[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11877-11879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03838]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2013-0063; FRL-9782-5]


Announcement of Requirements Gathering Meetings for the 
Electronic Manifest (e-Manifest) System

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

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SUMMARY: EPA's Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) is 
holding public meetings in Arlington, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; and 
Denver, Colorado to discuss and obtain public input from stakeholders 
on a national electronic manifest (``e-Manifest'') system to capture 
information regarding the shipment of hazardous waste from the time it 
leaves the generator facility where it was produced, until it reaches 
the off-site waste management facility that will store, treat, or 
dispose of the hazardous waste. Specifically, the purpose of these 
meetings is to engage the states, industry, communities, non-
governmental organizations, and other stakeholders on what expectations 
and technical requirements EPA should consider as the agency begins the 
planning stage of the e-Manifest system development process. EPA 
envisions that e-Manifest will facilitate the electronic transmittal of 
manifests throughout the hazardous waste shipping process, including 
enabling better transparency by sharing data with the public at 
appropriate stages. Each meeting will be approximately one and one-half 
days. In order to meet the goals of the meetings, we encourage meeting 
participants from a variety of professional backgrounds to attend, such 
as state governmental staff, hazardous waste handlers (generators, 
transporters, waste management firms) staff, and each of their 
information technology (IT) staff. EPA will use

[[Page 11878]]

stakeholder input gathered during these meetings to finalize e-Manifest 
requirements and prepare for eventual system development.

DATES: EPA will conduct three face-to-face public meetings. The dates 
and locations for each meeting are as follows:
     February 25-26, 2013: Arlington, Virginia, EPA 
Headquarters, One Potomac Yard, 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 
22202.
     March 14-15, 2013: Chicago, Illinois, EPA Region 5, Ralph 
Metcalfe Federal Building, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-
3590.
     March 21-22, 2013: Denver, Colorado, EPA Region 8, 1595 
Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202-1129.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristen Gunthardt, Office of Resource 
Conservation and Recovery, Program Implementation and Information 
Division (5303P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460, telephone number: (703) 347-8955; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    While the meeting is open to the public in general, the identified 
topics may be of particular interest to technical staff that manage or 
work directly with manifest data and processes as well as staff that 
have specialized understanding of the manifest program and business 
process. Potentially interested parties may include but are not limited 
to: IT staff personnel supporting hazardous waste generators, hazardous 
waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs), and hazardous 
waste transporters for their respective companies; Federal, State and 
local environmental and transportation regulators and IT staff; 
enforcement personnel; non-governmental organizations; and trade 
associations dealing with hazardous waste transportation issues. People 
with specific technical expertise, such as computer system specialists, 
information officers, IT managers and others are encouraged to attend. 
If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this meeting 
to a particular entity, organization or occupational discipline, 
consult the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. How may I participate in this meeting?

    For security purposes, all persons wishing to attend the meetings 
must register in advance of each meeting. Please visit the following 
Web site for information on how to register: http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/transportation/manifest/e-man.htm.
    Access to the meeting for non-registered attendees may be denied by 
EPA building security or by limited seating capacity. When registering, 
please provide your name, affiliation, mailing address, telephone 
number, and email address if you have one. A valid photo ID will be 
required to gain access to the EPA meeting rooms. Any person needing 
special accessibility accommodations at this meeting should inform the 
contact person above when registering. Space for the meetings may be 
limited; therefore, potential participants are encouraged to attend 
only one of the three meetings.

C. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

    Docket: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2013-0063. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard 
copy at the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 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 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the RCRA Docket is (202) 566-
0270.

