Document ID: EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978-0006
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Subcontractor to Information Claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) Submitted Under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title I, Programs
and Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for Moving Sources, and
Act To Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS)
Posted Date: 2020-07-21T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44074-44075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15742]

[[Page 44074]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978; FRL-10012-47-OECA]

Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Subcontractor to Information Claimed as Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) Submitted Under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title I, 
Programs and Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for Moving 
Sources, and Act To Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) 
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) plans to 
authorize a subcontractor to access information that will be submitted 
to EPA under the Clean Air Act (CAA) Titles I and II and the Act to 
Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) that may be claimed as, or may be 
determined to be, confidential business information (CBI).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 27, 2020. The 
subcontractor's access to information collected under the CAA Titles I 
and II, and the APPS, will begin on July 27, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA HQ-
OECA-2012-0978, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email: docket.oeca@epa.gov. Include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OECA-2012-0978 in the subject line of the message.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information 
provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Kimes, Air Enforcement 
Division, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (Mail Code 
8MSU), Environmental Protection Agency, 1595 Wynkoop St., Denver, CO 
80202; telephone number: (303) 312-6445; email address: 
kimes.jeffrey@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Does this document apply to me?

    This action is directed to the general public. However, this action 
may be of particular interest to certain parties, including: Motor 
vehicle manufacturers and importers; engine manufacturers and 
importers; motor vehicle fuel and fuel additive producers and 
importers; manufacturers, importers and distributors of motor vehicle 
and engine emission control equipment and parts; and any other parties 
subject to the regulations found in 40 CFR parts 79, 80, 85, 86, 89-92, 
94, 1033, 1036, 1037, 1039, 1042, 1043, 1045, 1048, 1051, 1054, 1060, 
1065, and 1068.
    This Federal Register document may be of particular relevance to 
parties that have submitted data to EPA under the above-listed 
regulations. Because other parties may also be interested, EPA has not 
attempted to describe all the specific parties that may be affected by 
this action. If you have further questions regarding the applicability 
of this action to a particular party, please contact the person listed 
in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

II. How can I get copies of this document and other related 
information?

A. Electronically

    EPA has established a public docket for this Federal Register 
document under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978.
    All documents in the docket are identified in the docket index 
available at http://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index, 
some information is not publicly available, such as CBI or other 
information for which disclosure is restricted by statute.

B. EPA Docket Center

    The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Reading 
Room for public visitors, with limited exceptions, to reduce the risk 
of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff will continue to 
provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. For 
further information and updates on EPA Docket Center services, please 
visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

III. Description of Programs and Potential Disclosure of Information 
Claimed as CBI to Contractors and Subcontractors

    EPA's OECA has responsibility for protecting public health and the 
environment by enforcing standards for air pollution. In order to 
implement various Clean Air Act and APPS programs, OECA collects 
compliance reports and other information from the regulated industry. 
Occasionally, the information submitted to, or obtained by, EPA, is 
claimed to be CBI by persons submitting data to EPA. Information 
submitted under such a claim is handled in accordance with EPA's 
regulations at 40 CFR part 2, subpart B, and in accordance with EPA 
procedures that are consistent with those regulations. When EPA has 
determined that disclosure of information claimed as CBI to EPA 
contractors or subcontractors is necessary, the corresponding contract 
must address the appropriate use and handling of the information by the 
EPA contractor and subcontractor and the EPA contractor and 
subcontractor must require its personnel who require access to 
information claimed as CBI to sign written non-disclosure agreements 
before they are granted access to data.
    On May 29, 2019 and January 15, 2020, EPA provided notice in the 
Federal Register of, and an opportunity to comment on, EPA's 
determination that subcontractors to EPA contractor Eastern Research 
Group, Incorporated, (ERG) 14555 Avion Parkway, Suite 200, Chantilly, 
VA, 20151, required access to CBI submitted to EPA under section 114 of 
the CAA, section 208 of the CAA, and the APPS for the work ERG 
subcontractors would be conducting under Contract Number 68HERH19C0004. 
See Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Subcontractors to Information Claimed as Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) Submitted under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title I, 
Programs and Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for Moving 
Sources, and Act To Prevent Pollution From Ships (APPS), May 29, 2019 
(84 FR 24781); Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) Subcontractor to Information Claimed as Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) Submitted Under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title I, 
Programs And Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for Moving 
Sources, and Act To Prevent Pollution From Ships (APPS), January 15, 
2020 (85 FR 2422). In accordance with 40 CFR 2.301(h), EPA has now 
determined that the subcontractor HSG, LLC (DBA Herndon Solutions 
Group) also requires access to CBI submitted to EPA under section 114 
of the CAA, section 208 of the CAA, and the APPS, and we are providing 
notice and an opportunity to comment on HSG, LLC's access to 
information claimed as CBI. We are issuing this Federal Register 
document to inform all affected submitters of information that we plan 
to grant access

[[Page 44075]]

to material that may be claimed as CBI to the subcontractor HSG, LLC on 
a need-to-know basis.
    Under Contract Number 68HERH19C0004, ERG provides enforcement 
support for EPA's regulatory and enforcement activities, including 
field inspections, investigations, audits, and other CAA regulatory and 
enforcement support that involve access to information claimed as CBI. 
ERG also employs subcontractors, who support these activities, under 
the above-listed contract. The subcontractor HSG, LLC requires access 
to information claimed as CBI to support EPA enforcement activities 
described above. Access to data, including information claimed as CBI, 
will commence six days after the date of publication of this document 
in the Federal Register, and will continue until March 1, 2024. If the 
contract and associated subcontracts are extended, this access will 
continue for the remainder of the ERG contract without further notice. 
If the contract expires prior to March 1, 2024, the access will cease 
at that time. If ERG employs additional subcontractors to support EPA 
on a regular basis or on a limited or one-time basis under the above-
listed contract, and those subcontractors require access to CBI, EPA 
will notify affected companies of the contemplated disclosure and 
provide them with an opportunity to comment by either sending them a 
letter or by publishing an additional document in the Federal Register.
    Parties who wish to obtain further information about this Federal 
Register document, or about OECA's disclosure of information claimed as 
CBI to subcontractors, may contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Dated: July 15, 2020.
Evan Belser,
Acting Director, Air Enforcement Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-15742 Filed 7-20-20; 8:45 am]
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