[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24698-24700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9902]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-1010; FRL-9511-5 ]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission 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: TSCA Section 4 Test Rules,
Consent Orders, Enforceable Consent Agreements, Voluntary Testing
Agreements, Voluntary Data Submissions, and Exemptions from Testing
Requirement (EPA ICR No. 1139.09, OMB No. 2070-0033). The ICR, which is
abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection
activity and its expected burden and costs.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before May 25, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OPPT-2010-1010 to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our
preferred method), by email to oppt.ncic@epa.gov or by mail to:
Document Control Office (DCO), Office of Pollution Prevention and
Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 7407T, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maryann Petrole, Director,
Environmental Assistance Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and
Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail code: 7408-M, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-554-
1404; email address: TSCA-Hotline@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 August 10, 2011 (76 FR 49471), EPA sought comments on this
renewal pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA
[[Page 24699]]
received one supportive comment during the comment period, which did
not result in any substantive change to the Supporting Statement. Any
additional comments related to 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 EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-1010, which is available for online viewing at
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person inspection at the OPPT Docket
in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center 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 Pollution Prevention and
Toxics Docket is 202-566-0280. Use www.regulations.gov 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.
EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing
in 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. 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 www.regulations.gov. 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
www.regulations.gov. For further information about the electronic
docket, go to www.regulations.gov.
Title: TSCA Section 4 Test Rules, Consent Orders, Enforceable
Consent Agreements, Voluntary Testing Agreements, Voluntary Data
Submissions, and Exemptions from Testing Requirement.
ICR Status: This is a request to renew an existing approved
collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2012. Under
OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the
collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.
Abstract: This ICR covers the submission of test data to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support the decision making
process for an industrial chemical under the Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2601). Under TSCA, EPA has the authority to issue
regulations designed to gather health/safety and exposure information
on, require testing of, and control exposure to chemical substances and
mixtures. Drugs, cosmetics, foods, food additives, pesticides, and
nuclear materials are exempt from TSCA.
Under TSCA section 4, EPA must assure that appropriate tests are
performed on a chemical if it decides: (1) That a chemical being
considered under TSCA section 4(a) may pose an ``unreasonable risk'' or
is produced in ``substantial'' quantities that may result in
substantial or significant human exposure or substantial environmental
release of the chemical; (2) that additional data are needed to
determine or predict the impacts of the chemical's manufacture,
processing, distribution, use or disposal; and (3) that testing is
needed to develop such data.
In general, when the need for data is identified by EPA, EPA may
obtain the needed test data (1) By issuing a test rule through notice
and comment rulemaking, (2) through negotiation with industry and
issuing an enforceable consent agreement (ECA), or (3) through
commitments from industry, i.e., voluntary testing agreements (VTAs).
Industry may also submit test data to EPA on their own initiative.
EPA uses the information collected under the authority of TSCA
section 4 to assess risks associated with the manufacture, processing,
distribution, use or disposal of a chemical, and to support any
necessary regulatory action with respect to that chemical.
The testing specified in a rule or consent order issued under TSCA
section 4 only needs to be conducted once for each specified chemical.
As such, only one of the entities that manufacture, import or process
the specified chemical, or a consortia formed by these entities, is
expected to conduct the specified testing and report the results of
that testing to EPA. In addition, an entity subject to a test rule may
apply for an exemption from the testing requirement if that testing
will be or has been performed by another party.
This information collection applies to reporting and recordkeeping
activities associated with the information that EPA requires industry
to provide in response to TSCA section 4 test rules, consent orders or
voluntary agreements, and other data submissions, as well as those
related to the exemption applications. As such, responses to the
collection of information are either mandatory if codified (see 40 CFR
part 790), and voluntary when not.
Respondents may claim all or part of a response as CBI. EPA will
disclose information that is covered by a CBI claim only to the extent
permitted by, and in accordance with, the procedures in 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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal
Register, are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and included on the related
collection instrument or form, if applicable.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to range between
9 and 263 hours per response. Burden is defined in 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities potentially affected by
this ICR are manufacturers, processors, importers, users, distributors
or disposers of one or more specified chemical substances.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Estimated Average Number of Responses for Each Respondent: Varies
by activity, but is estimated to range from 1 to 131 per respondent.
Estimated Total No. of Respondents: Varies by activity, but is
estimated to range from 1 to 18.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 629,893 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Costs: $13,289,461, with an additional
$9,628,441 for non-labor costs related to laboratory test costs.
Changes in Burden Estimates: This request represents an increase of
477,931 hours from that currently in the OMB inventory (from 151,962
hours to 629,893 hours). This increase reflects several adjustments in
the estimates related to a better break-out of the different activities
for the covered collection and an adjustment in projected potential
future activities regarding voluntary submissions. The Agency has also
adjusted all unit costs to reflect the latest available labor wage
rates and has identified the non-labor costs more clearly. The
Supporting Statement provides details about the
[[Page 24700]]
change in burden estimate. The change is an adjustment.
John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2012-9902 Filed 4-24-12; 8:45 am]
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