Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 126 / Monday, July 1, 2002 / Notices 44197

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. The OMB control 

numbers for EPA’s regulations are listed 

in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15. 

The Agency today begins an effort to 

examine the notification forms and 

consider options for reducing their 

burden and increasing the usefulness of 

the information these forms collect. The 

Agency would appreciate any 

information on the users of this 

information, how they use this 

information, how the information could 

be improved, and how the burden for 

these forms can be reduced. 

Therefore, the EPA would like to 

solicit comments to: 

(i) Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

(ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

(iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(iv) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

Burden Statement: The estimated 

average burden for renewing the 

existing notification ICR is 4.25 hours 

per respondent for initial notifications 

and 1.84 hours per respondent for 

subsequent notifications. This estimates 

for the notification ICR includes all 

aspects of the information collection 

including time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data 

sources, gathering data, and completing 

and reviewing the form. 

EPA estimates that the number of 

respondents per year for notifications is 

31,125 (16,174 initial notifications and 

14,951 subsequent notifications). For 

this ICR, collection occurs one time per 

respondent, unless regulations are 

revised and promulgated. Timing of the 

submission of the notification is 

variable depending on the status of the 

respondent and the timing of the 

promulgation of the regulations. The 

estimated total annual burden on 

respondents for initial and subsequent 

notifications is 96,250 hours. These 

estimates of total annual burden reflect 

a decrease in burden of 3.9% for all 

notifications when compared with the 

previously approved ICR (1999). 

Burden means the total time, effort, or 

financial resources expended by persons 

to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose 

or provide information to or for a 

Federal agency. This includes the time 

needed to review instructions; develop, 

acquire, install, and utilize technology 

and systems for the purposes of 

collecting, validating, and verifying 

information, processing and 

maintaining information, and disclosing 

and providing information; adjust the 

existing ways to comply with any 

previously applicable instructions and 

requirements; train personnel to be able 

to respond to a collection of 

information; search data sources; 

complete and review the collection of 

information; and transmit or otherwise 

disclose the information.

Dated: June 7, 2002. 

Elizabeth A. Cotsworth, 

Director, Office of Solid Waste.

[FR Doc. 02–16464 Filed 6–28–02; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[OEI–10016; FRL–6723–9] 

Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; 

Alternate Threshold for Low Annual 

Reportable Amounts; Request for 

Comment on Renewal Information 

Collection

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq.), this notice announces that 

EPA is planning to submit the following 

continuing Information Collection 

Request (ICR) to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

pursuant to the procedures described in 

5 CFR 1320.12: Alternate Threshold for 

Low Annual Reportable Amounts, Toxic 

Chemical Release Reporting (EPA ICR 

No. 1704.06, OMB No. 2070–0143). This 

ICR covers the reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements associated 

with reporting under the alternate 

threshold for reporting to the Toxics 

Release Inventory (TRI), which appear 

in 40 CFR part 372. 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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9 

and 48 CFR Chapter 15. Before 

submitting the ICR to OMB for review 

and approval, EPA is soliciting 

comments on specific aspects of the 

proposed information collection as 

described below.

DATES: Comments, identified by the 

docket control number OEI–10016, must 

be submitted on or before August 30, 

2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by mail, electronically, or in 

person. Please follow the detailed 

instructions for each method as 

provided in Unit III. of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For general 

information, contact The Emergency 

Planning and Community Right-toKnow Hotline at (800) 424–9346 or 

(703) 412–9810, TDD (800)553–7672, 

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hotline/.

For technical information about this ICR 

renewal, contact: Judith Kendall, Toxics 

Release Inventory Program Division, 

OEI (2844T), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460, Telephone: 

202–566–0750; Fax: 202–566–0727; 

email: kendall.judith@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Does This Notice Apply to Me? 

A. Affected Entities: Entities that will 

be affected by this action are those 

facilities that manufacture, process, or 

otherwise use certain toxic chemicals 

listed on the Toxics Release Inventory 

(TRI) and which are required under 

section 313 of the Emergency Planning 

and Community Right-to-Know Act of 

1986 (EPCRA), to report annually to 

EPA their environmental releases of 

such chemicals. 

