Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements of the HCFC Allowance System (Renewal), 11640-11641 [2013-03748]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11640-11641]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03748]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0039; FRL 9526-5]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements of 
the HCFC Allowance System (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an 
existing approved collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, 
describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated 
burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before March 21, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2003-0039 to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method), by email to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket 
Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Docket: EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0039, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail 
to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Burchard, Stratospheric 
Protection Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, 6205J, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9126; fax number: 
(202) 343-2338; email address: burchard.robert@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. On September 10, 2012 (77 FR 55470), EPA sought comments on 
this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. Any 
additional comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0039, which is available for online viewing at 
www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air and Radiation 
Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room 
is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is 202-566-
1744, and the telephone number for the Air and Radiation Docket is 202-
566-1742.
    Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at 
www.regulations.gov, to submit or view public comments, access the 
index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those 
documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the 
system, select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number 
identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public 
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made 
available for public viewing at www.regulations.gov as EPA receives 
them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted 
material, confidential business information (CBI), or other information 
whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For further 
information about the electronic docket, go to www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements of the HCFC 
Allowance System (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2014.04, OMB Control No. 2060-0498.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on 2/28/2013. Under OMB 
regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the 
collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. An 
Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information, unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations 
in title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when 
approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, are displayed either by 
publication in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, such 
as on the related collection instrument or form, if applicable. The 
display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA regulations is 
consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
    Abstract: The international treaty The Montreal Protocol on 
Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (Protocol) and Title VI of the 
Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) established limits on total U.S. 
production, import, and export of class I and class II controlled ozone 
depleting substances. Under its

[[Page 11641]]

Protocol commitments, the United States was obligated to cease 
production and import of class I controlled substances (e.g., 
chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs) with exemptions for essential uses, 
critical uses, previously-used material, and material that is 
transformed, destroyed, or exported to developing countries. The 
Protocol also establishes limits and reduction schedules leading to the 
eventual phaseout of class II controlled substances (i.e., 
hydrochlorofluorocarbons or HCFCs).
    The U.S. is obligated to limit HCFC consumption (defined by the 
Protocol as production plus imports, minus exports). The schedule 
called for a 35 percent reduction on January 1, 2004, followed by a 75 
percent reduction on January 1, 2010, a 90 percent reduction on January 
1, 2015, a 99.5 percent reduction on January 1, 2020, and a total 
phaseout on January 1, 2030. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) is responsible for administering the phaseout.
    To ensure U.S. compliance with these limits and restrictions, EPA 
established an allowance system to control U.S. production and import 
of HCFCs by granting control measures referred to as baseline and 
calendar-year allowances. Baseline allowances are based on the 
historical activity of individual companies. Calendar-year allowances 
allow holders to produce and/or import controlled substances in a given 
year and are allocated as a percentage of baseline. There are two types 
of baseline and calendar-year allowances: Consumption and production 
allowances. Since each allowance is equal to 1 kilogram of HCFC, EPA is 
able to monitor the quantity of HCFCs being produced, imported and 
exported. Transfers of production and consumption allowances among 
producers and importers are allowed and are tracked by EPA.
    The above-described limits and restrictions are monitored by EPA 
through the requirements established in the regulations in 40 CFR part 
82, subpart A. To submit required information, regulated entities can 
download reporting forms from EPA's Web site (https://www.epa.gov/ozone/record), complete them, and send them to EPA electronically, via mail, 
courier, or fax. Almost all of the large regulated companies use the 
EPA reporting forms.
    Upon receipt of the reports, the data is entered into the Ozone 
Depleting Substances (ODS) Tracking System. The ODS Tracking System is 
a secure database that maintains the data submitted to EPA and helps 
the agency: (1) Maintain oversight over total production and 
consumption of controlled substances; (2) monitor compliance with 
limits and restrictions on production, imports, and trades and specific 
exemptions from the phaseout for individual U.S. companies; and (3) 
assess, and report on, compliance with the U.S. obligations under the 
Montreal Protocol.
    EPA has implemented an electronic reporting system that allows 
regulated entities to prepare and submit data electronically. Coupled 
with the widespread use of the standardized forms, electronic reporting 
has improved data quality and made the reporting process efficient for 
both reporting companies and EPA. Most reporting is done 
electronically.
    Pursuant to regulations in 40 CFR part 2, subpart B, reporting 
businesses are entitled to assert a business confidentiality claim 
covering any part of the submitted business information as defined in 
40 CFR 2.201(c). EPA's practice is to manage the reported information 
as confidential business information.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 
hours per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or 
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This 
includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, 
install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of 
collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; 
adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable 
instructions and requirements which have subsequently changed; train 
personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search 
data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and 
transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Companies that produce, import, and 
export class II controlled ozone depleting substances.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 49.
    Frequency of Response: Annually, quarterly, occasionally.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1,601 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $161,793, includes $1,365 in O&M 
costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 259 hours in the 
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease reflects the expansion of the 
electronic reporting program.

John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2013-03748 Filed 2-15-13; 8:45 am]
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