[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14847-14848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05564]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2013-0549; FRL-9665-01-OMS]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Notification of Episodic Releases of Oil and 
Hazardous Substances (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), Notification of Episodic Releases 
of Oil and Hazardous Substances (EPA ICR Number 1049.15, OMB Control 
Number 2050-0046) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. 
Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on 
September 23, 2021 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows 
for an additional 30 days for public comment. 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 April 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-2013-0549, online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method) or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail Code 2821T, 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

[[Page 14848]]

(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, Regulations 
Implementation Division, 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 EPA will be collecting, are available in 
the public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at 
http://www.regulations.gov. 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: Section 103(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended, 
requires the person in charge of a facility or vessel to immediately 
notify the National Response Center (NRC) of a hazardous substance 
release into the environment if the amount of the release equals or 
exceeds the substance's reportable quantity (RQ) limit. The RQs for the 
hazardous substance can be found in Table 302.4 of 40 CFR 302.4. 
Section 311 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) as amended, requires the 
person in charge of a vessel to immediately notify the NRC of an oil 
spill into U.S. navigable waters if the spill causes a sheen, violates 
applicable water quality standards, or causes a sludge or emulsion to 
be deposited beneath the surface of the water or upon adjoining 
shorelines. The reporting of a hazardous substance release that is at 
or above the substance's RQ allows the federal government to determine 
whether a federal response action is required to control or mitigate 
any potential adverse effects to public health or welfare or the 
environment. Likewise, the reporting of oil spills allows the federal 
government to determine whether cleaning up the oil spill is required 
to mitigate or prevent damage to public health or welfare or the 
environment. The hazardous substance and oil release information 
collected under CERCLA section 103(a) and CWA section 311 also is 
available to EPA program offices and other federal agencies that use 
the information to evaluate the potential need for additional 
regulations, new permitting requirements for specific substances or 
sources, or improved emergency response planning.
    Release notification information is stored in EPA's WebEOC, a web-
based crisis management system which supports response management for 
significant incidents and daily operations in the Regional Response 
Centers and EPA's Headquarters Emergency Operations Center. State and 
local government authorities and the regulated community use release 
information for purposes of local emergency response planning. The 
public has access to release information through the Freedom of 
Information Act. The public may request release information for 
purposes of maintaining an awareness of what types of releases are 
occurring in different localities and what actions, if any, are being 
taken to protect public health and welfare and the environment.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Facilities and vessels that may have 
releases of any hazardous substances or oil at or above its RQ.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory under CERCLA section 
103 (a).
    Estimated number of respondents: 19,450.
    Frequency of response: As releases occur from a facility or a 
vessel.
    Total estimated burden: 19,839 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $553,337 (per year), which includes no 
capital or operation and maintenance costs associated with this ICR.
    Changes in Estimates: Based on actual NRC release notifications 
from the previous ICR period, the projected number of annual release 
notifications in this renewal (19,450) is slightly higher than what EPA 
projected in the previous ICR (18,447). This resulted in a higher total 
estimated respondent burden of 19,839 hours for this ICR renewal 
compared to 18,816 hours in the previous renewal.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2022-05564 Filed 3-15-22; 8:45 am]
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