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Agency Information Collection Activities, Proposed Collections; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Request for Comments on Proposed Changes and the Renewal of Form R (EPA ICR No. 1363.15, OMB Control No. 2070-0093) 

[Federal Register: December 17, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 241)]
[Notices]
[Page 71403-71405]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17de07-64]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-TRI-2007-0355; FRL-8507-5]

Agency Information Collection Activities, Proposed Collections;
Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Request for Comments on Proposed
Changes and the Renewal of Form R (EPA ICR No. 1363.15, OMB Control No.
2070-0093)

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 make
changes to and renew an existing approved collection. The ICR
Supporting Statement, which is abstracted below, describes the nature
of the information collection (including proposed minor form changes)
and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before January 16, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-TRI-
2007-0355, to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our
preferred method), by e-mail to oei.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to EPA
Docket Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 2822T,
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: Cassandra Vail, Toxics Release
Inventory Program Division, Office of Information Analysis and Access
(2844T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number, 202-566-0753; fax number, 202-
566-0740; e-mail address, vail.cassandra@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA submitted an earlier version of the ICR
Supporting Statement to OMB for review and approval according to the
procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On July 11, 2007 (72 FR 37762),
EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA
received four comments during the comment period, which are addressed
in the Response to Comments Document. Any additional comments on the
revised ICR Supporting Statement should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice.
    EPA has established a public docket for the ICR described in this
notice under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-TRI-2007-0355, which is available for
online viewing at http://www.regulations.gov, or in person at the OEI
Docket, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), U.S. EPA West Building, 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 OEI Docket is 202-566-1752.
    Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at 
http://www.regulations.gov to submit or view public comments, to 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 http://www.regulations.gov as EPA
receives them and without change, unless the comment contains
copyrighted materials, Confidential Business Information (CBI,) or
other information for which public disclosure is restricted by statute.
For further information about the electronic docket, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov.
    Title: ICR Renewal and Proposed Changes to the TRI Form R,
Information Collection Request Supporting Statement.
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1363.15, OMB Control No. 2070-0093.
    ICR Status: The current ICR is scheduled to expire on January 31,
2008. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or
sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending
at OMB. 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 and 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.

[[Page 71404]]

    Abstract: The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
(EPCRA) section 313 requires owners and operators of certain facilities
that manufacture, process, or otherwise use any of certain listed toxic
chemicals and chemical categories in excess of applicable threshold
quantities to report annually to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and to the states in which such facilities are located on their
environmental releases and transfers of and other waste management
activities for such chemicals. In addition, section 6607 of the
Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) requires facilities to provide
information on the quantities of the toxic chemicals in waste streams
and the efforts made to reduce or eliminate those quantities. Annual
reporting under EPCRA section 313 of toxic chemical releases and other
waste management information provides citizens with a useful picture of
the total disposition of chemicals in their communities and helps focus
industry's attention on pollution prevention and source reduction
opportunities.
    In accordance with the mission to protect the environment and human
health, EPA believes that the public has a right to know about the
disposition of chemicals within communities and the management of such
chemicals by facilities in industries subject to EPCRA section 313
reporting. This reporting has been successful in providing communities
with important information regarding the disposition of toxic chemicals
and other waste management information of toxic chemicals from
manufacturing facilities in their areas. EPA collects, processes, and
makes available to the public all of the information collected that is
not subject to trade secrecy claims. The information gathered under
these authorities is stored in a database maintained at EPA and is
available through the Internet.
    This information, commonly known as the Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI), is used extensively by both EPA and the public sector. Program
offices within EPA use TRI data, along with other sources of data, to
establish priorities, evaluate potential exposure scenarios, and
undertake regulatory and enforcement activities. Environmental and
public interest groups use the data in studies and reports, making the
public more aware of releases of chemicals in their communities.
Comprehensive publicly-available data about releases, transfers, and
other waste management activities of toxic chemicals at the community
level are generally not available, other than under the reporting
requirements of EPCRA section 313. Permit data are often difficult to
obtain, are not cross-media, and provide only a limited perspective on
a facility's overall performance. With TRI, communities and governments
know what toxic chemicals industrial facilities in their area release,
transfer, or otherwise manage as waste. In addition, industries have an
additional tool for evaluating their production efficiencies and for
measuring progress on their pollution prevention goals.
    Responses to the collection of information are mandatory (see 40
CFR part 372). Respondents may claim trade secrecy for a chemical's
identity as described in section 322 of EPCRA and its implementing
regulations in 40 CFR part 350. EPA will disclose information that is
covered by a claim of trade secrecy only to the extent permitted by,
and in accordance with, the procedures in 40 CFR part 350 and 40 CFR
part 2. 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 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 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 29.66
hours per form for a single listed Non-PBT chemical and 51.34 hours for
a single listed PBT chemical. (All estimates incorporate proposed
changes in the reporting burden.) 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: The reporting requirements found in
EPCRA section 313 apply to owners and operators of facilities that have
10 or more full-time employees, manufacture or process more than 25,000
pounds or otherwise use more than 10,000 pounds of a listed chemical,
and are in the manufacturing sector or in any of seven additional
industry sectors added to the TRI Program by EPA in 1997. Historically
these sectors were identified by their Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) codes. Beginning with Reporting Year (RY) 2006,
the TRI Program converted from SIC codes to North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) codes (71 FR 32464, June 6, 2006). The
full list of NAICS codes for facilities that must report to TRI
(including exemptions and/or limitations) if all other threshold
determinations are met can be found in Appendix F of the ICR Supporting
Statement.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 66,751.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 19,441.
    Frequency of Response: Once per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,217,280.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $160,790,000, includes $0 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: In this ICR Renewal, the effect of the
TRI final rule expanding Form A eligibility (71 FR 76932, December 22,
2006) is expected to reduce overall TRI reporting burden due to
increased Form A eligibility (i.e., number of Form Rs decreased and
number of Form As increased, yielding a net burden decrease) with total
respondent burden of Form R reporting projected at 3,215,715 hours.
    Proposed Changes from the Last Approval: EPA proposes to make the
following changes to the ICR for the TRI Form R:
    (1) Provide more specific ``basis of estimate'' codes (applies to
Form R only.) Facilities may currently select among four codes to
indicate how they calculate their release quantities: the use of
monitoring data (code M), mass balance calculations (C), emission
factors (E), and other approaches (O). The addition of more specific
codes in the TRI Reporting Forms and Instructions will allow reporting
facilities to provide more detailed information on their basis of
estimate. Collecting more specific ``basis of estimate'' data will help
the TRI Program determine which methods are most often used and/or
appropriate for use by particular industries for certain chemicals, as
well as when new TRI guidance may be needed. Therefore, EPA will
provide a more extensive list of codes for ``basis of estimate'' in the
TRI Reporting Forms and Instructions, including (M1) and (M2) for
continuous and periodic/random monitoring,

