[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 79 (Monday, April 26, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 20198-20200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10388]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 372

[OPPTS-400141; FRL-6075-3]


Revised Policy for Amending Form R and Form A Submissions; Toxic 
Chemical Release Inventory Reporting; Community Right-to-Know

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Policy statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is making a minor administrative change to the Agency's 
management of data submitted each year to EPA under the Toxic Release 
Inventory (TRI) reporting program pursuant to section 313 of the 
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and section 
6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990. Specifically, EPA 
is revising the period during which the Agency will accept voluntary 
revisions to Form R and Form A submissions each year for inclusion in 
the annual data release for that year. Facilities must now submit 
voluntary revisions to their Form R and Form A submissions to EPA 
within 30 days of the reporting deadline each year. The statutory 
annual reporting deadline is July 1. Therefore, revisions received 
after July 31 of each year, will not be included in the annual release 
of the TRI data for that year. EPA

[[Page 20199]]

will, however, continue to accept these revisions for inclusion in the 
TRI data base. This administrative change in the annual revisions 
deadline is necessary to ensure that the data can be set, or locked by 
a date certain, thereby allowing the Agency to complete the preparation 
of the annual release of the TRI data in a timely fashion.

DATES: The amended revision period is effective April 26, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information contact: Tim 
Crawford, Acting Branch Chief, TRI-Information Management Branch, OPPT-
IMD, MC 7407, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 260-1558, fax: (202) 260-4655, 
e-mail: [email protected]. For more information on section 
313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), 
contact the EPCRA Hotline, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 
5101, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460, toll free telephone number: 
1-800-535-0202, in Virginia and in Alaska: 703-412-9877 or call toll 
free TDD: 1-800-553-7672.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Does this Action Apply to Me?

    You may be potentially affected by this action if you manufacture, 
process, or otherwise use any of the chemicals subject to reporting 
under EPCRA section 313. Potentially affected categories and entities 
may include, but are not limited to:

 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Examples of Potentially
                  Category                     Affected Entities (SIC
                                                       codes)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry                                    Manufacturing (SIC codes 20-
                                             39); metal mining (SIC 10
                                             except SIC codes 1011,
                                             1081, and 1094); coal
                                             mining (SIC code 12 except
                                             SIC code 1241); electric
                                             utilities (SIC codes 4911,
                                             4931, 4939); commercial
                                             hazardous waste treatment
                                             (SIC code 4953); chemicals
                                             and allied products-
                                             wholesale (SIC code 5169);
                                             petroleum bulk terminals
                                             and plants (SIC code 5171);
                                             and solvent recovery
                                             services (SIC code 7389).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Government                          Federal facilities that
                                             manufacture, process, or
                                             otherwise use EPCRA section
                                             313 toxic chemicals.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this 
action. If available, the four-digit Standard Industrial Classification 
(SIC) codes have been provided to assist you and others in determining 
whether or not this notice applies to certain entities. Other types of 
entities not listed in the table could also be affected. To determine 
whether your facility would be affected by this action, you should 
carefully examine the applicability criteria in 40 CFR part 372, 
subpart B. If you have questions regarding the applicability of this 
action to a particular entity, consult the person listed in the 
preceding ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT'' section.

II. How Can I Get Additional Information or Copies of this or Other 
Documents?

    1. Electronically. You may obtain electronic copies of this 
document from the EPA Internet Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/. On the 
Home Page select ``Laws and Regulations'' and then look up the entry 
for this document under the ``Federal Register - Environmental 
Documents.'' You can also go directly to the ``Federal Register'' 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/homepage/fedrgstr/.
    2. In person or by phone. If you have any questions or need 
additional information about this action, you may contact the technical 
person identified in the ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT'' section.

III. What is the Agency's Authority for this Action?

     This action is related to section 313 of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. 11023, 
and section 6607 of the PPA, 42 U.S.C. 13106, which require certain 
facilities manufacturing, processing, or otherwise using a listed toxic 
chemical in amounts above reporting threshold levels, to report their 
environmental releases of and other waste management activities 
associated with each chemical annually. These reports must be filed 
with EPA by July 1 of each year, and must contain the requested data 
for the previous calendar year.
    Section 313 of EPCRA does not include any provision for correcting 
or otherwise revising TRI forms once they have been submitted to EPA. 
While not required by statute, EPA has allowed facilities an 
opportunity to make revisions to foster compliance and enhance data 
quality. In the past, EPA has set a deadline for receipt of revisions 
to be included in the next annual data release keyed to the time it 
takes the Agency to prepare the data release package and the release 
date for the package. Accordingly, in the Federal Register of September 
26, 1991 (56 FR 48795), EPA announced that the deadline for voluntary 
revisions would be November 30, based on improvements in the amount of 
time it took to process revisions for inclusion in the annual data 
release. In a second announcement on August 12, 1994 (59 FR 41444) 
(FRL-4906-5), EPA announced that the deadline would be moved back to 
October 15 in the interests of further expediting the annual release 
date of the data. This action further amends the deadline for accepting 
revisions. Only the deadline provisions of the September 26, 1991 and 
August 12, 1994 notices are affected by this action.

