[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 18 (Friday, January 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7553-7554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01974]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2018-0756; FRL-10019-77-OMS]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Requirements for Generators, Transporters, 
and Waste Management Facilities Under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest 
System (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), Requirements for Generators, 
Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities Under the RCRA Hazardous 
Waste Manifest System (EPA ICR Number 0801.25, OMB Control Number 2050-
0039), 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 
January 31, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on May 19, 2020 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 March 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to EPA, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OLEM-2018-0756 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. 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.
    Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Groce, Office of Resource 
Conservation and Recovery, Program Implementation and Information 
Division, (5303P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (703) 308-8750; fax 
number: (703) 308-0514; 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: This Information Collection Request covers recordkeeping 
and reporting activities for the hazardous waste manifest paper and 
electronic system under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 
(RCRA) and the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act 
(Pub. L. 112-195). EPA's authority to require use of a manifest system 
stems primarily from RCRA 3002(a)(5) (also RCRA Sections 3003(a)(3) and 
3004). Regulations are found in 40 CFR part 262 (registrant 
organizations and generators), part 263 (transporters), and parts 264 
and 265 (TSDFs). The manifest lists the wastes that are being shipped 
and the TSDF to which the wastes are bound. Generators, transporters, 
and TSDFs handling hazardous waste are required to complete the data 
requirements for manifests and other reports. The Hazardous Waste 
Electronic Manifest Establishment Act provided EPA authority to 
establish the national electronic hazardous waste manifest system to 
track hazardous waste shipments electronically. The Act also provided 
EPA authority to adopt regulations that (1) allow it to accept

[[Page 7554]]

electronic manifests originated in the e-Manifest system as the legal 
equivalent to paper manifests; (2) require manifest users to submit 
paper copies of the manifest to the system for data processing; (3) 
collect manifests in the e-Manifest system for hazardous waste subject 
to federal or state law; and (4) set up user fees to offset the costs 
of developing and operating the e-Manifest system.
    Pursuant to the Act, EPA modified the manifest regulations on 
February 7, 2014 (the e-Manifest ``One Year Rule''), to authorize use 
of electronic manifests (or e-Manifests) for tracking offsite shipments 
of hazardous waste from a generator's site to the site of the receipt 
and disposition of the hazardous waste. On January 3, 2018, EPA 
finalized the e-Manifest User Fee Final Rule which established the fee 
methodology that EPA uses to determine the user fees applicable to the 
electronic and paper manifests submitted to the national system. EPA 
launched the e-Manifest system on June 30, 2018. TSDFs and other 
receiving facilities must submit manifests, both paper and electronic, 
to EPA. In addition to fees for RCRA wastes, EPA is charging TSDFs and 
other facilities receiving state-only regulated wastes a fee for each 
manifest submitted to the system. Regulations regarding copy submission 
requirements for interstate shipments and the applicability of e-
Manifest system and fees to facilities receiving state-only regulated 
wastes are found in 40 CFR part 260 (Hazardous Waste Management 
System). Regulations regarding imposition of user fees on receiving 
facilities for their manifest submissions, with references to key fee 
methodology, fee dispute, and fee sanction requirements are found in 
parts 264 and 265.
    Form Numbers: Form 8700-22 and 8700-22A.
    Respondents/affected entities: Business or other for-profit.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (RCRA 3002(a)(5)).
    Estimated number of respondents: 106,136 (total).
    Frequency of response: Each shipment.
    Total estimated burden: 2,362,089 hours (per year). Burden is 
defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $118,940,729 (per year), includes $29,043,234 
annualized capital costs and operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 140,411 hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB, resulting from EPA's updates to the annual number of 
manifests offered into transportation. Based on its recent analysis of 
e-Manifest data, EPA estimates a decrease in the annual number of paper 
and electronic manifests from the currently approved ICR. In addition, 
there is an increase of $3,273,919 in the total respondent costs 
compared with the currently approved ICR. This increase resulted 
primarily from an improved methodology and updated data for estimating 
the user fees paid by destination facilities.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-01974 Filed 1-28-21; 8:45 am]
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