41372 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 134 / Wednesday, July 13, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Industry and Security 

15 CFR Part 714 

[Docket No. 100817371–0505–01] 

Impact of Reducing the Mixture 

Concentration Threshold for 

Commercial Schedule 3 Chemical 

Activities Under the Chemical 

Weapons Convention Regulations 

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and 

Security, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of inquiry. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Industry and 

Security (BIS) is seeking public 

comments on the impact of amending 

the Chemical Weapons Convention 

Regulations (CWCR) to reduce the 

concentration level at which the CWCR 

exempt certain mixtures containing 

Schedule 3 chemicals from the 

declaration requirements that apply to 

Schedule 3 chemical production and the 

reporting requirements that apply to 

exports and imports of Schedule 3 

chemicals under the Chemical Weapons 

Convention (CWC). 

BIS is considering amending the 

CWCR declaration requirements that 

apply to the production of Schedule 3 

chemicals to conform with the low 

concentration exemption adopted by the 

Organization for the Prohibition of 

Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 2003, 

which applies when the concentration 

of any single Schedule 3 chemical in a 

mixture is ‘‘30% or less,’’ by weight or 

volume (whichever yields the lesser 

percent). Currently, the CWCR do not 

require the quantity of a Schedule 3 

chemical contained in a mixture to be 

counted for declaration or reporting 

purposes if the concentration of the 

Schedule 3 chemical in the mixture is 

‘‘less than 80%’’ by volume or weight 

(whichever yields the lesser percent). 

The current low concentration level was 

implemented in accordance with 

requirements set forth in the Chemical 

Weapons Convention Implementation 

Act (CWCIA). Accordingly, publication 

and implementation of regulatory 

changes affecting this low concentration 

exemption level would be contingent 

upon amendment of the CWCIA by the 

Congress. 

In addition, consistent with U.S. 

national discretion, BIS is considering 

amending the CWCR reporting 

requirements for exports and imports of 

Schedule 3 chemicals by reducing the 

low concentration exemption that 

applies to certain mixtures containing 

Schedule 3 chemicals from the current 

low concentration level of ‘‘less than 

80%’’ of a Schedule 3 chemical by 

volume or weight (whichever yields the 

lesser percent) to a concentration of 

‘‘30% or less.’’ 

DATES: Comments are due August 12, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: wfisher@bis.doc.gov. 

Include the phrase ‘‘Schedule 3 Notice 

of Inquiry’’ in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Fax: (202) 482–3355 (Attn: Willard 

Fisher). Please alert the Regulatory 

Policy Division, by calling (202) 482– 

2440, if you are faxing comments. 

• Mail or Hand Delivery/Courier: 

Willard Fisher, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Bureau of Industry and 

Security, Regulatory Policy Division, 

14th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW., Room 2705, Washington, DC 

20230. 

Send comments regarding the collection 

of information identified in this notice 

of inquiry, including suggestions for 

reducing the burden, to Jasmeet Seehra, 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), by e-mail to 

Jasmeet_K._Seehra@omb.eop.gov, or by 

fax to (202) 395–7285; and to the 

Regulatory Policy Division, Bureau of 

Industry and Security, Department of 

Commerce, 14th Street & Pennsylvania 

Avenue, NW., Room 2705, Washington, 

DC 20230. Comments on this collection 

of information should be submitted 

separately from comments on the notice 

of inquiry—all comments on the latter 

should be submitted by one of the three 

methods outlined above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions on the CWC requirements for 

Schedule 3 chemicals, contact Douglas 

Brown, Treaty Compliance Division, 

Office of Nonproliferation and Treaty 

Compliance, Bureau of Industry and 

Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Phone: (202) 482–2163. For questions 

on the submission of comments, contact 

Willard Fisher, Regulatory Policy 

Division, Office of Exporter Services, 

Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Phone: (202) 

482–2440. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Convention on the Prohibition of 

the Development, Production, 

Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical 

Weapons and Their Destruction, 

commonly called the Chemical 

Weapons Convention (CWC or ‘‘the 

Convention’’), is an international arms 

control and nonproliferation treaty that 

established the Organization for the 

Prohibition of Chemical Weapons 

(OPCW) to implement the verification 

provisions of the treaty. The CWC 

imposes a number of obligations on 

countries that have ratified the 

Convention (States Parties), including 

enactment of legislation to prohibit the 

production, storage, and use of chemical 

weapons, and establishment of a 

National Authority to liaison with the 

OPCW and other States Parties. The 

CWC also requires States Parties to 

implement a comprehensive data 

declaration and inspection regime to 

provide transparency and to verify that 

both the public and private sectors of 

States Parties are not engaged in 

activities prohibited under the CWC. 

