Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0048-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Access by Contractors to Information Claimed as Confidential Business Information
Posted Date: 2021-02-17T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9926-9928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03170]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0048; FRL-10020-32-OAR]

Access by EPA Contractors to Information Claimed as Confidential 
Business Information

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Contractor/Subcontractor Access to Data and Request 
for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to authorize 
various contractors to access information that is submitted to EPA and 
which may be claimed as, or may be determined to be, confidential 
business information (CBI). The information is related to EPA's fuel 
quality programs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No EPA-HQ-
OAR-2021-0048, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Submit your comments at 
https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method). Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: Email your comments to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov. 
Include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0048 in the subject line of the 
message.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center, Air & Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery or Courier (by scheduled appointment only): 
EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center's hours of 
operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday (except Federal 
Holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this notice. Comments received may be posted without change to 
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional 
information on this action, see the ``Public Participation'' heading of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Out of an 
abundance of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA 
Docket Center and Reading Room are closed to the public, 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. We encourage the public to submit comments 
via https://www.regulations.gov or email, as there may be a delay in 
processing mail and faxes. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received 
by scheduled appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket 
Center services and the current status, please visit us online at 
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne-Marie Pastorkovich, Environmental 
Protection Agency, telephone number: 202-343-9623; email address: 
pastorkovich.anne-marie@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 parties who submit information to EPA 
regarding various fuel standards, such as the standards for 
reformulated and conventional gasoline, regulated blendstocks, diesel 
fuel, and detergent under 40 CFR part 1090, and for which a final rule 
was published in the Federal Register on December 4, 2020.\1\ Parties 
who may be interested in this action include fuel manufacturers (such 
as refiners and importers), manufacturers of fuel additives, parties in 
the fuel distribution chain, and all those who submit 40 CFR part 1090 
registrations or reports to EPA via any method or system. Such systems 
include the EPA Central Data Exchange (CDX), DCFUEL, OTAQReg, and the 
EPA Moderated Transaction System (EMTS). (Please note that EPA recently 
published a similar notice to this one, announcing the release of 
information to contractors and relative to various fuels programs under 
40 CFR parts 79 and 80.

[[Page 9927]]

That notice, published on October 26, 2020, is unaffected by today's 
notice.\2\)
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    \1\ See ``Fuels Regulatory Streamlining''--Final Rule, 85 FR 
78412 (December 4, 2020).
    \2\ See ``Access by EPA Contractors to Information Claimed as 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) Submitted Under Title II of 
the Clean Air Act and Related Regulations,''--Notice, 85 FR 67738 
(October 26, 2020).
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    This Federal Register notice may be of relevance to parties that 
submit data under the above-listed programs or systems. Since other 
parties may also be interested, we have 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 
party, please contact the person listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

II. Public Participation

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-
0048 at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the 
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. EPA may publish 
any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit to EPA's 
docket at https://www.regulations.gov any information you consider to 
be confidential business information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, 
video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written 
comment is considered the official comment and should include 
discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will generally not 
consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary 
submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    As mentioned above, EPA is 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. We 
encourage the public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov 
as there may be a delay in processing mail and faxes. Hand deliveries 
or couriers will be received by scheduled appointment only. For further 
information and updates on EPA Docket Center services, please visit us 
online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information 
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area 
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond 
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.

III. Description of Programs and Potential Disclosure of Information 
Claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) to Contractors

    EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) 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 (CAA) programs, 
and to permit regulated entities flexibility in meeting regulatory 
requirements (e.g., compliance on average), we collect compliance 
reports and other information from them. Parties may claim the 
submitted information as CBI. 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, including 
comprehensive system security planning. When EPA has determined that 
disclosure of information claimed as CBI to contractors is necessary, 
the corresponding contract must address the appropriate use and 
handling of the information by the contractor and the 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, subcontractors, and grantees (collectively referred to as 
``contractors'') listed below require access to CBI submitted to us 
under the CAA and in connection with various programs related to the 
regulation of fuels under 40 CFR part 1090. OTAQ collects this data in 
order to monitor compliance with CAA programs and, in many cases, to 
permit regulated parties flexibility in meeting regulatory 
requirements. Certain programs under 40 CFR part 1090 are designed to 
permit regulated parties an opportunity to comply on average, or to 
engage in transactions using various types of credits. For example, 
parties that participate in programs that utilize credits (e.g. the 
gasoline sulfur and gasoline benzene program) submit information 
related to credit transactions. Data submitted under 40 CFR part 1090 
includes information related to reformulated and conventional gasoline, 
diesel fuel, detergents, and regulated blendstocks. Fuels program data 
is reviewed and assessed to determine the success of the programs or to 
plan for regulatory improvements. We are issuing this notice to inform 
all affected submitters of information that we plan to grant access to 
material that may be claimed as CBI to the contractors identified below 
on a need-to-know basis.
    Under EPA Contract Number EP-C-16-012, General Dynamics Information 
Technology (GDIT) (located at 650 Peter Jefferson Parkway, Suite 300, 
Charlottesville, VA 22911) provides report processing, program support, 
technical support and analysis and information technology services that 
involve access to information claimed as CBI related to 40 CFR part 
1090. The following subcontractors of GDIT continue to provide work 
under this contract:
     CGI Federal, Inc., 12601 Fair Lakes Circle, Fairfax, VA 
22033-4902;
     Powersolv, Inc., 1801 Robert Fulton Drive, Suite 550, 
Reston, VA 20191;
     Premier ITech, Inc., 8869 Grand Ave., Beulah, CO 81023 (a 
subcontractor of Powersolv, Inc.)
     Potomac Economics, LTD, 9990 Fairfax Blvd., Suite 560, 
Fairfax, VA 22030
    Access to data by GDIT and its subcontractors will begin March 1, 
2021 and will continue until June 30, 2021. If the contract is 
extended, this access will continue for the remainder of the contract 
without further notice. If the contract expires prior to June 30, 2021, 
the access will cease at that time. If GDIT 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 interested 
parties of the contemplated disclosure and provide them with an 
opportunity to comment by publishing a notice in the Federal Register.
    Under Contract Number EP-C-16-020, ICF Incorporated, LLC (located 
at 9300 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22031) provides technical support and 
data analysis services that may involve access to information claimed 
as CBI related to 40 CFR part 1090. Access to data will begin March 1, 
2021 and will continue until September 30, 2021. If the contract is 
extended, this access will continue for the remainder of the contract 
without further notice. If the contract expires prior to September 30, 
2021, the access will cease at that time. If ICF employs subcontractors 
to

[[Page 9928]]

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 interested parties of the contemplated disclosure 
and provide them with an opportunity to comment by publishing a notice 
in the Federal Register.
    Under Contract Number 68HERD20A0004, Research Triangle Institute 
(RTI) (PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709-2194) and its 
subcontractors, Dr. Ruiqing Miao (Auburn University, Auburn, AL) and 
Dr. Madhu Khanna (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, 
IL), provide technical support and data analysis services that may 
involve access to information claimed as CBI related to 40 CFR part 
1090. Access to data will begin March 1, 2021 and will continue until 
July 19, 2021. If the contract is extended, this access will continue 
for the remainder of the contract without further notice. If the 
contract expires prior to July 19, 2021, the access will cease at that 
time. If RTI 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 interested parties of the contemplated disclosure and provide 
them with an opportunity to comment by publishing a notice in the 
Federal Register.
    EPA uses the services of Senior Environmental Employees (SEEs) 
whose involve access to information claimed as CBI related to 40 CFR 
part 1090. These SEEs are provided under the following two grants:
     National Association for Hispanic Elderly (NAHE) (Grant 
Number 8399701), 234 E Colorado Boulevard, Suite 300, Pasadena, CA 
91101; and
     Senior Service America, Inc. (Grant Number 839480001--
Washington, DC; and Grant Number 83967201--Ann Arbor, MI); 8403 
Colesville Road, Suite 200, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    Parties who want further information about this notice or about 
OTAQ's disclosure of information claimed as CBI to contactors may 
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Dated: February 10, 2021.
Byron J. Bunker,
Director, Compliance Division, Office of Transportation & Air Quality.
[FR Doc. 2021-03170 Filed 2-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P