76476 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 236 / Wednesday, December 9, 2015 / Notices 

wish to attend the meeting must 

register, in advance, no later than 

Monday, December 28, 2015. 

Registration is required for all members 

of the public to ensure an expeditious 

security process. 

DATES: The full board meeting will be 

held on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 from 

1:00 p.m. to 5 p.m., EST and 

Wednesday, January 13, 2015 from 9:00 

a.m. to 5 p.m., EST. 

ADDRESSES: Hamilton Crowne Plaza 

Hotel, 1001 14th St. NW., Washington, 

DC 20005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on access or services for 

individuals with disabilities, or to 

request accommodations for a person 

with a disability, please contact Sandra 

Williams at (202) 564–4999 or 

williams.sandra@epa.gov, at least 10 

days prior to the meeting, to allow as 

much time as possible to process your 

request. 

Dated: December 2, 2015. 

Andrew D. Sawyers, 

Director, Office of Wastewater Management, 

Office of Water. 

[FR Doc. 2015–31044 Filed 12–8–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9939–69–OECA] 

Notice of eDisclosure Portal Launch: 

Modernizing Implementation of EPA’s 

Self-Policing Incentive Policies 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is modernizing 

implementation of its self-disclosure 

policies by creating a centralized webbased ‘‘eDisclosure’’ portal to receive 

and automatically process self-disclosed 

civil violations of environmental law. 

Under the automated eDisclosure 

system, large and small businesses will 

quickly be able to get some of their more 

routine types of disclosures resolved. 

EPA is launching the eDisclosure 

system because it continues to believe 

strongly in the benefits of its selfdisclosure policies: To provide penalty 

mitigation and other incentives for 

companies that self-police, disclose, 

correct and prevent violations. EPA 

believes that the implementation 

changes announced today will make the 

processing of disclosures faster and 

more efficient, and will save time and 

resources for regulated entities and EPA. 

DATES: These modifications to the 

implementation of EPA’s Audit Policy 

and Small Business Compliance Policy, 

and the launch of the eDisclosure portal, 

are effective immediately, December 9, 

2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Philip Milton of EPA’s Office of 

Enforcement and Compliance 

Assurance, Office of Civil Enforcement, 

at milton.philip@epa.gov or (202) 564– 

5029. For general information on the 

eDisclosure portal please visit http://

www2.epa.gov/compliance/epasedisclosure. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Over the 

past several years, EPA has been 

evaluating how best to realize the 

benefits of the self-disclosure policies. 

Most recently, EPA held two webinars 

in June 2015 to share its plan for 

eDisclosure and allow the nearly 350 

people who participated to share their 

views and ask questions. 

Companies have suggested that EPA 

could streamline implementation of the 

self-disclosure policies for more routine 

disclosures to make the process faster, 

more efficient, and to save time and 

resources for regulated entities and EPA, 

while still retaining the incentives to 

self-police environmental problems. The 

regulated community also emphasized 

that a key time to encourage selfauditing and self-disclosure is when 

companies are purchased or acquired, 

because that is a point in time when 

companies typically are assessing 

operations and management systems. 

EPA agrees with those suggestions from 

the regulated community and welcomes 

input, on an ongoing basis, as to how 

the eDisclosure system is working. 

I. Explanation of Modification to the 

Implementation of the Policies 

A. Introduction 

On April 11, 2000, EPA issued its 

policy on ‘‘Incentives for Self-Policing: 

Discovery, Disclosure, Correction and 

Prevention of Violations’’ (Audit 

Policy). 65 FR 19618. The purpose of 

the Audit Policy is to enhance 

protection of human health and the 

environment by encouraging regulated 

entities to voluntarily discover, 

promptly disclose, expeditiously correct 

and prevent the recurrence of violations 

of federal environmental law. Benefits 

available to entities that make 

disclosures under the terms of the Audit 

Policy include reductions in, and in 

some cases the elimination of, civil 

penalties, and an EPA determination not 

to recommend criminal prosecution of 

disclosing entities. (Ultimate 

prosecutorial discretion resides with the 

U.S. Department of Justice.) More 

information on the Audit Policy is 

available at 

http://www2.epa.gov/compliance/epasaudit-policy. 

