[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 38 (Friday, February 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10781-10783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04044]



[[Page 10781]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0849; FRL-9311-01-OCSPP]


Revocation of 1980 Guidelines and Final Opportunity To Submit a 
Request To Correct the Initial Report Filed for the Original Toxic 
Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory of Chemical Substances

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revoking the 1980 
guidelines and associated procedures for correcting the specific 
chemical identities of incorrectly described chemical substances 
submitted to EPA in 1978 using the original reporting form for 
inclusion on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substance 
Inventory (Inventory). In so doing, the Agency is providing a final 
opportunity to use the 1980 guidelines and form to request corrections 
of Inventory listings to address errors with the chemical identities 
submitted in the original reporting forms. The regulated community will 
have 60 days from the date of this notice to submit any final Inventory 
corrections. EPA is also announcing the discontinuation of the related 
form and associated approval of the collection activities under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).

DATES: The revocation is effective May 31, 2022. All final Inventory 
corrections must be received on or before April 26, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Final corrections must be submitted by mail to the Office of 
Pollution Prevention and Toxics Confidential Business Information 
Center (7407M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. 
NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001 or by courier to the Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics Confidential Business Information Center, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1201 Constitution Avenue NW, WJC East; 
Room 6428, Washington, DC 20004-3302; (202) 564-8930. The docket for 
this action, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-
OPPT-2021-0894, is available online at http://www.regulations.gov. 
Please note that due to the public health concerns related to COVID-19, 
the EPA/Docket Center and Reading Room is open to visitors by 
appointment only. For the latest status information on the EPA/DC and 
docket access, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexandria Stanton, New Chemicals 
Division (7405M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-5574; email address: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6b181f0a051f0405450a070e130a050f19020a2b0e1b0a450c041d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="285b5c49465c47460649444d5049464c5a4149684d5849064f475e">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Summary

A. Does this action apply to me?

    You may be affected by this action if you are a manufacturer or 
importer of a chemical substance who incorrectly reported to the 
original TSCA Inventory published in 1979, or its revision published in 
1980, via an original Inventory reporting form, and added to the 
Inventory with an incorrect specific chemical identity. The following 
North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes are not 
intended to be exhaustive, but rather provide a guide to help readers 
determine whether this action may apply to them:
    <bullet> Chemical manufacturing or processing (NAICS code 325).
    <bullet> Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing (NAICS code 
324).
    If you have questions regarding the applicability of this action to 
a particular entity, consult the technical person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What action is the Agency taking?

    EPA will be discontinuing processing Inventory Corrections, 
withdrawing its Inventory Correction guidelines published in the 
Federal Register of July 29, 1980 (45 FR 50544), and phasing out the 
accompanying procedures by which a person who submitted an incorrectly 
identified chemical substance on an original Inventory reporting form, 
or a legal successor, may request a correction of that Inventory 
listing. The phase-out period for correction requests ends on April 26, 
2022.
    During the phase-out period persons may wish to review their 
original Inventory submissions for any remaining incorrectly described 
chemical substances and submit correction requests. Correction requests 
must be complete and meet the correction guidelines published in 1980. 
Correction requests that are incomplete or that are ineligible 
according to the 1980 guidelines will be rejected by EPA. Correction 
requests that are complete and eligible will be accepted by the Agency, 
and the corrected specific chemical identities will be added to the 
Inventory. Any outstanding correction requests already received by EPA 
at the time of publication of this notice for which the Agency has 
requested but not yet received additional information in order to be 
able to process the request will have until April 26, 2022 to provide 
the information and complete the request.
    After April 26, 2022, EPA does not intend to accept requests to 
correct original Inventory reporting forms. If, after April 26, 2022, a 
person discovers for any reason an error in the specific chemical 
identity of a chemical substance submitted on an original Inventory 
reporting form, a Premanufacture Notice (PMN) or exemption notice may 
need to be filed if the chemical substance is not already listed on the 
TSCA Inventory.
    This action does not impact EPA's authority for initiating, at its 
discretion, corrections to the Inventory should the Agency determine on 
its own that, for example, a chemical substance listed on the Inventory 
has been unintentionally misidentified. Only in this situation will 
EPA, at its discretion, request and accept documentation from a company 
to support an Inventory correction in lieu of requiring a PMN or 
exemption notice. This action also does not impact EPA's regular 
maintenance of the Inventory that can include nomenclature updates and 
correcting minor errors to listings. EPA notes that the Inventory 
corrections 1980 guidelines and associated phase-out period do not 
apply to requests for corrections to PMN submissions. If a PMN 
submitter becomes aware of a material error in a PMN submission 
currently under review by EPA, the submitter must timely inform EPA 
pursuant to 40 CFR 720.40(f). EPA will not grant requests to correct a 
specific chemical identity reported in a PMN submission after the 
applicable review period has ended.

C. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    TSCA section 5 requires any person who intends to manufacture 
(including import) a new chemical substance for a non-exempt commercial 
purpose to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. TSCA section 8(b) 
requires EPA to compile, keep current, and publish a list (i.e., the 
TSCA Inventory) of each chemical substance that is manufactured or 
processed in the United States.

D. Why is EPA taking this action?

    It has become increasingly evident that the 1980 guidelines have 
outlived the purpose for which they were intended. Furthermore, the 
Agency

[[Page 10782]]

understands that the passage of time is also making it more difficult 
for the original submitters or their legal successors to provide the 
necessary documentation supporting a request for a correction. Persons 
have had more than 40 years since the 1980 publication of the revised 
Inventory and the correction guidelines to discover inadvertent, good 
faith errors on original Inventory reporting forms.

E. What is the incremental economic impact of this action?

    The EPA considered the incremental costs and benefits associated 
with this action, and the EPA estimates there will be a burden 
reduction for both respondents and the Agency with the elimination of 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with submission, 
form completion, recordkeeping, and CBI substantiation. The EPA 
estimates a burden reduction for respondents of $3,030 (2016 wage 
rates) based on the currently approved Information Collection Request 
(ICR) OMB Control No. 2070-0145 (EPA ICR No. 1741.08). This action will 
also reduce Agency costs of $3,574 (2016 wage rates) associated with 
this collection, which include the printing and distributing of 
reporting forms, providing reporting assistance, reviewing, and 
processing of the report forms and entry of data into the Inventory 
databases.

II. Background

A. What is the original Inventory reporting requirement?

    In accordance with the TSCA section 8(b) requirement, EPA 
promulgated the Inventory Reporting Regulations at 40 CFR part 710 on 
December 23, 1977 (42 FR 64572; FRL 817-1), which governed the 
reporting requirements for, and the scope of, the chemical substances 
to be included on the original TSCA Inventory. The reporting 
requirements included a 1975 to 1978 reporting period for chemical 
substances in U.S. commerce at that time and a 1978 submission period 
to report such chemicals on one of five original Inventory reporting 
forms.

B. What are the 1980 guidelines for correcting errors in original 
reports?

    Following the 1978 TSCA Inventory submission period, EPA recognized 
that a considerable number of chemical substances submitted for 
inclusion on the original Inventory, published in 1979, and its 
revision published in 1980, could unintentionally have been described 
incorrectly by persons reporting them. These errors could have happened 
as a result of typographical or transcriptional errors, the inadvertent 
(good faith) technical misidentification of chemical substances, or the 
lack of sufficient technical or analytical capabilities to fully 
characterize the exact chemical identities of some chemical substances.
    Although not required to do so under TSCA, EPA decided to provide a 
mechanism for submitters to request corrections of specific chemical 
identity errors found on their original Inventory reporting forms. In 
the Federal Register of July 29, 1980 (45 FR 50544; FRL-1554-3), the 
Agency announced the availability of the revised TSCA Inventory and 
1980 guidelines on how to request corrections of incorrectly described 
chemical substances. The 1980 guidelines identify the types of 
correction requests that were eligible to be submitted and the 
documentation that should accompany each type of request. The 1980 
guidelines apply to incorrectly described chemical substances submitted 
on original Inventory reporting forms and included on the original 1979 
Inventory and its 1980 revision.
    The 1980 guidelines provided industry with a relatively easy 
mechanism to correct unintentional chemical identity errors made on 
original Inventory reporting forms without having to interrupt 
manufacture and submit a PMN or exemption notice under TSCA section 5. 
As a result, the 1980 guidelines were widely used to request 
corrections to original Inventory listings, with requests decreasing 
over time. EPA accepted a large number of correction requests, 
particularly at first, and added the correct specific chemical 
identities to the Inventory, which to a certain extent has helped the 
Agency to maintain an accurate Inventory of existing chemicals. 
However, the 1980 guidelines failed to include a time period during 
which requests for corrections to the Inventory could be submitted. It 
was never EPA's intent to establish a correction mechanism that would 
be open-ended in time, lasting for decades.

