Document ID: EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Access by U.S. EPA Contractors 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: 2013-06-05T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33839-33840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13343]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA HQ-OECA-2012-0978; FRL-9820-2]

Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
Contractors 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 various contractors 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). 
Access to this information, which is collected under the CAA Titles I 
and II and APPS, will begin on June 10, 2013.

DATES: EPA will accept comments on this Notice through June 10, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Kimes, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1595 Wynkoop St., 8MSU, Denver, CO 80202; telephone 
number: (303) 312-6445; fax number (303) 312-6003; email address: 
kimes.jeffrey@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Does this notice 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, 1039, 1042, 1043, 1045, 1048, 1051, 1054, 1060, 1065, and 
1068.
    This Federal Register notice 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 
notice under Docket 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. Certain 
materials, such as copyrighted material, will only be available in hard 
copy at the EPA Docket Center.

B. EPA Docket Center

    Materials listed under Docket EPA HQ-OECA-2012-0978 will be 
available for public viewing at the EPA Docket

[[Page 33840]]

Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, 
and the telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.

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

    EPA's OECA has responsibility for protecting public health and the 
environment by regulating air pollution from motor vehicles, engines, 
and the fuels used to operate them, and by encouraging travel choices 
that minimize emissions. In order to implement various Clean Air Act 
programs, and to give regulated entities flexibility in meeting 
regulatory requirements (e.g., compliance on average), OECA collects 
compliance reports and other information from the regulated industry. 
Occasionally, the information submitted 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 is necessary, the corresponding 
contract must address the appropriate use and handling of the 
information by the EPA contractor and the EPA contractor 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.
    In accordance with 40 CFR 2.301(h), we have determined that the 
contractors listed below require access to CBI submitted to EPA under 
Section 114 of the CAA, Section 208 of the CAA, and APPS, and we are 
providing notice and an opportunity to comment on EPA contractors' 
access to information claimed as confidential business information. 
OECA collects this data in order to monitor compliance with regulations 
promulgated under the Clean Air Act Title II Emission Standards for 
Moving Sources, APPS, and the International Convention for the 
Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), Annex VI. We are issuing 
this Federal Register notice to inform all affected submitters of 
information that we plan to grant access to material that may be 
claimed as confidential business information to the contractors 
identified below on a need-to-know basis.
    Under Contract Number EP-W-12-007, Eastern Research Group, 
Incorporated, 14555 Avion Parkway, Suite 200, Chantilly, VA, 20151 
provides enforcement support for EPA's CAA mobile source regulatory and 
enforcement activities including field inspections, investigations, and 
audits that involve access to information claimed as confidential 
business information. Access to data, including information claimed as 
confidential business information, will commence on June 10, 2013, and 
will continue until March 5, 2017. If the contract is extended, this 
access will continue for the remainder of the contract without further 
notice.
    Parties who wish to obtain further information about this Federal 
Register notice, or about OECA's disclosure of information claimed as 
confidential business information to contactors, may contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection; Confidential business information.

    Dated: May 23, 2013.
Phillip A. Brooks,
Director, Air Enforcement Division, Office of Enforcement and 
Compliance Assurance, Office of Civil Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2013-13343 Filed 6-4-13; 8:45 am]
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