[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30173-30174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13832]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0292; FRL-9979-02]
Guidance for Creating Generic Names for Confidential Chemical
Substance Identity Reporting Under the Toxic Substances Control Act;
Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of the following guidance
document: ``Guidance for Creating Generic Names for Confidential
Chemical Substance Identity Reporting under TSCA.'' This guidance
document, which is required by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA),
as amended in 2016 by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the
21st Century Act, provides information to assist companies in creating
structurally descriptive generic names for chemical substances whose
specific chemical identities are claimed confidential, for the purposes
of protecting the specific chemical identities from disclosure while
describing the chemical substance as specifically as practicable, and
for listing substances on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory.
DATES: Submit comments on or before August 27, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0292, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute.
Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001.
Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For technical information contact: Tracy Williamson, Chemistry,
Economics, and Sustainable Strategies Division (Mailcode 7406M), Office
of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number:
(202) 564-8569; email address: [email protected].
For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill,
422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: (202)
554-1404; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 30174]]
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
You may be potentially affected by this action if you are a company
needing assistance in creating structurally descriptive generic names
for chemical substances whose specific chemical identities are claimed
confidential, for purposes of protecting the specific chemical
identities from disclosure and listing the substances on the TSCA
Chemical Substance Inventory. This action may be of particular interest
to entities that are regulated under TSCA (e.g., entities identified
under North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes
324, 325, and 324110, among others). Since other entities also may be
interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific
entities and corresponding NAICS codes for entities that may be
interested in or affected by this action.
B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the
specific information that is claimed as 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.
2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.
C. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
The docket for this action, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0292, is available online at http://www.regulations.gov or in person at the Office of Pollution Prevention
and Toxics Docket (OPPT Docket), Environmental Protection Agency Docket
Center (EPA/DC), West William Jefferson Clinton Bldg., Rm. 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The 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 Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744, and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket is (202) 566-
0280. Please review the visitor instructions and additional information
about the docket that is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets. You
also will find this document and the ``Guidance for Creating Generic
Names for Confidential Chemical Substance Identity Reporting under
TSCA'' at http://www.epa.gov/tsca-inventory.
II. What is the Agency's authority for this action?
As amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st
Century Act in June 2016, TSCA section 14(c)(4), 15 U.S.C. 2613(c)(4),
requires that EPA develop guidance regarding the determination of
structurally descriptive generic names provided for chemical substances
whose specific chemical identities have been claimed confidential in a
TSCA notice. TSCA section 14(c)(1)(C) was amended to require submitters
who assert a confidentiality claim for specific chemical identity to
include a structurally descriptive generic name for the chemical
substance that EPA may disclose to the public. The generic name must be
consistent with EPA's guidance, and should describe the chemical
structure of the substance as specifically as practicable while
protecting those features of the chemical structure that are claimed as
confidential and the disclosure of which would be likely to cause
substantial harm to the competitive position of the claimant.
III. What action is the Agency taking?
EPA is announcing the availability of the following guidance
document: ``Guidance for Creating Generic Names for Confidential
Chemical Substance Identity Reporting under TSCA.'' This guidance
document is intended to assist companies in creating structurally
descriptive generic names for chemical substances whose specific
chemical identities are claimed confidential, for purposes of
protecting the specific chemical identities from disclosure while
describing the chemical substance as specifically as practicable, and
for listing substances on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory.
EPA previously published guidance to assist companies in creating
structurally descriptive generic names in an appendix to the 1985
publication of the TSCA Inventory (Appendix B, ``Generic Names for
Confidential Chemical Substance Identities,'' in the ``TSCA Inventory,
1985 Edition''). The new guidance document updates and replaces the
1985 guidance. Consistent with TSCA section 14(c)(1)(C) and 14(c)(4)
requirements, the updated guidance document provides more detail and
clarity to companies regarding the approach for creating structurally
descriptive generic names.
As a nonbinding guidance document, this updated guidance document
is a living document which may be revised periodically and without
notice. In addition to seeking comments within the next 60 days, EPA
welcomes public input on this guidance document at any time in the
future.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2613(c)(4).
Dated: June 21, 2018.
E. Scott Pruitt,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2018-13832 Filed 6-26-18; 8:45 am]
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