[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 62 (Tuesday, March 31, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17876-17877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06602]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0077; FRL-10005-39-OMS]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) 
Program (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Significant New Alternatives 
Policy (SNAP) Program (EPA ICR Number 1596.10, OMB Control Number 2060-
0226) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act . This is a 
proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through May 
31, 2020. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal 
Register on September 25, 2019 during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller 
description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden 
and cost to the public. 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.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before April 30, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2004-0077, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by email to [email protected] or by mail to: 
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB via email 
to [email protected]. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer 
for EPA.
    EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information 
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christina Thompson, Stratospheric 
Protection Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, (Mail Code 6205T), 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-0983; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents, which explain in 
detail the information that the EPA will be collecting, are available 
in the public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at 
www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone 
number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Abstract: Information collected under this rulemaking is necessary 
to implement the requirements of the Significant New Alternatives 
Policy (SNAP) program for evaluating and regulating substitutes for 
ozone-depleting substances (ODS) being phased out under the 
stratospheric ozone protection provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA) 
and globally under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the 
Ozone Layer. Under CAA Section 612, EPA is authorized to identify and 
restrict the use of substitutes for class I and class II ODS (listed in 
40 CFR part 82, subpart A, appendices A and B) where EPA determines 
other alternatives are available or potentially available that reduce 
overall risk to human health and the environment. Any producer of a new 
substitute must submit a notice of intent to introduce a substitute 
into interstate commerce 90 days prior to such introduction. The 
producer must also provide EPA with information covering a wide range 
of health and environmental factors. The SNAP program, based on 
information collected from the manufacturers, formulators, and/or 
sellers of such substitutes, identifies acceptable substitutes. 
Responses to the collection of information are mandatory under Section 
612 for anyone who sells or, in certain cases, uses substitutes for an 
ODS after April 18, 1994, the effective date of the final rule. 
Measures to protect confidentiality of information collected under the 
SNAP program are based on EPA's confidentiality regulations (40 CFR 
2.201 et seq., or Subpart B). Submitters may designate all or portions 
of their forms or petitions as confidential. EPA requires the 
submitters to substantiate their claim of confidentiality. Under CAA 
Section 114(c), emissions information may not be claimed as 
confidential.
    To develop the lists of acceptable and unacceptable substitutes, 
the Agency must assess and compare ``overall risks to human health and 
the environment'' posed by use of substitutes in the context of 
particular applications. EPA requires submission of information 
covering a wide range of health and environmental factors. These 
include intrinsic properties such as physical and chemical information, 
atmospheric effects including ozone depleting potential and global 
warming potential, toxicity, and flammability, and use-specific data 
such as substitute applications, process description, environmental 
release data, exposure data during use of a substitute, environmental 
fate and transport, and cost information of the substitute. Once a 
completed submission has been received, the SNAP program will commence 
its review. Any substitute which is a new chemical must also be 
submitted to the Agency under the Premanufacture Notice program under 
the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Alternatives that will be used 
as sterilants must be filed jointly with EPA's Office of Pesticide 
Programs and with SNAP.
    Form Numbers: 1265-14.
    Respondents/affected entities: Manufacturers, importers, 
formulators and processors of substitutes for ODS.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR 82.176).
    Estimated number of respondents: 180 (per year).
    Frequency of response: Annual.

[[Page 17877]]

    Total estimated burden: 5,557 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $471,714, which includes $22,938 annualized 
capital or O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 814 hours in the 
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. The Agency anticipates the number of submissions to 
the SNAP program to remain the same as the previous ICR during the next 
3 years. Many of the recent SNAP submissions, and those anticipated 
over the next three years, are for chemicals previously found 
acceptable for other SNAP applications or for blends of alternatives 
already found acceptable. For the expected submissions, the burden of 
developing supporting information for the majority of these submissions 
is expected to decrease because it is easier to find and review 
information for substitutes that have been reviewed previously. EPA 
estimates a reduction in the number of respondents responsible for 
recordkeeping for substitutes acceptable subject to use conditions and 
narrowed use limits. The increased availability of alternatives reduces 
the need for industry to use alternatives previously listed as 
acceptable subject to narrowed use limits.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-06602 Filed 3-30-20; 8:45 am]
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