13968 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 48 / Wednesday, March 12, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http://

www.regulations.gov or email. The 

http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 

an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an email comment directly 

to EPA without going through http://

www.regulations.gov, your email 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the http://

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statue. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in the 

hard copy. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in http://

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at: 

EPA Records and Information Center, 5 

Post Office Square, First Floor, Boston, 

MA 02109–3912, Monday–Friday 8:00 

a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Lithgow Public 

Library, 45 Winthrop St., Augusta, 

Maine 04330, Monday–Thursday 9:00 

a.m.–8 p.m., Friday 9:00 a.m.–5 p.m., 

Saturday 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Terrence Connelly, Remedial Project 

Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 1, Mailcode OSRR07–1 

5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 

02109–3912, (617) 918–1373, email: 

connelly.terry@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

‘‘Rules and Regulations’’ section of this 

issue of the Federal Register, we are 

publishing a direct final Notice of 

Deletion of O’Connor, also known as the 

F. O’Connor Company, Superfund Site 

without prior Notice of Intent to Delete 

because we view this as a 

noncontroversial revision and anticipate 

no adverse comment. We have 

explained our reasons for this deletion 

in the preamble to the direct final 

Notice of Deletion, and those reasons 

are incorporated herein. If we receive no 

adverse comment(s) on this deletion 

action, we will not take further action 

on this Notice of Intent to Delete. If we 

receive adverse comment(s), we will 

withdraw the direct final Notice of 

Deletion, and it will not take effect. We 

will, as appropriate, address all public 

comments in a subsequent final Notice 

of Deletion based on this Notice of 

Intent to Delete. We will not institute a 

second comment period on this Notice 

of Intent to Delete. Any parties 

interested in commenting must do so at 

this time. 

For additional information, see the 

direct final Notice of Deletion which is 

located in the Rules section of this issue 

of the Federal Register. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous 

waste, Hazardous substances, 

Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Superfund, Water 

pollution control, Water supply. 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 

9601–9657; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 CFR, 

1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923; 

3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 193. 

Dated: February 27, 2014. 

H. Curtis Spalding, 

Regional Administrator, Region 1. 

[FR Doc. 2014–05225 Filed 3–11–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Chapter I 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2013–0815; FRL–9906–09] 

Records Related to OSHA’s 

Construction Standard for Lead and 

Renovations of Public and Commercial 

Buildings; TSCA Section 21 Petition; 

Reasons for Agency Response 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Petition; reasons for Agency 

response. 

SUMMARY: This document provides the 

reasons for EPA’s response to a petition 

it received under the Toxic Substances 

Control Act (TSCA). The TSCA section 

21 petition was received from the 

National Center for Healthy Housing, 

the International Union of Painters & 

Allied Trades, the Lead and 

Environmental Hazards Association, 

and the National Association of Lead 

and Healthy Homes Grantees 

(petitioners) on October 31, 2013. The 

petitioners requested EPA to promulgate 

a rule pursuant to TSCA section 8(d) 

requiring property managers, building 

owners, and contractors disturbing leadbased paint in public and commercial 

buildings (P&CBs) to submit to EPA 

certain records related to the 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration’s (OSHA’s) construction 

standard for lead. After careful 

consideration, EPA denied the TSCA 

section 21 petition by letter on January 

28, 2014, for the reasons discussed in 

this document. 

DATES: The EPA’s response to this TSCA 

section 21 petition was signed on 

January 28, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical information contact: Ryan 

Schmit, National Program Chemicals 

Division (7404T), Office of Pollution 

Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001; 

telephone number: (202) 564–0610; 

email address: schmit.ryan@epa.gov. 

For general information contact: The 

TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 

South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 

14620; telephone number: (202) 554– 

1404; email address: TSCA-Hotline@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

This action is directed to the public 

in general. This action may, however, be 

of particular interest to building owners, 

property managers and contractors who 

disturb painted surfaces in P&CBs. 

Since other entities may also be 

interested, the Agency has not 

attempted to describe all the specific 

entities that may be affected by this 

action. 

B. How can I access information about 

this petition? 