On August 1, 2008, EPA issued the 

‘‘Interim Approach to Applying the 

Audit Policy to New Owners’’ (New 

Owner Policy). 73 FR 44991. The 

purpose of the New Owner Policy is to 

tailor Audit Policy incentives for new 

owners that want to make a ‘‘clean 

start’’ at recently acquired facilities by 

addressing environmental 

noncompliance that began prior to 

acquisition. The New Owner Policy is 

designed to motivate new owners to 

audit newly acquired facilities and to 

encourage self-disclosures of violations 

that will, once corrected, yield 

significant pollutant reductions and 

benefits to the environment. The 

incentives tailored for new owners 

include clearly defined penalty 

mitigation beyond what is offered by the 

Audit Policy, as well as the 

modification of certain Audit Policy 

conditions that will allow more 

violations to be eligible for penalty 

mitigation under the Audit Policy. More 

information on the New Owner Policy is 

available at http://www2.epa.gov/

compliance/epas-interim-approachapplying-audit-policy-new-owners. 

EPA’s Small Business Compliance 

Policy (65 FR 19630, April 11, 2000) is 

an additional voluntary disclosure 

policy that provides incentives for small 

businesses (with 100 or fewer 

employees) that voluntarily discover, 

promptly disclose, and expeditiously 

correct environmental violations. More 

information on the Small Business 

Compliance Policy is available at http:// 

www2.epa.gov/compliance/smallbusiness-compliance. 

B. Background on Today’s 

Modifications 

The penalty mitigation available 

under EPA’s self-disclosure policies has 

provided an incentive for regulated 

entities to detect, promptly disclose, 

expeditiously correct and prevent 

violations of federal environmental 

requirements. Since 1995, the regulated 

community has increasingly adopted 

environmental auditing and 

environmental management practices as 

key components of sound business 

practices. Thousands of entities have 

disclosed violations to EPA pursuant to 

the Agency’s voluntary disclosure 

policies, and EPA continues to receive 

hundreds of new disclosures every year. 

Enforcement also has contributed to the 

dramatic expansion of environmental 

auditing, as many regulated entities who 

conducted audits have told EPA that 

one of the primary reasons for doing so 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 236 / Wednesday, December 9, 2015 / Notices 76477 

was to identify and correct violations 

before government inspectors discover 

noncompliance. Regulated entities have 

realized cost savings through auditing, 

not only by limiting their enforcement 

liability but also by reducing the 

amount of pollutants that they generate 

(e.g., by adopting lower-cost production 

methods or energy-saving process 

changes). 

C. Summary of Modifications to Audit 

Policy and Small Business Policy 

Implementation 

The large number of violations selfdisclosed to EPA has taxed the Agency’s 

ability to promptly resolve all pending 

disclosures. Although EPA is not 

modifying the substantive conditions in 

its Audit Policy or Small Business 

Compliance Policy, the eDisclosure 

portal launched today streamlines and 

modernizes EPA’s approach to handling 

disclosures under these two policies. 

Today’s changes will result in faster and 

more efficient resolution of selfdisclosures, while saving considerable 

time and resources for regulated entities 

and EPA. At the same time, EPA will 

continue to accept and process outside 

the automated eDisclosure system any 

new owner self-disclosures and any 

potential criminal violations disclosed 

to the Voluntary Disclosure Board 

(VDB). 

In summary, entities that disclose 

potential violations through the new 

eDisclosure portal may qualify for one 

of two types of automated treatment, 

Category 1 or Category 2. In the June 

2015 webinars and Information Sheet 

summarizing its plan for eDisclosure, 

EPA referred to these two types of 

treatment as Tier 1 and Tier 2. Because 

commenters expressed concern about 

possible confusion with Tier II Reports 

under the Emergency Planning and 

Community Right-to-Know Act 

(EPCRA), EPA has changed these 

description to Category 1 and Category 

2. 