Part VIII, paragraph 5 of the 

Verification Annex to the CWC 

(Schedule 3 Regime) provides that 

declarations ‘‘are generally not required 

for mixtures containing a low 

concentration of a Schedule 3 chemical’’ 

and that the Conference of the States 

Parties to the Convention would 

consider and approve guidelines to 

establish the appropriate ‘‘low 

concentration’’ exemption level. 

Schedule 3 chemicals, as set forth in the 

Convention’s ‘‘Annex on Chemicals,’’ 

include those chemicals and precursors 

identified in the Convention as posing 

a risk to the object and purpose of the 

Convention, but less than the ‘‘high’’ or 

‘‘significant’’ risk identified in the 

Convention with regard to Schedule 1 

and Schedule 2 chemicals, respectively. 

The Department of Commerce, Bureau 

of Industry and Security (BIS) 

administers the Chemical Weapons 

Convention Regulations (CWCR) (15 

CFR parts 710–722), which implement 

provisions of the Chemical Weapons 

Implementation Act of 1998 (CWCIA) 

(22 U.S.C. 6701 et seq.). At the time that 

the CWCIA was enacted, the OPCW had 

not yet established guidelines 

concerning low concentration limits for 

declarations of Schedule 3 chemicals. In 

section 402(a)(2) of the CWCIA (22 

U.S.C. 6742(a)(2)), Congress set 80% as 

the concentration of any Schedule 3 

chemical in a mixture, below which the 

CWC’s declaration, reporting and 

inspection requirements do not apply. 

Consistent with the CWCIA, the CWCR 

do not require that the quantity of a 

Schedule 3 chemical contained in a 

mixture be counted for declaration or 

reporting purposes if the concentration 

of the Schedule 3 chemical in the 

mixture is ‘‘less than 80%’’ by volume 

or weight, whichever yields the lesser 

percent. 

The declaration and reporting 

requirements in the CWC that affect 

commercial activities involving 

Schedule 3 chemicals are described in 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 134 / Wednesday, July 13, 2011 / Proposed Rules 41373 

part 714 of the CWCR. These CWCR 

provisions: 

(1) Require annual declarations by 

certain facilities (i.e., ‘‘declared’’ 

Schedule 3 ‘‘plant sites’’) that were 

engaged in the production of a Schedule 

3 chemical in excess of 30 metric tons 

during the previous calendar year, or 

which anticipate engaging in such 

production in the next calendar year (15 

CFR 714.1(a)(1)); 

(2) Require that the calculation of the 

quantity of any Schedule 3 chemical 

that is produced must include the 

quantities produced in mixtures, if the 

concentration of the Schedule 3 

chemical in the mixture is equal to or 

greater than 80% by volume or by 

weight, whichever yields the lesser 

percent (15 CFR 714.1(a)(3)); 

(3) Define Schedule 3 chemical 

production to include all steps in the 

production of a Schedule 3 chemical in 

any units within the same plant through 

chemical reaction, including any 

associated processes (e.g., purification, 

separation, extraction, distillation, or 

refining) in which the chemical is not 

converted into another chemical (15 

CFR 714.1(a)(2)); 

(4) Provide that all ‘‘declared 

Schedule 3’’ plant sites are subject to 

routine inspection by the OPCW (15 

CFR 714.1(e)); and 

(5) Require persons, plant sites, and 

trading companies to submit annual 

reports of exports and imports of any 

Schedule 3 chemical to, or from, other 

destinations if the total quantity that 

was exported or imported exceeded 30 

metric tons of a Schedule 3 chemical (15 

CFR 714.2(a)). 

During the OPCW’s Fifth Session of 

the Conference of the States Parties to 

the Convention, which was held in The 

Hague, Netherlands, on May 19, 2000, 

the States Parties established guidelines 

concerning low concentration limits for 

declarations of Schedule 3 chemicals. 

Specifically, the States Parties agreed 

that the Convention’s declaration and 

reporting requirements would not apply 

to a chemical mixture in which the 

concentration of any single Schedule 3 

chemical is ‘‘30% or less’’ by volume or 

weight, whichever yields the lesser 

percent. This agreement is documented 

in OPCW decision C–V/DEC.19 and can 

be obtained from the OPCW Web site 

(www.opcw.org). Accordingly, if U.S. 

requirements are to mirror the low 

concentration exemption level adopted 

by the OPCW after the enactment of the 

CWCIA, both statutory and regulatory 

changes must be implemented. 

