[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 15, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63656-63657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26175]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OEI-2002-0006; FRL-6724-6]


Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Community Right-To-Know; Notice 
of On-Line Dialogue

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: EPA will hold an on-line public dialogue for 60-days from 
October 16, 2002 to December 17, 2002 as part of a national Stakeholder 
Dialogue on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program that the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching. EPA is seeking 
suggestions and ideas on the Agency's methods for reporting, 
collecting, processing, and releasing the TRI data. Instructions for 
participating in the on-line dialogue are posted at EPA's TRI Web site, 
see http://www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakeholders/outreach.htm. EPA is 
announcing the availability of three issue papers which are intended to 
provide background to help focus the on-line dialogue.

DATES: The Stakeholder Dialogue online comment process will be held 
from October 16, 2002 to December 17, 2002.

ADDRESSES: The On-line Dialogue will be accessible via the Internet at 
http://www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakeholders/outreach.htm. Please 
follow the instructions provided in Section I of the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on this stakeholder 
process, contact: Annette Marion, Environmental Protection Agency, 
Office of Environmental Information, Office of Information Analysis and 
Access, Toxics Release Inventory Program Division: telephone: (202) 
566-0731; Fax number: (202) 566-0715; e-mail: [email protected]. 
For general information on the Toxics Release Inventory contact the 
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Hotline at (800) 424-
9346, or (703) 412-9810, TDD (800) 553-7672, http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hotline.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does This Notice Apply to Me?

    You may be interested in this notice if you use data collected 
under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act (EPCRA) 
section 313, or if you manufacture, process, or otherwise use any of 
the EPCRA section 313 chemicals and you are required to report annually 
to EPA their environmental releases and other waste management 
quantities. Potentially affected entities may include, but are not 
limited to:

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                                             Examples of potentially
                Category                       interested entities
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Public.................................  Environmental groups, community
                                          groups, researchers.
Industry...............................  SIC major group codes (Except
                                          1011, 1081, and 1094), 12
                                          (except 1231), or 20 through
                                          39; industry codes 4911
                                          (limited to facilities that
                                          combusts coal and/or oil for
                                          the purpose of generating
                                          power for distribution in
                                          commerce); or 4939 (limited to
                                          facilities that combusts coal
                                          and/or oil for the purpose of
                                          generating power for
                                          distribution in commerce); or
                                          4953 (limited to facilities
                                          regulated under the Resource
                                          Conservation and Recovery Act,
                                          subtitle C, 42 U.S.C. section
                                          6921 et seq.), or 5169, or
                                          5171, or 7389 (limited to
                                          facilities primarily engaged
                                          in solvent recovery services
                                          on a contract or fee basis).
Federal Government.....................  Federal facilities in any SIC
                                          code.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this 
action. Other types of entities not listed in the table could also be 
affected. 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.

B. How Can I Get Copies of Information Associated With This Stakeholder 
Dialogue Process?

    1. Electronic Access. Electronic copies of the issue papers are 
available from EPA's TRI Web site at http://www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakeholders/outreach.htm. You may access this Federal Register 
document electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal 
Register'' listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
EPA's electronic public docket, EPA Dockets (http://www.epa.gov/edocket/). To view the contents of the docket, go to the EPA Dockets 
web site. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the 
appropriate docket identification number, OEI-2002-0006.
    2. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this 
action under Docket ID No. OEI-2002-0006. The official public docket 
consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action and 
other information related to this action. The official public dockets 
are the collection of materials available for public viewing at the EPA 
Docket Center Public Reading Room located in the basement of EPA West, 
1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. This Docket 
Facility is open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The Docket telephone number is (202)-566-
1752.

C. How Do I Participate in the On-line Dialogue?

    You may submit your ideas and suggestions electronically through 
the TRI Stakeholder Outreach Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakeholders/outreach.htm during the time period specified in 
this notice.

D. How Should I Handle Confidential Business Information (CBI) That I 
Want To Submit to the Agency?

    Do not submit any information that you consider to be confidential 
business information (CBI) under this notice.

II. Background

    EPA is undertaking a stakeholder dialogue for the Toxics Release 
Inventory (TRI) program. While the TRI program has been very 
successful, EPA is continuing to seek ways to improve the program. 
Given the community focus of the TRI program and the broad and varied 
uses of the TRI data, it is important that EPA receive input from all 
stakeholders--the states, the reporting community and other businesses, 
community and environmental groups, researchers, and the public.
    The stakeholder dialogue process will have two phases. Phase 1 will 
focus on the reporting, collecting, processing, and annual release of 
the TRI data. Specifically, EPA is seeking comment on ways to: (1) 
Improve the compliance

[[Page 63657]]

assistance provided by the TRI program, both at Headquarters and in the 
Regions, to aid the reporting community; (2) streamline the collection 
and processing of the more than 90,000 TRI forms that EPA receives 
annually; and (3) improve the materials, including the context, 
documents and tools, that EPA develops for its annual public release of 
the TRI data to support their use and analysis of the data.
    The on-line dialogue will be the first opportunity for stakeholder 
input in Phase 1. Once the dialogue has been analyzed, additional 
opportunities may be extended in the form of public meetings, more 
formal comment periods, or other methods which will be described in 
future notices.
    Phase 2 of the stakeholder dialogue will focus on future directions 
for the program, including what data are collected in the TRI, how 
these data are characterized, and whether additional data should be 
collected. One key element will be clarifying the data elements on 
recycling and other waste management activities required by the 
Pollution Prevention Act. A future Federal Register notice will 
announce Phase 2.

III. Availability of Documents

    EPA is making available three papers which describe aspects of the 
TRI Program and raise issues for stakeholder discussion. The scope of 
each paper corresponds to a phase of the annual TRI reporting cycle. 
TRI data for a calendar year must be reported to EPA by July 1st after 
the end of that calendar year. Therefore, reporting years are the same 
as calendar years. The ``reporting cycle'' begins with EPA's compliance 
assistance activities, including the development of reporting forms and 
instructions that are generally mailed to facilities in March each 
year. Once EPA receives the forms, it enters the data from the forms 
(over 91,000 in 2000) in the TRI database. After entry into the 
database, EPA runs a series of data quality checks on both the facility 
identification information and on the chemical-specific data. After the 
data entry and data quality steps are completed, the TRI database is 
``frozen'' for analysis and development of data products for release to 
the public. Generally, EPA announces the annual release of the TRI data 
by holding a press event or issuing a press release, and simultaneously 
notifying a wide range of stakeholders.
    The first background paper for this stakeholder dialogue is 
entitled TRI Data Collection, Processing and Management, and addresses 
the TRI data process beginning with submission of the forms and ending 
at the data ``freeze.'' The second paper, TRI Data Release Issue Paper 
discusses TRI data products, the process for analyzing and releasing 
the TRI data, uses of the data, and issues and considerations 
associated with these aspects of the TRI program. The third paper is 
TRI Compliance Assistance Activities. TRI compliance assistance 
activities are carried out throughout the year with certain of the 
activities being closely aligned with the reporting cycle.

    Dated: October 4, 2002.
Elaine G. Stanley,
Director, Office of Information Analysis and Access.
[FR Doc. 02-26175 Filed 10-11-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6561-07-P