Category 1. Category 1 disclosures 

include: (1) EPCRA violations that meet 

all Audit Policy conditions; and (2) 

EPCRA violations that meet all Small 

Business Compliance Policy conditions. 

It does not, however, include 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation, and Liability 

Act (CERCLA) section 103/EPCRA 

section 304 chemical release reporting 

violations or EPCRA violations with 

significant economic benefit as defined 

by EPA. 

For disclosures that qualify for 

Category 1 treatment, the eDisclosure 

system automatically will issue an 

electronic Notice of Determination 

(eNOD) confirming that the violations 

are resolved with no assessment of civil 

penalties, conditioned on the accuracy 

and completeness of the submitter’s 

disclosure. EPA will spot check 

Category 1 disclosures to ensure 

conformance with EPCRA, the Audit 

Policy, the Small Business Compliance 

Policy, and eDisclosure requirements. 

EPA is currently limiting Category 1 

resolutions to the above-described 

violations because: (a) The Agency has 

significant experience with providing 

NODs for these self-disclosed EPCRA 

violations (about half the disclosures 

EPA receives involve EPCRA reporting 

violations); (b) it is easy to confirm 

compliance with EPCRA reporting 

requirements; and (c) the regulated 

community suggested such violations 

for streamlined Audit Policy treatment. 

As the Agency gains experience with 

the eDisclosure system, it will evaluate 

whether to expand the types of 

violations that can qualify for Category 

1 treatment. 

Category 2. Category 2 disclosures 

include: (1) All non-EPCRA violations; 

(2) EPCRA violations where the 

discloser can only certify compliance 

with Audit Policy Conditions 2–9 (i.e., 

discovery was not systematic); and (3) 

EPCRA/CERCLA violations excluded 

from Category 1 above. 

For disclosures that qualify for 

Category 2 treatment, the eDisclosure 

system automatically will issue an 

Acknowledgement Letter (AL) noting 

EPA’s receipt of the disclosure and 

promising that EPA will make a 

determination as to eligibility for 

penalty mitigation if and when it 

considers taking enforcement action for 

environmental violations. EPA will 

screen Category 2 disclosures for 

significant concerns such as criminal 

conduct and potential imminent 

hazards. 

D. Summary of the eDisclosure Process 

Entities wishing to disclose potential 

violations through the eDisclosure 

system must follow a three-step process: 

1. Register to File with the Centralized 

Web-Based Portal. This step requires 

entities to register with EPA’s Central 

Data Exchange (CDX) system. See http:// 

www.epa.gov/cdx/. Existing CDX 

registrants who are already identityproofed under the Cross Media 

Electronic Reporting and Recordkeeping 

Rule (CROMERR) would not be required 

to re-register with CDX. Also, paper 

identity proofing is available if 

electronic ID-proofing fails. 

2. Submit a Violation Disclosure. In 

order to be considered ‘‘prompt’’ under 

both the Audit Policy and Small 

Business Compliance Policy, potential 

violations must be disclosed online 

within 21 calendar days of the entity’s 

discovery that such potential violations 

may have occurred. If the 21st day after 

discovery falls on a weekend or federal 

holiday, the eDisclosure system will 

treat the disclosure as prompt if it is 

submitted on the next business day. 

Regulated entities may submit 

disclosures of potential (but not 

confirmed) violations to give them time 

to determine whether a violation 

actually occurred and to more 

specifically identify the particular 

violation(s). 

eDisclosure is not designed to receive 

or process any information claimed as 

Confidential Business Information (CBI), 

so disclosers must submit sanitized 

(non-CBI) information through the 

online system. Any follow-up CBI 

required to be submitted must be done 

manually according to EPA procedures 

and the requirements of 40 CFR part 2. 

