Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Notices 30167 

to seek court review of the 

Commission’s final order. 

The Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filings of comments, protests 

and interventions in lieu of paper using 

the eFiling link at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

should submit an original and 5 copies 

of the protest or intervention to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 

20426. 

Dated: June 21, 2018. 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13853 Filed 6–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2017–0559; FRL–9978–62] 

Final Strategic Plan To Promote the 

Development and Implementation of 

Alternative Test Methods Supporting 

the Toxic Substances Control Act 

(TSCA); Notice of Availability 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As required by TSCA, which 

was amended by the Frank R. 

Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st 

Century Act in June 2016, EPA is 

announcing the availability of a 

document entitled: Strategic Plan to 

Promote the Development and 

Implementation of Alternative Test 

Methods Supporting the Toxic 

Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA is 

also making available a response to 

comments document that addresses 

comments received on the draft 

Strategic Plan. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For technical information contact: 

Louis Scarano, Risk Assessment 

Division, Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 

Washington, DC 20460–0001; telephone 

number: 202–564–2851, email address: 

scarano.louis@epa.gov. In addition, 

progress on this activity will be 

periodically updated at the following 

page on the OPPT website at https://

www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managingchemicals-under-tsca. 

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? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you are required to 

conduct testing of chemical substances 

under the Toxic Substances Control Act 

(TSCA). 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. 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: 

• Basic Chemical Manufacturers 

(NAICS code 3251); 

• Resin, Synthetic Rubber, and 

Artificial Synthetic Fibers and Filament 

Manufacturers (NAICS code 3252); 

• Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Other 

Agricultural Chemical Manufacturers 

(NAICS code 3255); 

• Paint, Coating, and Adhesive 

Manufacturers (NAICS code 3255); 

• Other Chemical Product and 

Preparation Manufacturers (NAICS code 

3259); and Petroleum Refineries (NAICS 

code 32411); 

• Animal Welfare Groups; 

• Environmental non-governmental 

organizations; 

• Toxicity testing laboratories 

(contract labs); 

• Academic/non-profit groups 

involved in developing and using 

alternative toxicity test methods. 

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–OPPT–2017–0559, 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 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 available 

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

C. What is the Agency’s authority for 

this action? 

On June 22, 2016, the Frank R. 

Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st 

Century Act amended TSCA (15 U.S.C. 

2601 et seq.), the nation’s primary 

chemicals management law. Along with 

new requirements and deadlines for 

actions related to the regulation of new 

and existing chemicals in the U.S., the 

new law includes changes to TSCA 

section 4 (Testing of Chemical 

Substances and Mixtures). Specifically, 

a new TSCA section 4(h) has been 

added entitled Reduction of Testing on 

Vertebrates. TSCA section 4(h)(2)(A) 

states that EPA shall ‘‘. . ., not later 

than 2 years after June 22, 2016, develop 

a strategic plan to promote the 

development and implementation of 

alternative test methods and strategies 

to reduce, refine, or replace vertebrate 

animal testing and provide information 

of equivalent or better scientific quality 

and relevance for assessing risks of 

injury to health or the 

environment. . .’’. (15 U.S.C. 

2603(h)(2)(A)). 

D. What action is the Agency taking? 

In fulfillment of the requirements in 

TSCA section 4(h)(2)(A), EPA has 

prepared a final Strategic Plan to 

‘‘promote the development and 

implementation of alternative test 

methods and strategies to reduce, refine 

or replace vertebrate animal testing and 

provide information of equivalent or 

better scientific quality and relevance 

for assessing risks of injury to health or 

the environment of chemical substances 

or mixtures . . .’’. The Strategic Plan is 

being made available in both the docket 

and on the EPA website. 

In addition, making available a 

response to comments document that 

addresses comments on the draft 

Strategic Plan received through May 11, 

2018. The response to comment 

document is available in the docket. 

(http://www.regulations.gov; docket ID 

number HQ–OPPT–2017–0559) 

II. Background 

OPPT hosted a public meeting on 

November 2, 2017, in which a 

conceptual approach to this final 

Strategic Plan was presented. Meeting 

materials and public comments received 

through January 10, 2018, can be found 

in the docket (http://

www.regulations.gov; docket ID number 

HQ–OPPT–2017–0559). 

A draft Strategic Plan was published 

on March 12, 2018, along with a 

response to comments document that 

addressed the comments received 

through January 10, 2018. OPPT hosted 

a second public meeting on April 10, 

2018, to receive input from the public 

on the draft Strategic Plan. A docket was 

made available with the meeting 

materials and allowed for comments to 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
30168 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / Notices 

be received through May 11, 2018 

(http://www.regulations.gov; docket ID 

number HQ–OPPT–2017–0559). 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. 

Dated: June 21, 2018. 

