[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71060-71062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26966]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0826; FRL-9339-01-OLEM]


The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board: 
Request for Nominations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites the 
public to nominate experts to be considered for a three-year 
appointment to the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory 
Board (the ``Board''). Pursuant to the Hazardous Waste Electronic 
Manifest Establishment Act (the ``e-Manifest Act'' or the ``Act''), EPA 
has established the Board to provide practical and independent advice, 
consultation, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the 
activities, functions, policies, and regulations associated with the 
Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest (e-Manifest) System. In accordance, 
with the e-Manifest Act, the EPA Administrator or designee will serve 
as Chair of the Board. This notice solicits nominations for possible 
consideration of candidates to potentially serve in the following 
positions on the Board: an expert in information technology (IT); an 
industry representative member with experience in using or representing 
users of the manifest system; and a state representative member 
responsible for processing manifests.

DATES: Nominations of candidates considered for appointment must be 
received on or before January 13, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your nominations identified with ``BOARD NOMINATION'' 
in the subject line to Tamue Gibson, the Acting Designated Federal 
Officer (DFO) of the e-Manifest Advisory Board at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamue Gibson, Acting Designated 
Federal Officer (DFO), Phone: 202-564-7642; or by email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On June 30, 2018, EPA established a national system for tracking 
hazardous waste shipments electronically. This system, known as ``e-
Manifest,'' supports the modernization of the nation's cradle-to-grave 
hazardous waste tracking process while saving valuable time, resources, 
and dollars for industry and states.
    EPA established the e-Manifest system according to the Hazardous 
Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, enacted into law on 
October 5, 2012. The ``e-Manifest Act'' authorizes the EPA to implement 
a national electronic manifest system and requires that the costs of 
developing and operating the new e-Manifest system be recovered from 
user fees charged to those who use hazardous waste manifests to track 
off-site shipments of their wastes.
    This system enables users of the uniform hazardous waste manifest 
forms (EPA Form 8700-22 and Continuation Sheet 8700-22A) to have the 
option to more efficiently track their hazardous waste shipments 
electronically, in lieu of the paper manifest, from the point of 
generation, during transportation, and to the point of receipt by an 
off-site facility that is permitted to treat, store, recycle, or 
dispose of the hazardous waste. Electronic manifests obtained from the 
national system augment or replace the paper forms that have 
historically been used for this purpose, and that result in substantial 
paperwork costs and other inefficiencies. Congress intended that EPA 
develops a system that, among other things, meets the needs of the user 
community and decreases the administrative burden associated with the 
current paper-based manifest system on the user community. By enabling 
the transition from a paper-intensive process to an electronic system, 
EPA estimates e-Manifest will ultimately save state and industry users 
more than $50 million annually, once electronic manifests are widely 
adopted. The system also serves as a national reporting hub and 
database for all manifests and shipment data. To ensure that these 
goals are met, the Act directs EPA to establish a Board to assess the 
effectiveness of the electronic manifest system and make 
recommendations to the Administrator for improving the system.
    In addition, the e-Manifest Act directs EPA to develop a system 
that attracts sufficient user participation and service revenues to 
ensure the viability of the system. As a result, the Act provides EPA 
broad discretion to establish reasonable user fees, as the 
Administrator determines are necessary, to pay costs incurred in 
developing, operating, maintaining, and upgrading the system, including 
any costs incurred in collecting and processing data from any paper 
manifest submitted to the system.
    e-Manifest aligns with the Agency's E-Enterprise business strategy. 
E-Enterprise for the Environment is a transformative 21st century 
strategy--jointly governed by states and EPA--for modernizing 
government agencies' delivery of environmental protection. Under this 
strategy, the Agency will streamline its business processes and systems 
to reduce reporting burden on states and regulated facilities and 
improve the effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory programs for 
EPA, states, and tribes.
    EPA has established the Board in accordance with the provisions of 
the e-Manifest Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 
U.S.C. app.2. The Board is in the public interest and supports EPA in 
performing its duties and responsibilities. Pursuant to the e-Manifest 
Act the Board is comprised of nine members, of which one member is the 
Administrator (or a designee), who will serve as Chair of the Board, 
and eight members are individuals appointed by the EPA Administrator:
     At least two of whom have expertise in information 
technology (IT);
     At least three of whom have experience in using, or 
represent users of, the manifest system to track the transportation of 
hazardous waste under federal and state manifest programs; and
     At least three state representatives responsible for 
processing those manifests.
    The Board will meet publicly at least annually to provide 
recommendations on matters related to the operational activities, 
functions, policies, and/or regulations of the EPA under the e-Manifest 
Act. Pursuant to the e-Manifest Act, the Board will assist the Agency 
in evaluating the effectiveness of the e-Manifest IT system and 
associated user fees; identifying key issues associated with the 
system, including the need (and timing) for user fee adjustments; 
recommending system enhancements; and providing independent advice on 
matters and policies related to the e-Manifest program. The e-Manifest 
Board provides recommendations on matters related to the operational 
activities, functions, policies, and regulations of the EPA under the 
e-Manifest Act, including proposing actions to encourage the use of the 
electronic (paperless) system, and actions related to the E-Enterprise 
strategy that intersect with e-Manifest. These intersections may 
include issues such as business-to-business communications, performance 
standards for mobile devices, and Cross Media Electronic Reporting Rule 
(CROMERR) compliant e-signatures.

