Electronic Reporting of Toxics Release Inventory Data, 13061-13069 [2012-5264]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 43 / Monday, March 5, 2012 / Proposed Rules
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provided that they meet the criteria of
the CAA. Accordingly, this proposed
action merely approves state law as
meeting federal requirements and does
not impose additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. For
that reason, this proposed action:
• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory
action’’ subject to review by the Office
of Management and Budget under
Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735,
October 4, 1993);
• Does not impose an information
collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
• Is certified as not having a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
• Does not contain any unfunded
mandate or significantly or uniquely
affect small governments, as described
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4);
• Does not have Federalism
implications as specified in Executive
Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10,
1999);
• Is not an economically significant
regulatory action based on health or
safety risks subject to Executive Order
13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997);
• Is not a significant regulatory action
subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR
28355, May 22, 2001);
• Is not subject to requirements of
Section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because
application of those requirements would
be inconsistent with the CAA; and
• Does not provide EPA with the
discretionary authority to address, as
appropriate, disproportionate human
health or environmental effects, using
practicable and legally permissible
methods, under Executive Order 12898
(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, this proposed rule does not
have tribal implications as specified by
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249,
November 9, 2000), because the SIP is
not approved to apply in Indian country
located in the State, and EPA notes that
it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt
tribal law.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements and Sulfur oxides, Volatile
organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
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Dated: February 24, 2012.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2012–5266 Filed 3–2–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 372
[EPA–HQ–TRI–2011–0174; FRL–9642–2]
Electronic Reporting of Toxics Release
Inventory Data
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
Facilities that currently report
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data to
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) use either paper reporting
forms or the online reporting software
application known as the Toxics Release
Inventory-Made Easy Web or simply
TRI-MEweb. Effective January 1, 2013,
EPA proposes to require facilities to
report non-confidential TRI data to EPA
using electronic software provided by
the Agency. The only exception to this
electronic reporting requirement would
be for the few facilities that submit trade
secret TRI information (including
sanitized and unsanitized information),
who would continue to submit their
trade secret reporting forms and
substantiation forms in hard copy. As of
Reporting Year (RY) 2010,
approximately 95 percent of TRI
reporting facilities were using TRIMEweb, making it possible for the
Agency to process and expedite the
release of TRI data to the public.
Under this rulemaking, EPA would
also require facilities to submit
electronically (i.e., not on paper forms
or CD–ROMs) any revisions or
withdrawals of previously submitted
TRI data. For trade secret submissions,
EPA would still accept revisions or
withdrawals of previously submitted
trade secret information on paper forms.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before May 4, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
TRI–2011–0174, by one of the following
methods:
• www.regulations.gov: Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
• Email: oei.docket@epa.gov.
• Fax: 202–566–9744.
• Mail: OEI Docket, Environmental
Protection Agency, Mailcode 2822T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
SUMMARY:
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• Hand Delivery: EPA/DC, EPA West,
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave.
NW., Washington, DC 20460. Such
deliveries are only accepted during the
Docket’s normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made
for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–TRI–2011–
0174. EPA’s policy is that all comments
received will be included in the public
docket without change and may be
made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided, unless
the comment includes information
claimed to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected through www.regulations.gov
or email. The www.regulations.gov Web
site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system,
which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless
you provide it in the body of your
comment. If you send an email
comment directly to EPA without going
through www.regulations.gov your email
address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment
that is placed in the public docket and
made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA
recommends that you include your
name and other contact information in
the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA
cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact
you for clarification, EPA may not be
able to consider your comment.
Electronic files should avoid the use of
special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or
viruses. For additional information
about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA
Docket Center homepage at https://
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket
are listed in the www.regulations.gov
index. Although listed in the index,
some information is not publicly
available, e.g., CBI or other information
for which disclosure is restricted by
statute. Certain other materials, such as
copyrighted material, will be publicly
available only in hard copy. Publicly
available docket materials are available
either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the OEI Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West,
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave.
NW., Washington, DC. This Docket
Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays. The EPA Docket Center
Public Reading Room is open from
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8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The
telephone number for the Public
Reading Room is (202) 566–1744, and
the telephone number for the OEI
Docket is (202) 566–1752.
For
general information on TRI, contact the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Hotline at (800) 424–
9346 or (703) 412–9810, TDD (800) 553–
7672, https://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/
hotline/. For specific information on
this rulemaking, contact David Turk,
Toxics Release Inventory Program
Division, Mailcode 2844T, OEI,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington,
DC 20460; Telephone: (202) 566–1527;
Email: Turk.David@epa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Index
I. Background and General Information
A. Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in
This Document
B. Does this action apply to me?
C. What should I consider as I prepare my
comments for EPA?
II. What is EPA’s statutory authority for
taking this action?
III. What reporting requirement change is
EPA proposing?
A. Description of Proposed Change
B. How are TRI reports currently submitted
to and processed by the agency?
C. What is the history of electronic
reporting of TRI data to EPA?
D. How does a facility report TRI data
using TRI-MEweb?
E. Why is EPA proposing this requirement?
F. How does this proposed rule affect
revisions and withdrawals of previous
TRI submissions?
G. What benefits will this proposed rule
likely produce?
H. Would EPA Offer any exceptions to the
proposed requirements?
I. What is EPA doing to help ensure
facilities know about this proposed rule?
IV. Request for Comment
V. References
VI. What are the statutory and executive
order reviews associated with this
action?
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory
Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and
Regulatory Review
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act, as Amended
by the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
E. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
F. Executive Order 13175, Consultation
and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
G. Executive Order 13045, Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks
H. Executive Order 13211, Actions
Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
I. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions
To Address Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations
I. Background and General Information
A. Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in
This Document
AFR—Automated Form R
APA—Administrative Procedure Act
ATRS—Automated TRI Reporting Software
CBI—Confidential Business Information
CDX—Central Data Exchange
CFR—Code of Federal Regulations
CROMERR—Cross-Media Electronic
Reporting Rule
DPC–TRI Data Processing Center
EO—Executive Order
EPA—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPCRA—Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act
FR—Federal Register
GPEA—Government Paperwork Elimination
Act
ICR—Information Collection Request
NAICS—North American Industry
Classification System
NTTAA—National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995
OEI—Office of Environmental Information
(EPA)
OMB—Office of Management and Budget
(Executive Office of the President)
PPA—Pollution Prevention Act
RY—Reporting Year
SIC—Standard Industrial Code
TRI—Toxics Release Inventory
TRI-ME—TRI-Made Easy Desktop Software
TRI-MEweb—Toxics Release Inventory-Made
Easy Internet-based Software Application
U.S.C.—United States Code
XML—Extensible Markup Language
B. Does this action apply to me?
This proposed rule applies to
facilities that submit annual reports
under section 313 of the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act (EPCRA) and section 6607 of
the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). To
determine whether your facility would
be affected by this action, you should
carefully examine the applicability
criteria in Part 372, Subpart B, of Title
40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Potentially affected categories and
entities may include, but are not limited
to the following:
Examples of potentially affected entities
Industry ......................
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Category
Facilities included in the following NAICS manufacturing codes (corresponding to SIC codes 20 through 39): 311*, 312*,
313*, 314*, 315*, 316, 321, 322, 323*, 324, 325*, 326*, 327, 331, 332, 333, 334*, 335*, 336, 337*, 339*, 111998*,
211112*, 212324*, 212325*, 212393*, 212399*, 488390*, 511110, 511120, 511130, 511140*, 511191, 511199,
512220, 512230*, 519130*, 541712*, or 811490*.
*Exceptions and/or limitations exist for these NAICS codes.
Facilities included in the following NAICS codes (corresponding to SIC codes other than SIC codes 20 through 39):
• 212111, 212112, 212113 (correspond to SIC 12, Coal Mining (except 1241));
• 212221, 212222, 212231, 212234, 212299 (correspond to SIC 10, Metal Mining (except 1011, 1081, and 1094));
• 221111, 221112, 221113, 221119, 221121, 221122, 221330 (Limited to facilities that combust coal and/or oil for the
purpose of generating power for distribution in commerce) (correspond to SIC 4911, 4931, and 4939, Electric Utilities);
• 424690, 425110, 425120 (Limited to facilities previously classified in SIC 5169, Chemicals and Allied Products, Not
Elsewhere Classified);
• 424710 (corresponds to SIC 5171, Petroleum Bulk Terminals and Plants);
• 562112 (Limited to facilities primarily engaged in solvent recovery services on a contract or fee basis (previously
classified under SIC 7389, Business Services, NEC)); and
• 562211, 562212, 562213, 562219, 562920 (Limited to facilities regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Subtitle C, 42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) (correspond to SIC 4953, Refuse Systems).
Federal facilities.
Federal Government
If you have questions regarding the
applicability of this action to a
particular entity, consult the individual
listed in the preceding FOR FURTHER
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section. This
action may also be of interest to those
who use EPA’s TRI data and have an
interest in the public availability of
INFORMATION CONTACT
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high-quality, timely TRI data and
information, including state agencies,
local governments, communities,
environmental groups and other non-
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governmental organizations, as well as
members of the general public.
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C. What should I consider as I prepare
my comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this
information to EPA through
www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly
mark the part or all of the information
that you claim to be CBI. For CBI
information in a disk or CD–ROM that
you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the
disk or CD–ROM as CBI and then
identify electronically within the disk or
CD–ROM the specific information that
is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that
includes information claimed as CBI, a
copy of the comment that does not
contain the information claimed as CBI
must be submitted for inclusion in the
public docket. Information so marked
will not be disclosed except in
accordance with procedures set forth in
40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments.
When submitting comments, remember
to:
• Identify the rulemaking by docket
number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal
Register date and page number).
• Follow directions—The Agency
may ask you to respond to specific
questions or organize comments by
referencing a Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) part or section
number.
• Explain why you agree or disagree,
suggest alternatives, and substitute
language for your requested changes.
• Describe any assumptions and
provide any technical information and/
or data that you used.
• If you estimate potential costs or
burdens, explain how you arrived at
your estimate in sufficient detail to
allow for it to be reproduced.
• Provide specific examples to
illustrate your concerns, and suggest
alternatives.
• Explain your views as clearly as
possible, avoiding the use of profanity
or personal threats.
• Make sure to submit your
comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. What is EPA’s statutory authority for
taking this action?
The EPA is implementing this action
under sections 313(g), 313(h), and 328
of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. 11023(g), 11023(h)
and 11048, and section 6607 of the
Pollution Prevention Act, 42 U.S.C.
13106.
Under EPCRA, Congress granted EPA
broad rulemaking authority. EPCRA
section 328 provides that the
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‘‘Administrator may prescribe such
regulations as may be necessary to carry
out this chapter.’’ 42 U.S.C. 11048.
EPCRA requires EPA to ‘‘publish a
uniform toxic chemical release form for
facilities covered’’ by the TRI Program.
