19250 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 74 / Friday, April 17, 1998 / Notices

self-audit and corrective action plan,

sign the resolution and submit the

package to the Agency. Approximately

865 facilities will be subject to this

information collection for an estimated

burden of approximately 24,653 hours.

The total estimated burden for this

information collection activity,

including the Agency, is 27,780 hours

nationally.

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: April 8, 1998.

Michael Quigley,

Director, Municipal Support Division.

[FR Doc. 98–10222 Filed 4–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[OPP–00531; FRL–5780–8]

Renewal of Pesticide Information

Collection Activities; Application for

New or Amended Pesticide

Registration; Request for Comments

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: ‘‘Application for New or

Amended Pesticide Registration’’ (EPA

ICR No. 277.10; OMB No. 2070–0060).

Before submitting the following ICR to

OMB for review and reapproval, EPA is

soliciting comments on specific aspects

of and recent changes to activities

associated with the information

collection which is briefly described

below. This ICR relates to section 3 of

the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and covers the

information collection related pesticide

registration. This ICR has recently

undergone several changes that impact

the Agency’s burden estimates. 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.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before June 16, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to: Public Information and Records

Integrity Branch, Information Resources

and Services Division (7502C), Office of

Pesticide Programs, Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW.,

Washington, DC 20460. In person,

deliver comments to: Rm. 119 of Crystal

Mall #2, 1921 Jefferson Davis Highway,

Arlington, VA.

Comments and data may also be

submitted electronically to: oppdocket@epamail.epa.gov. Follow the

instructions under Unit III. of this

document. No Confidential Business

Information (CBI) should be submitted

through e-mail.

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. The

public docket is available for public

inspection in Rm. 119 at the Virginia

address given above, from 8:30 a.m. to

4 p.m., Monday through Friday,

excluding legal holidays. Persons

submitting information any portion of

which they believe is entitled to

treatment as CBI by EPA must assert a

business confidentially claim in

accordance with 40 CFR part 2 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 a waiver of any confidentiality

claim and the information may be made

available to the public by EPA without

further notice to the submitter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cameo Smoot, Field and External

Affairs Division, Mail Code (7506C),

Office of Pesticide Programs,

Environmental Protection Agency, 401

M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460,

Telephone: (703) 305–5454, e-mail:

smoot.cameo@epamail.epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Availability:

Internet

Electronic copies of this document

and 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/).

Fax-on-Demand

Using a faxphone call 202–401–0527

and select item 6052 for a copy of the

ICR.

I. Background

Affected entities: Entities potentially

affected by the activities covered by this

ICR are individuals or entities engaged

in activities related to the registration of

a pesticide product.

For the collection of information

addressed in this notice, EPA would

like to solicit comments to:

1. 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.

2. Evaluate the accuracy of the

Agency’s estimates of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used.

3. Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected.

4. 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.

The Agency is particularly interested

in comments and information about the

burden estimates, including examples

that could be used to reflect the burdens

imposed.

II. Information Collection

EPA is seeking comments on the

following ICR, as well as the Agency’s

intention to renew the corresponding

OMB approval.

Expiration date: This ICR is currently

scheduled to expire on May 31, 1998.

However, EPA will be seeking an

extension until August 1998, in order to

provide adequate time for comments to

be received and evaluated, and any

necessary changes made to the ICR prior

to its submission to OMB.

Title: Application for New or

Amended Pesticide Registrations.

ICR numbers: EPA No. 277.10 and

OMB No. 2070-0060.

Abstract: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 74 / Friday, April 17, 1998 / Notices 19251

3501 et seq.), this notice announces that

EPA is planning to submit the following

continuing ICR to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

pursuant to the procedures described in

5 CFR 1320.12: ‘‘Application for New or

Amended Pesticide Registration’’ (EPA

ICR No. 277.10; OMB No. 2070-0060).

EPA requires individuals or entities

seeking a registration for a pesticide

product to submit an application

package consisting of information

relating to the identity and composition

of the product, and supporting data (or

compensation for other’s data) for the

product as outlined in 40 CFR part 158.

EPA bases registration decisions for

pesticides on its evaluation of a battery

of test data provided primarily by the

applicants for registration. Required

studies include testing to show whether

a pesticide has the potential to cause

unreasonable adverse human health or

environmental effects. The Agency

currently collects data on physical

chemistry, acute and chronic toxicology,

environmental fate, ecological effects,

worker exposure, residue chemistry,

and product performance. If the data

show that the benefits of the pesticide

product outweigh the risks, then a

registration is approved. All pesticides,

under FIFRA, must be registered by EPA

before they may be sold or distributed

in U.S. commerce. Responses to this

collection of information are voluntary.