3. Certify Compliance. Within 60 days 

of submitting an Audit Policy disclosure 

(or within 90 days of submitting a Small 

Business Compliance Policy disclosure), 

the discloser must submit a Compliance 

Certification in the eDisclosure system. 

Such Compliance Certifications must 

identify the specific violations, and 

certify that the violations have been 

corrected and that the Audit Policy or 

Small Business Compliance Policy 

conditions have been met. The 60-day 

and 90-day Compliance Certification 

deadlines are subject to limited 

extensions, as discussed further in this 

Notice. 

Disclosed violations will be 

considered withdrawn from Audit 

Policy or Small Business Compliance 

Policy consideration where the 

disclosing entity: (1) Voluntarily 

withdraws its disclosure before 

submitting its Compliance Certification 

(e.g., where it determines after 

disclosure that no violations actually 

occurred); (2) does not timely submit its 

Compliance Certification; or (3) submits 

a Compliance Certification that does not 

meet the conditions of the Audit Policy 

or Small Business Compliance Policy. 

Whenever there is a withdrawal, the 

eDisclosure system automatically will 

record the entity’s attempt to disclose 

potential violations, notify it that EPA 

will retain such records, and send the 

discloser a notice that the disclosure 

does not qualify for Audit Policy or 

Small Business Compliance Policy 

penalty mitigation through the 

eDisclosure system. 

E. Implementation Details 

1. Violation Correction and 

Compliance Certification Deadlines. 

Under the Audit Policy and Small 

Business Compliance Policy, disclosed 

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76478 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 236 / Wednesday, December 9, 2015 / Notices 

violations must be corrected as 

expeditiously as feasible and ordinarily 

within 60 or 90 days, respectively, from 

the date that the potential violations are 

discovered. Prior to today’s launch of 

the automated eDisclosure system, EPA 

and regulated entities would 

communicate directly with regulated 

entities or their counsel to resolve their 

requests to extend the deadlines for 

correcting disclosed violations. Today’s 

adoption of an automated eDisclosure 

system includes an automated process 

for handling requests for extension of 

such deadlines. Below is a discussion of 

the possible extensions in eDisclosure 

and how the eDisclosure system will 

process extension requests, followed by 

a timeline that summarizes the violation 

correction deadlines for new disclosures 

submitted after today’s launch. 

a. Category 1 Disclosures. To obtain 

an electronic Notice of Determination 

(eNOD), disclosers must correct their 

violations: (a) Within 60 days of the date 

of discovery for those seeking penalty 

mitigation under the Audit Policy; or (b) 

within 90 days of the date of discovery 

for those seeking penalty mitigation 

under the Small Business Compliance 

Policy. Since all self-disclosures must 

be made within 21 days of discovery in 

order to be prompt, a Category 1 Audit 

Policy Compliance Certification, 

therefore, will be due no later than 81 

(i.e., 60+21) days after violation 

discovery and a Category 1 Small 

Business Compliance Policy 

Compliance Certification will be due no 

later than 111 (i.e., 90+21) days after 

violation discovery. 

Extensions of the violation correction 

deadline and corresponding compliance 

certification deadline are not allowed 

for Category 1 disclosures. If an entity 

requests an extension of the violation 

correction deadline for an EPCRA 

disclosure that is potentially eligible for 

Category 1 treatment (i.e., it meets all of 

the Audit Policy or Small Business 

Compliance Policy conditions and does 

not involve EPCRA section 304 

chemical release reporting violations or 

EPCRA violations with significant 

economic benefit as defined by EPA), 

the disclosure will be potentially 

eligible only for Category 2 

(Acknowledgement Letter) treatment. 

b. Category 2 Disclosures Pursuant to 

the Audit Policy. Category 2 disclosers 

seeking penalty mitigation under the 

Audit Policy can make an online request 

for up to 30 additional days (beyond the 

60 days already allowed under the 

policy) to correct their violations, with 

no explanation required. Such 

extensions will be considered granted at 

the time of the request, and the 

eDisclosure system automatically will 

extend the Compliance Certification due 

date by an amount equal to the violation 

correction period extension (e.g., an 

entity that gets 30 extra days to correct 

violations also gets 30 extra days to 

certify compliance). 

