Clean Water Act; Contractor Access to Confidential Business Information, 68896-68897 [2024-19345]

Download as PDF 68896 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 28, 2024 / Notices meetings and contacting EPA to communicate an interest in providing an oral comment are detailed in this document. khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES B. How can I participate the virtual public meetings? The public meetings are virtual and will be accessible via webcast. To receive a virtual meeting link via email, use the public virtual meeting respective registration links provided under ADDRESSES, and be sure to register by the deadline under DATES. A virtual meeting link will be sent via email to persons who register. EPA will make every effort to present the information and allow for as many entities as possible to provide a brief oral comment within the allotted time on the day of the webinar, but please plan for the webinars to run either ahead of or behind schedule. Following EPA’s presentation during the public webinars, interested persons will have opportunities to provide comments and/or potentially relevant information regarding upcoming prioritization efforts. You will also have the opportunity to provide written comments to the docket after the public meetings. Instructions on registering to attend or present at the public meetings, and to submit written comments following the virtual public meetings are detailed under DATES and ADDRESSES. Each individual or group wishing to make brief oral comments during the virtual public meetings should first register for the public meetings, and then also email their request to make oral comments with their name, affiliation, and contact information, to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Interested persons who have registered to provide a comment during the public meeting will each have approximately three minutes to do so. EPA also encourages you to submit a written copy of their oral comments to the docket. Written statements and supporting information submitted to the docket during the comment period will be considered with the same weight as oral comments and supporting information presented at the public meeting. C. How can I access the materials shared at the meeting? After the conclusion of the webinar on October 1, 2024, the material presented at the webinars, including the EPA presentation, the list of candidate chemical substances currently being considered for future prioritization actions, and related supporting information about those chemicals will VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:13 Aug 27, 2024 Jkt 262001 be added to the docket, along with other materials provided by participants or that may become available. In addition, after the meetings, EPA intends to prepare meeting minutes summarizing the individual comments received at the meetings, which will be added to the docket as soon as they are available. D. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA? 1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through https:// www.regulations.gov or email. If you wish to include CBI in your comment, please follow the applicable instructions at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/ commenting-epa-dockets#rules and clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be 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 and/or 40 CFR part 703, as applicable. 2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting your comments, see Tips for Effective Comments at https://www.epa.gov/ dockets/commenting-epa-dockets#tips. 3. Multimedia submissions. 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 (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing systems). Please note that any updates made to any aspect of the webinar will be communicated with a document being added to the docket. While EPA expects the webinar to go forward as set forth above, please monitor our website, https://www.epa.gov/assessing-andmanaging-chemicals-under-tsca/us-epawebinar-next-round-chemicalssubstances-being, or see the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to determine if there are any updates. EPA does not intend to publish update announcements in this action. Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. Dated: August 22, 2024. Michal Freedhoff, Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. [FR Doc. 2024–19305 Filed 8–27–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL–12180–01–OW] Clean Water Act; Contractor Access to Confidential Business Information Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of intended transfer of confidential business information to contractor and its subcontractors. AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to transfer confidential business information (CBI) collected from numerous industries under a newly awarded blanket purchase agreement (BPA), effective July 19, 2024, to ICF International, LLC (ICF) and its subcontractors. In addition, the EPA intends to transfer CBI collected from the meat and poultry products (MPP) industry to ICF and its subcontractors under a task order on a different contract, effective July 3, 2024. Transfer of this information is necessary for ICF to assist the Office of Water in the preparation of effluent guidelines and standards and with its effluent guidelines planning and review activities. Much of the information being transferred was or will be collected under the authority of section 308 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Interested persons may submit comments on this intended transfer of information to the address noted below. DATES: Comments on the transfer of data are due September 5, 2024. ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control Officer, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303T), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, or via email at siddiqui.ahmar@ epa.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control Officer, at (202) 566–1044, or via email at siddiqui.ahmar@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA has transferred CBI to various contractors and subcontractors over the history of the effluent guidelines program under 40 CFR 2.302(h). The EPA determined that this transfer was necessary to enable the contractors and subcontractors to perform their work in supporting EPA in planning, developing, and reviewing effluent guidelines and standards for certain industries. In this document, pursuant to 40 CFR 2.302(h)(2), the EPA is giving notice that, effective July 19, 2024, it has entered into a new BPA with ICF, BPA number 68HERC24A0011, located in SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\28AUN1.SGM 28AUN1 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 28, 2024 / Notices Reston, Virginia. The purpose of this BPA is to secure economic and environmental assessment support for the EPA in its development, review, implementation, and defense of waterrelated initiatives for a variety of industries. To obtain assistance in responding to this BPA, ICF has entered into contracts with the following subcontractors