Discussion and Request for Comments 

BIS is seeking public comments on 

the potential effects of amending the 

CWCR declaration requirements that 

apply to the production of Schedule 3 

chemicals by reducing the exemption 

for mixtures containing low 

concentrations of Schedule 3 chemicals 

from the current level of ‘‘less than 

80%’’ by volume or weight (whichever 

yields the lesser percent) to a 

concentration of ‘‘30% or less’’ by 

volume or weight (whichever yields the 

lesser percent). These comments will 

assist BIS in assessing the impact of this 

change on U.S. persons involved in the 

production of Schedule 3 chemicals. 

Additionally, BIS is seeking public 

comments on the potential effects of 

amending the CWCR reporting 

requirements that apply to certain 

exports and imports of Schedule 3 

chemicals by reducing the exemption 

for mixtures containing low 

concentrations of Schedule 3 chemicals 

from the current level of ‘‘less than 

80%’’ by volume or weight (whichever 

yields the lesser percent) to a 

concentration of ‘‘30% or less’’ by 

volume or weight (whichever yields the 

lesser percent). 

In particular, BIS seeks comments on 

the potential impact of these changes on 

costs, operations, and trade. 

Furthermore, BIS is seeking public 

comments on the anticipated impact of 

these changes with respect to an 

existing collection of information 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (PRA). 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, no person is required to respond to, 

nor shall any person be subject to a 

penalty for failure to comply with, a 

collection of information subject to the 

PRA, unless that collection of 

information displays a currently valid 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) Control Number. The changes 

that are being considered by BIS would 

revise an existing collection of 

information subject to the requirements 

of the PRA. This collection has been 

approved by OMB under Control 

Number 0694–0091 (Chemical Weapons 

Convention—Declaration and Report 

Forms), which carries burden hour 

estimates of 10.6 hours for Schedule 1 

Chemicals, 11.9 hours for Schedule 2 

chemicals, 2.5 hours for Schedule 3 

chemicals, 5.3/5.1/5.1 hours for 

unscheduled discrete organic chemicals 

(includes Annual Declaration on Past 

Activities, No Changes Authorization 

Form, and Change in Inspection Status 

Form, respectively), and 0.17 hours for 

Schedule 1 notifications. 

Specifically, these changes would 

affect this approved information 

collection with respect to information 

collection activities (e.g., declarations, 

reports, recordkeeping) involving CWC 

Schedule 3 chemicals that are subject to 

declaration and/or reporting 

requirements under the CWCR. In this 

regard, BIS is seeking comments that 

address the anticipated impact of the 

changes being considered by BIS on the 

burden hours and costs associated with 

Schedule 3 chemical activities under 

this approved information collection. 

Send comments regarding this 

collection of information, including 

suggestions for reducing the burden, to 

Jasmeet Seehra, Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB), and to the 

Regulatory Policy Division, Bureau of 

Industry and Security, Department of 

Commerce, as indicated in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

Submission of Comments 

All comments must be submitted to 

the address indicated in this notice. The 

Department requires that all comments 

be submitted in written form. 

The Department encourages interested 

persons who wish to comment to do so 

at the earliest possible time. The period 

for submission of comments will close 

on August 12, 2011. The Department 

will consider all comments received 

before the close of the comment period. 

Comments received after the end of the 

comment period will be considered, if 

possible, but their consideration cannot 

be assured. The Department will not 

accept comments accompanied by a 

request that a part or all of the material 

be treated confidentially because of its 

business proprietary nature or for any 

other reason. The Department will 

return such comments and materials to 

the persons submitting the comments 

and will not consider them. All 

comments submitted in response to this 

notice will be a matter of public record 

and will be available for public 

inspection and copying. 

The Office of Administration, Bureau 

of Industry and Security, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, displays 

public comments on the BIS Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) Web site at 

http://www.bis.doc.gov/foia. This office 

does not maintain a separate public 

inspection facility. If you have technical 

difficulties accessing this Web site, 

please call BIS’s Office of 

Administration, at (202) 482–2165, for 

assistance. 

Dated: July 1, 2011. 

Matthew S. Borman, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–17489 Filed 7–12–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–33–P 

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