II. Historical Background on e-Manifest Project

    For more than a decade, EPA, states, industry, and other 
stakeholders have sought to transform the hazardous waste manifest 
system from its current paper-based approach to one that takes greater 
advantage of electronic information technologies. On May 22, 2001, EPA 
published a notice of proposed rulemaking that, among other things, 
proposed revisions to the Federal manifest program aimed at adopting an 
electronic manifesting approach that would allow waste shipments to be 
tracked electronically, thereby mitigating the burdens and 
inefficiencies associated with the use of paper manifest forms (66 FR 
28240). Although comments generally supported an electronic tracking 
scheme, several significant issues were raised that necessitated 
further analysis and stakeholder outreach prior to adopting a final e-
Manifest regulation.
    As a result, EPA's ORCR held a two-day public meeting on May 19-20, 
2004 to discuss and obtain public input on how best to proceed with the 
e-Manifest project. During the meeting, stakeholders--including States 
and the hazardous waste management industry--expressed a strong 
interest in a uniform national approach to developing an e-Manifest 
system that would consistently and securely generate and process 
electronic manifests. Moreover, members of industry who use the 
manifest indicated that they would be willing to help pay the costs of 
such a system, perhaps through the assessment of reasonable service 
fees or by a similar ``user pays'' approach.
    In April 2006, EPA published a follow-up notice to request comment 
on its preferred approach for electronically completing and 
transmitting manifests through a national, centralized e-Manifest 
system (71 FR 19842). The public notice also explained that EPA 
intended to establish and maintain an e-Manifest system by imposing 
service fees as a means to fund an information technology contract to 
build and operate the e-Manifest system. Finally, the notice explained 
that EPA's ability to proceed with the development of the national e-
Manifest system was contingent upon the enactment of new legislation. 
This legislation would establish EPA's authority to enter into a 
contract with one or more IT vendors and would provide that the 
contract would be funded by the e-Manifest service fees. EPA would use 
these fees for payment of e-Manifest system costs.
    On November 19 and 20, 2008, EPA's ORCR held a two-day public 
meeting in Arlington, VA to begin discussions with state and industry 
representatives concerning the goals, requirements, and criteria needed 
for the development of an IT system that would support the e-Manifest 
and would provide effective implementation of the hazardous waste 
manifest program. Following the 2008 public meeting, EPA's ORCR held a 
series of webinars with participants to discuss various topics 
addressed during the public meeting but which required further input. 
The webinars took place between April and June of 2009.
    On October 5, 2012, the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest 
Establishment Act (``the Act'') was signed into law by the President. 
The Act authorizes EPA to establish and implement an electronic 
manifest (e-

[[Page 11879]]

Manifest) system in partnership with industry and states by 2015. The 
Act also requires EPA to adopt an e-Manifest regulation authorizing e-
Manifests that are created and transmitted through the use of the e-
Manifest system by October 5, 2013. The e-Manifests will be deemed as 
the legal equivalent to Uniform Hazardous Waste Paper Manifest Form and 
Continuation Sheet (EPA Form 8700-22 and 8700-22a). The scope of e-
Manifest will extend to all federally and state regulated wastes that 
require a manifest; use of e-Manifest, however, is optional to users. 
Although the Act states use of e-Manifest is optional, the Act 
authorizes EPA to collect e-Manifests and paper manifests in the 
system. Therefore, EPA intends to collect all manifests, both 
electronic and paper formats, in the system. For further information 
regarding the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Act and the e-
Manifest project in general, please refer to the following EPA Web 
site: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/transportation/manifest/e-man.htm.

III. Current Activities on e-Manifest Project

    Pursuant to the Act, EPA has begun its initial planning phase to 
begin the development and ultimately the deployment of the e-Manifest 
system by 2015. The purpose of the three face-to-face requirements 
gathering meetings is to continue with efforts conducted during 
previous public meetings and webinars by engaging stakeholders on 
current expectations and technical requirements for the e-Manifest 
system. The goals of the meetings will be to obtain input from future 
users as to their needs and the capability of the IT system to address 
performance standards for the success of an e-Manifest system. 
Additionally, EPA will be gathering input from stakeholders on what 
technical requirements or tools the agency should consider to ensure 
that it also establishes an IT reporting system that will enhance 
access to the data (including to states and the general public).
    The topics of discussions at these meetings will cover the 
following functional requirements:
     e-Manifest workflow, including mobile field component and 
handler submission;
     e-Manifest business rule processing;
     Electronic signature (e-signature) and Cross-Media 
Electronic Reporting Regulation (CROMERR) conformance;
     Paper manifest processing;
     Data access and reporting;
     State data consumption and interaction;
     Data QA; and
     User administration and security.
    EPA is currently determining the actual format and agenda for the 
meetings. It anticipates that each of the meetings will have a similar 
agenda, which will further our intent to provide multiple opportunities 
for stakeholder participation. Therefore, it is only necessary for 
participants to attend one of the three meetings.
    All up to date information, including advanced copies of meeting 
materials and meeting logistics, is available on our Web site: http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/transportation/manifest/e-man.htm.
    EPA will use stakeholder input gathered during these meetings to 
finalize the e-Manifest requirements and prepare for eventual system 
development.

    Dated: February 5, 2013.
Suzanne Rudzinski,
Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery.
[FR Doc. 2013-03838 Filed 2-19-13; 8:45 am]
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