[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 31, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51780-51781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17362]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OAR-2002-0073; FRL-7963-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Recordkeeping and Periodic 
Reporting of the Production, Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction, 
Transhipment, and Feedstock Use of Ozone-Depleting Substances 
(Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1432.25, OMB Control Number 2060-0170

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 an Information Collection 
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing 
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on August 31, 
2005. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and 
its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 30, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2002-
0073, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail 
to [email protected], or by mail to: Environmental Protection 
Agency, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Air and Radiation Docket and 
Information Center, Mail Code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: 
Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kirsten M. Cappel, Office of 
Atmospheric Programs, Stratospheric Protection Division, Mail Code 
6205J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9556; fax number: 
(202) 343-2338; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. On June 14th, 2005 (70 FR 34470) EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. OAR-2002-0073 which is available for public viewing at the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/
DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the Air and Radiation Docket and Information 
Center is (202) 566-1742. An electronic version of the public docket is 
available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. 
Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing 
of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in 
the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the 
system, select ``search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified 
above.
    Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, 
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available 
for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, 
unless the comment contains copyrighted material,

[[Page 51781]]

confidential business information (CBI), or other information whose 
public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a 
comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference 
to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in 
EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted 
material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified 
as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose 
disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the 
official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in 
EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's 
Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 
(May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
    Title: Recordkeeping and Periodic Reporting of the Production, 
Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction, Transhipment, and Feedstock Use 
of Ozone-Depleting Substances (Renewal)
    Abstract: The international treaty The Montreal Protocol on 
Substances that Deplete the Ozone and Title VI of the Clean Air Act 
(CAA) established limits on total United States (U.S.) production, 
import, and export of class I and class II controlled ozone depleting 
substances (ODS). Under its Protocol commitments, the United States is 
obliged to cease production and import of class I controlled substances 
with exemptions for essential uses, critical uses, previously used 
material, and material that will be transformed, destroyed, or exported 
to developing countries. The Protocol also establishes limits and 
reduction schedules leading to the eventual phaseout of class II 
controlled substances with similar exemptions beyond the phaseout. 
Additionally, the CAA has its own limits on production and consumption 
of controlled substances that EPA must adhere to and enforce.
    To ensure the United States compliance with the limits and 
restrictions established by the Protocol and the CAA, the ODS phaseout 
regulations establish control measures for individual companies. The 
limits and restrictions for individual United States companies are 
monitored by EPA through the recordkeeping and reporting requirements 
established in the regulations stated in 40 CFR part 82, subpart A. To 
submit required information, regulated entities can download reporting 
forms from EPA's stratospheric ozone Web site (http://www.epa.gov/ozone/record.index.html), complete them, and then send them to EPA via 
U.S. Mail or fax. Upon receipt of the reports, the data is entered and 
subsequently stored in the Stratospheric Protection Tracking System 
(Tracking System). The Tracking System is a secure database that 
maintains all of the data that is submitted to EPA and allows the 
Agency to: (1) Maintain control over total production and consumption 
of controlled substances to satisfy conditions of the CAA and fulfill 
the United States obligations under the Protocol; (2) monitor 
compliance with limits and restrictions on production, imports, 
exports, and specific exemptions to the phaseout for individual U.S. 
companies; and (3) enforce against illegal imports and violations 
related to the control of class I and class II substances. 
Additionally, reporting on the exemptions permits an entity to retain 
the benefit of being able to produce or import a controlled class I ODS 
beyond the date of complete phaseout.
    EPA is developing an electronic reporting system through the 
Agency's Central Data Exchange (CDX) that will allow regulated entities 
to download, complete, and submit reports electronically. Electronic 
reporting is expected to make the reporting process more effective and 
efficient for reporting companies and EPA. When electronic reporting 
becomes available, EPA will change its guidance document and its ICR to 
indicate a reduction in burden hours.
    Pursuant to regulations 40 CFR part 2, subpart B, reporting 
businesses are entitled to assert a business confidentiality claim 
covering any part of the submitted business information as defined in 
40 CFR 2.201(c).
    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 in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on 
the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average about 
seven hours per response 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 and systems 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; 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: Persons that produce, import, 
export, destroy, transform as a feedstock, distribute, or apply 
controlled ODS.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,138.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion, quarterly, and annually (as 
applicable).
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 8,370.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $714,160, which includes $0 annualized 
capital/startup costs, $5,580 annual O&M costs, and $708,520 annual 
labor costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 1,567 hours in the 
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is largely attributed to the 
reduction of the number of responses and respondents. The decrease in 
Agency hours is due to the longevity of the regulatory program and its 
implementation. Estimates have also been refined based on historical 
information.

    Dated: August 25, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-17362 Filed 8-30-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P