42 U.S.C. 11023(g).
The Government Paperwork
Elimination Act (GPEA) (Pub. L. 105–
277 (44 U.S.C. 3504)) allows Federal
agencies to provide for electronic
submissions and the use of electronic
signatures, when practicable. Similarly,
EPA’s Cross-Media Electronic Reporting
Regulation (CROMERR) (40 CFR Part 3),
published in the Federal Register issue
of October 13, 2005, states that any
requirement in Title 40 of the CFR to
submit a report directly to EPA can be
satisfied with an electronic submission
that meets certain conditions, once the
Agency publishes a notice that
electronic document submission is
available for that requirement.
III. What reporting requirement change
is EPA proposing?
A. Description of Proposed Change
EPA is proposing to require facilities
to report non-confidential TRI data to
EPA electronically. Under this proposal,
EPA would no longer accept paper
submissions of TRI reports, except for
trade secret submissions which would
still be submitted on paper forms
(including sanitized and unsanitized
versions).
Currently, EPA provides an onlinereporting application, TRI-MEweb, for
facilities to use to report TRI data to the
Agency. TRI-MEweb provides a number
of features that allow facilities to
prepare and submit their TRI reports to
EPA more efficiently. For example, it
includes data validation tools that help
facilities submit complete and valid
data and compare the current year’s data
to the prior year’s data—a feature which
can sometimes help facilities identify
potential data errors. Comprehensive
use of TRI-MEweb should help facilities
prepare and submit accurate TRI reports
and reduce the amount of time it takes
EPA to process the reports and make the
data available to the public.
Many TRI facilities have recognized
the benefits of electronic reporting, as
reflected by the general increase in the
percentage of facilities that use TRIMEweb to submit TRI data to EPA
electronically each year. For reporting
year (RY) 2010, approximately 95% of
facilities used TRI-MEweb to report TRI
data.
Because such a large portion of TRI
reporters already use TRI-MEweb, this
proposed TRI electronic reporting
requirement is not expected to affect the
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majority of TRI reporting facilities. In
fact, fewer than 5% of current TRI
reporting facilities would need to
become familiar with the electronic
reporting process. Information about
using TRI-MEweb to report
electronically is available on the TRI
Web site (https://www.epa.gov/tri) and in
the most recent version of the Toxic
Chemical Release Inventory Reporting
Forms and Instructions (RFI), which is
available on the TRI Web site.
Under this proposed rule, facilities
that submit trade secret information
would continue to submit two versions
of the substantiation form and two
versions of Form R or Form A—
sanitized versions that include the
generic chemical name that is
structurally descriptive of the chemical
being claimed as a trade secret and
unsanitized versions that include the
trade secret chemical name. TRI-MEweb
does not allow facilities to submit trade
secret information; however, to facilitate
reporting of such information, EPA
currently provides electronically
fillable/printable versions of the TRI
reporting forms (i.e., Form A, Form R,
and Form R Schedule 1) on the TRI Web
site. EPA strongly recommends that TRI
facilities that submit TRI trade secret
information use a computer or
typewriter to prepare their hard-copy
submissions of TRI information and
consult the TRI Web site (https://
www.epa.gov/tri) for more detailed
information.
To codify this proposed rule, EPA
proposes inserting a paragraph (c) into
40 CFR 372.85. This codification would
require most regulated facilities to
submit TRI data electronically using the
current electronic reporting tool
provided by EPA. EPA would only
accept TRI data that are submitted
electronically, except for trade secret
TRI forms and substantiations; and EPA
would not accept or process TRI data
that are not submitted in the appropriate
manner.
B. How are TRI reports currently
submitted to and processed by the
agency?
Currently, facilities submit TRI
reporting forms electronically or by
paper. To submit TRI data by paper,
facilities download the appropriate TRI
reporting form or forms from the TRI
Web site (accessible at https://
www.epa.gov/tri). Before RY 2006, EPA
mailed paper TRI reporting forms to
facilities each year. Since RY 2006, EPA
has made the TRI reporting forms
available on its Web site.
If using a paper TRI reporting form,
the facility’s form Preparer enters the
facility’s data on the form, the Certifying
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Official certifies/signs the form, and the
facility then sends the form to EPA’s
TRI Data Processing Center (DPC) via
mail or courier. The current RFI,
available on the TRI Web site (accessible
at https://www.epa.gov/tri), provides a
more detailed explanation of this
process.
In January 2011, EPA began providing
fillable/printable versions of the TRI
Reporting Form R, Form R Schedule 1,
and Form A through the TRI Web site.
For those facilities still wishing or
needing to submit paper forms (e.g., for
trade secret submissions), EPA
encouraged the use of the fillable/
printable forms, rather than handwritten
forms, to help ensure that the data—
once received by the DPC—could be
read and entered into the TRI database.
Electronic reporting using TRI-MEweb
is already EPA’s recommended
reporting approach for submitting TRI
information to the Agency, and under
this proposed rule, it would become the
required approach. To submit TRI data
electronically, a facility registers with
EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) and
uses TRI-MEweb to prepare, certify, and
submit TRI reports. The use of CDX and
TRI-MEweb to prepare and submit TRI
reports is explained below, in Unit III.D,
‘‘How Does a Facility Report TRI Data
Using TRI-MEweb?’’
C. What is the history of electronic
reporting of TRI data to EPA?
Beginning in 1987, the Agency began
encouraging facilities to submit TRI
Form R data electronically using
magnetic media. Initially, EPA provided
year-specific Automated Form R (AFR)
software that allowed a facility to
submit TRI data for a particular
reporting year. Facilities could install
and use the AFR software to produce
either a hard-copy TRI report or a
diskette, which facilities could then
submit to EPA. Upon receipt, the DPC
would transcribe hard-copy TRI reports
into a database and electronically enter
diskette submissions into a database.
The use of AFR proved to be popular
among facilities, and the percentage of
TRI reporting facilities using this tool
increased from 13 percent in 1990 to 62
percent in 1996.
Generally, the Agency improved upon
the AFR each year by incorporating new
features, such as the ability to submit
TRI data for multiple reporting years
(i.e., separate reports for each year), data
validation checks, and the ability to
load data from prior years into the
current reporting year’s electronic form.
In 1998, EPA renamed the AFR software
to Automated TRI Reporting Software
(ATRS) to reflect the addition of Form
A into the software.
After RY 2000, EPA replaced ATRS
with TRI-Made Easy (TRI-ME), which
was a computer desktop application that
a facility could download from the TRI
Web site or receive in the mail upon
request. TRI-ME provided electronic
assistance to a facility preparing TRI
reports and, for the first time, allowed
a facility to submit TRI data to EPA’s
CDX via the Internet. TRI-ME also
allowed facilities to print a hard-copy
version of the TRI report or produce a
digital file that could then be submitted
online or copied to a diskette and
mailed to the DPC.
In 2006, for RY 2005, EPA began
making the TRI-MEweb application
available to a limited number of
facilities. TRI-MEweb is a Web-based
reporting application that includes
validation features to help facilities
report accurate information. This
application is entirely online, meaning
a facility can access the application
from any computer that is connected to
the Internet. In addition, because the
application is online, EPA can instantly
perform any needed software updates or
corrections without requiring users to
download an updated version of
software. Most, if not all, computers and
Web software should be compatible
with TRI-MEweb.
EPA continued to refine TRI-MEweb
each year after its limited released,
expanding the number of facilities that
could use it and eventually making the
application widely available to nearly
all facilities for RY 2008. The Agency
also, for RY 2008, informed facilities
that it would focus on providing TRIMEweb, and would no longer provide
the TRI-ME CD–ROM. Accordingly, a
steadily increasing percentage of
facilities have submitted TRI data to
EPA using TRI-MEweb, as illustrated in
Chart 1. Electronic reporting using TRIMEweb has now become the
predominant mechanism that facilities
use to submit TRI data to EPA.
CHART 1—BREAKDOWN OF SUBMISSION METHODS USED DURING THE PAST FIVE REPORTING YEARS
RY 2005
(percent)
Media type
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TRI-MEweb Submissions .....................................
TRI-ME via CDX Submissions .............................
TRI-ME via Diskette Submissions .......................
Paper Submissions ..............................................
Due to the longstanding history of
electronic reporting of TRI data, the
benefits that TRI-MEweb provides, and
the prevalence and availability of the
Internet, EPA published a notice in the
Federal Register on January 14, 2011,
which encouraged facilities to utilize
TRI-MEweb. The notice also notified
facilities of the availability of fillable/
printable TRI reporting forms on the TRI
Web site and stated that the Agency was
considering publishing this proposed
rule to require electronic reporting of
TRI data.
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RY 2006
(percent)
0.34
62.50
28.71
8.46
3.12
70.42
21.22
5.24
RY 2007
(percent)
31.69
43.34
18.20
6.78
D. How does a facility report TRI data
using TRI-MEweb?
TRI-MEweb is an interactive, userfriendly Web-based application that
guides facilities through the TRI
reporting process. As currently
implemented, one or more
representatives from each facility must
establish an account with EPA’s CDX in
order to prepare, transmit, certify, and
submit TRI Forms. CDX is EPA’s
centralized node on the Environmental
Information Exchange Network that
serves as EPA’s main mechanism for
receiving and exchanging electronic
information. A facility representative
may register for a CDX account or gain
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RY 2008
(percent)
65.77
17.73
9.79
6.71
RY 2009
(percent)
92.16
0.18
0.16
7.50
RY 2010
(percent)
94.60
0.01
0.02
5.37
access to an existing CDX account at
https://cdx.epa.gov/.
During the CDX registration process,
CDX prompts the facility representative
to indicate which applications (e.g.,
TRI-MEweb) to link with the account. If
the facility representative has
previously registered with CDX for other
purposes, then he/she can add TRIMEweb to his/her existing CDX account.
When adding TRI-MEweb to the CDX
account, CDX will ask the facility
representative to select a role as a form
Preparer or Certifying Official. Either a
Preparer or a Certifying Official can
enter a facility’s TRI data in TRI-MEweb
and transmit it to CDX to await
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certification; but only a Certifying
Official can approve and certify a TRI
reporting form and submit the final,
certified form to EPA using TRI-MEweb
and CDX. Preparers and Certifying
Officials can potentially perform their
TRI reporting roles (preparing and/or
certifying TRI forms) for multiple
facilities, if so designated by the
facilities.
EPA’s current electronic reporting
procedures require each Certifying
Official to sign and submit a hard-copy
Electronic Signature Agreement (ESA)
to EPA before certifying any TRI reports.
Once a facility representative registers
in CDX as a TRI-MEweb Certifying
Official, EPA sends an ESA to that
representative via email. The ESA
includes a TRI Facility Identification
number for each facility for which the
Certifying Official is responsible. The
Certifying Official must sign this ESA in
hard-copy and mail it to the DPC. Upon
receiving an ESA, the Agency may take
five to seven days to approve it. Once
the ESA is approved by EPA, the
Certifying Official may review, certify,
and submit any pending TRI
submissions to EPA using TRI-MEweb
and CDX. More detailed information on
these procedures is available on the TRI
Web site.