Category 2 disclosers seeking penalty 

mitigation under the Audit Policy can 

make an online request for more than 30 

additional days to correct their 

violations, provided the violation 

correction date does not extend beyond 

180 days after the date of discovery. To 

make such a request for an extension of 

more than 30 days, disclosers must 

include in the eDisclosure system a 

justification for such extension. Upon 

such request, the eDisclosure system 

automatically will extend the 

Compliance Certification due date by an 

amount equal to the correction period 

extension, but the request is not 

considered granted or denied at the time 

of the request. Note also that EPA is 

more likely to scrutinize requests for 

extension beyond 30 additional days 

and ultimately may decide that 

correction was not prompt, if and when 

it considers taking an enforcement 

action for environmental violations. 

c. Category 2 Disclosures Pursuant to 

the Small Business Compliance Policy. 

Category 2 disclosers seeking penalty 

mitigation under the Small Business 

Compliance Policy can make an online 

request for up to 90 additional days 

(beyond the 90 days already allowed 

under the policy) to correct their 

violations, with no explanation 

required. Such extensions are 

considered granted at the time of the 

request and the eDisclosure system 

automatically will extend the 

Compliance Certification due date by an 

amount equal to the correction period 

extension (e.g., an entity that gets 90 

extra days to correct violations also gets 

90 extra days to certify compliance). 

Category 2 disclosers seeking penalty 

mitigation under the Small Business 

Compliance Policy can make an online 

request for more than 90 additional days 

to correct their violations, provided the 

violation correction date does not 

extend beyond 360 days after the date 

of discovery. To make such a request for 

an extension of more than 90 days, 

disclosers must include in the 

eDisclosure system a justification for 

such extension. Extensions of more than 

180 days after discovery must be based 

on the time needed to correct the 

violation(s) by putting into place 

pollution prevention measures. Upon 

such request, the eDisclosure system 

automatically will extend the 

Compliance Certification due date by an 

amount equal to the correction period 

extension, but the request is not 

considered granted or denied at the time 

of the request. Note also that EPA is 

more likely to scrutinize requests for 

extension beyond 90 additional days 

and ultimately may decide that 

correction was not prompt, if and when 

it considers taking an enforcement 

action for environmental violations. 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

BILLING CODE 6560–50–C 2. Processing Unresolved Disclosures 

That Were Submitted Prior to Today’s 

Launch. In the June 2015 webinars and 

Information Sheet, EPA stated its 


EN09DE15.000</GPH>mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Violation Correction Time Perio

Date 

Violation 

Discovered 

DayO Day60 Day90 Day 180 

Disclosure Due 

Category 1 Audit Policy 

Category 2 Audit 

Policy 

No explanation 

Category 1 Small Business Compliance Policy 

Category 2 Audit Policy 

Category 2 Small Business Policy 

No explanation required 

Category 2 Sm

(must be based on 

place pollution p

Note that while the deadline for correcting violations runs from the date of violation discovery, the 

certifying compliance runs from the date of the disclosure (which could be up to 21 days after disc

Figure 1 
76480 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 236 / Wednesday, December 9, 2015 / Notices 

intention to allow regulated entities 

with pre-existing unresolved EPCRA 

disclosures to resubmit such disclosures 

through the eDisclosure system within 

90 days of its launch date. In order to 

provide for a more orderly transition, 

EPA is extending this resubmittal 

opportunity to 120 days after today’s 

launch. If such pre-existing unresolved 

EPCRA disclosures qualify for Category 

1 treatment as outlined in today’s 

Notice, the eDisclosure system 

automatically will issue an eNOD for 

such disclosures. 

