[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 130 (Thursday, July 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41653-41655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16967]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OEI-100001; FRL-6592-2]


Toxics Release Inventory; Alternate Threshold for Low Annual 
Reportable Amounts; Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed 
Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit the 
following continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the procedures described in 
5 CFR 1320.12. The ICR is a continuing ICR titled:Alternate Threshold 
for Low Annual Reportable Amounts, Toxic Chemical Release Reporting 
(EPA ICR No. 1704.05, OMB Control No. 2070-0143). This ICR covers the 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with reporting 
under the alternate threshold for reporting to the Toxic

[[Page 41654]]

Release Inventory (TRI), which appear at 40 CFR part 372. 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. Before submitting the 
ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on 
specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described 
below.

DATES: Written comments, identified by the docket control number OEI-
100001, must be received by EPA on or before September 5, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by mail, electronically, or in 
person. Please follow the detailed instructions for each method as 
provided in Unit I. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information contact: Maria 
Doa, Director, Toxic Releases Inventory Program Division, Office of 
Information Analysis and Access, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, Telephone: 202-260-1488. 
For technical information contact: Judith Kendall, Toxic Releases 
Inventory Program Division, Office of Information Analysis and Access, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; Telephone: 202-260-1802; Fax: 202-401-0237; 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Affected Entities

    Entities potentially affected by this action are those chemical 
facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use certain toxic 
chemicals listed on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and which are 
required under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community 
Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), to report annually to EPA their 
environmental releases of such chemicals.

B. To Obtain Additional Information, Copies of this Document, or Other 
Support Documents

    1. Electronic availability. Electronic copies of the ICR are 
available from the EPA Home Page at the Federal Register--Environmental 
Documents entry for this document under ``Laws and Regulations'' http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. An electronic copy of the collection instrument 
referenced in this ICR and instructions for its completion are 
available at http://www.epa.gov/tri/report.htm.
    2. In person. The Agency has established an official record for 
this action under docket control number OEI-100001. The official record 
consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action, any 
public comments received during an applicable comment period, and other 
information related to this action, including any information claimed 
as confidential business information (CBI). This official record 
includes the documents that are physically located in the docket, as 
well as the documents that are referenced in those documents. The 
public version of the official record does not include any information 
claimed as CBI. The public version of the official record, which 
includes printed, paper versions of any electronic comments submitted 
during an applicable comment period, is available for inspection in the 
TSCA Nonconfidential Information Center, North East Mall Rm. B-607, 
Waterside Mall, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC. The Center is open from 
noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number of the Center is (202) 260-7099.

C. To Submit Comments

    You may submit comments through the mail, in person, or 
electronically. Be sure to identify the appropriate docket control 
number (i.e., ``OEI-100001'') in your correspondence.
    1. By mail. All comments should be sent in triplicate to : Document 
Control Office (7407), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics 
(OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460.
    2. In person or by courier. Comments may be delivered in person or 
by courier to: OPPT Document Control Office (DCO) in East Tower Rm. G-
099, Waterside Mall, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC. The DCO is open 
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. 
The telephone number for the DCO is (202) 260-7093.
    3. Electronically. Submit your comments electronically by e-mail 
to: ``[email protected].'' Please note that you should not submit any 
information electronically that you consider to be CBI. 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 standard computer disks in WordPerfect 6.1/8.0 or ASCII 
file format. All comments and data in electronic form must be 
identified by the docket control number OEI-100001. Electronic comments 
on this document may also be filed online at many Federal Depository 
Libraries.
    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 document. 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.