The docket for this TSCA section 21 

petition, identified by docket 

identification (ID) number EPA–HQ– 

OPPT–2013–0815 is available at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or at the Office of 

Pollution Prevention and Toxics Docket 

(OPPT Docket), Environmental 

Protection Agency Docket Center (EPA/ 

DC), West 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 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 48 / Wednesday, March 12, 2014 / Proposed Rules 13969 

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 available 

at http://www.epa.gov/dockets. 

II. TSCA Section 21 

A. What is a TSCA section 21 petition? 

Under TSCA section 21 (15 U.S.C. 

2620), any person can petition EPA to 

initiate a rulemaking proceeding for the 

issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule 

under TSCA sections 4, 6, or 8 or an 

order under TSCA sections 5(e) or 

6(b)(2). A TSCA section 21 petition 

must set forth the facts that are claimed 

to establish the necessity for the action 

requested. EPA is required to grant or 

deny the petition within 90 days of its 

filing. If EPA grants the petition, the 

Agency must promptly commence an 

appropriate proceeding. If EPA denies 

the petition, the Agency must publish 

its reasons for the denial in the Federal 

Register. A petitioner may commence a 

civil action in a U.S. district court to 

compel initiation of the requested 

rulemaking proceeding within 60 days 

of either a denial or the expiration of the 

90-day period. 

B. What criteria apply to a decision on 

a TSCA section 21 petition? 

Section 21(b)(1) of TSCA requires that 

the petition ‘‘set forth the facts which it 

is claimed establish that it is necessary’’ 

to issue the rule or order requested. 15 

U.S.C. 2620(b)(1). Thus, TSCA section 

21 implicitly incorporates the statutory 

standards that apply to the requested 

actions. Section 8(d) of TSCA authorizes 

EPA to require the submission of 

unpublished health and safety studies 

initiated or conducted by, or known to 

or reasonably ascertainable by, 

manufacturers, processors, and 

distributors of chemical substances or 

mixtures. Studies may be excluded ‘‘if 

the Administrator finds that submission 

of lists of such studies are unnecessary 

to carry out the purposes of [TSCA].’’ 15 

U.S.C. 2607(d)(1). 

In addition, TSCA section 21(b)(4)(B) 

provides the standards a court must use 

to decide whether to order EPA to 

initiate rulemaking in the event of a 

lawsuit filed by the petitioner after 

denial of a TSCA section 21 petition: ‘‘If 

the petitioner demonstrates to the 

satisfaction of the court by a 

preponderance of the evidence that . . . 

there is a reasonable basis to conclude 

that the issuance of such a rule . . . is 

necessary to protect health or the 

environment against an unreasonable 

risk of injury,’’ the court shall order the 

EPA Administrator to initiate the 

requested action. 15 U.S.C. 

2620(b)(4)(B). Accordingly, EPA relied 

on the standards in TSCA section 21 

and in the provisions under which 

actions have been requested to evaluate 

this TSCA section 21 petition. 

III. Summary of the TSCA Section 21 

Petition 

A. What action was requested? 

On October 31, 2013, the National 

Center for Healthy Housing, the 

International Union of Painters and 

Allied Trades, the Lead and 

Environmental Hazards Association, 

and the National Association of Lead 

and Healthy Homes Grantees petitioned 

EPA to promulgate a rule pursuant to 

TSCA section 8(d) requiring property 

managers, building owners, and 

contractors disturbing lead-based paint 

in P&CBs to submit to EPA certain 

records related to OSHA’s construction 

standard for lead. Specifically, the 

petition asks EPA to collect the 

following records: 

1. Personal or area air sampling data 

and any resultant exposure assessments 

conducted pursuant to 29 CFR 

1926.62(d). 

2. Employee medical surveillance 

data and any resultant evaluation 

pursuant to 29 CFR 1926.62(j) or 

medical removals of employees 

removed from current exposure to lead 

pursuant to 29 CFR 1926.62(k). 

3. Paint analysis results and any 

resultant studies that were used to 

determine whether or not initial 

exposure monitoring should be required 

pursuant to 29 CFR 1926.62(n)(4). 

4. Data and studies considered in the 

development of a compliance plan and 

in the development of any updates 

pursuant to 29 CFR 1926.62(e)(2), 

including: descriptions of each activity 

in which lead is emitted; descriptions of 

the specific means employed to achieve 

compliance and, where engineering 

controls were required, engineering 

plans and studies used to determine 

methods selected for controlling 

exposure to lead. 