III. Rationale

    It has become increasingly evident that the 1980 guidelines have 
outlived the purpose for which they were intended. Furthermore, the 
Agency understands that the passage of time is also making it more 
difficult for the original submitters or their legal successors to 
provide the necessary documentation supporting a request for a 
correction. Original submitters of original Inventory reporting forms 
or their legal successors often are unable to provide the supporting 
documentation to substantiate their assertion that the chemical 
identity was incorrect on the original reporting form, which is 
necessary for EPA to accept that a correction is appropriate. The lack 
of adequate original submitter documentation has been a major concern 
and obstacle for EPA in reviewing and accepting correction requests. In 
order for EPA to accept a correction request, the requester must 
provide certain original company records documenting what was known 
about the specific chemical identity of the chemical substance during 
the 1975 to 1978 original Inventory reporting period, as well as the 
specific nature of the errors contained in the original Inventory 
reporting form.
    The Agency also understands that the Inventory correction request 
process may be used improperly by entities attempting to avoid 
submission of a PMN or exemption notice for a new chemical substance. 
An example of such an improper use would be a request to change the 
specific chemical identity of a chemical substance correctly submitted 
on an original Inventory reporting form, and correctly listed on the 
original Inventory or its revision, in order to include on the current 
Inventory a different specific chemical identity that was the result of 
a change in the manufacture of the original chemical substance. The 
manufacturing change may be due to a change in the supply of a 
feedstock, a change in a performance requirement of the end product, or 
a change in the commercial intentions of the end product. In these 
situations where the original chemical substance was correctly 
submitted on an original Inventory reporting form, but at a later point 
in time a new and different chemical substance was being manufactured 
or imported in its place, some persons have requested Inventory 
corrections that are ineligible under the 1980 guidelines. These 
situations require the submission of a PMN or exemption notice for the 
new chemical substances not previously reported.
    Persons have had more than 40 years since the 1980 publication of 
the revised Inventory and the correction guidelines to discover 
inadvertent, good faith errors on original Inventory reporting forms. 
In addition, persons have had nine specific opportunities over more 
than thirty years to review their Inventory listings during the six 
Inventory Update Rule submission periods in 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 
2002, and 2006, followed by the three Chemical Data Reporting rule 
submission periods in 2012, 2016, and 2020. Additionally, the Notice of

[[Page 10783]]

Activity reporting in 2017 through 2018 provided an opportunity for 
comprehensive Inventory listing review. Persons have had more than 
sufficient time and opportunity to review their Inventory listings and 
request Inventory corrections for eligible situations. Moreover, the 
Agency currently receives few requests, many of which are rejected or 
otherwise cannot be processed for the reasons described above. The 
Agency therefore believes that continuing to allow Inventory 
corrections will not improve the accuracy of the Inventory. As a 
result, EPA is taking this action to end company-requested Inventory 
corrections.

IV. Paperwork Reduction Act

    According to the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., an agency may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a 
collection of information that requires OMB approval under the PRA, 
unless it has been approved by OMB and displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in title 
40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register, are listed in 
40 CFR part 9, and included on the related collection instrument or 
form, if applicable.
    This document does not contain any new information collection 
requirements that would require additional OMB review and approval. The 
information collection activities related to the potential submission 
of information pursuant to TSCA section 5 already has been approved by 
OMB under OMB Control No. 2070-0145 (EPA ICR No. 1741.08). The annual 
respondent burden for this information collection activity is estimated 
to average 39 hours per respondent, including time for reading the 
regulations, processing, compiling and reviewing data, storing, filing, 
and maintaining the data. For additional details, please see the 
Information Collection Request document that is available in the 
docket.
    Send any comments about the accuracy of the burden estimate, and 
any suggested methods for further minimizing respondent burden, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques, to the 
Director, Regulatory Support Division, Office of Mission Support 
(2822T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460-0001. Please remember to include the OMB control 
number in any correspondence, but do not submit any inventory 
corrections or related questions to this address.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2604.

Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2022-04044 Filed 2-24-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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