E. Scott Pruitt, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13833 Filed 6–26–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2017–0144; FRL–9979–59] 

TSCA Chemical Substances; Unique 

Identifier Assignment and Application 

Policy; Notice of Availability 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As amended in 2016, the 

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) 

requires EPA to develop a system to 

assign a unique identifier (UID) 

whenever it approves a confidential 

business information (CBI) claim for the 

specific chemical identity of a chemical 

substance, to apply this UID to other 

information concerning the same 

chemical substance, and to ensure that 

any non-confidential information 

received by the Agency identifies the 

chemical substance using the UID while 

the specific chemical identity of the 

chemical substance is protected from 

disclosure. EPA previously requested 

comment on several approaches for 

assigning and applying UIDs. EPA has 

determined that it will use a numerical 

identifier that incorporates the year the 

CBI claim was asserted, and will apply 

this UID to non-confidential information 

related to the chemical substance, 

except where the Agency’s act of 

applying the UID would itself disclose 

to the public the confidential specific 

chemical identity that the UID was 

assigned to protect. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For technical information contact: 

Jessica Barkas, Environmental 

Assistance Division, Office of Pollution 

Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460–0001; 

telephone number: (202) 250–8880; 

email address: barkas.jessica@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? 

You may be affected by this action if 

you have submitted or expect to submit 

information to EPA under TSCA. 

Persons who would use UIDs assigned 

by the Agency to seek information may 

also be affected by this action. 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: 

• Manufacturers, importers, or 

processors of chemical substances 

(NAICS codes 325 and 324110), e.g., 

chemical manufacturing and petroleum 

refineries. 

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–OPPT–2017–0144, 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 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 available 

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

II. Background 

A. What is the authority for this action? 

The June 22, 2016, amendments to 

TSCA by the Frank R. Lautenberg 

Chemical Safety for the 21st Century 

Act added a requirement in TSCA 

section 14(g)(4) for EPA to, among other 

things, ‘‘assign a unique identifier to 

each specific chemical identity for 

which the Administrator approves a 

request for protection from disclosure.’’ 

EPA is required to use the ‘‘unique 

identifier assigned under this paragraph 

to protect the specific chemical identity 

in information that the Administrator 

has made public’’ and to ‘‘apply that 

identifier consistently to all information 

relevant to the applicable chemical 

substance,’’ including ‘‘any nonconfidential information received by the 

Administrator with respect to a 

chemical substance . . . while the 

specific chemical identity of the 

chemical substance is protected from 

disclosure.’’ 15 U.S.C. 2613(g)(4). 

B. EPA Sought Public Comment 

The requirements to assign a UID and 

the unreconciled requirements 

concerning application of the UID and 

protection of CBI are more fully 

discussed in a document that published 

in the Federal Register on May 8, 2017. 

(See 82 FR 21386; May 8, 2017; 

hereafter ‘‘May 2017 Federal Register 

document’’.) EPA noted drawbacks to 

each of the two alternative approaches 

discussed in the May 2017 Federal 

Register document, and subsequently 

developed a third alternative approach 

for reconciling the competing 

requirements of TSCA section 14(g), on 

which it requested comment in the 

Federal Register on February 8, 2018. 

(See 83 FR 5623; hereafter ‘‘February 

2018 Federal Register document’’). 

III. Policy 

A. UIDs Will Be a Numerical Identifier 

The UID cannot be the specific 

chemical identity, or a structurally 

descriptive generic term. TSCA section 

14(a)(4)(A)(i). Consequently, EPA has 

developed a system to assign UIDs for 

each substance for which it makes a 

final determination approving a CBI 

claim for specific chemical identity. The 

UID is a number that incorporates the 

year that the claim was asserted (e.g., 

the first approved claim asserted in 

2019 would be UID–2019–00001). 

Including this date will facilitate 

tracking of the expiration of the CBI 

claims for specific chemical identity 

made in that document, pursuant to 

TSCA section 14(e). The reasons for not 

using a preexisting identifier, such as 

the accession number, are further 

explained in the May 2017 Federal 

Register document. Note that in the May 

2017 Federal Register document, it was 

suggested that the UID year would be 

based on year the claim was approved. 

See 82 FR at 21387. However, because 

the year of approval may be different 

from the year the claim was asserted 

(e.g., claims made in December may not 

be approved until the following 

February), and because the initial 

expiration date of the claim runs from 

the point that the claim was asserted, 

EPA determined that the date would 

better facilitate claim expiration 

tracking if it were based on the year the 

claim was asserted. 

B. EPA Will Apply UIDs to Related 

Documents, Except Where It Discloses 

Confidential Chemical Identity 

EPA is adopting the ‘‘third alternative 

approach,’’ as described in the February 


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