   Unit cost    burden     Annual cost 
                                                                                          releases/year    hours                 hours     (Thousand $) 
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All CERCLA Hazardous Substances................  Telephone Notification................           6,519        2.0     $67.09     13,038            $437
                                                 Record keeping........................           6,519        2.1      49.72     13,690             324
Oil............................................  Telephone Notification................          22,685        2.0      67.09     45,307           1,522
                                                 Record keeping........................          22,685        2.1      49.72     47,639           1,128
    Total Aggregate Releases...................  Telephone Notification................          29,204        2.0      67.09     58,408           1,959
                                                 Record keeping........................          29,204        2.1      49.72     61,329           1,452
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      Annual Total.............................  ......................................          29,204        4.1     116.81    119,737           3,411
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[[Page 8724]]

    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 
provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time 
needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize 
technology and systems for the purpose 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.

    Dated: February 13, 1997.
Stephen D. Luftig,
Director, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response.
[FR Doc. 97-4752 Filed 2-25-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P