and consultants: Cognistic LLC (located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Dr. Dennis Guignet (located in Blowing Rock, North Carolina), Dr. Robert Johnston (located in Millville, Massachusetts), Dr. David Andrew Keiser (located in Pelham, Massachusetts), Dr. Klaus Moeltner (located in Blacksburg, Virginia), Ebony Marketing Systems (located in New York, New York), Elena Besedin Consulting (located in Middletown, Rhode Island), Great Lakes Environmental Center (located in Traverse City, Michigan), Hawk Consulting LLC (located in Oak Island, North Carolina), Hellerworx, Inc. (located in Chevy Chase, Maryland), Innovate! Inc. (located in Alexandria, Virginia), Research Triangle Institute (located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina), Resources for the Future (located in Washington, District of Columbia), Shadbegian Economic Consulting (located in Worcester, Massachusetts), Dr. Raghavan Srinivasan (located in Temple, Texas), and Texas A&M AgriLife Research (located in College Station, Texas). In addition to the BPA, the EPA is giving notice that it will be transferring CBI to ICF, located in Reston, VA, under contract number 68HERC23D0003. The purpose of this transfer is to support economic and environmental analysis support for the EPA in its development of effluent guidelines and standards for the MPP industry. To support this contract, ICF has entered into contracts with the following subcontractors and consultants: Neptune and Company (located in Lakewood, Colorado), Avanti Corporation (located in Alexandria, Virginia), Cadmus (located in Waltham, Massachusetts), Gibb Epidemiology Consulting (located in Washington, District of Columbia), Great Lakes Environmental Center (located in Traverse City, Michigan), Inotiv (located in Morrisville, North Carolina), Mote Marine Laboratory (located in Sarasota, Florida), Pradeep Rajan, LLC (located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina), Soller Environmental (located in Berkeley, California), Vireo Advisers, LLC (located in Boston, Massachusetts), Dr. Alexandria Boehm (located in Stanford, California), Dr. Erica McKenzie (located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Dr. Kara VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:13 Aug 27, 2024 Jkt 262001 Nelson (located in Berkeley, California), Dr. Ian Pepper (located in Tucson, Arizona), and Dr. Jill Stewart (located in Carrboro, North Carolina). All EPA contractor, subcontractor, and consultant personnel are bound by the requirements and sanctions contained in their contracts with the EPA and in the EPA’s confidentiality regulations found at 40 CFR part 2, subpart B. ICF will adhere to EPAapproved security plans which describe procedures to protect CBI. ICF will apply the procedures in these plans to CBI previously gathered by the EPA and to CBI that may be gathered in the future. The security plans specify that contractor personnel are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and are briefed on appropriate security procedures before they are permitted access to CBI. No person is automatically granted access to CBI: a need to know must exist. The information that will be transferred to ICF consists of information previously collected by the EPA to support the development and review of effluent limitations guidelines and standards under the CWA and that the EPA had transferred to ICF under a previous contract with them. In particular, information, including CBI, collected for the planning, development, and review of effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the following industries may be transferred to ICF under the new contract: airport deicing; aquaculture; centralized waste treatment; coal bed methane; concentrated animal feeding operations; coal mining; construction and development; drinking water treatment; industrial container and drum cleaning; industrial laundries; industrial waste combustors; iron and steel manufacturing; landfills; meat and poultry products; metal finishing; metal products and machinery; nonferrous metals manufacturing; oil and gas extraction (including coalbed methane); ore mining and dressing; organic chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibers; pesticide chemicals; petroleum refining; pharmaceutical manufacturing; pulp, paper, and paperboard manufacturing; shale gas extraction; steam electric power generation; textile mills; timber products processing; tobacco; transportation equipment cleaning; and other industrial categories that the EPA has reviewed or may review as part of its CWA required annual review activities. The EPA also intends to transfer to ICF all information listed in this document, of the type described above (including CBI) that may be collected in the future under the authority of section PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 68897 308 of the CWA or voluntarily submitted (e.g., in comments in response to a Federal Register notice), as is necessary to enable ICF to carry out the work required by its BPA and contract to support EPA’s effluent guidelines planning and review process and the development of effluent limitations guidelines and standards. Deborah Nagle, Director, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water. [FR Doc. 2024–19345 Filed 8–27–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OPP–2023–0430; FRL–11382–02– OCSPP] Pesticides; Final Guidance and Test Method for Antimicrobial Product Efficacy Claims Against Planktonic Legionella Pneumophila in Cooling Tower Water; Notice of Availability Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is announcing the availability of the final guidance and test method for adding efficacy claims to antimicrobial products for use in cooling tower water to reduce the level of planktonic Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila). The method and guidance describe quantitative efficacy testing of antimicrobial products to support claims for the reduction of planktonic L. pneumophila in water within cooling tower systems and how to prepare an application for registration. The guidance does not address adherent or sessile bacteria that attach to a surface (e.g., biofilm) of the cooling tower system or any other microorganism other than L. pneumophila which may be found in the water of cooling tower systems. DATES: The guidance is effective on August 28, 2024. ADDRESSES: The docket for this action, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA–HQ–OPP–2023–0430, is available online at https:// www.regulations.gov. Additional information about dockets generally, along with instructions for visiting the docket in-person, is available at https:// www.epa.gov/dockets. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: About the method: Lisa S. Smith, Microbiology Laboratory Branch (7503M), Biological and Economic Analysis Division, Office of Pesticide SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\28AUN1.SGM 28AUN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68896-68897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19345]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-12180-01-OW]