5. Air monitoring data collected 

pursuant to 29 CFR 1926.62(e)(2) which 

documents the source of lead emissions. 

6. Data considered in the evaluation 

of the effectiveness of mechanical 

ventilation in controlling exposure 

under 29 CFR 1926.62(e)(3) (Ref. 1, p. 

2). 

B. What support do the petitioners offer? 

The petitioners suggest that the 

documents received under a TSCA 

section 8(d) reporting rule would 

provide EPA with ‘‘critical information’’ 

it needs to analyze lead hazards created 

by renovations of P&CBs as required by 

the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction 

Act of 1992 (Ref. 1, p. 2). The petitioners 

also generally refer to the dangers of 

lead and the hazards, including those 

from the renovation of residences found 

by EPA in the 2008 Renovation, Repair 

and Painting rule, and the need to 

similarly protect all Americans from 

lead hazards created by the renovation 

of P&CBs (Ref. 1). 

In reference to the OSHA lead 

standards and the P&CB rulemaking 

analysis, the petitioners cite to public 

comments made surrounding EPA’s 

June 26, 2013 public meeting on the 

P&CB rulemaking, including those from 

the National Apartment Association 

(Ref. 2), the Independent Electrical 

Contractors (Ref. 3), the Associated 

General Contractors of New York State 

(Ref. 4), the National Institute of 

Building Sciences (Ref. 5), the National 

Roofing Contractors Association (Ref. 6), 

and the Commercial Properties 

Coalition (Ref. 7). 

IV. Disposition of TSCA Section 21 

Petition 

A. What was EPA’s response? 

After careful consideration, and for 

the following reasons, EPA denied the 

petitioners’ request that EPA promulgate 

a reporting rule pursuant to TSCA 

section 8(d). EPA will, however, seek to 

obtain this type of information in an 

alternative manner. A copy of the 

Agency’s response, which consists of a 

letter to the petitioners, is available in 

the docket for this TSCA section 21 

petition. 

B. What is EPA’s reason for this 

response? 

For the purpose of making its 

decision, EPA evaluated the information 

presented or referenced in the petition 

as well as the Agency’s authority and 

requirements under TSCA sections 8 

and 21. After careful consideration, EPA 

denied the request based on the 

petitioners’ failure to set forth sufficient 

facts establishing that it is necessary to 

initiate a TSCA section 8(d) reporting 

rule. In addition, while the records 

requested by the petitioners are 

potentially useful, they are not 

necessary to carry out the purposes of 

TSCA or to support the P&CB 

rulemaking analysis. Furthermore, to 

the extent that such information could 

nonetheless be informative, 

promulgating a TSCA section 8(d) rule 

is not an efficient or effective way to get 

the information. 

EPA believes that it is not necessary 

or appropriate to promulgate a TSCA 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
13970 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 48 / Wednesday, March 12, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

section 8(d) rulemaking at this time. 

First, EPA consulted with OSHA and 

determined that in many circumstances, 

a number of the records requested by 

the petitioners do not actually need to 

be maintained by employers under 

OSHA’s construction standard for lead. 

For example, most building owners and 

property managers are not required to 

keep the requested records because the 

routine maintenance activities 

commonly performed by their 

employees are not subject to OSHA’s 

construction standard for lead. Second, 

construction employers performing 

renovation work involving lead-based 

paint may not need to keep all of the 

records in question if their employees 

are not exposed above the standard’s 

permissible exposure limit (PEL) or 

action level. Third, in OSHA’s 

experience, employers that do not 

comply with the PEL are unlikely to 

comply with the standard’s 

recordkeeping requirements, further 

lessening the amount of responsive 

information available. Thus, based on 

consultations with OSHA, EPA believes 

the amount and type of information the 

Agency could realistically expect to 

receive under a reporting rule would be 

significantly limited. 

EPA also has reservations regarding 

the potential for this information to 

inform the P&CB rulemaking analysis. 

For example, as indicated by OSHA, air 

sampling records are most commonly 

found in the form of a simple report 

indicating whether samples are above or 

below an applicable permissible 

exposure limit. Information 

contextualizing this exposure data is not 

likely to be ascertainable from 

employers’ OSHA records. Without 

such contextual information, these 

records would be of limited utility to 

EPA in modeling exposure and 

identifying and evaluating hazards in 

P&CBs. 