As part of the registration process,

applicants are asked to complete and

submit at least four forms which are

necessary in order to register and/or

amend a pesticide product registration.

These forms include:

• EPA Form 8570–1 (‘‘Application for

Pesticide Registration, Amendment,

Other’’).

• EPA Form 8570–4 (‘‘Confidential

Statement of Formula’’).

• EPA Form 8570–27 (‘‘Formulator’s

Exemption Statement’’).

• EPA Form 8570–34 & 35

(‘‘Certification With Respect to Citation

of Data’’ and Data Matrix’’).

Applicants may also submit

additional forms, which are available

upon request, that can be useful in the

process of registering a pesticide:

• EPA Form 8570–36 (‘‘Summary of

the Physical/Chemical Properties’’).

• EPA Form 8570–37 (‘‘SelfCertification Statement for the Physical/

Chemical Properties’’).

In addition, registrants of EPAregistered pesticide products at times

become subject to regulations that

include labeling revision requirements.

A revised label is submitted as an

amendment to the Agency along with

the basic application form, EPA Form

8570–1, to notify EPA that revised

product labeling is being submitted.

This information collection request

has changed since the last OMB

approval. After extensive consultation

with stakeholders, the Office of

Pesticide Programs has streamlined

several forms and created two new ones.

The revised and new forms take less

time to complete and reduce the volume

of paper pesticide registrants send to the

Agency. Burden time and cost will

decrease for the industry and the

Agency. The first streamlining measure

created two forms from three existing

ones. The revised data compensation

form (EPA Form 8570–34) replaced two

older forms. This new form allows

pesticide registrants to indicate the data

requirements they have completed and

to reference existing data produced by

another company. The second revised

form, the data matrix (EPA Form 8570–

35), replaced an older form by clarifying

the instructions and providing more

protection for data submitters. For

consistency, both revised forms are used

for registration and reregistration.

In response to the President’s

Reinventing Government Initiative, EPA

developed through a public notice and

comment process a self-certification

initiative. The outcome of this effort was

the creation of two new forms, (EPA

Forms 8570–36 and 8570–37), for the

voluntary self-certification of product

chemistry data for manufacturing-use

and end-use products. The forms reduce

industry’s paperwork burden, expedite

the review process, and reduce the

amount of time the Agency needs to

review the product chemistry for

registration or reregistration of these

products.

Other changes in this information

collection request will result in the

reduction of the burden hours because

certain information collection activities

are no longer a part of this information

collection. This new information

collection request no longer includes

burden hour estimates for activities

conducted for the EPA Training

Verification Program because this

information is now collected under a

separate information collection request.

Additionally, information previously

collected as a one-time information

collection to support amended labeling

requirements for termiticide products,

Pesticide Regulation Notice 96–7, is no

longer estimated in this information

request.

Burden statement: According to the

Paperwork Reduction Act, ‘‘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 determine

applicability; 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 and

review the collection of information;

and transmit or otherwise disclose the

information.

The information covered by this

request is collected when an individual

or entity applies for registration of a

pesticide product. EPA makes small

businesses aware of the ‘‘Formulators’s

Exemption Statement’’ (EPA Form

8570– 27) that allows an applicant to

reduce their data submission burden

when the pesticide product is

comprised of an EPA-registered

pesticide product by exempting the

applicant from furnishing much of the

data. Estimates for the annual applicant

respondent burden for collection of

information associated with the four

categories of pesticide product

applicants average: 188 hours per

application for ‘‘Type A’’ antimicrobial

products; 188 hours per application for

new active ingredient, biochemical, new

food use and new use products; 8 hours

per application for ‘‘Type B’’

antimicrobial products; and 8 hours per

application for amendments and

notifications, etc. These estimates

include the time reading the regulations,

planning the necessary data collection

activities, conducting tests, analyzing

data, generating reports and completing

other required paperwork, and storing,

filing, and maintaining the data. The

estimate of the number of respondents

for the four categories of pesticide

product applicants include: 60

applicants for ‘‘Type A’’ antimicrobial

products; 200 applicants for new active

ingredient, biochemical, new food use

and new use products; 2,100 applicants

for ‘‘Type B’’ antimicrobial products;

and 10,000 applications containing

amendments and notifications, etc. The

total burden hours for this information

collection request would decrease the

annual respondent burden from 218,938

to 162,640.