[[Page 71405]]

respectively; and (E1) and (E2) for published and site-specific
emission factors, respectively. (Codes (C) and (O) will remain
unchanged.) By using these codes, facilities will indicate the
principal method used to determine the quantities reported to TRI.
    (2) Enhance Public Contact information (applies to Form and Form
A.) EPA proposes to add a place on the form where a facility can
provide the e-mail address for the ``Public Contact'' on the Form R, in
addition to the Public Contact name and telephone number which are
already on the Form R. This should make it easier to contact the
individual identified.
    (3) Add boxes for entering revision codes (applies to Form R and
Form A.) The TRI Program currently receives many form revisions each
year, but does not currently collect information on the reasons for the
revisions. EPA proposes to add new revision codes that will help both
the public and the TRI Program staff understand why a facility
resubmitted a form. In addition, the TRI Program may be able to analyze
the revision codes entered by facilities to identify and address
recurring reporting issues that facilities may be facing, ultimately
reducing errors and saving time for both the Agency and the reporting
facilities. Facilities would be able to report up to two codes (listed
and defined in the TRI Reporting Forms and Instructions) indicating the
main reason(s) that a form is being revised.
    (4) Provide a field for withdrawing a form and add boxes for
entering withdrawal Codes (applies to Form R and Form A.) Currently, a
facility that wishes to withdraw a previously submitted form must
submit its request, including the rationale, as a hard copy memorandum
to the TRI Data Processing Center. Adding a ``Withdrawal'' field and
associated code boxes for reasons for withdrawal to Form R will (1)
streamline the withdrawal process for facilities, (2) make it easier
for EPA to automate the withdrawal process, and (3) improve the
Agency's ability to analyze the reasons for withdrawals.

    Notes
    1. EPA also proposed other changes (72 FR 37762; July 11, 2007)
but has since concluded those changes are not necessary.
    2. Additional changes were made to adjust estimates for ``Number
of Responses'' and ``Burden Hours'' to reflect the most recent
conditions of RY2005. In the last ICR, RY2002 was the base year; in
the last OMB Action, RY2004 was the base year. Over this period of
time, the total number of Form R submissions declined.

    Dated: December 11, 2007.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E7-24369 Filed 12-14-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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