Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0078-0007
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Revision)
Posted Date: 2022-06-15T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36123-36124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12889]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0078; FRL-9937-01-OMS]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Revision)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Toxic Chemical Release Reporting 
(EPA ICR Number 2613.04, OMB Control Number 2070-0212) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a request to revise an existing 
ICR that is currently approved through March 31, 2024. Public comments 
were previously requested via the Federal Register on November 15, 2021 
during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 
days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given 
below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public.

[[Page 36124]]

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.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before July 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to EPA, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OPPT-2021-0303, online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method) or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail Code 2821T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 
20460. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public docket without change including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information 
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
    Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Sleasman, Regulatory Support 
Branch (7101M), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-1204; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents, which explain in 
detail the information that the EPA will be collecting, are available 
in the public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at 
www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone 
number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Abstract: Pursuant to section 313 of the Emergency Planning and 
Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), 42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq., certain 
facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use specified toxic 
chemicals in amounts above reporting threshold levels as provided in 40 
CFR 372.25 must submit annually to EPA reporting forms to the Toxics 
Release Inventory (TRI). The revisions to this ICR covers the 
information collection activities associated with the submission of 
information to TRI pursuant to EPCRA section 313(b)(2), 42 U.S.C. 
11023. Under EPCRA section 313(b)(2), the EPA Administrator has the 
authority to extend TRI reporting requirements to specific facilities 
that manufacture, process, or otherwise use a TRI-listed toxic 
chemical, but who are not currently covered by TRI reporting 
requirements as described at 40 CFR 372. The Administrator may 
determine a specific facility warrants TRI reporting on the basis of a 
chemical's toxicity, the facility's proximity to other facilities that 
release the chemical or to population centers, the facility's history 
of releases of the chemical, or other factors that the Administrator 
deems appropriate. This ICR revision includes discussion of EPA's 
discretionary authority under EPCRA section 313(b)(2) and outreach to 
potential stakeholders.
    Form Numbers: 9350-1 and 9350-2.
    Respondents/affected entities: The facility has 10 or more full-
time employee equivalents; the facility is included in a NAICS Code 
listed at 40 CFR 372.23 or under E.O. 13148, Federal facilities 
regardless of their industry classification; and the facility 
manufactures (defined 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. EPA may also exercise its discretionary authority under 
EPCRA section 313(b)(2) to extend TRI reporting obligations to a 
facility.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory, 40 CFR 372 and EPCRA 
section 313.
    Estimated number of respondents: 76,579 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annual.
    Total estimated burden: 3,616,827 hours (per year). Burden is 
defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    Total estimated cost: $257,011,726 (per year), includes no 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the estimates: There is an increase of 1700 hours in the 
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. The additional hours are a result of an increase in 3 
burden hours per facility in non-reporting burden. This increase also 
reflects the review of the notification and preparation of responses 
stakeholders may engage in upon receipt of the Agency's notification of 
its potential application of the discretionary authority under EPCRA 
section 313(b)(2) to specific facilities. This increase is categorized 
as a program change. Additionally, in December 2021, the EPA 
Administrator determined that 29 facilities warrant the extension of 
TRI reporting requirements under the authority in EPCRA section 
313(b)(2) for specific chemicals; the updated burden estimates reflect 
potential reporting from these facilities.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2022-12889 Filed 6-14-22; 8:45 am]
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