Once registered with CDX and TRIMEweb, a facility’s Preparer or
Certifying Official can gain access to
TRI-MEweb through CDX. Once opened,
the TRI-MEweb application provides
interactive Web pages that enable a
Preparer or Certifying Official to provide
and validate the current year’s data.
After providing the pertinent data, a
Preparer (or Certifying Official) can
transmit the data electronically to CDX
where it is then available for
certification by the facility’s Certifying
Official(s). The Certifying Official can
then log into CDX to review, certify, and
submit the TRI report to EPA. Once EPA
receives the certified report in CDX, the
data are then sent to the TRI database
(and if appropriate, also to a state).
Some TRI facilities have their own
software or use private software to assist
in collecting chemical release data. This
‘‘third-party software’’ is often designed
to produce output data files that match
EPA’s electronic data structure
specifications. TRI-MEweb accepts
chemical data files from third-party
software using Extensible Markup
Language (XML). Detailed information
describing the XML schema TRI-MEweb
uses for the current reporting year is
available online at https://
www.exchangenetwork.net/exchanges/
cross/tri.htm.
Detailed instructions on using CDX
and TRI-MEweb, including tutorials, are
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available on the TRI Web site and in the
RFI, which is also available through the
TRI Web site. Facilities may also contact
the TRI Information Center, the CDX
Helpdesk, the TRI DPC, the Regional
TRI Coordinators, or the TRI Program
staff at EPA Headquarters for further
assistance. Please see the ‘‘Contact Us’’
information located on the TRI Web site
for further details.
Please note that the use of TRI-MEweb
to report TRI data to EPA does not
necessarily satisfy all reporting
requirements that a state or local
government might require. However, as
will be explained below in Unit III.G,
‘‘What Benefits Will this Proposed Rule
Likely Produce?,’’ facilities that are
located in states or territories
(hereinafter collectively referred to as
‘‘states’’) that actively participate with
the TRI Data Exchange (TDX) can meet
dual-reporting requirements by
submitting TRI reports using TRIMEweb. In these states, reports
submitted via TRI-MEweb are
electronically made available to the
state in which the facility is located,
thus satisfying the requirement to report
TRI data for both the applicable state
and EPA.
For facilities located in states not
actively participating in TDX, TRIMEweb can provide these facilities with
a certification statement which the
Certifying Official can sign and mail to
the appropriate state along with a
diskette or hard copy of the TRI data the
Preparer or Certifying Official entered
into TRI-MEweb.
E. Why is EPA proposing this
requirement?
Electronic reporting not only makes it
easier for facilities to prepare and
submit their TRI data to EPA, it also
helps EPA process and make the data
available to the public more quickly
than is possible for data submitted on
paper forms. When facilities submit
paper forms, EPA must manually enter
the data into the TRI electronic
database, which requires more time and
staff resources than required to process
electronic submissions. In addition,
transcription errors can inadvertently be
introduced during this process,
particularly if the data have been
handwritten on the reporting forms.
Electronic reporting makes it possible
for EPA to more quickly process the
data and provide communities with
access to the latest TRI data on toxic
chemical releases and other waste
management.
Electronic reporting itself prevents
transcription errors and expedites TRI
data processing; but in addition, TRIMEweb, provides useful features that
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make it easier and faster for facilities to
prepare and submit TRI data to EPA. For
example, TRI-MEweb provides facility
representatives with access to a facility’s
prior years of reporting data (as
applicable), pre-populates selected
fields on the TRI forms (i.e., if the
facility previously submitted a TRI
report), provides standardized parent
company information and chemical
pick-lists, and automatically calculates
the data for some numerical fields on
the TRI forms. TRI-MEweb also provides
data validation features, which help
prevent facilities from submitting
incomplete or invalid data. Due to the
benefits TRI-MEweb provides, EPA
expects that its use by all facilities will
enhance data accuracy and expedite
EPA’s processing and public release of
the TRI data.
This proposal to require electronic
TRI reporting supports broader
government efforts to further the
electronic collection and dissemination
of data and information, and it is
consistent with the provisions of the
Government Paperwork Elimination Act
(GPEA). GPEA authorizes federal
organizations to use electronic forms,
electronic filings, and electronic
signatures, when practicable, to conduct
official business with the public.
F. How does this Proposed Rule affect
revisions and withdrawals of previous
TRI submissions?
This proposed rule would require
facilities that wish to revise or withdraw
previously submitted non-confidential
TRI data to do so electronically. As part
of this proposed rule, the Agency would
continue to allow facilities to revise or
withdraw TRI reports going back to RY
2005, but not for reporting years prior to
RY2005. Moreover, EPA would only
accept revisions and/or withdrawals
submitted via TRI-MEweb. TRI-MEweb
allows a facility to gain access to and
revise or withdraw TRI reports in TRIMEweb for prior reporting years, back to
RY 2005, even if the facility did not use
TRI-MEweb for the original submission.
EPA proposes this RY 2005 cut off
date for several reasons, including (1)
the small number of revisions/
withdrawals received for reporting years
prior to RY 2005 (a relatively small
proportion of TRI form revisions/
withdrawals are generally submitted to
EPA each year, and most of these
revisions/withdrawals relate to TRI
reports for the past few years), (2) the
resources that would be required to
modify TRI-MEweb and related
information exchange capabilities to
accommodate all reporting reporting
years, and (3) the staff resources and
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time required to continue processing
paper form revisions/withdrawals.
As with original TRI submissions,
preparing and submitting revisions/
withdrawals electronically should
facilitate the reporting process for
facilities, while also making it possible
for EPA to more quickly process and
make the updated data available to the
public. Information on using TRIMEweb to submit TRI revisions/
withdrawals is available on the TRI Web
site and in the TRI-MEweb application.
In order to focus Agency resources on
processing and making the most recent
TRI data available to the public and to
maintain some consistency in the
handling of non-confidential and trade
secret data, EPA plans to accept paper
submissions of trade secret revisions/
withdrawals that concern reporting
years back to RY 2005.
G. What benefits will this proposed rule
likely produce?
Requiring facilities to report TRI data
electronically will help reduce the
likelihood of data entry errors occurring
at either the facility or EPA, as well as
reduce the amount of time it takes EPA
to process the data, when compared to
paper-based submissions. By requiring
electronic reporting, the Agency will be
able to more effectively provide the
public with timely access to the latest
TRI data on toxic chemical releases and
other waste management within
communities.
Another benefit electronic reporting
provides is that TRI data submitted via
CDX is sent digitally to those states that
participate in the TRI Data Exchange
(TDX). Since 2005, EPA has entered into
separate Memoranda of Agreements
(MOA) with states that have elected to
participate in TDX. More information on
TDX is available through the TRI Web
site.
A facility located in a state that
participates in TDX can satisfy its
requirement to report TRI data to both
EPA and to the applicable state by
electronically submitting certified TRI
data to EPA. These TRI data are then
automatically made available to the
state within which the facility is
located.
Under the proposed rule, facilities
would be required to submit their TRI
data to EPA electronically; and
therefore, those facilities located in
TDX-participating states would be able
to satisfy the requirement to submit
federally-required TRI data to both the
EPA and the state with one electronic
submission. Currently, if a facility
submits a paper report to EPA, even if
it is located in a TDX-participating state,
the facility must also submit its TRI
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report directly to the state to meet its
legal reporting obligations. Requiring
the use of electronic reporting would
make the state processing of TRI data
easier for TDX-participating states
because they would no longer need to
process paper reporting forms for TRI
data. Facilities that are located in states
that do not participate in TDX would
prepare and submit their TRI data to
EPA using TRI-MEweb, and they could
then use TRI-MEweb to produce a
certification statement, along with a
hard-copy TRI report or CD, which
could be signed by the Certifying
Official and mailed to the appropriate
state.
H. Would EPA offer any exceptions to
the proposed requirements?
The Agency expects facilities that
submit TRI data to EPA to do so
electronically. Only trade secret TRI
reports (including both sanitized and
unsanitized information) would still be
submitted to EPA on paper forms. EPA
believes that the overall benefits of
submitting TRI data electronically
exceed those associated with
maintaining a paper-based reporting
approach. EPA recognizes that there
could potentially be unexpected initial
set-up costs or technical challenges
associated with a requirement to submit
TRI reports electronically, particularly
for facilities that have never used
electronic reporting; however, the
Agency believes that the benefits of
electronic reporting of TRI data—
considering the ease of reporting,
enhanced data quality, and faster public
access to the data—would ultimately
outweigh other considerations.
EPA also offers forms of assistance to
TRI reporters looking for help with
electronic reporting. The Agency
provides guidance on the TRI Program
Web site, maintains a TRI help desk,
and offers webinars and other training
programs. Further, EPA believes nearly
all facilities can already access the
Internet because the Agency stopped
providing physical copies of the TRI
reporting forms in 2006, exclusively
thereafter offering the forms online and
only mailing a physical copy upon
request.
I. What is EPA doing to help ensure
facilities know about this proposed rule?
To inform facilities about this
rulemaking and to solicit feedback prior
to publication of the proposed rule, EPA
sent a letter via email or postal carrier
if an email address was not available to
technical contacts for facilities that
submitted TRI data for RY 2009 and RY
2008. This letter notified these facilities
that EPA was considering a proposed
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rule to require the electronic reporting
of TRI data and informed the facilities
of an online discussion forum where
any interested stakeholder could
comment on EPA’s plan to require
electronic reporting of TRI data. EPA
recognizes the discussion forum was
provided electronically, which could
bias the discussion toward facilities
with access to computers, so EPA
explained in the letter that facilities
could physically mail comments to the
Agency so that the Agency could make
these comments available on the
discussion forum.
The discussion forum went live on
June 19, 2011, was accessible via the
TRI homepage, and stayed open through
July 1, 2011, receiving 57 comments.
Both the discussion forum and the
comments received are publically
available for viewing in the docket for
this rulemaking (EPA–HQ–TRI–2011–
0174). The comments received via the
forum fall into several broad categories:
support for the proposed action;
concerns involving the online reporting
tools, and concerns regarding requiring
electronic reporting.
Comments supporting this action:
Many of the comments received support
requiring electronic reporting of TRI
data, noting electronic reporting
expedites the reporting process and
improves data quality, which, in turn,
allows EPA to provide timely, accurate
data to TRI data users. Adding to this
perspective were comments suggesting
nearly all TRI reporters likely have
access to a computer and the Internet.
Additionally, some of the comments
requested EPA to require states to accept
electronic submissions by mandating
participation in the TRI Data Exchange.
Concerns involving the currently
available reporting tools: EPA received
some comments, both supportive and
critical of this rulemaking, stating CDX
and TRI-MEweb could be more intuitive.
