Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System (e-Manifest); Notice of Public Meetings, 54188-54190 [2021-21231]

Download as PDF LOTTER on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 54188 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 187 / Thursday, September 30, 2021 / Notices • www.regulations.gov: Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. • Email: Docket_ORD@epa.gov. • Fax: 202–566–9744. Due to COVID– 19, there may be a delay in processing comments submitted by fax. • Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center (ORD Docket), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202– 566–1752. Note: The EPA Docket Center and Reading Room may be closed to public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID–19. Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. The public can submit comments via www.Regulations.gov or email. No hand deliveries are currently being accepted. The EPA Docket Center and Reading Room is currently in the reopening process. Visitors may be considered on an exception basis. Visitors must complete docket material requests in advance and then make an appointment to retrieve the material. Visitors will be allowed entrance to the Reading Room by appointment only, and no walk-ins will be allowed. The EPA continues to monitor information carefully and continuously from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID–19. Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–ORD–2014– 0859. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will be marked ‘‘late,’’ and may only be considered if time permits. It is EPA’s policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket without change and to make the comments available online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless a comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information through www.regulations.gov or email that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected. The www.regulations.gov website 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 VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:15 Sep 29, 2021 Jkt 253001 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:// www2.epa.gov/dockets. Docket: 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 whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials, such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically on www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the ORD Docket in the EPA Headquarters Docket Center. Timothy Watkins, Acting Director, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment. [FR Doc. 2021–20504 Filed 9–29–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OLEM–2021–0608; FRL–9080– 01–OLEM] Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System (e-Manifest); Notice of Public Meetings Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of virtual public meeting. AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host virtual public meetings to discuss how to increase adoption of electronic manifests and solicit feedback from stakeholders. The agenda for both meetings will be identical and all stakeholders are encouraged to attend one of the meetings. DATES: The meetings will be held on October 27, 2021, and November 3, 2021, from approximately 1:00 p.m.– 5:00 p.m. EST. Additional public meetings may be added. Please refer to the e-Manifest website at https:// SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 www.epa.gov/e-manifest/electronicmanifest-public-meetings. ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be conducted virtually. Registration is required to attend and participate during these meetings. EPA can accommodate 100 attendees at each meeting and may hold additional virtual meetings, if needed. Please refer to the e-Manifest website at https:// www.epa.gov/e-manifest/electronicmanifest-public-meetings for information on how to register. Comments. Oral comments will be accepted throughout each of the public meetings. Written comments will be accepted prior to and after the public meetings. Any written comments should be submitted on or before December 30, 2021, and should be submitted in the public docket under docket ID number EPA–HQ–OLEM–2021–0608 by any of the following methods: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ (our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. • Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Docket No. EPA–HQ–OLEM– 2021–0608, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460. • Hand Delivery or Courier (by scheduled appointment only): EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center’s hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday–Friday (except Federal Holidays). Comments received may be posted without change to https:// www.regulations.gov/ including any personal information provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ‘‘Public Participation’’ heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID–19. Our Docket Center staff also continues to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received by scheduled appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us online at https:// www.epa.gov/dockets. Special accommodations. For information on access or services for E:\FR\FM\30SEN1.SGM 30SEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 187 / Thursday, September 30, 2021 / Notices individuals with disabilities, or to request accommodation of a disability, please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least ten (10) days prior to the meeting to give the EPA as much time as possible to process your request. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tess Fields, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, email: fields.tess@epa.gov, phone (before October 31, 2021): 703–605–0509, phone (after October 31, 2021): 202–566–0328. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These meetings will be open to the public. The full agenda and meeting materials will be available in the docket for the meeting and on the e-Manifest website at https://www.epa.gov/e-manifest/ electronic-manifest-public-meetings. The public meetings will be conducted virtually, and registration is required to attend and participate. Registration instructions will be posted on the eManifest website at https:// www.epa.gov/e-manifest/electronicmanifest-public-meetings. If EPA needs to make subsequent changes to this meeting, EPA will post future notices to its e-Manifest website. EPA strongly encourages the public to refer to the eManifest website for the latest meeting information, as sudden changes may be necessary. I. General Information LOTTER on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 A. Does this action apply to me? This action is directed to the public in general. This action may be of particular interest to persons who are or may be subject to the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment (eManifest) Act. B. Public Participation You may participate in this meeting by providing public comments via the instructions in this notice. Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OLEM–2021–0608, at https:// www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA’s docket at https:// www.regulations.gov any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:15 Sep 29, 2021 Jkt 253001 discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (e.g., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/ commenting-epa-dockets. 1. Written comments. EPA encourages the electronic submission of written comments into Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– OLEM–2021–0608 at https:// www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section, on or before December 30, 2021, to provide the e-Manifest program the time necessary to consider and review the written comments. Due to public health concerns related to COVID–19, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only. Our Docket Center staff also continues to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. Hand deliveries or couriers will be received by scheduled appointment only. For further information and updates on EPA Docket Center services, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets. The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID–19. 2. Oral comments. Oral comments will be accepted throughout each of the public meetings. C. Purpose of the Public Meeting The EPA will host virtual public meetings to discuss how to increase adoption of electronic manifests and solicit feedback from stakeholders. EPA launched the e-Manifest system on June 30, 2018. e-Manifest provides those persons required to use a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) manifest under either federal or state law the option of using electronic manifests to track shipments of hazardous waste and to meet certain RCRA requirements. By enabling the transition from a paper-intensive process to an electronic system, EPA estimates e-Manifest will ultimately save state and industry users more than $50 million annually, once electronic manifests are widely adopted. Since system inception through August 31, 2021, EPA has received PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 54189 roughly eighteen thousand electronic manifests (both fully electronic and hybrid manifests) out of a total of approximately six million manifests. Electronic manifests thus represent less than a half of a percent of manifests received by EPA. EPA seeks to dramatically increase this percentage. In June 2019, EPA consulted the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board (e-Manifest Advisory Board) to better understand the barriers to using electronic manifests and to identify actions the Agency can take to improve implementation.1 The eManifest Advisory Board, in their meeting minutes issued to the Agency on September 23, 2019, identified numerous challenges for generators and transporters in using the current electronic manifest process and made several recommendations to the Agency on overcoming these challenges.2 In April 2020, EPA consulted the eManifest Advisory Board on options for increasing use of electronic manifests, specifically regarding the Agency’s proposal to reengineer electronic signatures for generators and transporters. This also included the Agency’s proposed position that requirements under EPA’s Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) would only apply to electronic signatures for receiving facilities when submitting the final, signed manifest to EPA. Based on the e-Manifest Advisory Board’s feedback, the Agency confirmed its position in its response to the eManifest Advisory Board issued in October 2020.3 The Agency subsequently implemented a new ‘‘Quick Sign’’ feature in e-Manifest for generators, transporters, and initial electronic signatures by the receiving facility. In its October 2020 response to the eManifest Advisory Board, the Agency acknowledged that the new ‘‘Quick Sign’’ feature was not expected to significantly increase adoption of electronic manifests. Therefore, EPA committed to hold additional public meetings with stakeholders to discuss the feasibility of further options for 1 The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board is established in accordance with the provisions of the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, 42 U.S.C. 6939g, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 2. 2 Background materials, final meeting minutes, and the Agency response for the June 2019 eManifest Advisory Board public meeting can be located at https://www.regulations.gov Docket no. EPA–HQ–OLEM–2019–0194. 