Clean Water Act; Contractor Access to Confidential Business 
Information

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intended transfer of confidential business 
information to contractor and its subcontractors.

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

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to transfer 
confidential business information (CBI) collected from numerous 
industries under a newly awarded blanket purchase agreement (BPA), 
effective July 19, 2024, to ICF International, LLC (ICF) and its 
subcontractors. In addition, the EPA intends to transfer CBI collected 
from the meat and poultry products (MPP) industry to ICF and its 
subcontractors under a task order on a different contract, effective 
July 3, 2024. Transfer of this information is necessary for ICF to 
assist the Office of Water in the preparation of effluent guidelines 
and standards and with its effluent guidelines planning and review 
activities. Much of the information being transferred was or will be 
collected under the authority of section 308 of the Clean Water Act 
(CWA). Interested persons may submit comments on this intended transfer 
of information to the address noted below.

DATES: Comments on the transfer of data are due September 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control 
Officer, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303T), U.S. EPA, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, or via email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control 
Officer, at (202) 566-1044, or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA has transferred CBI to various 
contractors and subcontractors over the history of the effluent 
guidelines program under 40 CFR 2.302(h). The EPA determined that this 
transfer was necessary to enable the contractors and subcontractors to 
perform their work in supporting EPA in planning, developing, and 
reviewing effluent guidelines and standards for certain industries.
    In this document, pursuant to 40 CFR 2.302(h)(2), the EPA is giving 
notice that, effective July 19, 2024, it has entered into a new BPA 
with ICF, BPA number 68HERC24A0011, located in

[[Page 68897]]