IV. What Action is EPA Taking in this Policy Statement?

    EPA is amending its policy with regard to the period during which 
revisions to the Forms submitted under EPCRA section 313 would be 
incorporated into the annual data release for that reporting year. 
Accordingly, facilities must now submit voluntary revisions to their 
Form R and Form A submissions to EPA within 30 days of the reporting 
deadline each year in order for those revisions to be

[[Page 20200]]

included in that years' data release. The statutory reporting deadline 
is July 1 of each year, unless specifically amended by the Agency, so 
all Form revisions must be received by EPA no later than July 31 of 
each year. If EPA were to extend the reporting deadline in any one 
year, then the Form revisions for that year must be received by EPA no 
later than 30 days after the amended reporting deadline. Revisions 
received after this date will not be included in the annual release of 
the TRI data for that reporting year, but will continue to be accepted 
for inclusion in the TRI data base at some later date.

V. Why is EPA Revising the Revisions Period?

    While not required by statute, EPA has provided this revisions 
period as an opportunity to increase compliance and enhance data 
quality. Given EPA's experience in collecting information submitted 
under EPCRA section 313 since 1988, EPA does not believe the revisions 
period provided in 1994 continues to be appropriate. Instead, 
experience gained by EPA has resulted in a much more efficient data 
receipt and management process enabling EPA to make those data publicly 
available in a much shorter period of time. Hence, to promote a 
schedule of making EPCRA section 313 data available in a more timely 
fashion, EPA must reduce the period of time that it will accept 
revisions in order to ensure that those revised data will be considered 
for that year's data release. The new revisions period reflects: (1) 
The increased use of electronic submittals to EPA of TRI data; (2) 
EPA's continuing improvement in the ability to process and release TRI 
data earlier due to increased efficiencies in data management that have 
been put in place since the August 1994 Notice was published; and (3) 
the Agency's desire to make this right-to-know data available to the 
public as soon as feasible.
     The administrative change in the annual revisions deadline is 
necessary to ensure that the data can be set, or locked by a date 
certain, thereby allowing the Agency to complete the preparation of the 
annual release of the TRI data in a timely fashion. This new revisions 
deadline is further warranted by the fact that 83% of all revisions 
received during the 1997 production period (July 1 to December 31, 
1998) were already received by July 31--the new revisions deadline 
announced in this policy and now in effect.

VI. Can I Still Correct the Form R or Form A Which I Submitted to 
EPA After the Revisions Period?

     Yes. As indicated previously, this revised policy only changes the 
date by which any voluntary revisions will be considered by the Agency 
for inclusion in the annual data release for that reporting year.

VII. Why Is EPA Amending this Policy Without Taking Comments?

    EPA is publishing this action as a final policy without prior 
notice and opportunity to comment, because this policy is not a 
``rule'' as defined by the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 
et seq). This policy merely articulates internal procedural 
requirements that are necessary for the Agency's management and timely 
release of the submitted TRI data. The period established in this 
action is an internal Agency deadline by which EPA will consider the 
data submitted each year in Form R and Form A to be in final form for 
purposes of preparing the annual data release. Facilities are required 
by statute and regulations to use the best available information in 
preparing the data reported in their Form R or Form A, and are required 
to submit the data to EPA by the reporting deadline each year. The 
period established in this policy for voluntary revisions does not in 
any way change the facility's statutory obligations under EPCRA section 
313, as implemented by 40 CFR part 372. It merely provides an 
opportunity for facilities to make voluntary revisions to correct the 
data they have submitted in time for the Agency to reflect the revision 
in the annual data release. In essence, it merely establishes a set 
time frame for the Agency to begin the preparation of the data 
submitted each year for the annual data release. In the future, EPA may 
determine that this revisions period should be further amended or not 
provided at all, and will amend this policy without prior notice. 
However, EPA will announce in the Federal Register any decision to 
eliminate or modify this revisions period.

VIII. Do Any of the Regulatory Assessment Requirements Apply to 
this Action?

    No. This action merely describes an internal Agency deadline by 
which it will consider the data submitted each year in Form R and Form 
A to be in final form for purposes of preparing the annual data 
release. This action is not a ``rule'' and does not impose any new 
requirements. As such, this action does not require review by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866, 
entitled Regulatory Planning and Review  (58 FR 51735, October 4, 
1993), the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., or 
Executive Order 13045, entitled  Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks  (62 FR 19885, April 23, 
1997). This action does not impose any enforceable duty, contain any 
unfunded mandate, or impose any significant or unique impact on small 
governments as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(UMRA) (Pub. L. 104-4). Nor does it require prior consultation with 
State, local, and tribal government officials as specified by Executive 
Order 12875, entitled  Enhancing the Intergovernmental Partnership  (58 
FR 58093, October 28, 1993) and Executive Order 13084, entitled  
Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments  (63 FR 
27655, May 19,1998), or special consideration of environmental justice 
related issues under Executive Order 12898, entitled Federal Actions to 
Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations  (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). This action does not 
involve any technical standards that would require Agency consideration 
of voluntary consensus standards pursuant to section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Pub. 
L. 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note). In addition, since this 
action is not subject to notice-and-comment requirements under the 
Administrative Procedure Act (APA) or any other statute, it is not 
subject to the regulatory flexibility provisions of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

IX. Must EPA Submit this Action to Congress and the Comptroller 
General?

     No. The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added 
by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, does 
not apply because this action is not a rule for purposes of 5 U.S.C. 
804(3).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 372

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

    Dated: April 9, 1999.
William H. Sanders III,
Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
[FR Doc. 99-10388 Filed 4-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F