3 Background materials, final meeting minutes, and the Agency response for the April 2020 eManifest Advisory Board public meeting can be located at https://www.regulations.gov Docket no. EPA–HQ–OLEM–2020–0075. E:\FR\FM\30SEN1.SGM 30SEN1 54190 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 187 / Thursday, September 30, 2021 / Notices subsequent consultation by the eManifest Advisory Board. Therefore, the purpose of the public meetings announced today is to engage stakeholders in discussion regarding how to increase industry adoption of electronic manifests. The agenda for both meetings will be identical and all stakeholders are encouraged to attend one of the meetings. These meetings are expected to include discussion regarding: (1) Current electronic manifest functionality and workflow; (2) Potential option to allow receiving facilities to upload electronic signatures to EPA; (3) Other potential options, including options that may require policy or regulatory change. EPA intends to use information obtained from these public meetings to inform future options for consideration by the e-Manifest Advisory Board. Dated: September 24, 2021. Elizabeth Shaw, Acting Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Office of Land and Emergency Management. [FR Doc. 2021–21231 Filed 9–29–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [OMB 3060–0463, FR ID 50435] Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. AGENCY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collections. Comments are requested concerning: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the Commission’s burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated LOTTER on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:15 Sep 29, 2021 Jkt 253001 collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA that does not display a valid OMB control number. DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before November 29, 2021. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the contacts below as soon as possible. ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Cathy Williams, FCC, via email: PRA@ fcc.gov and to Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418–2918. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB Control Number: 3060–0463. Title: Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service Program; Misuse of internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service, CG Docket Nos. 03–123, 10–51, and 13–24. Form Number: N/A. Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection. Respondents: Business or other forprofit; Individuals or household; State, Local and Tribal Government. Number of Respondents and Responses: 5,072 respondents; 7,988 responses. Estimated Time per Response: 0.1 hours (6 minutes) to 80 hours. Frequency of Response: Annually, semi-annually, eight times a year, monthly, on occasion, one-time, and quarterly reporting requirements; Recordkeeping and Third-Party Disclosure requirements. Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefit. The statutory authority for the information collection requirements is found at section 225 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 225. The law was enacted on July 26, 1990, in Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Public Law 101–336, 104 Stat. 327, 366–69. Total Annual Burden: 14,524 hours. Total Annual Cost: $291,700. Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Confidentiality is an issue to the extent PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 that individuals and households provide personally identifiable information, which is covered under the FCC’s updated system of records notice (SORN), FCC/CGB–1, ‘‘Informal Complaints, Inquiries, and Requests for Dispute Assistance.’’ As required by the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Commission also published a SORN, FCC/CGB–1 ‘‘Informal Complaints, Inquiries, and Requests for Dispute Assistance,’’ in the Federal Register on August 15, 2014 (79 FR 48152) which became effective on September 24, 2014. Privacy Impact Assessment: The FCC completed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) on June 28, 2007. It may be reviewed at https://www.fcc.gov/ general/privacy-act-information#pia. The Commission is in the process of updating the PIA to incorporate various revisions to it as a result of revisions to the SORN. Needs and Uses: On December 21, 2001, the Commission released the 2001 TRS Cost Recovery Order, document FCC 01–371, published at 67 FR 4203, January 29, 2002, in which the Commission, among other things: (1) Required internet-based TRS providers to submit certain projected TRS-related cost and demand data to the TRS Fund administrator to be used to calculate the rate; and (2) directed the TRS Fund administrator to expand its data collection forms accordingly. In 2003, the Commission released the 2003 Second Improved TRS Order, published at 68 FR 50973, August 25, 2003, which among other things required that TRS providers offer certain local exchange carrier (LEC)-based improved services and features where technologically feasible, including a speed dialing requirement which may entail voluntary recordkeeping for TRS providers to maintain a list of telephone numbers. See also 47 CFR 64.604(a)(3)(vi)(B). In 2007, the Commission released the Section 225/255 VoIP Report and Order, published at 72 FR 43546, August 6, 2007, extending the disability access requirements that apply to telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers under 47 U.S.C. 225, 255 to interconnected voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service providers and equipment manufacturers. As a result, under rules implementing section 225 of the Act, interconnected VoIP service providers are required to publicize information about telecommunications relay services (TRS) and 711 abbreviated dialing access to TRS. See also 47 CFR 64.604(c)(3). E:\FR\FM\30SEN1.SGM 30SEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 187 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54188-54190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21231]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0608; FRL-9080-01-OLEM]


Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System (e-Manifest); Notice 
of Public Meetings

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of virtual public meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host virtual 
public meetings to discuss how to increase adoption of electronic 
manifests and solicit feedback from stakeholders. The agenda for both 
meetings will be identical and all stakeholders are encouraged to 
attend one of the meetings.

DATES: The meetings will be held on October 27, 2021, and November 3, 
2021, from approximately 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. EST. Additional public 
meetings may be added. Please refer to the e-Manifest website at 
https://www.epa.gov/e-manifest/electronic-manifest-public-meetings.

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be conducted virtually. 
Registration is required to attend and participate during these 
meetings. EPA can accommodate 100 attendees at each meeting and may 
hold additional virtual meetings, if needed. Please refer to the e-
Manifest website at https://www.epa.gov/e-manifest/electronic-manifest-public-meetings for information on how to register.
    Comments. Oral comments will be accepted throughout each of the 
public meetings. Written comments will be accepted prior to and after 
the public meetings. Any written comments should be submitted on or 
before December 30, 2021, and should be submitted in the public docket 
under docket ID number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0608 by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Docket No. EPA-
HQ-OLEM-2021-0608, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery or Courier (by scheduled appointment only): 
EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center's hours of 
operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday (except Federal 
Holidays).
    Comments received may be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov/ including any personal information provided. For 
detailed instructions on sending comments and additional information on 
the rulemaking process, see the ``Public Participation'' heading of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Out of an abundance 
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Docket 
Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only to 
reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff also 
continues to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and 
webform. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received by scheduled 
appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket Center services 
and the current status, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Special accommodations. For information on access or services for

[[Page 54189]]

individuals with disabilities, or to request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT at least ten (10) days prior to the meeting to give 
the EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tess Fields, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, email: 
[email protected], phone (before October 31, 2021): 703-605-0509, 
phone (after October 31, 2021): 202-566-0328.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These meetings will be open to the public. 
The full agenda and meeting materials will be available in the docket 
for the meeting and on the e-Manifest website at https://www.epa.gov/e-manifest/electronic-manifest-public-meetings. The public meetings will 
be conducted virtually, and registration is required to attend and 
participate. Registration instructions will be posted on the e-Manifest 
website at https://www.epa.gov/e-manifest/electronic-manifest-public-meetings. If EPA needs to make subsequent changes to this meeting, EPA 
will post future notices to its e-Manifest website. EPA strongly 
encourages the public to refer to the e-Manifest website for the latest 
meeting information, as sudden changes may be necessary.

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may 
be of particular interest to persons who are or may be subject to the 
Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment (e-Manifest) Act.

B. Public Participation

    You may participate in this meeting by providing public comments 
via the instructions in this notice. Submit your comments, identified 
by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0608, at https://www.regulations.gov 
(our preferred method), or the other methods identified in the 
ADDRESSES section. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed 
from the docket. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public 
docket. Do not submit to EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov 
any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information 
(CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA 
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the primary submission (e.g., on the web, cloud, or other 
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA 
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, 
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    1. Written comments. EPA encourages the electronic submission of 
written comments into Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0608 at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the other methods 
identified in the ADDRESSES section, on or before December 30, 2021, to 
provide the e-Manifest program the time necessary to consider and 
review the written comments.
    Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA Docket 
Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only. Our 
Docket Center staff also continues to provide remote customer service 
via email, phone, and webform. Hand deliveries or couriers will be 
received by scheduled appointment only. For further information and 
updates on EPA Docket Center services, please visit us online at 
https://www.epa.gov/dockets. The EPA continues to carefully and 
continuously monitor information from the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC), local area health departments, and our Federal 
partners so that we can respond rapidly as conditions change regarding 
COVID-19.
    2. Oral comments. Oral comments will be accepted throughout each of 
the public meetings.

