[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 94 (Thursday, May 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 27868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09988]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9910-26-OW]


Clean Water Act; Contractor Access to Confidential Business 
Information

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Intended Transfer of Confidential Business 
Information to Subcontractor.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to transfer 
confidential business information (CBI) collected from numerous 
industries to NEK Associates (NEK), a newly retained subcontractor of 
Eastern Research Group (ERG). Transfer of the information will allow 
the contractor and subcontractor to support EPA in the planning, 
development, and review of effluent limitations guidelines and 
standards under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Interested persons may 
submit comments on this intended transfer of information to the address 
noted below.

DATES: Comments on the transfer of data are due May 20, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Mr. M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document 
Control Officer, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303T), Room 6231S 
EPA West, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document 
Control Officer, at (202) 566-1044, or via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has transferred CBI to various 
contractors and subcontractors over the history of the effluent 
guidelines program. EPA determined that this transfer was necessary to 
enable the contractors and subcontractors to perform their work in 
supporting EPA in planning, developing, and reviewing effluent 
guidelines and standards for certain industries.
    Today, EPA is giving notice that it is transferring CBI to NEK 
(located in Allston, MA), a new subcontractor to ERG, which operates 
under contract number EP-C-12-021. EPA initially announced its 
intention to transfer CBI to ERG and its subcontractors and consultants 
on October 5, 2012 (77 FR 60962). The purpose of this transfer is to 
support technical and engineering analysis support for EPA in its 
development, review, implementation, and defense of water-related 
initiatives for a variety of industries.
    All EPA contractor, subcontractor, and consultant personnel are 
bound by the requirements and sanctions contained in their contracts 
with EPA and in EPA's confidentiality regulations found at 40 CFR Part 
2, Subpart B. NEK will adhere to an ERG-approved security plan which 
describes procedures to protect CBI. NEK will apply the procedures in 
this plan to CBI previously gathered by EPA and to CBI that may be 
gathered in the future. The security plan specifies that subcontractor 
personnel are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and are 
briefed on appropriate security procedures before they are permitted 
access to CBI. No person is automatically granted access to CBI: A need 
to know must exist.
    The information that will be transferred to NEK consists of 
information previously collected by EPA under the authority of section 
308 of the CWA to support the development and review of effluent 
limitations guidelines and standards. In particular, information, 
including CBI, collected for the planning, development, and review of 
effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the following 
industries may be transferred: Airport deicing; aquaculture; 
centralized waste treatment; coal bed methane; concentrated animal 
feeding operations; coal mining; construction and development; drinking 
water treatment; industrial container and drum cleaning; industrial 
laundries; industrial waste combustors; iron and steel manufacturing; 
landfills; meat and poultry products; metal finishing; metal products 
and machinery; nonferrous metals manufacturing; oil and gas extraction 
(including coalbed methane); ore mining and dressing; organic 
chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibers; pesticide chemicals; 
petroleum refining; pharmaceutical manufacturing; pulp, paper, and 
paperboard manufacturing; shale gas extraction; steam electric power 
generation; textile mills; timber products processing; tobacco; and 
transportation equipment cleaning. Additionally, note that some 
information being transferred from the pulp, paper, and paperboard 
industry was collected under the additional authorities of section 114 
of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and section 3007 of the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
    EPA also intends to transfer to NEK all information listed in this 
notice, of the type described above (including CBI) that may be 
collected in the future under the authority of section 308 of the CWA 
or voluntarily submitted (e.g., in comments in response to a Federal 
Register notice), as is necessary to enable NEK to carry out the work 
required by its subcontract to support EPA's effluent guidelines 
planning process and the development of effluent limitations guidelines 
and standards.

    Dated: April 23, 2014.
Elizabeth Southerland,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2014-09988 Filed 5-14-14; 8:45 am]
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