[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24698-24700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9902]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-1010; FRL-9511-5 ]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request

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 the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: TSCA Section 4 Test Rules, 
Consent Orders, Enforceable Consent Agreements, Voluntary Testing 
Agreements, Voluntary Data Submissions, and Exemptions from Testing 
Requirement (EPA ICR No. 1139.09, OMB No. 2070-0033). The ICR, which is 
abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection 
activity and its expected burden and costs.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before May 25, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OPPT-2010-1010 to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by email to [email protected] or by mail to: 
Document Control Office (DCO), Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 7407T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. 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: Maryann Petrole, Director, 
Environmental Assistance Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail code: 7408-M, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-554-
1404; email 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 August 10, 2011 (76 FR 49471), EPA sought comments on this 
renewal pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA

[[Page 24699]]

received one supportive comment during the comment period, which did 
not result in any substantive change to the Supporting Statement. Any 
additional comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and 
OMB within 30 days of this notice.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. EPA EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-1010, which is available for online viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person inspection at the OPPT Docket 
in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public 
Reading Room is open from 8 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 Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics Docket is 202-566-0280. Use www.regulations.gov 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.
    EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted 
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing 
in www.regulations.gov as EPA receives them and without change, unless 
the comment contains copyrighted material, 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 www.regulations.gov. 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 
www.regulations.gov. For further information about the electronic 
docket, go to www.regulations.gov.
    Title: TSCA Section 4 Test Rules, Consent Orders, Enforceable 
Consent Agreements, Voluntary Testing Agreements, Voluntary Data 
Submissions, and Exemptions from Testing Requirement.
    ICR Status: This is a request to renew an existing approved 
collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2012. Under 
OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the 
collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.
    Abstract: This ICR covers the submission of test data to the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support the decision making 
process for an industrial chemical under the Toxic Substances Control 
Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2601). Under TSCA, EPA has the authority to issue 
regulations designed to gather health/safety and exposure information 
on, require testing of, and control exposure to chemical substances and 
mixtures. Drugs, cosmetics, foods, food additives, pesticides, and 
nuclear materials are exempt from TSCA.
    Under TSCA section 4, EPA must assure that appropriate tests are 
performed on a chemical if it decides: (1) That a chemical being 
considered under TSCA section 4(a) may pose an ``unreasonable risk'' or 
is produced in ``substantial'' quantities that may result in 
substantial or significant human exposure or substantial environmental 
release of the chemical; (2) that additional data are needed to 
determine or predict the impacts of the chemical's manufacture, 
processing, distribution, use or disposal; and (3) that testing is 
needed to develop such data.
    In general, when the need for data is identified by EPA, EPA may 
obtain the needed test data (1) By issuing a test rule through notice 
and comment rulemaking, (2) through negotiation with industry and 
issuing an enforceable consent agreement (ECA), or (3) through 
commitments from industry, i.e., voluntary testing agreements (VTAs). 
Industry may also submit test data to EPA on their own initiative.
    EPA uses the information collected under the authority of TSCA 
section 4 to assess risks associated with the manufacture, processing, 
distribution, use or disposal of a chemical, and to support any 
necessary regulatory action with respect to that chemical.
    The testing specified in a rule or consent order issued under TSCA 
section 4 only needs to be conducted once for each specified chemical. 
As such, only one of the entities that manufacture, import or process 
the specified chemical, or a consortia formed by these entities, is 
expected to conduct the specified testing and report the results of 
that testing to EPA. In addition, an entity subject to a test rule may 
apply for an exemption from the testing requirement if that testing 
will be or has been performed by another party.
    This information collection applies to reporting and recordkeeping 
activities associated with the information that EPA requires industry 
to provide in response to TSCA section 4 test rules, consent orders or 
voluntary agreements, and other data submissions, as well as those 
related to the exemption applications. As such, responses to the 
collection of information are either mandatory if codified (see 40 CFR 
part 790), and voluntary when not.
    Respondents may claim all or part of a response as CBI. EPA will 
disclose information that is covered by a CBI claim only to the extent 
permitted by, and in accordance with, the procedures in 40 CFR part 2.
    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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal 
Register, are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and included on the related 
collection instrument or form, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to range between 
9 and 263 hours per response. Burden is defined in 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities potentially affected by 
this ICR are manufacturers, processors, importers, users, distributors 
or disposers of one or more specified chemical substances.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Estimated Average Number of Responses for Each Respondent: Varies 
by activity, but is estimated to range from 1 to 131 per respondent.
    Estimated Total No. of Respondents: Varies by activity, but is 
estimated to range from 1 to 18.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 629,893 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Costs: $13,289,461, with an additional 
$9,628,441 for non-labor costs related to laboratory test costs.
    Changes in Burden Estimates: This request represents an increase of 
477,931 hours from that currently in the OMB inventory (from 151,962 
hours to 629,893 hours). This increase reflects several adjustments in 
the estimates related to a better break-out of the different activities 
for the covered collection and an adjustment in projected potential 
future activities regarding voluntary submissions. The Agency has also 
adjusted all unit costs to reflect the latest available labor wage 
rates and has identified the non-labor costs more clearly. The 
Supporting Statement provides details about the

[[Page 24700]]

change in burden estimate. The change is an adjustment.

John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2012-9902 Filed 4-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P