ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AG ENCY [EPA-HQ-OEI-2010-0835; FRL ] Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Proposed Collections; Toxic Chemical Rele ase Reporting; Request for Comments on Proposed Renewal of Form R and Form A, In cluding Minor Form Revisions and the RatioBased Burden Methodology AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION : Notice. SUMMARY : In compliance with the Paperwor k Reduction Act (PRA)(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq .), this document announces that an Information Co llection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for re view and approval. This is a request to make changes to and renew an existing appr oved collection. The I CR Supporting Statement, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information colle ction (including proposed minor form revisions) and its estimated burden and cost. DATES : Additional comments may be submitted on or before [insert date 30 days after publication in the Federal Register] ADDRESSES : Submit your comments, referenci ng Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEI-2010-0835, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by email to oei.docket@epa.gov , or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, En vironmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17 th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT : Cassandra Vail, Toxics Release Inventory Program Division, Office of Information An alysis and Access (2844T), Environmental2 Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washingt on, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-566-0753; email address: vail.cassandra@epa.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION : EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On February 11, 2011 (76 FR 7841), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received two comments, which are addressed in the Response to Comments document. Any additional comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice.EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEI2010-0835, which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov , or in person viewing at the OEI Docket, EPA Docket Center (EPA /DC), U.S. EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC. The EP A/DC Public Reading Room is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, exclud ing legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is 202-566-1744, and the tele phone number for the OEI Docket is 202-566- 1752. Use EPA’s electronic docket and comment system at www.regulations.gov , to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of th e contents of the docket, and to access those documents in the docket that are available elect ronically. Once in the system, select “docket search,” then key in the docket ID number iden tified above. Please note that EPA’s policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronical ly or in paper, will be made available for public viewing at www.regulations.gov as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, confidential business information (CBI), or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For furthe r information about the3 electronic docket, go to www.regulations.gov

. Title : Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Request for Comments on Proposed Renewal of Form R and Form A, Including Minor Form Revisions, and the Ratio-B ased Burden Methodology ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1363.21, OMB Control No. 2025-0009. ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on Ju ly 31, 2011. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. EPA expects the renewed ICR will be available for TRI Reporting Year 2011 submissions, which are due by July 1, 2012. 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 numb ers for EPA's regulations in title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, are displayed either by publicati on in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, such as on the related collection instrument or form, if app licable. The display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9. In the past, EPA has issued separate ICRs: 1) EPA ICR No. 1363.20, OMB Control N o. 2025-0009 for Form R and 2) EPA ICR No. 1704.12, OMB Control No. 2025-0010 for Form A. In this ICR Renewal, EPA is transitioning from issuing two separate ICRs to issui ng a single ICR—EPA ICR No. 1363.21, OMB Control No. 2025-0009 that encompasses bot h Form R and Form A. Abstract : Pursuant to section 313 of EPCRA, certain facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use specified toxic chemicals in amounts above reporting threshold levels must submit annually to EPA and to designated State offici als toxic chemical release forms containing information specified by EPA. 42 U.S.C. 11023. In addition, pursuant to section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA), facilities repor ting under section 313 of EPCRA must also report pollution prevention and wa ste management data, includi ng recycling information, for4 such chemicals. 42 U.S.C. 13106. These reports are compiled and stored in EPA’s database known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI); TRI data are made readily available to the public. Regulations at 40 CFR part 372, subpart B, require facilities that meet all of the following criteria to report:
1. The facility has 10 or more full-time em ployee equivalents (i.e., a total of 20,000 hours worked per year or gr eater; see 40 CFR 372.3); and
2. The facility is included in a North Ameri can Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code listed at 40 CFR 372.23 or under Execu tive Order 13148, Federal facilities regardless of their indust ry classification; and
3. The facility manufactures (def ined to include importing), processes, or otherwise uses any EPCRA section 313 (TRI) chemical in quantities greater than the established thresholds for the specific chemical in the course of a calendar year. Facilities that meet the criteria must f ile a Form R report or, in some cases, may submit a Form A Certification Statement, for each listed to xic chemical for which the criteria are met. As specified in EPCRA section 313( a), the report for any calendar year must be submitted on or before July 1 st of the following year. For example, reporting year 2009 data should have been submitted and certified on or before July 1, 2010. The list of toxic chemicals subject to TRI reporting can be found at 40 CFR 372.65. This list is also published every year as Table II in the current version of the Toxics Release Inventory Reporting Forms and Instructions. The current TRI chemical list contains 593 chemicals and 30 chemical categories. TRI data are used by environmental agenci es, industry, and the public. EPA program offices use TRI data, along with other data, to he lp establish programmatic priorities, evaluate potential hazards to human health and the na tural environment, and undertake appropriate5 regulatory and/or enforcement activities. Enviro nmental and public interest groups use the data to better understand toxic chemical releases at the community level and to work with industry, government agencies, and others to promote reduc tions in toxic chemical releases. Industrial facilities use the TRI data to evaluate the effi ciency of their production processes and to help track and communicate their progress in achieving pollution prevention goals. The TRI data are unique in providing a multi-media (air, water, and land) picture of toxic chemical releases, transfers, and other wa ste management activities by covered facilities on a yearly basis. While other envi ronmental media programs provide some toxic chemical data and related permit data, the data are not directly compar able to TRI data with regard to the types of chemicals and industry sectors that are covered or the frequency of reporting. Facilities that are subject to TRI reporting must submit reports fo r each calendar year to EPA and the States in which they are located by July 1 st of the following year. Respondents may claim trade secrecy for a ch emical's identity as described in EPCRA Section 322 and its implementing regulations in 40 CFR part 350. EPA will disclose information that is covered by a claim of trade secrecy only to the extent permitted by and in accordance with the procedures in 40 CFR part 350 and 40 CFR part 2. Burden Statement : The annual public reportin g and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 35.71 hours for Form R and 21.96 hours for Form A. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial reso urces 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 u tilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and veri fying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing informatio n; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requi rements which have subsequently changed; train6 personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; s earch data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transm it or otherwise disclose the information. Respondents/Affected Entitie s (i.e., Facilities): 20,871 Estimated Number of Responses: 73,727 Estimated Total Overall Number of Responses per Respondent: 3.53 Frequency of Response: annual Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,515,751 hours Estimated Total Annual Cost: $174,451,565, includes $0 annualized capital or O&M

