[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 188 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51916-51917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26004]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6169-9]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Survey of the Inorganic Chemical Industry

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 document announces that the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Inorganic Chemical Industry 
Survey. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and 
its expected burden and cost; where appropriate, it includes the actual 
data collection instrument.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 29, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY CONTACT: Sandy Farmer at EPA by phone 
at (202) 260-2740, by EMAIL at [email protected], or 
download off the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/icr/icr.htm, and refer 
to EPA ICR No. 1848.01.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Survey of the Inorganic Chemical Industry (EPA ICR No. 
1848.01). This is a new collection.
    Abstract: Under the Industry Studies Program, EPA's Office of Solid 
Waste is planning to conduct surveys of various industries through FY 
1999, primarily for developing hazardous waste listing determinations 
as part of a rule-making effort under Sections 3001 and 3004 of the 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
    This ICR will allow continued and expanded data collection on the 
inorganic chemical industry for the following program areas:
     Listing.
     Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) and Capacity.
     Source Reduction and Recycling.
     Risk Assessment.
    EPA has been conducting surveys and site visits for various 
industries over the past 12 years under authority granted under RCRA 
section 3007 and OMB #2050-0042. Responses to these surveys are 
mandatory and required by EPA to collect data for development of 
hazardous waste rule-makings as required by a consent decree signed 
December 9, 1994, which resulted from the EDF v. Reilly case.
    For the inorganic chemical industry that is the subject of this 
information collection, these surveys will collect the data listed 
below.
     Corporate/facility data--name, location, EPA hazardous 
waste identification number, and facility representative.
     Feedstock and product information--chemical and physical 
identification of feedstock and raw materials.
     General process information--types of processes in place, 
and on-site wastewater treatment and disposition.
     Specific manufacturing processes, residuals--flow sheets, 
including types and points of introduction and generation of feedstock, 
products, co-products, by-products, and residuals.
     General residuals management information--on-site and/or 
off-site management of residuals of concern.
     Residuals characterization--chemical/physical properties 
of the residuals, regulatory status (i.e., whether the waste already is 
a hazardous waste).
     Residuals management units/facility-wide exposure pathway 
risk assessment of information--management units that manage residuals 
of concern, operating and design information on units, potential 
releases from units, environmental descriptors surrounding management 
units.
    In addition to the RCRA section 3007 questionnaire, other 
information collection efforts under this ICR include clarifications 
and updates to the questionnaire, site visits, and sampling. The 
information collected will be used primarily to determine if wastes 
from the inorganic chemical industry should be listed as hazardous. In 
addition, this information also will be used to support other RCRA 
activities including developing engineering analyses; conducting 
regulatory impact analyses, economic analyses, and risk assessments; 
and developing land disposal restrictions treatment standards and waste 
minimization programs.
    The information collection will consist of a census of all the 
facilities included in the inorganic chemical industry.
    EPA anticipates that some data provided by respondents will be 
claimed as confidential business information (CBI). Respondents may 
make a business confidentiality claim by marking the appropriate data 
as CBI. Respondents may not withhold information from the Agency 
because they believe it is confidential. EPA now is requiring that 
claims of confidentiality be substantiated at the time the claim is 
made. Information so designated will be disclosed by EPA only to the 
extent set forth in 40 CFR part 2. 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. The Federal Register document required under 5 
CFR 1320.8(d) soliciting comments on this collection of information was 
published on April 8, 1998 (63 FR 17170); EPA received four comments 
letters.
    Burden Statement: The average annual burden imposed by the survey 
and other information collection efforts is approximately 43.3 hours 
per respondent. 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 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 to 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.
    Respondents/affected entities: Manufacturers/processors of 
inorganic chemicals.
    Estimated number of respondents: 132.
    Frequency of response: The average number of responses for each 
respondent is 1.16.
    Estimated total annual hour burden: 1,907.

[[Page 51917]]

    Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the 
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods 
for minimizing respondent burden, including through use of automated 
collection techniques to the following addresses. Please refer to EPA 
ICR No 1848.01 in any correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OP Regulatory 
Information Division (2137), 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460 
(or E-Mail Farmer.Sandy @ epamail.epa.gov);
    and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725-17th Street, N.W., 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: September 23, 1998
Joseph Retzer,
Director, Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 98-26004 Filed 9-28-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P