In particular, many of these comments
requested a simplification to the process
used to register a Certifying Official.
Many comments also expressed concern
that the current process for registering a
Certifying Official, which typically takes
about a week, can become a major
impediment to reporting before the
yearly July 1 deadline should managers
become unavailable or should the
facility change its management in June.
EPA recognizes there are situations
where a facility could face last-minute
difficulties due to the current Certifying
Official registration process. However,
facilities may submit TRI reports prior
to the deadline. In fact, TRI-MEweb for
the reporting period is typically made
available in January, thereby providing
facilities up to six months to report TRI
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data prior to the yearly July 1 deadline.
Any facility that foresees an upcoming
change to its Certifying Official should
be able to report prior to the change.
Moreover, the Agency encourages
facilities to designate an Alternate
Certifying Official should the Certifying
Official become unavailable close to the
reporting deadline. In most situations
either the Certifying Official or
Alternate Certifying Official should be
available prior to the reporting deadline.
It is important to note that the current
process used to register Certifying
Officials is evolving. EPA wants to make
reporting as simple as possible, and,
thus, is considering ways to simplify
and expedite the process. It is quite
possible that a new process will become
available in the next year or two that
will enable the near-instantaneous
registration of a Certifying Official.
Comments also voiced concerns with
various aspects of TRI–MEweb. EPA
improves TRI–MEweb each year and
plans to address some of the issues
raised by comments. For example,
changes anticipated for future releases
of TRI–MEweb include supporting more
Web browsers, clarifying the submittal
process, and incorporating additional
features into TRI–MEweb to further
expedite the reporting process. EPA
plans to continue addressing issues and
improving TRI–MEweb for successive
reporting years.
Concerns regarding requiring
electronic reporting: A few comments
suggested the electronic reporting
requirement should not extend to all
facilities, suggesting not all facilities
have access to a computer and the
Internet. While EPA recognizes this
possibility, EPA, as explained above,
does not foresee that facilities meeting
TRI Reporting thresholds will have
difficulty accessing a computer and the
Internet. Further, due to the high
percentage of facilities that already use
TRI–MEweb and the longstanding
practice of providing the reporting
forms exclusively online, most facilities
already appear to have access to a
computer and the Internet.
Some of the comments requested EPA
provide various exceptions should a
facility be unable to report using TRIMEweb prior to the yearly July 1
deadline. The Agency does not foresee
the need for such regulatory exceptions.
EPCRA provides a yearly deadline of
July 1, and TRI-MEweb is typically
available in January, which allows
facilities nearly six months to report the
required TRI data. If facilities encounter
unexpected difficulties with electronic
reporting, they may use any one of the
several help services EPA provides to
assist facilities in reporting TRI data.
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Several comments expressed a
preference for paper reporting, stating it
is easier to report by paper, especially
for facilities that only submit one TRI
reporting form to EPA. EPA understands
in some cases a facility might prefer a
paper reporting option but EPA
believes, on the whole, electronic
reporting will benefit facilities, TRI data
users, and the Agency for all of the
reasons noted in this proposed rule.
Moreover, electronic reporting enables
the Agency to publish data sooner,
minimizes paper waste, and reduces
costs to the Agency. At this point, EPA
does not foresee a need to allow
facilities to submit paper reports of nonconfidential TRI data.
IV. Request for Comment
In connection with this proposed rule,
EPA encourages all interested persons to
submit comments on the following
topics or other relevant topics:
1. EPA specifically seeks comment on
whether facilities foresee any significant
challenges in submitting RY 2012 TRI
reports electronically, and if so, how
EPA could potentially facilitate the
process (e.g., through Webinars,
Regional hands-on assistance, etc.).
2. TRI-MEweb currently does not
allow a facility to revise or withdraw
TRI reporting forms submitted for
reporting years prior to RY 2005. The
Agency proposes to begin requiring
electronic reporting for reporting year
2012, which means facilities would be
able to modify data submitted for the
prior seven reporting years (RY 2011
through RY 2005), but not for reporting
years 2004 through 1988. Historically,
only a small proportion of revision and
withdrawal submissions received each
year pertain to reporting years beyond a
seven-year period. EPA seeks comment
on whether limiting revisions to data
submitted for reporting years 2005
through the present would impose any
hardship or concerns.
3. EPA does not foresee a need for an
exception to an electronic-reporting
requirement. However, the Agency is
interested in receiving input on what
exceptions, if any, might be appropriate
in light of an electronic reporting
requirement.
Input on these or other topics directly
relevant to this proposed rule will assist
the Agency in developing a final rule
that addresses information needs, while
minimizing the potential reporting
burden associated with the rule. EPA
requests that those who submit
comments provide specific
recommendations and include
supporting documentation, as
appropriate.
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V. References
The following is a listing of the
documents referenced in this preamble
that have been placed in the public
docket for this proposed rule under
docket ID number EPA–HQ–TRI–2011–
0174, which is available for inspection
as specified under ADDRESSES. For
assistance in locating any of these
documents, please consult the technical
person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
1. EPA. Office of Environmental Information.
Economic Analysis of the Electronic
Reporting Proposed Rule: Community
Right-to-Know; Toxic Chemical Release
Reporting. July 7, 2011.
2. EPA. Request Facilities To Report Toxics
Release Inventory Information
Electronically or Complete Fill-and-Print
Reporting Forms. Federal Register (76
FR 2677, January 14, 2011) (FRL–9251–
2). Available on-line at: https://
www.regulations.gov.
VI. What are the statutory and
executive order reviews associated with
this action?
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory
Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and
Regulatory Review
This action is not a ‘‘significant
regulatory action’’ under the terms of
Executive Order (EO) 12866 (58 FR
51735, October 4, 1993) and is therefore
not subject to review under Executive
Orders 12866 and 13563 (76 FR 3821,
January 21, 2011).
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed action does not impose
any new information collection burden.
Instead, this proposed action would
merely change the manner in which the
Agency receives information.
The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has previously approved the
information collection requirements
contained in the existing regulations 40
CFR Part 372 under the provisions of
the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq. and has assigned the
following OMB control numbers 2025–
0009 (EPA Information Collection
Request (ICR) No. 1363.21) and 2050–
0078 (EPA ICR No. 1428.08). The OMB
control numbers for EPA’s regulations
in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act, as
Amended by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act
generally requires an agency to prepare
a regulatory flexibility analysis of any
rule subject to notice-and-comment
rulemaking requirements under the
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Administrative Procedure Act or any
other statute unless the agency certifies
that the rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities.
For purposes of assessing the impacts
of today’s proposed rule on small
entities, small entity is defined as: (1) A
small business as defined by the Small
Business Administration’s (SBA)
regulations at 13 CFR 121.201; (2) a
small governmental jurisdiction that is a
government of a city, county, town,
school district or special district with a
population of less than 50,000; and (3)
a small organization that is any not-forprofit enterprise which is independently
owned and operated and is not
dominant in its field.
EPA conducted an economic analysis
to consider the possible effects of this
rulemaking on small entities. This
analysis, ‘‘Economic Analysis of the
Electronic Reporting Proposed Rule:
Community Right-to-Know; Toxic
Chemical Release Reporting’’ (Ref. #1),
demonstrates this proposed rule should
not create an economic burden on an
individual small business of more than
1% of its sales (or equivalent metric)
and, thus, will not have a significant
adverse impact on small businesses.
After conducting this initial analysis,
however, EPA established a new
methodology in order to increase
transparency and consistency in
assessments of burden associated with
TRI reporting. (This new economic
analysis methodology was recently
cleared by OMB as part of OMB’s
approval of the Information Collection
Request (ICR) (a Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA) requirement) which EPA
relies upon for collecting information
under TRI). EPA has determined that
the amount of burden estimated for
small entities in the economic analysis
is not affected by the previously noted
change in burden assessment
methodology. As a result, and regardless
of whether the previous or current
methodology is used, EPA is able to
demonstrate that this proposal would
not have a significant impact on small
businesses.
In summary, this proposed rule would
create a one-time burden and a minor
subsequent burden for facilities that
have not previously used TRI-MEweb to
submit TRI data to EPA. This burden
would relate to obtaining access to a
computer and the Internet, designating
a facility form Preparer and Certifying
Official, establishing an account in CDX,
and associating the CDX account with
TRI-MEweb. The economic analysis EPA
prepared for this proposed rule which
describes this burden in detail is
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available under docket ID number EPA–
HQ–TRI–2011–0174 as Reference #1.
After considering the economic
impacts of this rule on small entities, I
certify that this action will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
This rule does not contain a Federal
mandate that may result in expenditures
of $100 million or more for state, local,
and tribal governments, in the aggregate,
or the private sector in any one year.
This rule will merely require facilities
under the TRI Program to submit
electronic reports using TRI–MEweb.
Most facilities already adhere to this
requirement, thus this rule will affect a
relatively small number of facilities.
Further, the cost to adhere to this rule
is small and, in aggregate, will not cost
more than $100 million or more for
state, local, and tribal governments, or
the private sectors in any one year.
Thus, this rule is not subject to the
requirements of sections 202 or 205 of
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA).
This rule is also not subject to the
requirements of section 203 of UMRA
because it contains no regulatory
requirements that might significantly or
uniquely affect small governments. Any
small government that reports to the TRI
Program will not incur significant costs
because the cost, if any, to report
electronically, as described above, is
minimal.
E. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
This action does not have federalism
implications. It will not have substantial
direct effects on the States, on the
relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government, as specified in
Executive Order 13132. This action
would require facilities that submit
annual reports under section 313 of
EPCRA to do so electronically, which
will not have substantial direct effects
on the States, on the relationship
between the national government and
the States, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government. Thus,
Executive Order 13132 does not apply
to this action.
In the spirit of Executive Order 13132,
and consistent with EPA policy to
promote communications between EPA
and State and local governments, EPA
specifically solicits comment on this
proposed action from State and local
officials.
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F. Executive Order 13175, Consultation
and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
Under E.O. 13175, entitled
Consultation and Coordination with
Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR
67249, November 9, 2000), EPA has
determined that this proposed rule does
not have tribal implications because it
will not have substantial direct effects
on tribal governments, on the
relationship between the Federal
Government and the Indian tribes, or on
the distribution of power and
responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, as
specified in the Executive Order.
Instead, the rule merely affects how
facilities report information to the TRI
Program. Thus, E.O. 13175 does not
apply to this proposed rule.
G. Executive Order 13045, Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks
EPA interprets E.O. 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997) as applying only
to those regulatory actions that concern
health or safety risks, such that the
analysis required under section 5–501 of
the Executive Order has the potential to
influence the regulation. This action is
not subject to E.O. 13045 because it does
not establish an environmental standard
intended to mitigate health or safety
risks.
