[Federal Register: July 31, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 147)]
[Notices]
[Page 44946-44947]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31jy03-67]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[SFUND-2003-0003; FRL-7538-3]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR
No. 1428.06 (OMB No. 2050-0078) to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment
Request
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this document announces that the following Information
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Trade Secret Claims for
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (EPCRA Section 322).
This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its
estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 2,
2003.
ADDRESSES: Follow the detailed instructions in SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sicy Jacob, Chemical Emergency
Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO), OSWER, Mailcode 5104A,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-8019; fax number:
(202) 564-8233; e-mail address: jacob.sicy@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 March 6, 2003 (68 FR 10721), EPA sought comments on this
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA did not receive any comments.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. SFUND-2003-0003, which is available for public viewing at the
Superfund Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket
Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 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
Superfund Docket is (202) 566-0276. An electronic version of the public
docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments,
access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to
access those documents in the public docket that are available
electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the
docket ID number identified above.
Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice, and according to the following detailed
instructions: (1) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our
preferred method), by e-mail to superfund.docket@epa.gov, or by mail
to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund
Docket, Mailcode 5202T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20460, and (2) Mail your comments to OMB at: Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention:
Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing
in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment
contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public
disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment
containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that
material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The
entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be
available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the
official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is
otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public
docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For
further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal
Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May
31, 2002), or go to www.epa.gov/edocket.
Title: Trade Secret Claims for Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know and Emergency Planning (EPCRA Section 322), (OMB Control
Number 2050-0078, EPA ICR Number 1428.06). This is a request to renew
an existing approved collection that is scheduled to expire on
September 30, 2003. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to
conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission
is pending at OMB.
Abstract: This information collection request pertains to trade
secrecy claims submitted under section 322 of the
[[Page 44947]]
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA),
also known as Title III of SARA, the Superfund Amendments and
Reauthorization Act. Title III contains provisions requiring facilities
to report to State and local authorities, and EPA, the presence, use
and release of extremely hazardous substances (described in sections
302 and 304) and hazardous and toxic chemicals (described in sections
311, 312 and 313 respectively). Section 322 of Title III allows a
facility to withhold the specific chemical identity from these Title
III reports if the facility asserts a claim of trade secrecy for that
chemical identity. The provision establishes the requirements and
procedures that facilities must follow to request trade secrecy
treatment of chemical identities, as well as the procedures for
submitting public petitions to the Agency for review of the
``sufficiency'' of trade secrecy claims. EPA published the trade
secrecy regulations on July 29, 1988 (58 FR 28772), codified in 40 CFR
Part 350.
Trade secrecy protection is provided for specific chemical
identities contained in reports submitted under each of the following
Title III sections: (1) 303 (d)(2)--Facility notification of changes
that have or are about to occur; (2) 303 (d)(3)--Local Emergency
Planning Committee (LEPC) requests for facility information to develop
or implement emergency plans; (3) 311--Material Safety Data Sheets
(MSDSs) submitted by facilities, or lists of those chemicals submitted
in place of the MSDSs; (4) 312--Tier II emergency and hazardous
chemical inventory forms; and, (5) 313--Toxic chemical release
inventory forms.
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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15, and are
identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10
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; train personnel to be able to respond to
a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review
the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the
information.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Facilities that may want to claim
trade secret for specific chemical identity contained in reports
submitted under EPCRA sections 303(d)(2) and (d)(3), 311, 312, and 313;
members of the general public submitting petitions for trade secrets
claimed by facilities; and State governors or State Emergency Response
Commissions and Health Professionals requesting facilities for
information on the health effects of trade secret chemicals in non-
emergency and preventative measure situations.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 357.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,483 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $147,543. No capital or operation and
maintenance costs are associated with any requirements in this ICR.
Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 362 hours in the
total annual estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory
of Approved ICR Burdens. This is due to an increase in the number of
claims submitted under sections 303(d)(2), (d)(3), 311 and 312 of
EPCRA. Trade secret claims under section 313 have decreased from
previous ICR.
Dated: July 23, 2003.
Doreen Sterling,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-19502 Filed 7-30-03; 8:45 am]
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