Reston, Virginia. The purpose of this BPA is to secure economic and 
environmental assessment support for the EPA in its development, 
review, implementation, and defense of water-related initiatives for a 
variety of industries. To obtain assistance in responding to this BPA, 
ICF has entered into contracts with the following subcontractors and 
consultants: Cognistic LLC (located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Dr. 
Dennis Guignet (located in Blowing Rock, North Carolina), Dr. Robert 
Johnston (located in Millville, Massachusetts), Dr. David Andrew Keiser 
(located in Pelham, Massachusetts), Dr. Klaus Moeltner (located in 
Blacksburg, Virginia), Ebony Marketing Systems (located in New York, 
New York), Elena Besedin Consulting (located in Middletown, Rhode 
Island), Great Lakes Environmental Center (located in Traverse City, 
Michigan), Hawk Consulting LLC (located in Oak Island, North Carolina), 
Hellerworx, Inc. (located in Chevy Chase, Maryland), Innovate! Inc. 
(located in Alexandria, Virginia), Research Triangle Institute (located 
in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina), Resources for the Future 
(located in Washington, District of Columbia), Shadbegian Economic 
Consulting (located in Worcester, Massachusetts), Dr. Raghavan 
Srinivasan (located in Temple, Texas), and Texas A&M AgriLife Research 
(located in College Station, Texas).
    In addition to the BPA, the EPA is giving notice that it will be 
transferring CBI to ICF, located in Reston, VA, under contract number 
68HERC23D0003. The purpose of this transfer is to support economic and 
environmental analysis support for the EPA in its development of 
effluent guidelines and standards for the MPP industry. To support this 
contract, ICF has entered into contracts with the following 
subcontractors and consultants: Neptune and Company (located in 
Lakewood, Colorado), Avanti Corporation (located in Alexandria, 
Virginia), Cadmus (located in Waltham, Massachusetts), Gibb 
Epidemiology Consulting (located in Washington, District of Columbia), 
Great Lakes Environmental Center (located in Traverse City, Michigan), 
Inotiv (located in Morrisville, North Carolina), Mote Marine Laboratory 
(located in Sarasota, Florida), Pradeep Rajan, LLC (located in Chapel 
Hill, North Carolina), Soller Environmental (located in Berkeley, 
California), Vireo Advisers, LLC (located in Boston, Massachusetts), 
Dr. Alexandria Boehm (located in Stanford, California), Dr. Erica 
McKenzie (located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Dr. Kara Nelson 
(located in Berkeley, California), Dr. Ian Pepper (located in Tucson, 
Arizona), and Dr. Jill Stewart (located in Carrboro, North Carolina).
    All EPA contractor, subcontractor, and consultant personnel are 
bound by the requirements and sanctions contained in their contracts 
with the EPA and in the EPA's confidentiality regulations found at 40 
CFR part 2, subpart B. ICF will adhere to EPA-approved security plans 
which describe procedures to protect CBI. ICF will apply the procedures 
in these plans to CBI previously gathered by the EPA and to CBI that 
may be gathered in the future. The security plans specify that 
contractor personnel are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and 
are briefed on appropriate security procedures before they are 
permitted access to CBI. No person is automatically granted access to 
CBI: a need to know must exist.
    The information that will be transferred to ICF consists of 
information previously collected by the EPA to support the development 
and review of effluent limitations guidelines and standards under the 
CWA and that the EPA had transferred to ICF under a previous contract 
with them. In particular, information, including CBI, collected for the 
planning, development, and review of effluent limitations guidelines 
and standards for the following industries may be transferred to ICF 
under the new contract: airport deicing; aquaculture; centralized waste 
treatment; coal bed methane; concentrated animal feeding operations; 
coal mining; construction and development; drinking water treatment; 
industrial container and drum cleaning; industrial laundries; 
industrial waste combustors; iron and steel manufacturing; landfills; 
meat and poultry products; metal finishing; metal products and 
machinery; nonferrous metals manufacturing; oil and gas extraction 
(including coalbed methane); ore mining and dressing; organic 
chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibers; pesticide chemicals; 
petroleum refining; pharmaceutical manufacturing; pulp, paper, and 
paperboard manufacturing; shale gas extraction; steam electric power 
generation; textile mills; timber products processing; tobacco; 
transportation equipment cleaning; and other industrial categories that 
the EPA has reviewed or may review as part of its CWA required annual 
review activities.
    The EPA also intends to transfer to ICF all information listed in 
this document, of the type described above (including CBI) that may be 
collected in the future under the authority of section 308 of the CWA 
or voluntarily submitted (e.g., in comments in response to a Federal 
Register notice), as is necessary to enable ICF to carry out the work 
required by its BPA and contract to support EPA's effluent guidelines 
planning and review process and the development of effluent limitations 
guidelines and standards.

Deborah Nagle,
Director, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2024-19345 Filed 8-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.