C. Purpose of the Public Meeting

    The EPA will host virtual public meetings to discuss how to 
increase adoption of electronic manifests and solicit feedback from 
stakeholders.
    EPA launched the e-Manifest system on June 30, 2018. e-Manifest 
provides those persons required to use a Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA) manifest under either federal or state law the 
option of using electronic manifests to track shipments of hazardous 
waste and to meet certain RCRA requirements. By enabling the transition 
from a paper-intensive process to an electronic system, EPA estimates 
e-Manifest will ultimately save state and industry users more than $50 
million annually, once electronic manifests are widely adopted.
    Since system inception through August 31, 2021, EPA has received 
roughly eighteen thousand electronic manifests (both fully electronic 
and hybrid manifests) out of a total of approximately six million 
manifests. Electronic manifests thus represent less than a half of a 
percent of manifests received by EPA. EPA seeks to dramatically 
increase this percentage. In June 2019, EPA consulted the Hazardous 
Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board (e-Manifest Advisory 
Board) to better understand the barriers to using electronic manifests 
and to identify actions the Agency can take to improve 
implementation.\1\ The e-Manifest Advisory Board, in their meeting 
minutes issued to the Agency on September 23, 2019, identified numerous 
challenges for generators and transporters in using the current 
electronic manifest process and made several recommendations to the 
Agency on overcoming these challenges.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory 
Board is established in accordance with the provisions of the 
Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, 42 U.S.C. 
6939g, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 
2.
    \2\ Background materials, final meeting minutes, and the Agency 
response for the June 2019 e-Manifest Advisory Board public meeting 
can be located at https://www.regulations.gov Docket no. EPA-HQ-OLEM-
2019-0194.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In April 2020, EPA consulted the e-Manifest Advisory Board on 
options for increasing use of electronic manifests, specifically 
regarding the Agency's proposal to reengineer electronic signatures for 
generators and transporters. This also included the Agency's proposed 
position that requirements under EPA's Cross-Media Electronic Reporting 
Rule (CROMERR) would only apply to electronic signatures for receiving 
facilities when submitting the final, signed manifest to EPA. Based on 
the e-Manifest Advisory Board's feedback, the Agency confirmed its 
position in its response to the e-Manifest Advisory Board issued in 
October 2020.\3\ The Agency subsequently implemented a new ``Quick 
Sign'' feature in e-Manifest for generators, transporters, and initial 
electronic signatures by the receiving facility.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Background materials, final meeting minutes, and the Agency 
response for the April 2020 e-Manifest Advisory Board public meeting 
can be located at https://www.regulations.gov Docket no. EPA-HQ-OLEM-
2020-0075.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In its October 2020 response to the e-Manifest Advisory Board, the 
Agency acknowledged that the new ``Quick Sign'' feature was not 
expected to significantly increase adoption of electronic manifests. 
Therefore, EPA committed to hold additional public meetings with 
stakeholders to discuss the feasibility of further options for

[[Page 54190]]

subsequent consultation by the e-Manifest Advisory Board.
    Therefore, the purpose of the public meetings announced today is to 
engage stakeholders in discussion regarding how to increase industry 
adoption of electronic manifests. The agenda for both meetings will be 
identical and all stakeholders are encouraged to attend one of the 
meetings. These meetings are expected to include discussion regarding:
    (1) Current electronic manifest functionality and workflow;
    (2) Potential option to allow receiving facilities to upload 
electronic signatures to EPA;
    (3) Other potential options, including options that may require 
policy or regulatory change.
    EPA intends to use information obtained from these public meetings 
to inform future options for consideration by the e-Manifest Advisory 
Board.

    Dated: September 24, 2021.
Elizabeth Shaw,
Acting Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Office 
of Land and Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2021-21231 Filed 9-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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