II. Background

    The EPA would like to solicit comments to:
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected.
    4. 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.
    EPA is seeking comments on the following ICR, as well as the 
Agency's intention to renew the corresponding OMB approval, which is 
currently scheduled to expire on February 28, 2001.
    Title: Alternate Threshold for Low Annual Reportable Amounts.
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1704.05, OMB No. 2070-0143, expiring 
February 28, 2001.
    Abstract: EPCRA section 313 requires certain facilities 
manufacturing, processing, or otherwise using certain toxic chemicals 
in excess of specified threshold quantities to report their 
environmental releases of such

[[Page 41655]]

chemicals annually. Each such facility must file a separate report for 
each such chemical.
    In accordance with the authority in EPCRA, EPA has established an 
alternate threshold for those facilities with low amounts of a listed 
toxic chemical in wastes. A facility that otherwise meets the current 
reporting thresholds but estimates that the total amount of the 
chemical in total waste does not exceed 500 pounds per year, and that 
the chemical was manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in an 
amount not exceeding 1 million pounds during the reporting year, can 
take advantage of reporting under the alternate threshold option for 
that chemical for that reporting year.
    Each qualifying facility that chooses to apply the revised 
threshold must file the Form A (EPA Form 9350-2) in lieu of a complete 
TRI reporting Form R (EPA Form 9350-1). In submitting the Form A, the 
facility certifies that the sum of the amount of the EPCRA section 313 
chemical in wastes did not exceed 500 pounds for the reporting year, 
and that the chemical was manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in 
an amount not exceeding 1 million pounds during the reporting year. Use 
of the Form A in place of the Form R represents a substantial savings 
to respondents, both in burden hours and in labor costs.
    The primary function served by the submission of the Form A is to 
satisfy the statutory requirement to maintain reporting on a 
substantial majority of releases for all listed chemicals. Without the 
Form A, users of TRI data would not have access to any information on 
these chemicals. The Form A also serves as a de facto range report, 
which is useful to any party interested in amounts being handled at a 
particular facility or for broader statistical purposes. Additionally, 
the Form A provides compliance monitoring and enforcement programs and 
other interested parties with a means to track chemical management 
activities and verify overall compliance with the rule. Responses to 
this collection of information are mandatory (see 40 CFR part 372) and 
facilities subject to reporting must either submit a Form A or a Form 
R.
    Burden statement: The annual public burden for this collection of 
information, which is approved under OMB Control No. 2070-0143, is 
estimated to average 34.6 hours per each form, for a facility which 
certifies one chemical per form A. For facilities which choose to 
certify two chemicals per form A, the estimated burden is 67.8 hours 
per form. Responding to this information collection requires: (1) 
Determining whether a listed toxic chemical is eligible for 
certification under the alternate threshold, and (2) completing the 
Form A. The burden of determining eligibility for certification is 
estimated to average 33.2 hours for each chemical that is certified. 
The burden of completing the Form A is estimated to average 1.4 hours, 
regardless of the number of chemicals being certified. The total burden 
per response is the combination of these two, and will vary depending 
on the number of listed toxic chemicals being certified.
    EPA estimates that as many as 7,397 respondents may submit a Form A 
with these responses containing a total of 14,793 certifications. Total 
respondent burden and cost for completing those Form As are estimated 
at approximately 582,000 burden hours and $45.3 million per year. (The 
alternate threshold may save reporting facilities up to 189,000 hours, 
with a dollar value of $11 million, compared to the cost of reporting 
on Form R.) The estimated burden in this supporting statement differs 
from what is currently in OMB's inventory for alternate threshold 
reporting (13,157 respondents, 9,072 responses, and 646,875 burden 
hours) as a result of both an adjustment and a program change. The 
adjustment was made by calculating the number of eligible respondents 
and responses from the manufacturing sector based on TRI data from the 
1998 reporting year (the most recent TRI data available). This 
adjustment reduced reporting burden by 62,772 hours. The program change 
was made by excluding the reporting of PBT chemicals on Form A. This 
change reduces the burden associated with this collection. The portion 
of the change due to this regulatory change decreases burden by 2,114 
hours.
    Estimated number of respondents: 7,397 respondents.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 582,000 burden hours.
    Frequency of collection: Annual.

List of Subjects

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

    Dated: June 23, 2000.
Margaret N. Schneider,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Environmental 
Information.
[FR Doc. 00-16967 Filed 7-5-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F