II. Nominations

    Any interested person and/or organization may nominate qualified 
individuals for membership. EPA values and welcomes diversity. To 
obtain nominations of diverse candidates, the agency encourages 
nominations of all genders and all racial and ethnic groups. All 
nominations will be considered; however, applicants need to be aware of 
the representation from specific sectors required by the e-Manifest 
Act.
    Nominees who represent states and industry should have a 
comprehensive knowledge of hazardous waste

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generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal under RCRA 
Subtitle C at the federal, state, and local levels. Nominees who 
represent states should have comprehensive knowledge of state programs 
that use manifest data. Nominees who represent industry should be 
familiar with e-Manifest and have strong knowledge of existing industry 
systems/devices/approaches and business operations to provide valuable 
input on e-Manifest integration into current industry data systems.
    IT nominees should have core competencies and experience in large-
scale systems and application development, integration, and 
implementation. This may include competency and experience with: 
Managing complex systems used by multiple user communities; ensuring 
data availability, integrity, and quality; user help desk and support; 
as well as expertise relevant to the complexities of an electronic 
manifest system. Examples of this expertise may include, but are not 
limited to: Expertise with web-based and mobile technologies, 
particularly those that support large scale operations for 
geographically diverse users; expertise in IT security, including 
perspective on federal IT security requirements; expertise in 
electronic signature and user management approaches; expertise with 
scalable hosting solutions such as cloud-based hosting; and expertise 
in user experience. Existing knowledge of, or willingness to gain an 
understanding of, EPA shared services and enterprise architecture is a 
plus.
    Another plus for any nominee is experience in setting and/or 
managing fee-based systems in general.
    Additional criteria used to evaluate nominees will include:
     Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication 
skills;
     Demonstrated experience developing group recommendations;
     Willingness to commit time to the Board and demonstrated 
ability to work constructively on committees;
     Absence of financial conflicts of interest;
     Impartiality (including avoiding the appearance of a loss 
of impartiality); and
     Background and experiences that would help contribute to 
the diversity of perspectives on the Board, e.g., geographic, economic, 
social, cultural, educational backgrounds, professional affiliations, 
and other considerations.
    Nominations must include a resume, which provides the nominee's 
background, experience, and educational qualifications, as well as a 
brief statement (one page or less) describing the nominee's interest in 
serving on the Board and addressing the other criteria previously 
described. Nominees are encouraged to provide any additional 
information that they feel would be useful for consideration, such as: 
Availability to participate as a member of the Board; how the nominee's 
background, skills, and experience would contribute to the diversity of 
the Board; and any concerns the nominee has regarding membership. 
Nominees should be identified by name, occupation, position, current 
business address, email, and telephone number.
    Interested candidates may self-nominate. The agency will 
acknowledge receipt of nominations. Persons selected for membership 
will receive compensation for travel and a nominal daily compensation 
(if appropriate) while attending meetings in person. Additionally, 
candidates selected to serve as Information Technology (IT) ``Expert'' 
Members will be designated as Special Government Employees (SGEs) or 
consultants. Candidates designated as SGEs will be required to fill out 
the ``Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for Environmental 
Protection Agency Special Government Employees'' (EPA Form 3310-48). 
This confidential form provides information to the EPA ethics officials 
to determine whether there is a conflict between the SGE's public 
duties and their private interests, including an appearance of a loss 
of impartiality as defined by federal laws and regulations.
    One example of a potential conflict of interest may be for IT 
professional(s) serving in an organization which is awarded any related 
e-Manifest system development contract(s).

    Dated: December 6, 2021.
Carolyn Hoskinson,
Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Office of Land 
and Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2021-26966 Filed 12-13-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P