costs. What Changes are included in this ICR: OMB approved the current ICR for Form R and the ICR for the Form A Certification Statement on Ma rch 2, 2008, with original expiration dates of March 31, 2011. On February 17, 2010, OMB approve d an extension of the expiration dates for both forms to July 31, 2011. The OMB approved the current burden estimates on March 2, 2008, where 3,217,280 hours for Form R and 515,901 hours for Form A, totaling 3,733,181 hours. Changes in the Estimates : Several changes in the burden estimates have been approved by OMB since the OMB approvals of the ICRs on March 2, 2008. On March 20, 2009, OMB approved the merging of the ICR for TRI detailed reporting on dioxin and dioxin-like compounds (OMB 2025-0007, ICR 2086.02), into the TR I Form R ICR (currently OMB Control Number 2025-0009), increasing burden by 899 hour s. Then on March 27, 2009, OMB approved changes in the number of responses and the burde n hours for Form R and Form A to reflect the passage of Section 425 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which rescinded the December 2006 Toxics Release Inventory Burd en Reduction Rule. As a result, the OMBapproved numbers for Form R were increase d by 140,565 hours and for Form A burden were7 decreased by 318,418 yielding a net increase of 458,983 hours. Most recently, on November 26, 2010, the Addition of National Toxicology Progra m Carcinogens rule was published in the Federal Register. This rule is estimated to increase the number of re porting facilities by 74 and the number of Form Rs submitted by 186 with an associated burden incr ease of 6,641 hours. Meanwhile, over the past several years, ther e has been a slight d ecrease in the number of facilities reporting to TRI. Based on the latest data for Repo rting Year 2009 plus updates to reflect changes during the year of the ICR project—in this case, the modeled number of chemicals and facilities estimated to report under the Addition of National Toxicology Program Carcinogens rule, EPA now estimates the tota l number of combined Form R and Form A responses to be 73,727, with the associated total annual burden hours to be 3,515,751, and the annual cost to be $174,451,565. For a detailed explan ation of the Agency's estimates of the respondent reporting burden and labo r costs, please refer to th e updated versions of the TRI Form R and A Supporting Statement and the docum ent “Revising TRI Burden to Ratio-Based Methodology,” which are av ailable in the docket. Changes in the form, as revised per the Response to Comments : EPA proposes to make the following changes to the ICR for the TR I Form R , with regard to the parent company field, and the Form A Certification Statement:

1. Replace the NA box from the Parent Company fi eld (Part I: Sec. 5, 5.1) with a check box that reads “No U.S. Parent Comp any (for TRI Reporting purposes).” Rationale: The NA box is currently used to indicate e ither a foreign parent company or no higher level U.S. company. To better facilitate an alysis of the TRI data, EPA is revising its instructions on how to report parent co mpanies for TRI reporting purposes. The revised instructions provide that the highest-level U.S. company should be recorded8 or the “No U.S. Parent Company (for TRI Reporting purposes)” box should be selected.
2. Disaggregate the “Total Transfers” field a nd add fields to identify chemical discharge quantities to specifi c publicly owned treatment work s (POTWs) (Part II: Sec 6.1). Rationale: The current form collects a single “T otal Transfer” quantity for transfers to all POTWs. Providing separate fields for the transfer quantity to each POTW will facilitate analysis of the rele ases to specific watersheds.
3. Section 8 enhancements, including:

• Change instructional statement on form to specify only “newly implemented” source reduction activitie s (Part II: Sec. 8.10).

• Add an N/A box to match associated text revisions (Part II: Sec. 8.10).

• Remove the “Yes” box and enlarge the te xt section for the question on optional pollution prevention informa tion (Part II: Section 8.11). Rationale: The existing form requests information on “any source reduction activities for this chemical during the re porting year;” but the Reporting Forms and Instructions requests information on “n ewly implemented” source reduction activities. This change on the form will make the form consistent with the instructions, and specify that only new ac tivities should be repor ted. The Section 8 enhancements also provide a larger text box (8.11) where facilities can provide optional information on source reduction, recy cling, or pollution c ontrol activities.
4. Add a new question to capture miscellane ous and optional information regarding the submission (Part II: Sec. 9., 9.1). Rationale: This new text box will allow facilities to provide optional, miscellaneous information that may be helpful to EPA and/or the9 public in using or interpreting their data (e.g., facility closures, explanations for changes in release quantities, etc.). 5. Add NA boxes to Part II, Sections 5.3, 6.1, and 6.2. Rationale: Adding NA boxes to these sections will make the formatting of Form R and Form R Schedule 1 more consistent.

Dated: _____________

_____________________________ John Moses Director, Collection Strategies Division.