Based on the expected limitations in 

the availability and utility of the records 

to EPA’s analysis of lead-based paint 

hazards created by renovations in 

P&CBs, EPA does not believe that the 

expenditures of time and resources 

inherent in proposing and finalizing a 

TSCA section 8(d) rule are justified. 

Nonetheless, EPA will seek to obtain 

this type of information in a more 

targeted, efficient, and less burdensome 

manner. Specifically, EPA is already 

working with OSHA to determine the 

availability of lead sampling and 

exposure data in OSHA enforcement 

records. Pursuant to its authority under 

TSCA, EPA will also issue information 

request letters to a smaller, targeted 

group of entities. This approach will 

allow EPA to collect and assess the 

utility of available OSHA records 

identified by the petitioners, as well as 

collect other, potentially relevant 

information, without being limited in 

scope to ‘‘health and safety studies’’ 

under TSCA section 8(d). 

Finally, in addition to previous and 

ongoing efforts to obtain additional data 

and information on lead and 

renovations in P&CBs from industry, the 

general public, and other Federal 

agencies, EPA is preparing to conduct 

an industry survey to collect various 

types of information from the public 

and commercial building industry (Ref. 

8). This survey, ‘‘Survey of the Public 

and Commercial Building Industry,’’ is 

specifically designed to target additional 

information EPA expects may be useful 

to the P&CB analysis (Ref. 8). 

V. References 

As indicated under ADDRESSES, a 

docket has been established for this 

document under docket ID number 

EPA–HQ–OPPT–2013–0815. The 

following is a listing of the documents 

that are specifically referenced in this 

action. The docket includes these 

documents and other information 

considered by EPA, including 

documents that are referenced within 

the documents that are included in the 

docket, even if the referenced document 

is not physically located in the docket. 

For assistance in locating these other 

documents, please consult the technical 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

1. National Center for Healthy 

Housing, International Union of Painters 

& Allied Trades, Lead and 

Environmental Hazards Association, 

National Association of Lead and 

Healthy Homes Grantees. Citizen 

Petition to EPA Regarding OSHA 

Exposure Assessments in Renovations 

of Public and Commercial Buildings. 

October 31, 2013. Available at: http://

www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemtest/pubs/

Section_21_on_PnCBs_Resubmit_

10.31.2013.pdf. 

2. National Apartment Association 

comment posted July 11, 2013 at EPA– 

HQ–OPPT–2010–0173–0186. 

3. Independent Electrical Contractors 

comment posted June 3, 2013 at EPA– 

HQ–OPPT–2010–0173–0176. 

4. Associated General Contractors of 

New York State comment posted on 

April 30, 2013 at EPA–HQ–OPPT–2010– 

0173–0161. 

5. National Institute of Building 

Sciences comment posted on April 3, 

2013 at EPA–HQ–OPPT–2010–0173– 

0153. 

6. National Roofing Contractors 

Association comment posted July 12, 

2010 at EPA–HQ–OPPT–2010–0173– 

0073. 

7. Commercial Properties Coalition 

comment posted April 3, 2013 at EPA– 

HQ–OPPT–2010–0173–0154. 

8. EPA. Agency Information 

Collection Activities; Proposed 

Collection; Comment Request; Notice. 

Federal Register (78 FR 73520, 

December 6, 2013) (FRL–9902–85) 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Chapter I 

Environmental protection, Lead, 

OSHA, Public and commercial 

buildings, Renovation. 

Dated: February 7, 2014. 

Wendy C. Hamnett, 

Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and 

Toxics. 

[FR Doc. 2014–05392 Filed 3–11–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

44 CFR Part 206 

[Docket ID: FEMA–2014–0013] 

RIN 1660–AA80 

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program 

(HMGP); Program Administration by 

States 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) is seeking 

public comment on implementing a 

provision of the Robert T. Stafford 

Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act regarding State 

administration of the Hazard Mitigation 

Grant Program (HMGP). The provision 

directs FEMA to establish criteria to 

delegate authority to States to 

administer HMGP. FEMA is seeking 

input from the public to help inform the 

development of this new method of 

program delivery. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before May 12, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: mailto: You may submit 

comments, identified by Docket ID: 

FEMA–2014–0013, by one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Office 

of Chief Counsel, Federal Emergency 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS