[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 76 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19526-19527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10004]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPPTS-00267; FRL-6066-8]


Notice of Availability of Grants and Selection Criteria for 
PrintSTEP Pilots

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of PrintSTEP grants.

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SUMMARY: To support States implementing PrintSTEP project pilots, EPA 
plans to award three to five cooperative agreements of approximately 
$100K each. To be eligible for PrintSTEP grants, all projects should 
have an impact on regulating simultaneous air, water and hazardous 
waste releases of chemicals or mixtures covered by Toxic Substances 
Control Act (TSCA) from printing facilities.

DATES: The application must be submitted to EPA by close of business 
July 20, 1999. EPA anticipates awarding the cooperative agreements no 
later than September 30, 1999.

ADDRESSES: One original and four copies of the application must be 
submitted to: Gina Bushong (2224A), Office of Compliance, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina Bushong (2224A), Office of 
Compliance, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 564-2242; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

     The Printers Simplified Total Environmental Partnership 
(PrintSTEP) model program was developed by a diverse group of 
stakeholders as part of EPA's Common Sense Initiative (CSI). The 
PrintSTEP program, which States will pilot, is designed to result in a 
single-enforceable agreement that regulates a printing facility's 
releases of chemicals or mixtures covered by TSCA to the air, water, 
and hazardous waste streams all at once. The PrintSTEP design does not 
change the existing environmental emissions or release standards for 
the printing industry. Instead, it changes the process of implementing 
those standards to improve efficiency, simplify requirements, and 
improve environmental performance. Under the EPA budget, funds are 
available to support States wishing to pilot test an alternative system 
for regulating printing facilities.
     PrintSTEP has been design to benefit State regulatory agencies, 
printers, and the community. The combined features of PrintSTEP create 
a system which integrates multiple interests and concerns, including a 
process that is transparent, business flexible, and reduces 
environmental impacts. Some of the PrintSTEP benefits to be evaluated 
under the State PrintSTEP pilot projects include: Reducing the time and 
resources spent on the administrative components of environmental 
regulation, providing a multimedia plain language approach to 
simplifying environmental requirements, providing early and meaningful 
public participation, enhancing environmental protection, and providing 
operational flexibility for printing facilities.
     To assist in the implementation of PrintSTEP, three documents have 
been developed. The first is a State Guide to PrintSTEP which provides 
the States with what they need to know to implement a PrintSTEP pilot 
program for their printers. The second, the Plain Language Workbook 
provides printers with simplified tools to allow them to identify their 
regulatory requirements. The Workbook also includes pollution 
prevention information specific to the printing sector to help printers 
reduce their emissions. Finally, the Community Handbook, provides 
citizens an overview of environmental issues, background on the 
printing industry, and suggestions for working with printers as part of 
PrintSTEP.
     It is strongly recommended that States requesting funding to pilot 
a PrintSTEP program become familiar with the three documents described 
above prior to submitting an application. Copies of these documents may 
be obtained from Gina Bushong at the address under ``FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.''

 II. Statutory Authority

     The funding authority for making these cooperative agreements is 
section 28 of TSCA. The authority provides that ``the Administrator may 
make grants to States for the establishment and operation of programs 
to prevent or eliminate unreasonable risks within the States to health 
or the environment which are associated with a chemical substance or 
mixture and with respect to which the Administrator is unable or is not 
likely to take action under this chapter for their prevention and 
elimination.'' This initiative addresses chemicals covered under TSCA 
and complements, but does not duplicate, the Administrator's actions 
under TSCA. These funds are being made available to States for priority 
needs not currently addressed by the Administrator under TSCA due to 
resource constraints.

 III. Matching Requirements

     States receiving TSCA section 28 grant funding are required to 
contribute a minimum of 25% of the project cost. The State may utilize 
in-kind services to satisfy this requirement consistent with 40 CFR 
31.24.

 IV. Eligibility

     In accordance with TSCA, eligible applicants for purposes of 
funding under this grant program include the 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
Guam, the Canal Zone, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, or 
any territory or possession of the United States. For convenience, the 
term ``State'' in this notice refers to all eligible applicants. Local 
governments, tribes, private universities, private nonprofit entities, 
private businesses, and individuals are not eligible.

 V. Pre-Proposal Submission

A. Scope

     The funding authority provides an avenue for supporting cross-
media environmental projects such as PrintSTEP. Applicants for 
PrintSTEP pilot funding, should propose an approach addressing the 
significant components to be evaluated under the PrintSTEP pilot 
project. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to obtain and 
review copies of the materials, discussed in Unit I. of this document, 
which have been developed for printers, communities and State 
regulators as part of the development of PrintSTEP prior to developing 
a pre-proposal. These materials may be obtained from the person listed 
under ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.'' EPA will evaluate each 
application with regard to its applicability to the key principles in 
the PrintSTEP design. These key elements are outlined in the selection 
criteria section of this notice. Pre-proposals

[[Page 19527]]

should be no more than 15 pages in length. Pre-proposals should be as 
complete as possible since EPA may make selections for funding based on 
the pre-proposals without further consultations with the applicants.

B. Selection Criteria

    Include:
    1. Delegation of program authority. The pre-proposal should include 
a statement confirming that the applicant has the legal authority to 
implement the Federal program for each environmental media covered by 
their proposed PrintSTEP project. In the case where all media are not 
covered in the pre-proposal, an explanation should be provided for any 
omissions.
    2. Stakeholder involvement. A plan for involvement of all 
stakeholder groups (industry, environmental and environmental justice 
groups, labor, regulators, etc.) in the design of the State PrintSTEP 
program should be submitted. If possible, letters of support from 
stakeholder groups should be included.
    3. Regulatory components/coordination. A proposed design providing 
a modular, multimedia regulatory system for printers who volunteer for 
this pilot, including a process for coordination among various levels 
of government should be provided. The design should include:
    i. Description of the regulatory program and requirements covered 
by the State's PrintSTEP program, including a discussion of which media 
programs are included and a discussion of how the level of regulatory 
requirements is directly related to the level of wastes generated.
    ii. Description of how the program will cover new and/or existing 
printing facilities, including a process for printing facility 
modifications.
    iii. Discussion of the type of printing facilities expected to be 
included in the State's PrintSTEP pilot program (facility size, 
printing process type etc.). The PrintSTEP pilots should only include 
printing facilities that wish to volunteer to be part of the project.
    iv. Geographic location of proposed PrintSTEP pilot (targeting a 
pilot to a location where investigations are already underway to 
evaluate a community's cumulative pollution exposure will be judged 
favorably).
    4. Public involvement. The key aspects of the program design to 
enhance public involvement should be described including:
    i. A description of the proposed information repository for making 
printing facility information available to the public.
    ii. Discussion of approaches to providing actual notice of printing 
facility permitting to the public.
    iii. A proposed method for identifying the relevant community 
affected by a printing facility.
    iv. Identification and discussion of any environmental justice 
concerns within the geographic area proposed for the pilot.
    v. A method for providing technical assistance to the community.
    5. Printing facility support. Information should include:
    i. A discussion of technical assistance available to businesses 
seeking information about source reduction/pollution prevention 
opportunities.
    ii. Efforts to provide compliance assistance targeted to small 
businesses.
    6. Evaluation. The applicant must agree to work cooperatively with 
EPA, the PrintSTEP development team, and the other grantees to develop 
a final strategy for evaluating the PrintSTEP pilots. This will require 
participation in at least one meeting of all awardees and the PrintSTEP 
development team to be held in Washington, DC. A copy of the draft 
evaluation strategy template should be requested from the person listed 
under ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.''
    7. Administrative components--i. A proposed staffing plan for 
project.
    ii. Compliance and enforcement program including a description of 
resources.
    iii. A proposed schedule for implementing the pilot.
    iv. A breakdown of costs should be provided (Note: States must 
provide a minimum of 25% of the total project costs).
    v. Completed grant application forms. The Federal application forms 
may be obtained from the person listed under ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.''

 VI. Application Process

     One original and four copies of the application must be submitted 
to EPA at the address under ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT,'' by 
close of business July 20, 1999. EPA anticipates awarding the 
cooperative agreements no later than September 30, 1999. All non-
awarded applicants will be notified at that time. This solicitation is 
authorized under the information collection request, Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) control number 2030-0020.

 VII. Congressional Review Act

    Under the Agency's current interpretation of the definition of a 
``rule,'' grant solicitations such as this which are competitively 
awarded on the basis of selection criteria, are considered rules for 
the purpose of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). (The PrintSTEP 
program itself is not considered a rule.) The CRA, 5 U.S.C. 801 et 
seq., as added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996 (SBREFA), generally provides that before a rule may take 
effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, 
which includes a copy of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to 
the Comptroller General of the United States. EPA will submit a report 
containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate, 
the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the 
United States prior to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. 
This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Business and industry, Grants--
environmental protection, Printing.

    Dated: April 9, 1999.

Elaine Stanley,

Director, Office of Compliance.

[FR Doc. 99-10004 Filed 4-21-99; 8:45 am]
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