H. Executive Order 13211, Actions
Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive
Order 13211 (66 FR 28355 (May 22,
2001)), because it is not a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order
12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (‘‘NTTAA’’), Public Law
104–113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
directs EPA to use voluntary consensus
standards in its regulatory activities
unless to do so would be inconsistent
with applicable law or otherwise
impractical. Voluntary consensus
standards are technical standards (e.g.,
materials specifications, test methods,
sampling procedures, and business
practices) that are developed or adopted
by voluntary consensus standards
bodies. NTTAA directs EPA to provide
Congress, through OMB, explanations
when the Agency decides not to use
available and applicable voluntary
consensus standards.
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This action does not involve technical
standards. Therefore, EPA did not
consider the use of any voluntary
consensus standards.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal
Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and
Low-Income Populations
E.O. 12898 (59 FR 7629, Feb. 16,
1994) establishes Federal executive
policy on environmental justice. Its
main provision directs Federal agencies,
to the greatest extent practicable and
permitted by law, to make
environmental justice part of their
mission by identifying and addressing,
as appropriate, disproportionately high
and adverse human health or
environmental effects of their programs,
policies, and activities on minority
populations and low-income
populations in the United States.
EPA has determined that this
proposed rule will not have
disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects
on minority or low-income populations
because it does not affect the level of
protection provided to human health or
the environment. Instead, this rule
would merely address the manner in
which regulated facilities submit
reporting information.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 372
Environmental protection,
Community right-to-know, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) Filing Requirements. Effective
January 1, 2013, facilities that report
non-confidential TRI data, including
revisions and withdrawals of TRI data,
to EPA must prepare, certify, and
submit their data to EPA electronically,
using the most current version of the
TRI online-reporting software provided
by EPA.
(1) EPA will no longer accept nonconfidential TRI reports, revisions, or
withdrawals on paper reporting forms,
magnetic media, or CD–ROMs.
Information and instructions regarding
online reporting are available on the TRI
Web site. The only exception to this TRI
electronic reporting requirement relates
to trade secret TRI submissions
(including sanitized and unsanitized
reporting forms), which must be
submitted to EPA on paper.
(2) Facilities must submit
electronically any revisions or
withdrawals of previously submitted
TRI data. Facilities may only revise or
withdraw TRI data previously submitted
for reporting years 2005 through the
present reporting year.
ACTION:
Proposed rule; correction.
This document contains
corrections to a notice of proposed
rulemaking, which was published in the
Federal Register on Thursday, February
23, 2012 (77 FR 10714), relating to the
Internet Payment Platform.
SUMMARY:
DATES:
Comment due date: April 23,
2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ronald Backes, Director, Acquisition
Management, Office of the Procurement
Executive, at (202) 622–5930 (this is not
a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 23, 2012, the Department
of the Treasury published a notice of
proposed rulemaking that would amend
the Department of the Treasury
Acquisition Regulations to implement
the Internet Payment Platform. As
published, the notice of proposed
rulemaking contains an error, which
may prove to be misleading and is in
need of clarification.
Correction of Publication
Accordingly, the publication of the
notice of proposed rulemaking, FR Doc.
2012–4216, published February 23,
2012 at 77 FR 10714, is corrected as
follows:
§ 1032.7003
1. The authority citation for Part 372
continues to read as follows:
Jkt 226001
[Corrected]
RIN 1505–AC41
1. On page 10716, in the third
column, in § 1032.7003, the date
‘‘October 1, 2011’’ is corrected to
‘‘October 1, 2012’’.
Department of the Treasury
Acquisition Regulation; Internet
Payment Platform; Correction
Dated: February 24, 2012.
Ronald W. Backes,
Director, Acquisition Management, Office of
the Procurement Executive.
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
PART 372—[AMENDED]
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
§ 372.85 Toxic chemical release reporting
form and instructions.
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
For the reasons set out in the
preamble, Chapter I of Title 40 of the
Code of Federal Regulations is proposed
to be amended as follows:
15:05 Mar 02, 2012
2. Section 372.85 is amended by
adding paragraph (c) to read as follows:
[FR Doc. 2012–5264 Filed 3–2–12; 8:45 am]
Dated: February 23, 2012.
Lisa P. Jackson,
Administrator.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 11023 and 11048.
13069
48 CFR Chapter 10
Office of the Procurement
Executive, Treasury.
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 9990
[FR Doc. 2012–5242 Filed 3–2–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–25–P
E:\FR\FM\05MRP1.SGM
05MRP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13061-13069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5264]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 372
[EPA-HQ-TRI-2011-0174; FRL-9642-2]
Electronic Reporting of Toxics Release Inventory Data
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Facilities that currently report Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI) data to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) use either
paper reporting forms or the online reporting software application
known as the Toxics Release Inventory-Made Easy Web or simply TRI-
MEweb. Effective January 1, 2013, EPA proposes to require facilities to
report non-confidential TRI data to EPA using electronic software
provided by the Agency. The only exception to this electronic reporting
requirement would be for the few facilities that submit trade secret
TRI information (including sanitized and unsanitized information), who
would continue to submit their trade secret reporting forms and
substantiation forms in hard copy. As of Reporting Year (RY) 2010,
approximately 95 percent of TRI reporting facilities were using TRI-
MEweb, making it possible for the Agency to process and expedite the
release of TRI data to the public.
Under this rulemaking, EPA would also require facilities to submit
electronically (i.e., not on paper forms or CD-ROMs) any revisions or
withdrawals of previously submitted TRI data. For trade secret
submissions, EPA would still accept revisions or withdrawals of
previously submitted trade secret information on paper forms.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 4, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
TRI-2011-0174, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: oei.docket@epa.gov.
Fax: 202-566-9744.
Mail: OEI Docket, Environmental Protection Agency,
Mailcode 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-TRI-
2011-0174. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name and other contact information in the body of your
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
for which disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials,
such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard
copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either
electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI
Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The EPA Docket
Center Public Reading Room is open from
[[Page 13062]]
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744, and the telephone number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-
1752.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on TRI,
contact the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Hotline at
(800) 424-9346 or (703) 412-9810, TDD (800) 553-7672, https://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hotline/. For specific information on this
rulemaking, contact David Turk, Toxics Release Inventory Program
Division, Mailcode 2844T, OEI, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; Telephone: (202) 566-1527;
Email: Turk.David@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Index
I. Background and General Information
A. Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in This Document
B. Does this action apply to me?
C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
II. What is EPA's statutory authority for taking this action?
III. What reporting requirement change is EPA proposing?
A. Description of Proposed Change
B. How are TRI reports currently submitted to and processed by
the agency?
C. What is the history of electronic reporting of TRI data to
EPA?
D. How does a facility report TRI data using TRI-MEweb?
E. Why is EPA proposing this requirement?
F. How does this proposed rule affect revisions and withdrawals
of previous TRI submissions?
G. What benefits will this proposed rule likely produce?
H. Would EPA Offer any exceptions to the proposed requirements?
I. What is EPA doing to help ensure facilities know about this
proposed rule?
IV. Request for Comment
V. References
VI. What are the statutory and executive order reviews associated
with this action?
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and
Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act, as Amended by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
E. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
F. Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With
Indian Tribal Governments
G. Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children From
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks
H. Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations
I. Background and General Information
A. Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in This Document
AFR--Automated Form R
APA--Administrative Procedure Act
ATRS--Automated TRI Reporting Software
CBI--Confidential Business Information
CDX--Central Data Exchange
CFR--Code of Federal Regulations
CROMERR--Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule
DPC-TRI Data Processing Center
EO--Executive Order
EPA--U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPCRA--Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
FR--Federal Register
GPEA--Government Paperwork Elimination Act
ICR--Information Collection Request
NAICS--North American Industry Classification System
NTTAA--National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995
OEI--Office of Environmental Information (EPA)
OMB--Office of Management and Budget (Executive Office of the
President)
PPA--Pollution Prevention Act
RY--Reporting Year
SIC--Standard Industrial Code
TRI--Toxics Release Inventory
TRI-ME--TRI-Made Easy Desktop Software
TRI-MEweb--Toxics Release Inventory-Made Easy Internet-based
Software Application
U.S.C.--United States Code
XML--Extensible Markup Language
B. Does this action apply to me?
This proposed rule applies to facilities that submit annual reports
under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Act (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA). To
determine whether your facility would be affected by this action, you
should carefully examine the applicability criteria in Part 372,
Subpart B, of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Potentially
affected categories and entities may include, but are not limited to
the following:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Examples of potentially affected entities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry.................... Facilities included in the following NAICS
manufacturing codes (corresponding to SIC
codes 20 through 39): 311*, 312*, 313*,
314*, 315*, 316, 321, 322, 323*, 324,
325*, 326*, 327, 331, 332, 333, 334*,
335*, 336, 337*, 339*, 111998*, 211112*,
212324*, 212325*, 212393*, 212399*,
488390*, 511110, 511120, 511130, 511140*,
511191, 511199, 512220, 512230*, 519130*,
541712*, or 811490*.
*Exceptions and/or limitations exist for
these NAICS codes.
Facilities included in the following NAICS
codes (corresponding to SIC codes other
than SIC codes 20 through 39):
212111, 212112, 212113
(correspond to SIC 12, Coal Mining (except
1241));
212221, 212222, 212231, 212234,
212299 (correspond to SIC 10, Metal Mining
(except 1011, 1081, and 1094));
221111, 221112, 221113, 221119,
221121, 221122, 221330 (Limited to
facilities that combust coal and/or oil
for the purpose of generating power for
distribution in commerce) (correspond to
SIC 4911, 4931, and 4939, Electric
Utilities);
424690, 425110, 425120 (Limited
to facilities previously classified in SIC
5169, Chemicals and Allied Products, Not
Elsewhere Classified);
424710 (corresponds to SIC
5171, Petroleum Bulk Terminals and
Plants);
562112 (Limited to facilities
primarily engaged in solvent recovery
services on a contract or fee basis
(previously classified under SIC 7389,
Business Services, NEC)); and
562211, 562212, 562213, 562219,
562920 (Limited to facilities regulated
under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, Subtitle C, 42 U.S.C. 6921
et seq.) (correspond to SIC 4953, Refuse
Systems).
Federal Government.......... Federal facilities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions regarding the applicability of this action to
a particular entity, consult the individual listed in the preceding FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. This action may also be of
interest to those who use EPA's TRI data and have an interest in the
public availability of high-quality, timely TRI data and information,
including state agencies, local governments, communities, environmental
groups and other non-
[[Page 13063]]
governmental organizations, as well as members of the general public.
C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
Follow directions--The Agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives,
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. What is EPA's statutory authority for taking this action?
The EPA is implementing this action under sections 313(g), 313(h),
and 328 of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. 11023(g), 11023(h) and 11048, and section
6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act, 42 U.S.C. 13106.
Under EPCRA, Congress granted EPA broad rulemaking authority. EPCRA
section 328 provides that the ``Administrator may prescribe such
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this chapter.'' 42 U.S.C.