III. Public Record and Electronic

Submissions

The official record for this notice, as

well as the public version, has been

established for this document under

docket control number ‘‘OPP–00531’’
19252 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 74 / Friday, April 17, 1998 / Notices

(including comments and data

submitted electronically as described

below). A public version of this record,

including printed, paper versions of

electronic comments, which does not

include any information claimed as CBI,

is available for inspection from 8:30

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

excluding legal holidays. The official

rulemaking record is located at the

Virginia address in ‘‘ADDRESSES’’ at

the beginning of this document.

Electronic comments can be sent

directly to EPA at:

opp-docket@epamail.epa.gov

Electronic comments must be

submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the

use of special characters and any form

of encryption. Comment and data will

also be accepted on disks in

Wordperfect 5.1/6.1 or ASCII file

format. All comments and data in

electronic form must be identified by

the docket control number ‘‘OPP–

00531.’’ Electronic comments on this

notice may be filed online at many

Federal Depository Libraries.

List of Subjects

Environmental protection and

Information collection requests.

Dated: April 9, 1998.

Susan H. Wayland,

Acting Assistant Administrator for

Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.

[FR Doc. 98–10228 Filed 4–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–F

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5998–9]

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request; Reporting

and Recordkeeping Requirements

Under EPA’s Natural Gas STAR

Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), this document announces

that the following Information

Collection Request (ICR) has been

forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and

approval: ‘‘Reporting and

Recordkeeping Requirements under

EPA’s Natural Gas STAR Program,’’

OMB Control Number 2060–0328, and

expiration date 6/30/98. The ICR

describes the nature of the information

collection and its expected burden and

cost; where appropriate, it includes the

actual data collection instrument.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before May 18, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sandy Farmer at EPA by phone at (202)

260–2740, by email at

farmer.sandy@epamail.epa.gov, or

download off the Internet at http://

www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA ICR

No. 1736.02.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: ‘‘Recordkeeping and Reporting

Requirements under EPA’s Natural Gas

STAR Program’’. (OMB Control No.

2060–0328; EPA ICR No. 1736.02)

expiring 6/30/98. This is a request for

extension of a currently approved

collection.

Abstract: Natural Gas STAR is an

EPA-sponsored, voluntary program that

encourages natural gas companies to

adopt cost effective methods for

reducing methane emissions. Natural

Gas STAR Partners agree to implement

cost effective Best Management

Practices (BMPs), which will both save

participants money and improve the

protection of the environment. EPA

needs to collect information to establish

program participation and to obtain

general information on new Natural Gas

STAR Partners. EPA also uses the

information collection to evaluate a

Partner’s progress and performance, and

assess overall program results.

Participation in the Natural Gas STAR

program is voluntary. Natural Gas STAR

Partners may designate information

submitted under this ICR as confidential

business information. EPA will treat all

such information as confidential

business information and will not make

the company or agency-specific

information collected under this ICR

available to the general public. 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. The

Federal Register document required

under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting

comments on this collection of

information was published on 12/20/97;

No comments were received.

Burden Statement: The annual public

reporting and recordkeeping burden for

this collection of information is

estimated to average 39 hours per

facility. 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.

Respondents/Affected Entities:

Natural Gas Companies.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

78.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:

3,692 hours.

Estimated Total Annualized Cost

Burden: 0.

Send comments on the Agency’s need

for this information, the accuracy of the

provided burden estimates, and any

suggested methods for minimizing

respondent burden, including through

the use of automated collection

techniques to the following addresses.

Please refer to EPA ICR No. 1736.02 and

OMB Control No. 2060–0328 in any

correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, OPPE Regulatory

Information Division (2137), 401 M

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460;

and

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for

EPA, 725 17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20503.

Dated: April 13, 1998.

Joseph Retzer,

Director, Regulatory Information Division.

[FR Doc. 98–10225 Filed 4–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[ER–FRL–5490–9]

Environmental Impact Statements and

Regulations; Availability of EPA

Comments

Availability of EPA comments

prepared March 30, 1998 Through April

03, 1998 pursuant to the Environmental

Review Process (ERP), under Section

309 of the Clean Air Act and Section

102(2)(c) of the National Environmental

Policy Act as amended. Requests for

copies of EPA comments can be directed

to the Office of Federal Activities at

(202) 564–7167. An explanation of the