[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8834-8835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03375]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2006-0361; FRL-9583-01-OMS]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Trade Secrets Claims for Community Right-to-
Know and Emergency Planning (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), ``Trade Secrets Claims for 
Community Right-to-Know and Emergency Planning (EPA ICR Number 1428.12, 
OMB Control Number 2050-0078) 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 April 30, 2022. Public comments were 
previously requested via the Federal Register on September 1, 2021 
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: Comments must be submitted on or before March 18, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to EPA, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-SFUND-2006-0361, online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method) 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: Wendy Hoffman, Office of Emergency 
Management, Mail Code 5104A, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 
564-8794; 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. Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public and 
our staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room is closed to the 
public, with limited exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting 
COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote 
customer service via email,

[[Page 8835]]

phone, and webform. For further information about the EPA's public 
docket, Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us 
online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets. The telephone number for the 
Docket Center is 202-566-1744.
    Abstract: This information collection request pertains to trade 
secrecy claims submitted under section 322 of the Emergency Planning 
and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). EPCRA contains 
provisions requiring facilities to report to state and local 
authorities, and EPA, the presence of extremely hazardous substances 
(section 302), inventory of hazardous chemicals (sections 311 and 312) 
and manufacture, process and use of toxic chemicals (section 313). 
Section 322 of EPCRA allows a facility to withhold the specific 
chemical identity from these EPCRA reports if the facility asserts a 
trade secret claim for that chemical identity. The provisions in 
section 322 establish the requirements and procedures that facilities 
must follow to request trade secret treatment of chemical identities, 
as well as the procedures for submitting public petitions to the Agency 
for review of the ``sufficiency'' of trade secret claims.
    Trade secret protection is provided for specific chemical 
identities contained in reports submitted under each of the following 
sections of EPCRA: (1) Section 303(d)(2)--Facility notification of 
changes that have or are about to occur; (2) section 303(d)(3)--Local 
Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) requests for facility information 
to develop or implement emergency plans; (3) section 311--Material 
Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) submitted by facilities, or lists of those 
chemicals submitted in place of the MSDSs; (4) section 312--Emergency 
and Hazardous Chemical Inventory forms (Tier I and Tier II); and (5) 
section 313--Toxic Chemical Release Inventory form.
    Form Numbers: EPA Form 9510-1.
    Respondents/affected entities: Entities potentially affected by 
this action are manufacturer and non-manufacturer facilities subject to 
reporting under sections 303, 311, 312 or 313 of the Emergency Planning 
and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory if a respondent 
decides to make a trade secret claim for the chemical identity for any 
of the chemicals in any of the reports the respondent is required to 
submit under EPCRA sections 303, 311, 312 or 313.
    Estimated number of respondents: 283 trade secret claims.
    Frequency of response: Annual, with reports submitted under 
sections 312 and 313.
    Total estimated burden: 2,689 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $164,989 (per year). There are no capital or 
operation and maintenance costs associated with this ICR.
    Changes in estimates: The small increase in estimated burden from 
the previous ICR is because the actual number of claims submitted was 
slightly higher than what EPA estimated it would receive in the 
previous ICR. Therefore, the number of trade secret claims EPA expects 
to receive in the upcoming three-year renewal period is also higher.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2022-03375 Filed 2-15-22; 8:45 am]
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