11048. EPCRA requires EPA to ``publish a uniform toxic chemical release
form for facilities covered'' by the TRI Program. 42 U.S.C. 11023(g).
The Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) (Pub. L. 105-277
(44 U.S.C. 3504)) allows Federal agencies to provide for electronic
submissions and the use of electronic signatures, when practicable.
Similarly, EPA's Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation (CROMERR)
(40 CFR Part 3), published in the Federal Register issue of October 13,
2005, states that any requirement in Title 40 of the CFR to submit a
report directly to EPA can be satisfied with an electronic submission
that meets certain conditions, once the Agency publishes a notice that
electronic document submission is available for that requirement.
III. What reporting requirement change is EPA proposing?
A. Description of Proposed Change
EPA is proposing to require facilities to report non-confidential
TRI data to EPA electronically. Under this proposal, EPA would no
longer accept paper submissions of TRI reports, except for trade secret
submissions which would still be submitted on paper forms (including
sanitized and unsanitized versions).
Currently, EPA provides an online-reporting application, TRI-MEweb,
for facilities to use to report TRI data to the Agency. TRI-MEweb
provides a number of features that allow facilities to prepare and
submit their TRI reports to EPA more efficiently. For example, it
includes data validation tools that help facilities submit complete and
valid data and compare the current year's data to the prior year's
data--a feature which can sometimes help facilities identify potential
data errors. Comprehensive use of TRI-MEweb should help facilities
prepare and submit accurate TRI reports and reduce the amount of time
it takes EPA to process the reports and make the data available to the
public.
Many TRI facilities have recognized the benefits of electronic
reporting, as reflected by the general increase in the percentage of
facilities that use TRI-MEweb to submit TRI data to EPA electronically
each year. For reporting year (RY) 2010, approximately 95% of
facilities used TRI-MEweb to report TRI data.
Because such a large portion of TRI reporters already use TRI-
MEweb, this proposed TRI electronic reporting requirement is not
expected to affect the majority of TRI reporting facilities. In fact,
fewer than 5% of current TRI reporting facilities would need to become
familiar with the electronic reporting process. Information about using
TRI-MEweb to report electronically is available on the TRI Web site
(https://www.epa.gov/tri) and in the most recent version of the Toxic
Chemical Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions (RFI),
which is available on the TRI Web site.
Under this proposed rule, facilities that submit trade secret
information would continue to submit two versions of the substantiation
form and two versions of Form R or Form A--sanitized versions that
include the generic chemical name that is structurally descriptive of
the chemical being claimed as a trade secret and unsanitized versions
that include the trade secret chemical name. TRI-MEweb does not allow
facilities to submit trade secret information; however, to facilitate
reporting of such information, EPA currently provides electronically
fillable/printable versions of the TRI reporting forms (i.e., Form A,
Form R, and Form R Schedule 1) on the TRI Web site. EPA strongly
recommends that TRI facilities that submit TRI trade secret information
use a computer or typewriter to prepare their hard-copy submissions of
TRI information and consult the TRI Web site (https://www.epa.gov/tri)
for more detailed information.
To codify this proposed rule, EPA proposes inserting a paragraph
(c) into 40 CFR 372.85. This codification would require most regulated
facilities to submit TRI data electronically using the current
electronic reporting tool provided by EPA. EPA would only accept TRI
data that are submitted electronically, except for trade secret TRI
forms and substantiations; and EPA would not accept or process TRI data
that are not submitted in the appropriate manner.
B. How are TRI reports currently submitted to and processed by the
agency?
Currently, facilities submit TRI reporting forms electronically or
by paper. To submit TRI data by paper, facilities download the
appropriate TRI reporting form or forms from the TRI Web site
(accessible at https://www.epa.gov/tri). Before RY 2006, EPA mailed
paper TRI reporting forms to facilities each year. Since RY 2006, EPA
has made the TRI reporting forms available on its Web site.
If using a paper TRI reporting form, the facility's form Preparer
enters the facility's data on the form, the Certifying
[[Page 13064]]
Official certifies/signs the form, and the facility then sends the form
to EPA's TRI Data Processing Center (DPC) via mail or courier. The
current RFI, available on the TRI Web site (accessible at https://www.epa.gov/tri), provides a more detailed explanation of this process.
In January 2011, EPA began providing fillable/printable versions of
the TRI Reporting Form R, Form R Schedule 1, and Form A through the TRI
Web site. For those facilities still wishing or needing to submit paper
forms (e.g., for trade secret submissions), EPA encouraged the use of
the fillable/printable forms, rather than handwritten forms, to help
ensure that the data--once received by the DPC--could be read and
entered into the TRI database.
Electronic reporting using TRI-MEweb is already EPA's recommended
reporting approach for submitting TRI information to the Agency, and
under this proposed rule, it would become the required approach. To
submit TRI data electronically, a facility registers with EPA's Central
Data Exchange (CDX) and uses TRI-MEweb to prepare, certify, and submit
TRI reports. The use of CDX and TRI-MEweb to prepare and submit TRI
reports is explained below, in Unit III.D, ``How Does a Facility Report
TRI Data Using TRI-MEweb?''
C. What is the history of electronic reporting of TRI data to EPA?
Beginning in 1987, the Agency began encouraging facilities to
submit TRI Form R data electronically using magnetic media. Initially,
EPA provided year-specific Automated Form R (AFR) software that allowed
a facility to submit TRI data for a particular reporting year.
Facilities could install and use the AFR software to produce either a
hard-copy TRI report or a diskette, which facilities could then submit
to EPA. Upon receipt, the DPC would transcribe hard-copy TRI reports
into a database and electronically enter diskette submissions into a
database. The use of AFR proved to be popular among facilities, and the
percentage of TRI reporting facilities using this tool increased from
13 percent in 1990 to 62 percent in 1996.
Generally, the Agency improved upon the AFR each year by
incorporating new features, such as the ability to submit TRI data for
multiple reporting years (i.e., separate reports for each year), data
validation checks, and the ability to load data from prior years into
the current reporting year's electronic form. In 1998, EPA renamed the
AFR software to Automated TRI Reporting Software (ATRS) to reflect the
addition of Form A into the software.
After RY 2000, EPA replaced ATRS with TRI-Made Easy (TRI-ME), which
was a computer desktop application that a facility could download from
the TRI Web site or receive in the mail upon request. TRI-ME provided
electronic assistance to a facility preparing TRI reports and, for the
first time, allowed a facility to submit TRI data to EPA's CDX via the
Internet. TRI-ME also allowed facilities to print a hard-copy version
of the TRI report or produce a digital file that could then be
submitted online or copied to a diskette and mailed to the DPC.
In 2006, for RY 2005, EPA began making the TRI-MEweb application
available to a limited number of facilities. TRI-MEweb is a Web-based
reporting application that includes validation features to help
facilities report accurate information. This application is entirely
online, meaning a facility can access the application from any computer
that is connected to the Internet. In addition, because the application
is online, EPA can instantly perform any needed software updates or
corrections without requiring users to download an updated version of
software. Most, if not all, computers and Web software should be
compatible with TRI-MEweb.
EPA continued to refine TRI-MEweb each year after its limited
released, expanding the number of facilities that could use it and
eventually making the application widely available to nearly all
facilities for RY 2008. The Agency also, for RY 2008, informed
facilities that it would focus on providing TRI-MEweb, and would no
longer provide the TRI-ME CD-ROM. Accordingly, a steadily increasing
percentage of facilities have submitted TRI data to EPA using TRI-
MEweb, as illustrated in Chart 1. Electronic reporting using TRI-MEweb
has now become the predominant mechanism that facilities use to submit
TRI data to EPA.
Chart 1--Breakdown of Submission Methods Used During the Past Five Reporting Years
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RY 2005 RY 2006 RY 2007 RY 2008 RY 2009 RY 2010
Media type (percent) (percent) (percent) (percent) (percent) (percent)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRI-MEweb Submissions....... 0.34 3.12 31.69 65.77 92.16 94.60
TRI-ME via CDX Submissions.. 62.50 70.42 43.34 17.73 0.18 0.01
TRI-ME via Diskette 28.71 21.22 18.20 9.79 0.16 0.02
Submissions................
Paper Submissions........... 8.46 5.24 6.78 6.71 7.50 5.37
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Due to the longstanding history of electronic reporting of TRI
data, the benefits that TRI-MEweb provides, and the prevalence and
availability of the Internet, EPA published a notice in the Federal
Register on January 14, 2011, which encouraged facilities to utilize
TRI-MEweb. The notice also notified facilities of the availability of
fillable/printable TRI reporting forms on the TRI Web site and stated
that the Agency was considering publishing this proposed rule to
require electronic reporting of TRI data.
D. How does a facility report TRI data using TRI-MEweb?
TRI-MEweb is an interactive, user-friendly Web-based application
that guides facilities through the TRI reporting process. As currently
implemented, one or more representatives from each facility must
establish an account with EPA's CDX in order to prepare, transmit,
certify, and submit TRI Forms. CDX is EPA's centralized node on the
Environmental Information Exchange Network that serves as EPA's main
mechanism for receiving and exchanging electronic information. A
facility representative may register for a CDX account or gain access
to an existing CDX account at https://cdx.epa.gov/.
During the CDX registration process, CDX prompts the facility
representative to indicate which applications (e.g., TRI-MEweb) to link
with the account. If the facility representative has previously
registered with CDX for other purposes, then he/she can add TRI-MEweb
to his/her existing CDX account.
When adding TRI-MEweb to the CDX account, CDX will ask the facility
representative to select a role as a form Preparer or Certifying
Official. Either a Preparer or a Certifying Official can enter a
facility's TRI data in TRI-MEweb and transmit it to CDX to await
[[Page 13065]]
certification; but only a Certifying Official can approve and certify a
TRI reporting form and submit the final, certified form to EPA using
TRI-MEweb and CDX. Preparers and Certifying Officials can potentially
perform their TRI reporting roles (preparing and/or certifying TRI
forms) for multiple facilities, if so designated by the facilities.
EPA's current electronic reporting procedures require each
Certifying Official to sign and submit a hard-copy Electronic Signature
Agreement (ESA) to EPA before certifying any TRI reports. Once a
facility representative registers in CDX as a TRI-MEweb Certifying
Official, EPA sends an ESA to that representative via email. The ESA
includes a TRI Facility Identification number for each facility for
which the Certifying Official is responsible. The Certifying Official
must sign this ESA in hard-copy and mail it to the DPC. Upon receiving
an ESA, the Agency may take five to seven days to approve it. Once the
ESA is approved by EPA, the Certifying Official may review, certify,
and submit any pending TRI submissions to EPA using TRI-MEweb and CDX.
More detailed information on these procedures is available on the TRI
Web site.
