[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 26, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28509-28510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13897]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPPTS-400130; FRL-5792-5]


Public Meetings on the Toxics Release Inventory Reporting Form

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

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SUMMARY: EPA will hold approximately nine public meetings to solicit 
comments relating to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting form, 
the Form R. The purpose of the meetings is to obtain comments from 
stakeholders on ways to improve the type of right-to-know information 
available to communities and to help streamline right-to-know reporting 
to ease the paperwork burden for businesses affected by the 
requirements. The first five meetings were held in November 1997 and 
February and April 1998. This notice announces two upcoming meetings. 
Additional meeting dates will be announced through future Federal 
Register notices.

DATES: The meetings will take place:
    1. Thursday, June 18, 1998, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Ramada Inn, 
70 John Wesley Dobbs Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30303. Participants must 
register to speak by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, 1998.
    2. Wednesday, June 24, 1998, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Holiday Inn 
City Center, 1215 Wyandotte Street, Kansas City, MO 64105. Participants 
must register to speak by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Each comment must bear the docket control number ``OPPTS-
400130.'' All comments should be sent in triplicate to: OPPT Document 
Control Officer (7407), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Rm. G-099, East Tower, 
Washington, DC 20460.
    Comments and data may also be submitted electronically to: 
[email protected]. Follow the instructions under Unit II. of 
this document. No Confidential Business Information (CBI) should be 
submitted through e-mail.
    All comments which contain information claimed as CBI must be 
clearly marked as such. Three sanitized copies of any comments 
containing information claimed as CBI must also be submitted and will 
be placed in the public record for this action. Persons submitting 
information on any portion of which they believe is entitled to 
treatment as CBI by EPA must assert a business confidentiality claim in 
accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) for each such portion. This claim must 
be made at the time that the information is submitted to EPA. If a 
submitter does not assert a confidentiality claim at the time of 
submission, EPA will consider this as a waiver of any confidentiality 
claim and the information may be made available to the public by EPA 
without further notice to the submitter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vicki R. Anderson, (Mail Stop 7408), 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 260-3544; fax number: (202) 401-8142; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    EPA plans to hold approximately nine public meetings to solicit 
comments relating to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting form, 
the Form R. The first five meetings took place in November 1997 and 
February and April 1998. The docket control number for the November 
meetings is ``OPPTS-400117'' and the docket control number for the 
February and April meetings is ``OPPTS-400124.'' Comments presented at 
these meetings are available for review as described in Unit II. of 
this document.
    The purpose of the meetings is to obtain comments from stakeholders 
on ways to improve the type of right-to-know information available to 
communities and to help streamline right-to-know reporting to ease the 
paperwork burden for businesses affected by the requirements. Topics 
for comment include the format of the Form R; nomenclature used in the 
Form R; opportunities for burden reduction in both the Form R and Form 
A; additional clarification of the elements in the Form R; and EPA's 
presentation of the data in public information documents. EPA would 
like to receive comments on these issues from interested parties for 
changes, modifications, deletions, and/or additions of data elements to 
the Form R and the Form A. These issues are outlined in greater detail 
in an issue paper available on the TRI Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/
opptintr/tri under the heading ``TRI Stakeholder Dialogue'' and the 
subheading ``TRI Public Meetings.''
    The sections of the Form R that EPA would like specific comment on 
are sections 5, 6, and 8. In section 5, there have been a number of 
issues raised with regard to the definition of ``release,'' 
particularly with respect to Class I underground injection wells and 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) subtitle C landfills. 
Several commenters believe that EPA's interpretation of the Emergency 
Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA) definition of 
``release'' will lead to the misperception that a reported EPCRA 
section 313 ``release'' necessarily results in an actual exposure of 
people or the environment to a toxic chemical. The Agency would like to 
hear suggestions on ways to collect and disseminate the data that are 
consistent with the Agency's interpretation of the EPCRA definition of 
``release'' and would address the concerns raised regarding public 
misperception.
    There have also been a number of issues raised with regard to the 
reporting of toxic chemicals in wastes in section 8 of the Form R. 
Section 8 collects information on waste managed at the facility whether 
or not the waste was generated at the reporting facility. Some 
individuals are concerned about public misperception of the data in 
section 8 because of the focus on the amount of waste managed at the 
facility and not the waste generated. EPA would like comments on ways 
to change section 8 of the Form R, which would continue to allow the 
user to assess wastes managed by the facility but would minimize the 
perception that the wastes reported in section 8 were generated by the 
reporting facility.
    Individuals wishing to attend these meetings or participate via 
conference call must sign-up in advance in order to assure that all 
participants have an opportunity to speak. Depending on the number of 
individuals registered, oral presentations or statements will be 
limited to approximately 5 to 15 minutes. To register, contact Vicki 
Anderson at (202) 260-3544. For those who cannot travel to the public 
meeting location, there will be 10 conference call lines available on a 
first come, first served basis. When registering, give your name, 
organization, postal (and electronic, if any) mailing address, 
telephone, and fax number. If there is insufficient interest in any of 
the meetings, that meeting may be canceled. Individuals registered will 
be notified in the event a meeting is canceled. The Agency bears no 
responsibility for attendees' decision to purchase nonrefundable 
transportation tickets or accommodation reservations.

[[Page 28510]]

II. Public Record and Electronic Submissions

    The official record for this action, as well as the public version, 
has been established for this action under docket control number 
``OPPTS-400130'' (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 
official record is located in the TSCA Nonconfidential Information 
Center, Rm. NE-B607, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460.
    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. Comments and data 
will also be accepted on disks in WordPerfect 5.1/6.1 or ASCII file 
format. All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by 
the docket control number ``OPPTS-400130.'' Electronic comments on this 
action may be filed online at many Federal Depository Libraries.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Community right-to-know.

    Dated: May 19, 1998.

Thomas D. Tillman,

Acting Director, Environmental Assistance Division, Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics.

[FR Doc. 98-13897 Filed 5-22-98; 8:45 am]
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