[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24781-24782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11170]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978; FRL-9994-34-OECA]
Access by EPA Subcontractors to Information Claimed as
Confidential Business Information (CBI) Submitted Under Titles I and II
of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Prevent Pollution From Ships Act
(APPS)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Clean Air Act (CAA), Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships
(APPS) and regulations require that the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) provide notice to interested parties before any
contractor may be provided access to confidential business information
(CBI). EPA is providing notice that several subcontractors of a
previously identified contractor will be given access to CBI. This
permits the CBI owners and any other interested parties to comment on
the subcontractors' proposed access to CBI so that EPA's Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance can utilize the named
subcontractors to provide compliance assistance and enforcement
services without providing individualized notice to CBI owners.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 3, 2019.
Subcontractors' access to information collected under the CAA Titles I
and II, and the APPS, will begin on June 4, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA HQ-
OECA-2012-0978, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OECA-2012-0978 in the subject line of the message.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information
provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Kimes, Air Enforcement
Division, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (Mail Code
8MSU), Environmental Protection Agency, 1595 Wynkoop St., Denver, CO
80202; telephone number: (303) 312-6445; fax number (303) 312-7208;
email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Does this notice apply to me?
This action is directed to the general public. However, this action
may be of particular interest to certain parties, including: Vehicle
manufacturers and importers; engine manufacturers and importers; motor
vehicle fuel and fuel additive producers and importers; manufacturers,
importers, distributors and installers of vehicle and engine emission
control equipment and parts; and any other parties subject to the CAA,
APPS and regulations found in 40 CFR parts 79, 80, 85, 86, 89-92, 94,
1033, 1036, 1037, 1039, 1042, 1043, 1045, 1048, 1051, 1054, 1060, 1065,
and 1068.
This Federal Register notice may be of particular relevance to
parties that have submitted data to EPA under the above-listed
regulations. Because other parties may also be interested, EPA has not
attempted to describe all the specific parties that may be affected by
this action. If you have further questions regarding the applicability
of this action to a particular party, please contact the person listed
in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
II. How can I get copies of this document and other related
information?
A. Electronically
EPA has established a public docket for this Federal Register
notice under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978.
All documents in the docket are identified in the docket index
available at http://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index,
some information is not publicly available, such as CBI or other
information for which disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain
materials, such as copyrighted material, will only be available in hard
copy at the EPA Docket Center.
[[Page 24782]]
B. EPA Docket Center
Materials listed under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978 will be
available for public viewing at the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460. 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 Docket is (202) 566-1742.
III. Description of Programs and Potential Disclosure of Information
Claimed as CBI to Contractors
EPA's OECA has responsibility for protecting public health and the
environment by regulating air pollution from motor vehicles, engines,
and the fuels used to operate them, and by encouraging travel choices
that minimize emissions. In order to implement various Clean Air Act
programs, and to give regulated entities flexibility in meeting
regulatory requirements (e.g., compliance on average), OECA collects
compliance reports and other information from the regulated industry.
Occasionally, the information submitted to, or obtained by, EPA, is
claimed to be CBI by persons submitting data to EPA. Information
submitted under such a claim is handled in accordance with EPA's
regulations at 40 CFR part 2, subpart B, and in accordance with EPA
procedures that are consistent with those regulations. When EPA has
determined that disclosure of information claimed as CBI to EPA
contractors or subcontractors is necessary, the corresponding contract
must address the appropriate use and handling of the information by the
EPA contractor and subcontractor and the EPA contractor and
subcontractor must require its personnel who require access to
information claimed as CBI to sign written non-disclosure agreements
before they are granted access to data.
On March 12, 2019, EPA provided notice in the Federal Register of,
and an opportunity to comment on, EPA's determination that its
contractor Eastern Research Group, Incorporated, (ERG) 14555 Avion
Parkway, Suite 200, Chantilly, VA 20151, required access to CBI
submitted to EPA under Section 114 of the CAA, Section 208 of the CAA,
and the APPS for the work ERG would be conducting under Contract Number
68HERH19C0004. See Access by United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Contractors to Information Claimed as Confidential
Business Information (CBI) Submitted under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title
I, Programs and Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for
Moving Sources, and Act To Prevent Pollution From Ships (APPS), 84 FR
8859 (March 12, 2019). In accordance with 40 CFR 2.301(h), EPA has now
determined that the subcontractors listed below also require access to
CBI submitted to EPA under Section 114 of the CAA, Section 208 of the
CAA, and the APPS, and we are providing notice and an opportunity to
comment on EPA subcontractors' access to information claimed as CBI.
OECA collects this data in order to monitor compliance with regulations
promulgated under the CAA Title II Emission Standards for Moving
Sources, the APPS, and the International Convention for the Prevention
of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), Annex VI. We are issuing this Federal
Register notice to inform all affected submitters of information that
we plan to grant access to material that may be claimed as CBI to the
subcontractors identified below on a need-to-know basis.
Under Contract Number 68HERH19C0004, ERG provides enforcement
support for EPA's CAA mobile source regulatory and enforcement
activities, including field inspections, investigations, audits, and
other CAA regulatory and enforcement support that involve access to
information claimed as CBI. ERG also employs subcontractors, who
support these activities, under the above-listed contract. These
subcontractors include: Sunblock Systems, Inc.; PG Environmental, LLC;
BDO USA, LLP; Dr. James J. Carroll; Dr. Yiqun Huang; Dr. Maureen
Kaplan; and Capital Reporting Company. Access to data, including
information claimed as CBI, will commence six days after the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, and will continue
until March 1, 2024. If the contract and associated subcontracts are
extended, this access will continue for the remainder of the ERG
contract without further notice. If the contract expires prior to March
1, 2024, the access will cease at that time. If ERG employs additional
subcontractors to support EPA on a regular basis or on a limited or
one-time basis under the above-listed contract, and those
subcontractors require access to CBI, EPA will notify affected
companies of the contemplated disclosure and provide them with an
opportunity to comment by either sending them a letter or by publishing
an additional notice in the Federal Register.
Parties who wish to obtain further information about this Federal
Register notice, or about OECA's disclosure of information claimed as
CBI to subcontractors, may contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Dated: May 16, 2019.
Phillip A. Brooks,
Director, Air Enforcement Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-11170 Filed 5-28-19; 8:45 am]
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