Document ID: EPA-HQ-OGC-2020-0020-0004
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Confidentiality Rules (Renewal)
Posted Date: 2020-05-22T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 100 (Friday, May 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31185-31186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11067]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OGC-2020-0020; FRL-10009-37-OMS]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Confidentiality Rules (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

[[Page 31186]]

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Confidentiality Rules (EPA ICR 
Number 1665.14, OMB Control Number 2020-0003) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, 
which is currently approved through May 31, 2020. Public comments were 
previously requested via the Federal Register on January 23, 2020 
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. 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 June 22, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2020-0020, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method) or hq.foia@epa.gov. 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: Christopher T. Creech, National FOIA 
Office, Office of General Counsel, Environmental Protection Agency; 
telephone number: 202-564-4286; email address: 
creech.christopher@epa.gov.

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. 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: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) 
established the requirements set forth in 40 CFR 2.201 et seq. 
``Confidentiality of Business Information'' to establish rules to 
govern claims of confidential business information (CBI), i.e., the 
rules governing the handling by the Agency of business information 
which is or may be entitled to confidential treatment, determining 
whether such information is entitled to confidential treatment for 
reasons of business confidentiality and responding to Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) requests pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552 for this 
information.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Respondents can potentially include 
any business that submitted to EPA information that may be claimed as 
CBI. Respondents can be entities in both the manufacturing (SIC codes 
20-30) and non-manufacturing sectors (no SIC codes identified).
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary and mandatory.
    Estimated number of respondents: 198 (total).
    Frequency of response: 1 response per respondent annually.
    Total estimated burden: 752.4 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $169,290.00 (per year), includes $0 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: The revised requests for substantiation 
will decrease the estimated burden hours for each response, although it 
increases the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR 
currently approved by OMB. The decrease is 2 hours for each business 
response; the increase is based on an expected higher response rate 
under the new form, producing an increase from 488 hours to 752 hours 
total. This decrease of hours spent are due to the removal of a 
question that required a company to describe, with specificity, the 
``substantial competitive harm'' that would occur as a direct result of 
disclosing the information.
    EPA modified its substantiation questions because of the U.S. 
Supreme Court's decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader 
Media (Argus), 139 S. Ct. 2356 (2019), which evaluated the definition 
of ``confidential'' as used in Exemption 4 of the FOIA. 5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(4). In the Argus decision, the Court held that at least where 
``[1] commercial or financial information is both customarily and 
actually treated as private by its owner and [2] provided to the 
government under an assurance of privacy, the information is 
'confidential' within the meaning of Exemption 4.'' Argus, 139 S. Ct. 
at 2366. EPA has reduced burdens to business submitters by removing the 
requirement to explain with specificity whatever ``substantial 
competitive harm'' a submitter claims would ensue from release of each 
CBI claim. The evaluation of ``substantial competitive harm'' had 
required businesses to analyze and describe the potential impacts of 
release. EPA has replaced that question with modified questions that 
require a factual description of the submitter's handling and treatment 
of the CBI-claimed information, as well as a description of any 
assurances provided by EPA at the time of submission. This replacement 
will reduce the burden on companies since evaluation and analysis of 
``substantial competitive harm'' is no longer required. Further, EPA 
reframed preexisting questions to solicit ``yes'' or ``no'' responses, 
which further reduces burdens on submitters. These modifications will 
result in greater clarity to business submitters and improved responses 
as the Agency completes its confidentiality determinations.
    The Agency anticipates that this lower burden on each response will 
increase the response rate from 21% in the prior analysis to 66% in the 
present analysis. EPA has already experienced an increase in response 
rate because of the Supreme Court's decision and expects this change to 
continue under the new form. EPA also made other adjustments in its 
analysis including adjustments in the hourly costs for both the Agency 
and responding companies as well as removing a category of burden that 
was not relevant to EPA's information request.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-11067 Filed 5-21-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P