Note that for any such re-submitted 

disclosure, regulated entities must 

certify in eDisclosure within 30 days of 

their re-submittal that they timely 

corrected their violations. Timely 

correction is within 60 days of violation 

discovery for disclosures submitted 

under the Audit Policy and within 90 

days of violation discovery for 

disclosures submitted pursuant to the 

Small Business Compliance Policy. No 

extensions of the 60-day or 90-day 

violation correction periods are 

available for such pre-existing EPCRA 

disclosures. 

For pre-existing disclosures subject to 

an audit agreement or significant 

settlement negotiations, EPA will 

resolve such disclosures with a Notice 

of Determination (NOD), Consent 

Agreement and Final Order (CAFO), or 

Consent Decree (CD). All other preexisting disclosures (i.e., non-EPCRA 

disclosures and pre-existing EPCRA 

disclosures that are not resubmitted 

within 120 days of today’s eDisclosure 

launch) are hereby treated as Category 2 

disclosures and this Federal Register 

Notice serves as the Acknowledgement 

Letter for such disclosures. If and when 

EPA considers taking enforcement 

action for environmental violations, it 

will make a determination as to 

eligibility for penalty mitigation. 

II. Unchanged Aspects of EPA’s SelfDisclosure Policies 

A. No Changes to Conditions in the 

Audit Policy and Small Business 

Compliance Policy 

The launch of the eDisclosure system 

does not modify the substantive 

conditions in EPA’s Audit Policy or 

Small Business Compliance Policy. 

Instead, eDisclosure automates 

implementation of these policies to 

allow for faster and more efficient 

processing of self-disclosed civil 

violations. Moreover, disclosures of 

criminal violations will continue to be 

handled by the Voluntary Disclosure 

Board (VDB), outside the eDisclosure 

system, pursuant to the process outlined 

in EPA’s Audit Policy at 65 FR 19624. 

B. No Changes to EPA New Owner 

Policy Implementation 

This Notice does not change EPA’s 

approach to resolving New Owner 

disclosures as outlined in the New 

Owner Policy (73 FR 44991, August 1, 

2008). Pre-existing New Owner 

disclosures will not be resolved through 

the eDisclosure system, but instead EPA 

will resolve these manually. New 

owners may elect to use the eDisclosure 

system to disclose future violations, but 

doing so will not provide New Owner 

treatment. To provide New Owner 

consideration, EPA will continue to 

accept and manually process new owner 

disclosures outside of the eDisclosure 

system pursuant to EPA’s New Owner 

Policy, and EPA will enter into audit 

agreements as appropriate with new 

owners. 

C. No Routine Requests for Audit 

Reports 

As discussed in the revised Audit 

Policy at 65 FR 19620, EPA reaffirms its 

policy, in effect since 1986, to refrain 

from routine requests for audit reports. 

EPA has not requested, and will not 

routinely request, copies of audit reports 

to trigger enforcement investigations. In 

general, an audit that results in 

expeditious correction will reduce 

liability, not expand it. If, however, the 

Agency has independent evidence that 

there may be violations, it may seek the 

information it needs to establish the 

extent and nature of the violation and 

the degree of culpability. 

D. Opposition to Audit Privilege and 

Immunity 

As discussed in the revised Audit 

Policy at 65 FR 19623, EPA reaffirms its 

opposition to audit privilege and 

immunity. EPA remains opposed to 

state legislation that does not reserve the 

right to bring independent action 

against regulated entities for violations 

of federal law that threaten human 

health or the environment, reflect 

criminal conduct, or show repeated 

noncompliance. EPA also opposes 

legislation that bars enforcement in a 

way that allows one company to profit 

at the expense of its law-abiding 

competitors. See ‘‘Statement of 

Principles, Effect of State Audit 

Immunity/Privilege Laws on 

Enforcement Authority for Federal 

Programs,’’ dated February 14, 1997. 