Currently, those industries with the 

following SIC code designations (that 

meet all other threshold criteria for TRI 

reporting) must report toxic chemical 

releases and other waste management 

activities: 

• 20–39, manufacturing sector

• 10, metal mining (except for SIC 

codes 1011, 1081, and 1094) 

• 12, coal mining (except for SIC code 

1241 and extraction activities) 

• 4911, 4931 and 4939, electrical 

utilities that combust coal and/or oil for 

the purpose of generating power for 

distribution in commerce. 

• 4953, RCRA Subtitle C hazardous 

waste treatment and disposal facilities 

• 5169, chemicals and allied products 

wholesale distributors 

• 5171, petroleum bulk plants and 

terminals 

• 7389, solvent recovery services, and 

• federal facilities in any SIC code 

To determine whether you or your 

business is affected by this action, you 

should carefully examine the 

44198 Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 126 / Monday, July 1, 2002 / Notices 

applicability provisions at 40 CFR part 

372 and section 4(a) of the Supporting 

Statement of the information collection. 

If you have any questions regarding the 

applicability of this action to a 

particular entity, consult the person(s) 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

II. How Can I Get Additional 

Information or Copies of This 

Document and Other Support 

Documents: 

A. Electronic Availability 

Internet 

Electronic copies of the ICR are 

available from the EPA Home Page at 

the Federal Register—Environmental 

Documents entry for this document 

under ‘‘Laws and Regulations’’ (http://

www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/). An electronic 

copy of the collection instrument 

referenced in this ICR and instructions 

for its completion are available at

http://www.epa.gov/triinter/#forms.

In Person 

The Agency has established an official 

record for this action under docket 

control number OEI–10016. The official 

record consists of the documents 

specifically referenced in this action, 

any public comments received during 

an applicable comment period, and 

other information related to this action, 

including any information claimed as 

Confidential Business Information (CBI). 

This official record includes the 

documents that are physically located in 

the docket, as well as the documents 

that are referenced in those documents. 

The public version of the official record 

does not include any information 

claimed as CBI. The public version of 

the official record, which includes 

printed, paper versions of any electronic 

comments submitted during an 

applicable comment period, is available 

for inspection in the TSCA 

Nonconfidential Information Center, 

North East Mall Rm. B–607, Waterside 

Mall, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC. 

The Center is open from noon to 4 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The telephone number of the 

Center is (202) 260–7099. 

III. How Can I Respond to This Notice? 

A. How and to Whom Do I Submit 

Comments? 

You may submit comments through 

the mail, in person, or electronically. Be 

sure to identify the appropriate docket 

control number (i.e., ‘‘OEI–10016’’) in 

your correspondence. 

1. By mail. All comments should be 

sent in triplicate to: Document Control 

Office (7407), Office of Pollution 

Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Ariel Rios 

Building, Washington, DC 20460.

2. In person or by courier. Comments 

may be delivered in person or by courier 

to: OPPT Document Control Office 

(DCO) in East Tower Rm. G–099, 

Waterside Mall, 401 M St., SW., 

Washington, DC. The DCO is open from 

8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 

telephone number for the DCO is (202) 

260–7093. 

3. Electronically. Submit your 

comments electronically by e-mail to: 

‘‘oppt.ncic@epa.gov.’’ Please note that 

you should not submit any information 

electronically that you consider to be 

CBI. Electronic comments must be 

submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the 

use of special characters and any form 

of encryption. Comments and data will 

also be accepted on standard computer 

disks in WordPerfect 6.1/8.0 or ASCII 

file format. All comments and data in 

electronic form must be identified by 

the docket control number OEI–10016. 

Electronic comments on this document 

may also be filed online at many Federal 

Depository Libraries. 

B. How Should I Handle CBI 

Information That I Want To Submit to 

the Agency? 

All comments which contain 

information claimed as CBI must be 

clearly marked as such. Three sanitized 

copies of any comments containing 

information claimed as CBI must also be 

submitted and will be placed in the 

public record for this document. 

Persons submitting information on any 

portion of which they believe is entitled 

to treatment as CBI by EPA must assert 

a business confidentiality claim in 

accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) for 

each such portion. This claim must be 

made at the time that the information is 

submitted to EPA. If a submitter does 

not assert a confidentiality claim at the 

time of submission, EPA will consider 

this as a waiver of any confidentiality 

claim and the information may be made 

available to the public by EPA without 

further notice to the submitter. 

C. What Information Is EPA Particularly 

Interested In? 

Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(a) of 

the PRA, EPA specifically solicits 

comments and information to enable it 

to:

(i) Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary for the 

proper performance of the functions of the 

Agency, including whether the information 

will have practical utility; 

(ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and assumptions 

used; 

(iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected; and 

(iv) Minimize the burden of the collection 

of information on those who are to respond, 

including through the use of appropriate 

automated electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or other 

forms of information technology, e.g., 

permitting electronic submission of 

responses.

In addition, EPA is requesting 

comment on a minor change to 

Certification Form A in this ICR. 

Facilities will be required to supply an 

e-mail address on the Form A that will 

help to facilitate better lines of 

communication between EPA and 

facilities reporting to TRI. 

IV. To What Information Collection 

Activity or ICR Does This Notice 

Apply? 

EPA is seeking comments on the 

following ICR, as well as the Agency’s 

intention to renew the corresponding 

OMB approval, which is currently 

scheduled to expire on January 31, 

2003. 

Title: Alternate Threshold for Low 

Annual Reportable Amounts.

ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1704.06, 

OMB No. 2070–0143. 

Abstract: EPCRA section 313 requires 

certain facilities manufacturing, 

processing, or otherwise using certain 

toxic chemicals in excess of specified 

threshold quantities to report their 

environmental releases of such 

chemicals annually. Each such facility 

must file a separate report for each such 

chemical. 

In accordance with the authority in 

EPCRA, EPA has established an 

alternate threshold for those facilities 

with low amounts of a listed toxic 

chemical in wastes. A facility that 

otherwise meets the current reporting 

thresholds, but estimates that the total 

amount of the chemical in waste does 

not exceed 500 pounds per year, and 

that the chemical was manufactured, 

processed, or otherwise used in an 

amount not exceeding 1 million pounds 

during the reporting year, can take 

advantage of reporting under the 

alternate threshold option for that 

chemical for that reporting year. 

Each qualifying facility that chooses 

to apply the revised threshold must file 

the Form A Certification Statement 

(EPA Form 9350–2) in lieu of a 

complete TRI reporting Form R (EPA 

Form 9350–1). In submitting the Form A 

certification statement, the facility 

certifies that the sum of the amount of 

Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 126 / Monday, July 1, 2002 / Notices 44199

the EPCRA section 313 chemical in 

wastes did not exceed 500 pounds for 

the reporting year, and that the chemical 

was manufactured, processed, or 

otherwise used in an amount not 

exceeding 1 million pounds during the 

reporting year. Use of the Form A 

certification represents a substantial 

savings to respondents, both in burden 

hours and in labor costs. 

The Form A certification statement 

provides communities with information 

that the chemical is being 

manufactured, processed or otherwise 

used at facilities. Additionally, the Form 

A certification provides compliance 

monitoring and enforcement programs 

and other interested parties with a 

means to track chemical management 

activities and verify overall compliance 

with the rule. Responses to this 

collection of information are mandatory 

(see 40 CFR part 372) and facilities 

subject to reporting must submit either 

a Form A certification or a Form R. 

V. What Are EPA’s Burden and Cost 

Estimates for This ICR? 

Under the PRA, ‘‘burden’’ means the 

total time, effort, or financial resources 

expended by persons to generate, 

maintain, retain, or disclose or provide 

information to or for a federal agency. 

For this collection, it includes the time 

needed to review instructions; develop, 

acquire, install, and utilize technology 

and systems for the purposes of 

collecting, validating, and verifying 

information, processing and 

maintaining information, and disclosing 

and providing information; adjust the 

existing ways to comply with any 

previously applicable instructions and 

requirements; train personnel to be able 

to respond to a collection of 

information; search data sources; 

complete and review the collection of 

information; and transmit or otherwise 

disclose the information. 

The annual public burden for this 

collection of information, which is 

approved under OMB Control No. 2070–

0143, is estimated to average 13.7 hours 

for facilities submitting a Form A 

certification statement for a single listed 

chemical. By comparison, the average 

time required for calculations, form 

completion and record keeping/mailing 

for Form R is estimated to average 19.5 

hours per form. Thus, for a facility filing 

a Form A certification for a single 

chemical, the alternate threshold yields 

an average savings of 5.8 hours. 

The ICR supporting statement 

provides a detailed explanation of the 

burden estimates that are summarized 

in this notice. The following is a 

summary of the estimates taken from the 

ICR supporting statement:

Estimated No. of Respondents: 5,451 

respondents. 

Frequency of Responses: Annual. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 145,534 burden hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden Costs:

$6.35 million. 

VI. Are There Changes in the Estimates 

From the Last Approval? 

The estimated burden described 

above differs from what is currently in 

OMB’s inventory for alternate threshold 

reporting: 14,793 responses (chemicals) 

and 644,761 burden hours. The burden 

estimated in this supporting statement 

differs from OMB’s inventory as a result 

of adjustments to estimates of the 

number of responses (from 14,793 

responses (chemicals) to 5,121 

responses (Form As)), changes to unit 

reporting burden estimates (from 30.2 to 

9.2 burden hours per chemical certified 

on a Form A), and an adjustment for use 

of TRI–ME, EPA’s intelligent report 

software (an additional burden 

reduction of 3.1 hours per chemical 

certified on a Form A) for those forms 

completed using TRI–ME. These 

changes are described in greater detail 

in the supporting statement for this ICR, 

available in the public version of the 

official record. 

VII. What Is the Next Step in the 

Process for This ICR? 

EPA will consider the comments 

received and amend the ICR as 

appropriate. The final ICR package will 

then be submitted to OMB for review 

and approval pursuant to 5 CFR 

1320.12. EPA will issue another Federal 

Register notice pursuant to 5 CFR 

1320.5(a)(1)(iv) to announce the 

submission of the ICR to OMB and the 

opportunity to submit additional 

comments to OMB. If you have any 

questions about this ICR or the approval 

process, please contact the person(s) 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 372

Environmental protection, 

Information collection requests, 

Reporting and record keeping 

requirements.

Dated: June 24, 2002. 

Ramona Trovato, 

Acting Assistant Administrator and Chief 

Information Officer, Office of Environmental 

Information.

[FR Doc. 02–16479 Filed 6–28–02; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–7239–6] 

National Advisory Council for 

Environmental Policy and Technology

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: Under the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, P.L. 92463, EPA gives 

notice of a meeting of the National 

Advisory Council for Environmental 

Policy and Technology (NACEPT). 

NACEPT provides advice and 

recommendations to the Administrator 

of EPA on a broad range of 

environmental policy and management 

issues. 

NACEPT consists of a representative 

cross-section of EPA’s partners and 

principle constituents who provide 

advice and recommendations on policy 

issues and serve as a sounding board for 

new strategies that the Agency is 

developing. 

NACEPT will discuss a number of 

issues, including emerging trends facing 

the agency, environmental technology, 

and other program office initiatives. In 

addition, NACEPT will report on the 

work and status of subcommittees and 

workgroups.

DATES: NACEPT will hold a two-day 

public meeting on Thursday, July 18, 

2002, from 8:30 a.m to 5 p.m., and 

Friday, July 19, 2002, from 8:30 a.m. to 

4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Hotel Washington at 515 15th Street 

NW., Washington, DC. The meeting is 

open to the public, with limited seating 

on a first-come, first-served basis.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Joyce, Designated Federal Officer, 

U.S. EPA, Office of Cooperative 

Environmental Management, at (202) 

564–9802. 

Meeting Access: Individuals requiring 

special accommodation at this meeting, 

including wheelchair access, should 

contact Mark Joyce at least five business 

days prior to the meeting so that 

appropriate arrangements can be made.

Dated: June 21, 2002. 

Mark Joyce, 

Designated Federal Officer.

[FR Doc. 02–16462 Filed 6–28–02; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P