Agency Information Collection Activities, Proposed Collections; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Request for Comments on Proposed Changes and the Renewal of the Form A Certification Statement (EPA ICR No. 1704.09, OMB Control No. 2070-0143), 71407-71409 [E7-24372]
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description of national procedures for
considering the environmental impacts
of proposed activities; (2) an annual list
of any IEEs and any decisions taken in
consequence thereof; (3) significant
information obtained and any action
taken in consequence thereof with
regard to monitoring from IEEs to CEEs;
and (4) information in a final CEE. This
provision fulfills the United States’
obligation to meet the requirements of
Article 6 of Annex I to the Protocol. The
Department of State is responsible for
coordination of these reviews of drafts
with interested Federal agencies, and for
public availability of documents and
information. This portion of the Final
Rule does not impose paperwork
requirements on any nongovernmental
person subject to U.S. regulation.
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 1663 hours
annually, or 72 hours per response.
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 which have subsequently
changed; 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: Most
operators are ship-based or land-based
tour operators. The SIC Code for Tour
Operators is 4725 and the NAICS Code
is 561520.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
23.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:
1663 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost:
$133,916, includes $4,219 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
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Changes in the Estimates: There is an
increase of 115 hours in the total
estimated burden currently identified in
the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR
Burdens. This increase is the result of
an increase in the number of
respondents anticipated during the 3year ICR renewal period and the level of
environmental documentation EPA
anticipates the respondents will submit.
Dated: December 6, 2007.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E7–24371 Filed 12–14–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–TRI–2007–0355; FRL–8507–4]
Agency Information Collection
Activities, Proposed Collections; Toxic
Chemical Release Reporting; Request
for Comments on Proposed Changes
and the Renewal of the Form A
Certification Statement (EPA ICR No.
1704.09, OMB Control No. 2070–0143)
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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 make
changes to and renew an existing
approved collection. The ICR
Supporting Statement, which is
abstracted below, describes the nature of
the information collection (including
proposed minor form changes) and its
estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be
submitted on or before January 16, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
referencing Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
TRI–2007–0355, to (1) EPA online using
https://www.regulations.gov (our
preferred method), by e-mail to
oei.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to EPA
Docket Center, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Mail Code 2822T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by
mail to 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
PO 00000
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71407
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; fax number,
202–566–0740; e-mail address,
vail.cassandra@epa.gov.
EPA
submitted an earlier version of the ICR
Supporting Statement to OMB for
review and approval according to the
procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12.
On July 11, 2007 (72 FR 37762), EPA
sought comments on this ICR pursuant
to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received four
comments during the comment period,
which are addressed in the Response to
Comments document. Any additional
comments on the revised ICR
Supporting Statement should be
submitted to EPA and OMB within 30
days of this notice.
EPA has established a public docket
for this ICR Supporting Statement under
Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–TRI–2007–
0355, which is available for online
viewing at https://www.regulations.gov,
or in person at the OEI Docket, EPA
Docket Center (EPA/DC), U.S. EPA West
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/
DC Public Reading Room is open from
8 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.
Use EPA’s electronic docket and
comment system at https://
www.regulations.gov to submit or view
public comments, to access the index
listing of the contents of the docket, and
to access those documents in the docket
that are available electronically. Once in
the system, select ‘‘docket search,’’ then
key in the docket ID number identified
above. Please note that EPA’s policy is
that public comments, whether
submitted electronically or in paper,
will be made available for public
viewing at https://www.regulations.gov,
as EPA receives them and without
change, unless the comment contains
copyrighted material, Confidential
Business Information (CBI), or other
information for which public disclosure
is restricted by statute. For further
information about the electronic docket,
go to https://www.regulations.gov.
Title: The ICR Renewal and Proposed
Changes to the TRI Form A Certification
Statement, Information Collection
Request Supporting Statement.
ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1704.09,
OMB Control No. 2070–0143.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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71408
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 241 / Monday, December 17, 2007 / Notices
ICR Status: The current ICR is
scheduled to expire on January 31,
2008. Under OMB regulations, the
Agency may continue to conduct or
sponsor the collection of information
while this submission is pending at
OMB. The OMB control numbers for
EPA’s regulations in title 40 of the CFR,
after appearing in the Federal Register
when approved, are listed in 40 CFR
part 9 and are displayed either by
publication in the Federal Register or
by other appropriate means, such as on
the related collection instrument or
form, if applicable. The display of OMB
control numbers in certain EPA
regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR
part 9.
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 U.S. 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.
In accordance with the mission to
protect the environment and human
health, 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.
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Jkt 214001
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
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 provide only a limited perspective
on a facility’s overall performance. With
TRI, 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 their production
efficiencies and for measuring their
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 20.52 hours for
facilities submitting a Form A
Certification Statement for Non-PBT
chemicals and 35.89 hours for facilities
submitting a Form A Certification
statement for a single listed PBT
chemical under EPCRA section 313. (All
estimates incorporate proposed changes
in the reporting burden.) 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
PO 00000
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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 which have subsequently
changed; 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:
Facilities with low quantities of listed
toxic chemicals in waste may certify on
a Form A that they do not exceed an
annual reportable amount (ARA) for
total waste management (release,
recycling, energy recovery, and
treatment). Detailed release and waste
management information need not be
reported. Previously, a facility that met
the EPCRA section 313 reporting
thresholds, but estimated that their total
waste management of a listed nonpersistent, bioaccommulative, toxic
(non-PBT) chemical did not exceed 500
pounds per year, could use the Form A
Certification Statement, rather than the
longer Form R, provided that facility
met certain other conditions. The use of
Form A was not previously allowed for
PBT chemicals. Now due to a final TRI
rule promulgated (71 FR 76932,
December 22, 2006) Form A eligibility
has been expanded as follows:
• New Eligibility for Form A: PBT
Chemicals—allows a facility reporting
on PBT chemicals, except dioxin and
dioxin-like compounds, with zero
disposal or other releases to use Form A,
provided they meet the 1,000,000 pound
alternate reporting threshold and have
500 pounds or less of total other wastemanagement quantities. (Sections 8.2—
8.8)
• Expanded Eligibility for Form A:
Non-PBT Chemicals—allows a facility
reporting on Non-PBT chemicals with
total waste management of 5,000
pounds or less and 2,000 pounds or less
of disposal or other releases to use Form
A, provided they meet the 1,000,000
pound alternate reporting threshold.
Each qualifying facility that chooses
to apply this alternate manufacture,
process or otherwise-use threshold must
file a Form A Certification Statement
certifying that they met the condition of
the alternate threshold for one or more
chemicals, in lieu of completing a Form
R for each listed chemical for which the
facility exceeded statutory thresholds.
The Form A Certification Statement is
submitted to both the TRI Data
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Processing Center and the designated
state recipient in the same manner that
the Form R is submitted. The Form A
Certification Statement provides a
signed statement that the sum of the
amount of the listed toxic chemical or
chemicals in releases or wastes did not
exceed the appropriate PBT or Non-PBT
release and waste thresholds for the
reporting year, and that the chemical(s)
was manufactured, processed, or
otherwise-used in an amount not
exceeding 1,000,000 pounds during this
reporting year. A single Form A
Certification Statement may contain as
many listed toxic chemicals as meet the
conditions of the alternate threshold.
Estimated Number of Responses:
10,235.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
10,235.
Frequency of Response: Once per
year.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:
515,901.
Estimated Total Annual Cost:
$26,007,920 includes $0 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: In this ICR
Renewal, the effect of the TRI final rule
expanding the eligibility criteria for
Form A is expected to reduce the overall
burden for TRI reporting overall due to
increased Form A eligibility (i.e.,
number of Form Rs decreased and
number of Form As increased, yielding
a net burden decrease) with total
respondent burden of Form A reporting
projected at 515,284 hours. The TRI
Program is proposing to add certain data
elements to both reporting forms, but
the addition of these data elements is
estimated to be relatively small,
increasing the total reporting burden for
Form A reporting to 515,901 hours.
Proposed Changes from the Last
Approval: EPA proposes to make the
following changes to the TRI Form A
Certification Statement:
(1) Enhance Public Contact
information (applies to Form R and A.)
EPA proposes to add a ‘‘Public Contact’’
field to the Form A Certification
Statement so that a facility can provide
the name of a person who can respond
to questions from the public about the
facility’s Form A. This field would
include the name, telephone number,
and e-mail address for the public
contact to make it easy to contact the
individual identified. To date, some
public contact information has been
collected on Form R, but not on
Form A.
(2) Add boxes for entering revision
codes (applies to Form R and Form A.)
The TRI Program currently receives
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15:28 Dec 14, 2007
Jkt 214001
many form revisions each year, but does
not currently collect information on the
reasons for the revisions. The new
revision codes will allow both the
public and the TRI Program staff to
better understand why a facility
resubmitted a form. In addition, by
analyzing the reasons for revisions, the
TRI Program may be better able to
address recurring reporting issues or
problems that facilities may be facing,
ultimately reducing errors and saving
time for both the Agency and the
reporting facilities. Therefore, facilities
will now report up to two codes (listed
and defined in the RFIs) indicating the
main reason(s) that a form is being
revised.
(3) Provide a field for withdrawing a
form; and add boxes for entering
withdrawal codes (applies to Form R
and Form A.) Currently, a facility that
wishes to withdraw a previously
submitted form must submit its request,
including the rationale, as a hard copy
memorandum to the TRI Data
Processing Center. Adding a
‘‘Withdrawal’’ field and associated code
boxes for reasons for withdrawal to
Form A will (1) streamline the
withdrawal process for facilities, (2)
make it easier for EPA to automate the
withdrawal process, and (3) improve the
Agency’s ability to analyze the reasons
for withdrawals.
Notes:
1. EPA also proposed other changes (72 FR
37762; July 11, 2007) but has since
concluded those changes are not necessary.
2. Baseline adjustments were made to
‘‘Number of Responses,’’ ‘‘Number of
Respondents’’ and ‘‘Burden Hours’’ to reflect
the most recent conditions of RY2005. In the
last ICR, RY2002 was the base year; in the
last OMB Action, RY2004 was the base year.
Over this period of time, the total number of
Form A submissions declined.
3. An additional change was made to the
Form A ‘‘Number of Responses’’ and
‘‘Number of Respondents’’ to adjust for
previously overstated counts.
Dated: December 11, 2007.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E7–24372 Filed 12–14–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ACTION:
71409
Notice of availability.
SUMMARY: This notice announces the
availability of the administrative record
file for comment on 86 TMDLs and the
calculations for these TMDLs prepared
by EPA Region 6 for waters listed in the
state of Arkansas under section 303(d)
of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Several
of these TMDLs available for notice, are
being completed in response to the
lawsuit styled Sierra Club, et al. v.
Browner, et al., No. LR–C–99–114.
Comments must be submitted in
writing to EPA on or before January 16,
2008.
DATES:
Comments on the 86
TMDLs should be sent to Ms. Diane
Smith, Environmental Protection
Specialist, Water Quality Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Region 6, 1445 Ross Ave.,
Dallas, TX 75202–2733, facsimile (214)
665–7373, or e-mail:
smith.diane@epa.gov. For further
information, contact Diane Smith at
(214) 665–2145. Documents from the
administrative record file for these
TMDLs are available for public
inspection at this address as well.
Documents from the administrative
record file may be viewed at https://
www.epa.gov/region6/6wq/npdes/tmdl/
index.htm, or obtained by calling (214)
665–2145 or writing Ms. Smith at the
above address. Please contact Ms. Smith
to schedule an inspection.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Diane Smith at (214) 665–2145.
In 1999,
five Arkansas environmental groups, the
Sierra Club, Federation of Fly Fishers,
Crooked Creek Coalition, Arkansas Fly
Fishers, and Save our Streams
(plaintiffs), filed a lawsuit in Federal
Court against the EPA, styled Sierra
Club, et al. v. Browner, et al., No. LR–
C–99–114. Among other claims,
plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to
establish Arkansas TMDLs in a timely
manner. EPA proposes these TMDLs
pursuant to a consent decree entered in
this lawsuit.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
EPA Seeks Comments on 86 TMDLs
[FRL–8507–7]
By this notice EPA is seeking
comment on the following 86 TMDLs
for waters located within the state of
Arkansas:
Clean Water Act Section 303(d):
Availability of 86 Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs) in Arkansas
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
AGENCY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 241 (Monday, December 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71407-71409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24372]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-TRI-2007-0355; FRL-8507-4]
Agency Information Collection Activities, Proposed Collections;
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Request for Comments on Proposed
Changes and the Renewal of the Form A Certification Statement (EPA ICR
No. 1704.09, OMB Control No. 2070-0143)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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 make
changes to and renew an existing approved collection. The ICR
Supporting Statement, which is abstracted below, describes the nature
of the information collection (including proposed minor form changes)
and its estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before January 16,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-TRI-
2007-0355, to (1) EPA online using https://www.regulations.gov (our
preferred method), by e-mail to oei.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to EPA
Docket Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 2822T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail
to 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; fax number, 202-
566-0740; e-mail address, vail.cassandra@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA submitted an earlier version of the ICR
Supporting Statement to OMB for review and approval according to the
procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On July 11, 2007 (72 FR 37762),
EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA
received four comments during the comment period, which are addressed
in the Response to Comments document. Any additional comments on the
revised ICR Supporting Statement should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR Supporting
Statement under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-TRI-2007-0355, which is available
for online viewing at https://www.regulations.gov, or in person at the
OEI Docket, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), U.S. EPA West Building, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC Public
Reading Room is open from 8 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.
Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at https://
www.regulations.gov to submit or view public comments, to access the
index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those
documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the
system, select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number
identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made
available for public viewing at https://www.regulations.gov, as EPA
receives them and without change, unless the comment contains
copyrighted material, Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other
information for which public disclosure is restricted by statute. For
further information about the electronic docket, go to https://
www.regulations.gov.
Title: The ICR Renewal and Proposed Changes to the TRI Form A
Certification Statement, Information Collection Request Supporting
Statement.
ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1704.09, OMB Control No. 2070-0143.
[[Page 71408]]
ICR Status: The current ICR is scheduled to expire on January 31,
2008. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or
sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending
at OMB. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in title 40 of
the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when approved, are
listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are displayed either by publication in the
Federal Register or by other appropriate means, such as on the related
collection instrument or form, if applicable. The display of OMB
control numbers in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR
part 9.
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 U.S. 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.
In accordance with the mission to protect the environment and human
health, 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
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 provide only a limited perspective on
a facility's overall performance. With TRI, 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 their production efficiencies and for
measuring their 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 20.52
hours for facilities submitting a Form A Certification Statement for
Non-PBT chemicals and 35.89 hours for facilities submitting a Form A
Certification statement for a single listed PBT chemical under EPCRA
section 313. (All estimates incorporate proposed changes in the
reporting burden.) 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 which have subsequently changed; 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: Facilities with low quantities of
listed toxic chemicals in waste may certify on a Form A that they do
not exceed an annual reportable amount (ARA) for total waste management
(release, recycling, energy recovery, and treatment). Detailed release
and waste management information need not be reported. Previously, a
facility that met the EPCRA section 313 reporting thresholds, but
estimated that their total waste management of a listed non-persistent,
bioaccommulative, toxic (non-PBT) chemical did not exceed 500 pounds
per year, could use the Form A Certification Statement, rather than the
longer Form R, provided that facility met certain other conditions. The
use of Form A was not previously allowed for PBT chemicals. Now due to
a final TRI rule promulgated (71 FR 76932, December 22, 2006) Form A
eligibility has been expanded as follows:
New Eligibility for Form A: PBT Chemicals--allows a
facility reporting on PBT chemicals, except dioxin and dioxin-like
compounds, with zero disposal or other releases to use Form A, provided
they meet the 1,000,000 pound alternate reporting threshold and have
500 pounds or less of total other waste-management quantities.
(Sections 8.2--8.8)
Expanded Eligibility for Form A: Non-PBT Chemicals--allows
a facility reporting on Non-PBT chemicals with total waste management
of 5,000 pounds or less and 2,000 pounds or less of disposal or other
releases to use Form A, provided they meet the 1,000,000 pound
alternate reporting threshold.
Each qualifying facility that chooses to apply this alternate
manufacture, process or otherwise-use threshold must file a Form A
Certification Statement certifying that they met the condition of the
alternate threshold for one or more chemicals, in lieu of completing a
Form R for each listed chemical for which the facility exceeded
statutory thresholds. The Form A Certification Statement is submitted
to both the TRI Data
[[Page 71409]]
Processing Center and the designated state recipient in the same manner
that the Form R is submitted. The Form A Certification Statement
provides a signed statement that the sum of the amount of the listed
toxic chemical or chemicals in releases or wastes did not exceed the
appropriate PBT or Non-PBT release and waste thresholds for the
reporting year, and that the chemical(s) was manufactured, processed,
or otherwise-used in an amount not exceeding 1,000,000 pounds during
this reporting year. A single Form A Certification Statement may
contain as many listed toxic chemicals as meet the conditions of the
alternate threshold.
Estimated Number of Responses: 10,235.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 10,235.
Frequency of Response: Once per year.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 515,901.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $26,007,920 includes $0 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: In this ICR Renewal, the effect of the
TRI final rule expanding the eligibility criteria for Form A is
expected to reduce the overall burden for TRI reporting overall due to
increased Form A eligibility (i.e., number of Form Rs decreased and
number of Form As increased, yielding a net burden decrease) with total
respondent burden of Form A reporting projected at 515,284 hours. The
TRI Program is proposing to add certain data elements to both reporting
forms, but the addition of these data elements is estimated to be
relatively small, increasing the total reporting burden for Form A
reporting to 515,901 hours.
Proposed Changes from the Last Approval: EPA proposes to make the
following changes to the TRI Form A Certification Statement:
(1) Enhance Public Contact information (applies to Form R and A.)
EPA proposes to add a ``Public Contact'' field to the Form A
Certification Statement so that a facility can provide the name of a
person who can respond to questions from the public about the
facility's Form A. This field would include the name, telephone number,
and e-mail address for the public contact to make it easy to contact
the individual identified. To date, some public contact information has
been collected on Form R, but not on Form A.
(2) Add boxes for entering revision codes (applies to Form R and
Form A.) The TRI Program currently receives many form revisions each
year, but does not currently collect information on the reasons for the
revisions. The new revision codes will allow both the public and the
TRI Program staff to better understand why a facility resubmitted a
form. In addition, by analyzing the reasons for revisions, the TRI
Program may be better able to address recurring reporting issues or
problems that facilities may be facing, ultimately reducing errors and
saving time for both the Agency and the reporting facilities.
Therefore, facilities will now report up to two codes (listed and
defined in the RFIs) indicating the main reason(s) that a form is being
revised.
(3) Provide a field for withdrawing a form; and add boxes for
entering withdrawal codes (applies to Form R and Form A.) Currently, a
facility that wishes to withdraw a previously submitted form must
submit its request, including the rationale, as a hard copy memorandum
to the TRI Data Processing Center. Adding a ``Withdrawal'' field and
associated code boxes for reasons for withdrawal to Form A will (1)
streamline the withdrawal process for facilities, (2) make it easier
for EPA to automate the withdrawal process, and (3) improve the
Agency's ability to analyze the reasons for withdrawals.
Notes:
1. EPA also proposed other changes (72 FR 37762; July 11, 2007)
but has since concluded those changes are not necessary.
2. Baseline adjustments were made to ``Number of Responses,''
``Number of Respondents'' and ``Burden Hours'' to reflect the most
recent conditions of RY2005. In the last ICR, RY2002 was the base
year; in the last OMB Action, RY2004 was the base year. Over this
period of time, the total number of Form A submissions declined.
3. An additional change was made to the Form A ``Number of
Responses'' and ``Number of Respondents'' to adjust for previously
overstated counts.
Dated: December 11, 2007.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E7-24372 Filed 12-14-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
