Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Form R) (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1363.14, OMB Control Number 2070-0093, 70822-70823 [05-23219]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 23, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70822-70823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23219]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OEI-2004-0006; FRL-8000-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Form R) 
(Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1363.14, OMB Control Number 2070-0093

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection 
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing 
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on January 31, 
2006. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or 
sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending 
at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and 
its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before December 23, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OEI-2004-
0006, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail 
to oei.docket@epa.gov or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, OEI Docket 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: 
Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cassandra Vail, Toxics Release 
Inventory Program Division, Office of Information Analysis and Access 
(2844T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-566-0753; e-mail address: 
vail.cassandra@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. On May 18, 2005, (70 FR 28520) EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received comments from four 
organizations on this ICR during the comment period. A table 
summarizing the major comments and EPA's responses is available in the 
public docket.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. OEI-2004-0006 which is available for public viewing at the OEI 
Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading 
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the OEI Docket is 
(202) 566-1752. An electronic version of the public docket is available 
through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at https://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use 
EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of 
the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the 
public docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, 
select ``search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified above.
    Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, 
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available 
for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, 
unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other 
information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA 
identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide 
a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is 
placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the 
copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although 
identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as 
CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not 
included in the official public docket, and will not be available for 
public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic 
docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic 
docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to https://www.epa.gov/
edocket.

Title: Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Form R) (Renewal)

    Abstract: The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act 
(EPCRA) section 313 requires owners and operators of certain facilities 
that manufacture, process, or otherwise use any of certain listed toxic 
chemicals and chemical categories in excess of applicable threshold 
quantities to report annually to the Environmental Protection Agency 
and to the states in which such facilities are located on their 
environmental releases and transfers of and other waste management 
activities for such chemicals. In addition, section 6607 of the 
Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) requires facilities to provide 
information on the quantities of the toxic chemicals in waste streams 
and the efforts made to reduce or eliminate those quantities.
    Annual reporting under EPCRA section 313 of toxic chemical releases 
and other waste management information provides citizens with a useful 
picture of the total disposition of chemicals in their communities and 
helps focus industry's attention on pollution prevention and source 
reduction opportunities. EPA believes that the public has a right to 
know about the disposition of chemicals within communities and the 
management of such chemicals by facilities in industries subject to 
EPCRA section 313 reporting. This reporting has been successful in 
providing communities with important information regarding the 
disposition of toxic chemicals and other waste management information 
of toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities in their areas.
    EPA collects, processes, and makes available to the public all of 
the information collected that is not subject to trade secrecy claims. 
The information gathered under these authorities is stored in a 
database maintained at EPA and is available through the Internet. This 
information, commonly known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), is 
used extensively by both EPA and the public sector. Program offices 
within EPA use TRI data, along with other sources of data, to establish 
priorities, evaluate potential exposure scenarios, and undertake 
regulatory and enforcement activities. Environmental and public 
interest groups use the data in studies and reports, making the

[[Page 70823]]

public more aware of releases of chemicals in their communities.
    Comprehensive publicly-available data about releases, transfers, 
and other waste management activities of toxic chemicals at the 
community level are generally not available, other than under the 
reporting requirements of EPCRA section 313. Permit data are often 
difficult to obtain, are not cross-media and present only a limited 
perspective on a facility's overall performance. With TRI, and the real 
gains in understanding it has produced, communities and governments 
know what toxic chemicals industrial facilities in their area release, 
transfer, or otherwise manage as waste. In addition, industries have an 
additional tool for evaluating efficiency and progress on their 
pollution prevention goals.
    Responses to the collection of information are mandatory (see 40 
CFR part 372). Respondents may claim trade secrecy for a chemical's 
identity as described in section 322 of EPCRA and its implementing 
regulations in 40 CFR part 350. EPA will disclose information that is 
covered by a claim of trade secrecy only to the extent permitted by, 
and in accordance with, the procedures in 40 CFR part 350 and 40 CFR 
part 2.
    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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on 
the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 51.3 
hours per first year response for PBT chemicals and 29.6 hours per 
subsequent year response for non-PBT chemicals. There is additional 
burden associated with rule familiarization, compliance determination 
and supplier notification. Burden means the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 
or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This 
includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, 
install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of 
collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; 
adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable 
instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to 
a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review 
the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Owners or operators of certain 
facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use certain 
specified toxic chemicals and chemical categories and are required to 
report annually on the environmental releases, transfers and waste 
management activities for such chemicals.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 82,000.
    Frequency of Response: Annual.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,746,590 burden hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $170,500,000 in labor costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 142,162 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is due to (1) the fact that 
approximately 2,000 fewer forms were filed in RY2002 than in RY2001 and 
(2) the TRI Reporting Forms Modification Rule (70 FR 39931) that 
modified Form R to eliminate certain data elements and to simplify 
others.

    Dated: November 15, 2005.
Joseph A. Sierra,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-23219 Filed 11-22-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P