The Agency opposes statutory immunity 

because it diminishes law enforcement’s 

ability to discourage wrongful behavior 

and interferes with a regulator’s ability 

to enforce against individuals who 

disregard the law and place others in 

danger. 

III. EPA Approach to FOIA Requests 

Seeking Disclosures 

EPA has always considered resolved 

Audit Policy disclosures to be publicly 

releasable under the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) (see 1997 Memo 

from Steven A. Herman, 

‘‘Confidentiality of Information 

Received Under Agency’s SelfDisclosure Policy,’’ available at http://

www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/

documents/sahmemo.pdf). EPA is 

continuing such approach. This means 

that FOIA requests for eNODs generally 

will be granted, particularly since the 

eDisclosure system warns users that it is 

inappropriate to submit in the online 

portal any confidential business 

information (CBI) or information that 

would constitute an unwarranted 

invasion of any person’s privacy (e.g., 

social security numbers, birth dates, 

medical records, personal financial 

information, or other private 

information). 

The 1997 memo also states that EPA 

generally will withhold unresolved 

disclosures pursuant to the FOIA ‘‘law 

enforcement proceeding’’ exemption, 

Exemption 7(A). By this Notice, EPA is 

effectively revising the 1997 Steve 

Herman memorandum to eliminate the 

presumption in favor of withholding 

unresolved disclosures and to replace it 

with a presumption in favor of 

disclosure. This change is consistent 

with the 2009 open government and 

transparency memoranda from 

President Obama and Attorney General 

Eric Holder. See http://www.justice.gov/ 

sites/default/files/oip/legacy/2014/07/

23/foia-memorandum.pdf. Therefore, in 

response to any FOIA requests for 

individual unresolved disclosures, EPA 

instead will determine on a case-by-case 

basis whether it reasonably foresees that 

release would harm an interest 

protected by a FOIA exemption. In 

doing so, EPA will endeavor to be as 

accommodating as possible in 

responding to such requests, and EPA 

generally expects to make Category 1 

and Category 2 disclosures publicly 

available within a relatively short 

period of time after their receipt. 

EPA believes that this change is 

appropriate in part because it generally 

expects to spot check Category 1 

disclosures and screen Category 2 

disclosures within a few months after 

their submission and will determine at 

that time whether further investigation 

or other action is warranted. It is 

possible that disclosures involving 

longer requests for a violation correction 

extension could cause EPA to withhold 

such disclosures under FOIA, but that 

would be determined on a case-by-case 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 236 / Wednesday, December 9, 2015 / Notices 76481 

basis as noted above. EPA also notes 

that entities with wholly past violations 

and no outstanding noncompliance 

likely face little, if any, risk of citizen 

suit exposure. Accordingly, regardless 

whether the disclosed violations are 

resolved, EPA is optimistic that 

responsible disclosing entities will not 

be dissuaded from disclosing violations. 

IV. Applicability 

The Audit Policy, Small Business 

Compliance Policy, and New Owner 

Policy are policies that guide the 

Agency in the exercise of its 

enforcement discretion. They are not 

rules or regulations, and they are not 

intended, nor can they be relied upon, 

to create any rights enforceable by any 

party in litigation with the United 

States. The policies and how they are 

implemented may be revised without 

public notice to reflect changes in EPA’s 

approach to providing incentives for 

self-policing by regulated entities, or to 

clarify and update the policies as 

necessary. 

IV. Effective Date 

These modifications to the 

implementation of EPA’s Audit Policy 

and Small Business Compliance Policy 

are effective on December 9, 2015. 

Dated: November 30, 2015. 

Cynthia Giles, 

Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and 

Compliance Assurance. 

[FR Doc. 2015–30928 Filed 12–8–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OPP–2015–0301; FRL–9939–34] 

Pesticide Emergency Exemptions; 

Agency Decisions and State and 

Federal Agency Crisis Declarations 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: EPA has granted or denied 

emergency exemptions under the 

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for use of 

pesticides as listed in this notice. The 

exemptions or denials were granted 

during the period July 1, 2015 to 

September 30, 2015 to control 

unforeseen pest outbreaks. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Lewis, Registration Division 

(7505P), Office of Pesticide Programs, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC 20460–0001; main telephone 

number: (703) 305–7090; email address: 

RDFRNotices@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you are an agricultural 

producer, food manufacturer, or 

pesticide manufacturer. The following 

list of North American Industrial 

Classification System (NAICS) codes is 

not intended to be exhaustive, but rather 

provides a guide to help readers 

determine whether this document 

applies to them. Potentially affected 

entities may include: 

• Crop production (NAICS code 111). 

• Animal production (NAICS code 

112). 

• Food manufacturing (NAICS code 

311). 

• Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS 

code 32532). 

If you have any questions regarding 

the applicability of this action to a 

particular entity, consult the person 

listed at the end of the emergency 

exemption or denial. 

B. 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–OPP–2015–0301 is available 

at http://www.regulations.gov or at the 

Office of Pesticide Programs Regulatory 

Public Docket (OPP Docket) in the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Docket Center (EPA/DC), West William 

Jefferson Clinton Bldg., Rm. 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 

20460–0001. 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 OPP 

Docket is (703) 305–5805. Please review 

the visitor instructions and additional 

information about the docket available 

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

II. Background 

EPA has granted or denied emergency 

exemptions to the following State and 

Federal agencies. The emergency 

exemptions may take the following 

form: Crisis, public health, quarantine, 

or specific. EPA has also listed denied 

emergency exemption requests in this 

notice. 

Under FIFRA section 18 (7 U.S.C. 

136p), EPA can authorize the use of a 

pesticide when emergency conditions 

exist. Authorizations (commonly called 

emergency exemptions) are granted to 

State and Federal agencies and are of 

four types: 

1. A ‘‘specific exemption’’ authorizes 

use of a pesticide against specific pests 

on a limited acreage in a particular 

State. Most emergency exemptions are 

specific exemptions. 

2. ‘‘Quarantine’’ and ‘‘public health’’ 

exemptions are emergency exemptions 

issued for quarantine or public health 

purposes. These are rarely requested. 

3. A ‘‘crisis exemption’’ is initiated by 

a State or Federal agency (and is 

confirmed by EPA) when there is 

insufficient time to request and obtain 

EPA permission for use of a pesticide in 

an emergency. 

EPA may deny an emergency 

exemption: If the State or Federal 

agency cannot demonstrate that an 

emergency exists, if the use poses 

unacceptable risks to the environment, 

or if EPA cannot reach a conclusion that 

the proposed pesticide use is likely to 

result in ‘‘a reasonable certainty of no 

harm’’ to human health, including 

exposure of residues of the pesticide to 

infants and children. 

If the emergency use of the pesticide 

on a food or feed commodity would 

result in pesticide chemical residues, 

EPA establishes a time-limited tolerance 

meeting the ‘‘reasonable certainty of no 

harm standard’’ of the Federal Food, 

Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). 

In this document: EPA identifies the 

State or Federal agency granted the 

exemption or denial, the type of 

exemption, the pesticide authorized and 

the pests, the crop or use for which 

authorized, number of acres (if 

applicable), and the duration of the 

exemption. EPA also gives the Federal 

Register citation for the time-limited 

tolerance, if any. 

III. Emergency Exemptions and Denials 

A. U.S. States and Territories 

California 

Department of Environmental Protection 

Crisis exemption: On August 27, 2015 

the California Department of 

Environmental Protection declared a 

crisis for the use of methoxyfenozide on 

rice to control armyworms. 

Delaware 

Department of Agriculture 

Specific Exemption: EPA authorized 

the use of dinotefuran on pome fruit and 

stone fruit to control the brown 

marmorated stinkbug; July 16, 2015 to 

October 15, 2015. 

Florida 

Department of Agriculture and 

Consumer Services 

Specific Exemption: EPA authorized 

the use of streptomycin sulfate on 

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