Once registered with CDX and TRI-MEweb, a facility's Preparer or
Certifying Official can gain access to TRI-MEweb through CDX. Once
opened, the TRI-MEweb application provides interactive Web pages that
enable a Preparer or Certifying Official to provide and validate the
current year's data. After providing the pertinent data, a Preparer (or
Certifying Official) can transmit the data electronically to CDX where
it is then available for certification by the facility's Certifying
Official(s). The Certifying Official can then log into CDX to review,
certify, and submit the TRI report to EPA. Once EPA receives the
certified report in CDX, the data are then sent to the TRI database
(and if appropriate, also to a state).
Some TRI facilities have their own software or use private software
to assist in collecting chemical release data. This ``third-party
software'' is often designed to produce output data files that match
EPA's electronic data structure specifications. TRI-MEweb accepts
chemical data files from third-party software using Extensible Markup
Language (XML). Detailed information describing the XML schema TRI-
MEweb uses for the current reporting year is available online at https://www.exchangenetwork.net/exchanges/cross/tri.htm.
Detailed instructions on using CDX and TRI-MEweb, including
tutorials, are available on the TRI Web site and in the RFI, which is
also available through the TRI Web site. Facilities may also contact
the TRI Information Center, the CDX Helpdesk, the TRI DPC, the Regional
TRI Coordinators, or the TRI Program staff at EPA Headquarters for
further assistance. Please see the ``Contact Us'' information located
on the TRI Web site for further details.
Please note that the use of TRI-MEweb to report TRI data to EPA
does not necessarily satisfy all reporting requirements that a state or
local government might require. However, as will be explained below in
Unit III.G, ``What Benefits Will this Proposed Rule Likely Produce?,''
facilities that are located in states or territories (hereinafter
collectively referred to as ``states'') that actively participate with
the TRI Data Exchange (TDX) can meet dual-reporting requirements by
submitting TRI reports using TRI-MEweb. In these states, reports
submitted via TRI-MEweb are electronically made available to the state
in which the facility is located, thus satisfying the requirement to
report TRI data for both the applicable state and EPA.
For facilities located in states not actively participating in TDX,
TRI-MEweb can provide these facilities with a certification statement
which the Certifying Official can sign and mail to the appropriate
state along with a diskette or hard copy of the TRI data the Preparer
or Certifying Official entered into TRI-MEweb.
E. Why is EPA proposing this requirement?
Electronic reporting not only makes it easier for facilities to
prepare and submit their TRI data to EPA, it also helps EPA process and
make the data available to the public more quickly than is possible for
data submitted on paper forms. When facilities submit paper forms, EPA
must manually enter the data into the TRI electronic database, which
requires more time and staff resources than required to process
electronic submissions. In addition, transcription errors can
inadvertently be introduced during this process, particularly if the
data have been handwritten on the reporting forms. Electronic reporting
makes it possible for EPA to more quickly process the data and provide
communities with access to the latest TRI data on toxic chemical
releases and other waste management.
Electronic reporting itself prevents transcription errors and
expedites TRI data processing; but in addition, TRI-MEweb, provides
useful features that make it easier and faster for facilities to
prepare and submit TRI data to EPA. For example, TRI-MEweb provides
facility representatives with access to a facility's prior years of
reporting data (as applicable), pre-populates selected fields on the
TRI forms (i.e., if the facility previously submitted a TRI report),
provides standardized parent company information and chemical pick-
lists, and automatically calculates the data for some numerical fields
on the TRI forms. TRI-MEweb also provides data validation features,
which help prevent facilities from submitting incomplete or invalid
data. Due to the benefits TRI-MEweb provides, EPA expects that its use
by all facilities will enhance data accuracy and expedite EPA's
processing and public release of the TRI data.
This proposal to require electronic TRI reporting supports broader
government efforts to further the electronic collection and
dissemination of data and information, and it is consistent with the
provisions of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA). GPEA
authorizes federal organizations to use electronic forms, electronic
filings, and electronic signatures, when practicable, to conduct
official business with the public.
F. How does this Proposed Rule affect revisions and withdrawals of
previous TRI submissions?
This proposed rule would require facilities that wish to revise or
withdraw previously submitted non-confidential TRI data to do so
electronically. As part of this proposed rule, the Agency would
continue to allow facilities to revise or withdraw TRI reports going
back to RY 2005, but not for reporting years prior to RY2005. Moreover,
EPA would only accept revisions and/or withdrawals submitted via TRI-
MEweb. TRI-MEweb allows a facility to gain access to and revise or
withdraw TRI reports in TRI-MEweb for prior reporting years, back to RY
2005, even if the facility did not use TRI-MEweb for the original
submission.
EPA proposes this RY 2005 cut off date for several reasons,
including (1) the small number of revisions/withdrawals received for
reporting years prior to RY 2005 (a relatively small proportion of TRI
form revisions/withdrawals are generally submitted to EPA each year,
and most of these revisions/withdrawals relate to TRI reports for the
past few years), (2) the resources that would be required to modify
TRI-MEweb and related information exchange capabilities to accommodate
all reporting reporting years, and (3) the staff resources and
[[Page 13066]]
time required to continue processing paper form revisions/withdrawals.
As with original TRI submissions, preparing and submitting
revisions/withdrawals electronically should facilitate the reporting
process for facilities, while also making it possible for EPA to more
quickly process and make the updated data available to the public.
Information on using TRI-MEweb to submit TRI revisions/withdrawals is
available on the TRI Web site and in the TRI-MEweb application.
In order to focus Agency resources on processing and making the
most recent TRI data available to the public and to maintain some
consistency in the handling of non-confidential and trade secret data,
EPA plans to accept paper submissions of trade secret revisions/
withdrawals that concern reporting years back to RY 2005.
G. What benefits will this proposed rule likely produce?
Requiring facilities to report TRI data electronically will help
reduce the likelihood of data entry errors occurring at either the
facility or EPA, as well as reduce the amount of time it takes EPA to
process the data, when compared to paper-based submissions. By
requiring electronic reporting, the Agency will be able to more
effectively provide the public with timely access to the latest TRI
data on toxic chemical releases and other waste management within
communities.
Another benefit electronic reporting provides is that TRI data
submitted via CDX is sent digitally to those states that participate in
the TRI Data Exchange (TDX). Since 2005, EPA has entered into separate
Memoranda of Agreements (MOA) with states that have elected to
participate in TDX. More information on TDX is available through the
TRI Web site.
A facility located in a state that participates in TDX can satisfy
its requirement to report TRI data to both EPA and to the applicable
state by electronically submitting certified TRI data to EPA. These TRI
data are then automatically made available to the state within which
the facility is located.
Under the proposed rule, facilities would be required to submit
their TRI data to EPA electronically; and therefore, those facilities
located in TDX-participating states would be able to satisfy the
requirement to submit federally-required TRI data to both the EPA and
the state with one electronic submission. Currently, if a facility
submits a paper report to EPA, even if it is located in a TDX-
participating state, the facility must also submit its TRI report
directly to the state to meet its legal reporting obligations.
Requiring the use of electronic reporting would make the state
processing of TRI data easier for TDX-participating states because they
would no longer need to process paper reporting forms for TRI data.
Facilities that are located in states that do not participate in TDX
would prepare and submit their TRI data to EPA using TRI-MEweb, and
they could then use TRI-MEweb to produce a certification statement,
along with a hard-copy TRI report or CD, which could be signed by the
Certifying Official and mailed to the appropriate state.
H. Would EPA offer any exceptions to the proposed requirements?
The Agency expects facilities that submit TRI data to EPA to do so
electronically. Only trade secret TRI reports (including both sanitized
and unsanitized information) would still be submitted to EPA on paper
forms. EPA believes that the overall benefits of submitting TRI data
electronically exceed those associated with maintaining a paper-based
reporting approach. EPA recognizes that there could potentially be
unexpected initial set-up costs or technical challenges associated with
a requirement to submit TRI reports electronically, particularly for
facilities that have never used electronic reporting; however, the
Agency believes that the benefits of electronic reporting of TRI data--
considering the ease of reporting, enhanced data quality, and faster
public access to the data--would ultimately outweigh other
considerations.
EPA also offers forms of assistance to TRI reporters looking for
help with electronic reporting. The Agency provides guidance on the TRI
Program Web site, maintains a TRI help desk, and offers webinars and
other training programs. Further, EPA believes nearly all facilities
can already access the Internet because the Agency stopped providing
physical copies of the TRI reporting forms in 2006, exclusively
thereafter offering the forms online and only mailing a physical copy
upon request.
I. What is EPA doing to help ensure facilities know about this proposed
rule?
To inform facilities about this rulemaking and to solicit feedback
prior to publication of the proposed rule, EPA sent a letter via email
or postal carrier if an email address was not available to technical
contacts for facilities that submitted TRI data for RY 2009 and RY
2008. This letter notified these facilities that EPA was considering a
proposed rule to require the electronic reporting of TRI data and
informed the facilities of an online discussion forum where any
interested stakeholder could comment on EPA's plan to require
electronic reporting of TRI data. EPA recognizes the discussion forum
was provided electronically, which could bias the discussion toward
facilities with access to computers, so EPA explained in the letter
that facilities could physically mail comments to the Agency so that
the Agency could make these comments available on the discussion forum.
The discussion forum went live on June 19, 2011, was accessible via
the TRI homepage, and stayed open through July 1, 2011, receiving 57
comments. Both the discussion forum and the comments received are
publically available for viewing in the docket for this rulemaking
(EPA-HQ-TRI-2011-0174). The comments received via the forum fall into
several broad categories: support for the proposed action; concerns
involving the online reporting tools, and concerns regarding requiring
electronic reporting.
Comments supporting this action: Many of the comments received
support requiring electronic reporting of TRI data, noting electronic
reporting expedites the reporting process and improves data quality,
which, in turn, allows EPA to provide timely, accurate data to TRI data
users. Adding to this perspective were comments suggesting nearly all
TRI reporters likely have access to a computer and the Internet.
Additionally, some of the comments requested EPA to require states to
accept electronic submissions by mandating participation in the TRI
Data Exchange.
Concerns involving the currently available reporting tools: EPA
received some comments, both supportive and critical of this
rulemaking, stating CDX and TRI-MEweb could be more intuitive. In
particular, many of these comments requested a simplification to the
process used to register a Certifying Official. Many comments also
expressed concern that the current process for registering a Certifying
Official, which typically takes about a week, can become a major
impediment to reporting before the yearly July 1 deadline should
managers become unavailable or should the facility change its
management in June.
EPA recognizes there are situations where a facility could face
last-minute difficulties due to the current Certifying Official
registration process. However, facilities may submit TRI reports prior
to the deadline. In fact, TRI-MEweb for the reporting period is
typically made available in January, thereby providing facilities up to
six months to report TRI
[[Page 13067]]
data prior to the yearly July 1 deadline. Any facility that foresees an
upcoming change to its Certifying Official should be able to report
prior to the change. Moreover, the Agency encourages facilities to
designate an Alternate Certifying Official should the Certifying
Official become unavailable close to the reporting deadline. In most
situations either the Certifying Official or Alternate Certifying
Official should be available prior to the reporting deadline.
It is important to note that the current process used to register
Certifying Officials is evolving. EPA wants to make reporting as simple
as possible, and, thus, is considering ways to simplify and expedite
the process. It is quite possible that a new process will become
available in the next year or two that will enable the near-
instantaneous registration of a Certifying Official.
Comments also voiced concerns with various aspects of TRI-MEweb.
EPA improves TRI-MEweb each year and plans to address some of the
issues raised by comments. For example, changes anticipated for future
releases of TRI-MEweb include supporting more Web browsers, clarifying
the submittal process, and incorporating additional features into TRI-
MEweb to further expedite the reporting process. EPA plans to continue
addressing issues and improving TRI-MEweb for successive reporting
years.
Concerns regarding requiring electronic reporting: A few comments
suggested the electronic reporting requirement should not extend to all
facilities, suggesting not all facilities have access to a computer and
the Internet. While EPA recognizes this possibility, EPA, as explained
above, does not foresee that facilities meeting TRI Reporting
thresholds will have difficulty accessing a computer and the Internet.
Further, due to the high percentage of facilities that already use TRI-
MEweb and the longstanding practice of providing the reporting forms
exclusively online, most facilities already appear to have access to a
computer and the Internet.
Some of the comments requested EPA provide various exceptions
should a facility be unable to report using TRI-MEweb prior to the
yearly July 1 deadline. The Agency does not foresee the need for such
regulatory exceptions. EPCRA provides a yearly deadline of July 1, and
TRI-MEweb is typically available in January, which allows facilities
nearly six months to report the required TRI data. If facilities
encounter unexpected difficulties with electronic reporting, they may
use any one of the several help services EPA provides to assist
facilities in reporting TRI data.
Several comments expressed a preference for paper reporting,
stating it is easier to report by paper, especially for facilities that
only submit one TRI reporting form to EPA. EPA understands in some
cases a facility might prefer a paper reporting option but EPA
believes, on the whole, electronic reporting will benefit facilities,
TRI data users, and the Agency for all of the reasons noted in this
proposed rule. Moreover, electronic reporting enables the Agency to
publish data sooner, minimizes paper waste, and reduces costs to the
Agency. At this point, EPA does not foresee a need to allow facilities
to submit paper reports of non-confidential TRI data.
IV. Request for Comment
In connection with this proposed rule, EPA encourages all
interested persons to submit comments on the following topics or other
relevant topics:
1. EPA specifically seeks comment on whether facilities foresee any
significant challenges in submitting RY 2012 TRI reports
electronically, and if so, how EPA could potentially facilitate the
process (e.g., through Webinars, Regional hands-on assistance, etc.).
2. TRI-MEweb currently does not allow a facility to revise or
withdraw TRI reporting forms submitted for reporting years prior to RY
2005. The Agency proposes to begin requiring electronic reporting for
reporting year 2012, which means facilities would be able to modify
data submitted for the prior seven reporting years (RY 2011 through RY
2005), but not for reporting years 2004 through 1988. Historically,
only a small proportion of revision and withdrawal submissions received
each year pertain to reporting years beyond a seven-year period. EPA
seeks comment on whether limiting revisions to data submitted for
reporting years 2005 through the present would impose any hardship or
concerns.
3. EPA does not foresee a need for an exception to an electronic-
reporting requirement. However, the Agency is interested in receiving
input on what exceptions, if any, might be appropriate in light of an
electronic reporting requirement.
Input on these or other topics directly relevant to this proposed
rule will assist the Agency in developing a final rule that addresses
information needs, while minimizing the potential reporting burden
associated with the rule. EPA requests that those who submit comments
provide specific recommendations and include supporting documentation,
as appropriate.
V. References
The following is a listing of the documents referenced in this
preamble that have been placed in the public docket for this proposed
rule under docket ID number EPA-HQ-TRI-2011-0174, which is available
for inspection as specified under ADDRESSES. For assistance in locating
any of these documents, please consult the technical person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
1. EPA. Office of Environmental Information. Economic Analysis of
the Electronic Reporting Proposed Rule: Community Right-to-Know;
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting. July 7, 2011.
2. EPA. Request Facilities To Report Toxics Release Inventory
Information Electronically or Complete Fill-and-Print Reporting
Forms. Federal Register (76 FR 2677, January 14, 2011) (FRL-9251-2).
Available on-line at: https://www.regulations.gov.
VI. What are the statutory and executive order reviews associated with
this action?
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the
terms of Executive Order (EO) 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and
is therefore not subject to review under Executive Orders 12866 and
13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011).
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed action does not impose any new information collection
burden. Instead, this proposed action would merely change the manner in
which the Agency receives information.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has previously approved
the information collection requirements contained in the existing
regulations 40 CFR Part 372 under the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and has assigned the following
OMB control numbers 2025-0009 (EPA Information Collection Request (ICR)
No. 1363.21) and 2050-0078 (EPA ICR No. 1428.08). The OMB control
numbers for EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act, as Amended by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act generally requires an agency to
prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to
notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements under the
[[Page 13068]]
Administrative Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency
certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
For purposes of assessing the impacts of today's proposed rule on
small entities, small entity is defined as: (1) A small business as
defined by the Small Business Administration's (SBA) regulations at 13
CFR 121.201; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government
of a city, county, town, school district or special district with a
population of less than 50,000; and (3) a small organization that is
any not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated
and is not dominant in its field.
EPA conducted an economic analysis to consider the possible effects
of this rulemaking on small entities. This analysis, ``Economic
Analysis of the Electronic Reporting Proposed Rule: Community Right-to-
Know; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting'' (Ref. 1),
demonstrates this proposed rule should not create an economic burden on
an individual small business of more than 1% of its sales (or
equivalent metric) and, thus, will not have a significant adverse
impact on small businesses. After conducting this initial analysis,
however, EPA established a new methodology in order to increase
transparency and consistency in assessments of burden associated with
TRI reporting. (This new economic analysis methodology was recently
cleared by OMB as part of OMB's approval of the Information Collection
Request (ICR) (a Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requirement) which EPA
relies upon for collecting information under TRI). EPA has determined
that the amount of burden estimated for small entities in the economic
analysis is not affected by the previously noted change in burden
assessment methodology. As a result, and regardless of whether the
previous or current methodology is used, EPA is able to demonstrate
that this proposal would not have a significant impact on small
businesses.
In summary, this proposed rule would create a one-time burden and a
minor subsequent burden for facilities that have not previously used
TRI-MEweb to submit TRI data to EPA. This burden would relate to
obtaining access to a computer and the Internet, designating a facility
form Preparer and Certifying Official, establishing an account in CDX,
and associating the CDX account with TRI-MEweb. The economic analysis
EPA prepared for this proposed rule which describes this burden in
detail is available under docket ID number EPA-HQ-TRI-2011-0174 as
Reference 1.
After considering the economic impacts of this rule on small
entities, I certify that this action will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
This rule does not contain a Federal mandate that may result in
expenditures of $100 million or more for state, local, and tribal
governments, in the aggregate, or the private sector in any one year.
This rule will merely require facilities under the TRI Program to
submit electronic reports using TRI-MEweb. Most facilities already
adhere to this requirement, thus this rule will affect a relatively
small number of facilities. Further, the cost to adhere to this rule is
small and, in aggregate, will not cost more than $100 million or more
for state, local, and tribal governments, or the private sectors in any
one year. Thus, this rule is not subject to the requirements of
sections 202 or 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
This rule is also not subject to the requirements of section 203 of
UMRA because it contains no regulatory requirements that might
significantly or uniquely affect small governments. Any small
government that reports to the TRI Program will not incur significant
costs because the cost, if any, to report electronically, as described
above, is minimal.
E. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as
specified in Executive Order 13132. This action would require
facilities that submit annual reports under section 313 of EPCRA to do
so electronically, which will not have substantial direct effects on
the States, on the relationship between the national government and the
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not
apply to this action.
In the spirit of Executive Order 13132, and consistent with EPA
policy to promote communications between EPA and State and local
governments, EPA specifically solicits comment on this proposed action
from State and local officials.
F. Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments
Under E.O. 13175, entitled Consultation and Coordination with
Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), EPA has
determined that this proposed rule does not have tribal implications
because it will not have substantial direct effects on tribal
governments, on the relationship between the Federal Government and the
Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities
between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified in the
Executive Order. Instead, the rule merely affects how facilities report
information to the TRI Program. Thus, E.O. 13175 does not apply to this
proposed rule.
G. Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks
EPA interprets E.O. 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) as applying
only to those regulatory actions that concern health or safety risks,
such that the analysis required under section 5-501 of the Executive
Order has the potential to influence the regulation. This action is not
subject to E.O. 13045 because it does not establish an environmental
standard intended to mitigate health or safety risks.
H. Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355
(May 22, 2001)), because it is not a significant regulatory action
under Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (``NTTAA''), Public Law 104-113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory
activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law or
otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards are technical
standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling
procedures, and business practices) that are developed or adopted by
voluntary consensus standards bodies. NTTAA directs EPA to provide
Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use
available and applicable voluntary consensus standards.
[[Page 13069]]
This action does not involve technical standards. Therefore, EPA
did not consider the use of any voluntary consensus standards.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
E.O. 12898 (59 FR 7629, Feb. 16, 1994) establishes Federal
executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision directs
Federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by
law, to make environmental justice part of their mission by identifying
and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and
activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the
United States.
EPA has determined that this proposed rule will not have
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects on minority or low-income populations because it does not
affect the level of protection provided to human health or the
environment. Instead, this rule would merely address the manner in
which regulated facilities submit reporting information.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 372
Environmental protection, Community right-to-know, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: February 23, 2012.
Lisa P. Jackson,
Administrator.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, Chapter I of Title 40 of
the Code of Federal Regulations is proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 372--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for Part 372 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 11023 and 11048.
2. Section 372.85 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as
follows:
Sec. 372.85 Toxic chemical release reporting form and instructions.
* * * * *
(c) Filing Requirements. Effective January 1, 2013, facilities that
report non-confidential TRI data, including revisions and withdrawals
of TRI data, to EPA must prepare, certify, and submit their data to EPA
electronically, using the most current version of the TRI online-
reporting software provided by EPA.
(1) EPA will no longer accept non-confidential TRI reports,
revisions, or withdrawals on paper reporting forms, magnetic media, or
CD-ROMs. Information and instructions regarding online reporting are
available on the TRI Web site. The only exception to this TRI
electronic reporting requirement relates to trade secret TRI
submissions (including sanitized and unsanitized reporting forms),
which must be submitted to EPA on paper.
(2) Facilities must submit electronically any revisions or
withdrawals of previously submitted TRI data. Facilities may only
revise or withdraw TRI data previously submitted for reporting years
2005 through the present reporting year.
[FR Doc. 2012-5264 Filed 3-2-12; 8:45 am]
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