Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0866-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Access by EPA Contractors to Information Claimed as Confidential Business Information Submitted under Title II of the Clean Air Act
Posted Date: 2010-02-22T05:00Z

[Federal Register: February 22, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 34)]
[Notices]               
[Page 7582-7584]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22fe10-45]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0866; FRL-9114-5]

 
Access by EPA Contractors to Information Claimed as Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) Submitted Under Title II of the Clean Air 
Act

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) has 
authorized various contractors to access information which has been 
submitted to EPA under Title II of the Clean Air Act that is claimed to 
be, or has been determined to be, confidential business information 
(CBI). EPA is providing notice of past disclosure and of ongoing and 
contemplated future disclosure.

DATES: Access by EPA contractors to material discussed in this Notice 
that has been either claimed or determined to be confidential business 
information (CBI) is ongoing, and is expected to continue in the 
future. EPA will accept comments on this Notice through March 1, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne-Marie C. Pastorkovich, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. (6406J), 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-343-9623; fax number: 202-
343-2801; e-mail 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 or have previously 
submitted information to EPA regarding the following programs: Fuel and 
fuel additive registration (40 CFR part 79), various fuels programs 
including reformulated gasoline, anti-dumping, gasoline sulfur, ultra 
low sulfur diesel, benzene content, and the renewable fuel standard (40 
CFR part 80), certification and defect reporting/recall of light-duty 
vehicles (including motorcycles) and heavy duty on-highway vehicles and 
engines (40 CFR part 86 and 40 CFR part 85, subpart T), certification 
and defect reporting/recall of non-road compression-ignition engines 
(40 CFR part 89, subparts B and I, 40 CFR part 1039, subpart C, and 40 
CFR part 1068, subpart F), certification and defect reporting/recall of 
spark-ignition engines less than or equal to 19 kilowatts (40 CFR part 
90, subparts C and I, 40 CFR part 1054, subpart C, and 40 CFR part 
1068, subpart F), certification and defect reporting/recall of marine 
spark-ignition engines (40 CFR part 91, subparts B and J, 40 CFR part 
1045, subpart C, and 40 CFR part 1068, subpart F), certification and 
defect reporting/recall of locomotives (40 CFR part 92, subparts C and 
E, 40 CFR part 1033, subpart C, and 40 CFR part 1068, subpart F), 
certification and defect reporting/recall of marine compression-
ignition engines (40 CFR part 94, subparts C and E, 40 CFR part 1042, 
subpart C, and 40 CFR part 1068, subpart F), certification of large 
non-road spark-ignition engines (40 CFR part 1048, subpart C, and 40 
CFR part 1068, subpart F), certification of recreational engines and 
vehicles (40 CFR part 1051, subpart C, and 40 CFR part 1068, subpart 
F), certification of non-road and stationary equipment for evaporative 
emissions compliance (40 CFR part 1060, subpart C), certification of 
stationary compression-ignition and spark-ignition engines (40 CFR part 
60, subparts IIII and JJJJ, respectively), fees (40 CFR part 1027), and 
fuel economy information (40 CFR part 600). Reports submitted to EPA 
under 40 CFR parts 79 and 80 fuels programs are commonly referred to as 
the ``OTAQ Fuels Reporting System.'' Reporting submitted to EPA under 
40 CFR parts 86 and 600 related to engine and vehicle compliance, such 
as light-duty certification and fuel economy information, is commonly 
referred to by the name of the reporting system itself--i.e., as CFEIS 
(prior to September 2008) and Verify (thereafter). Both the OTAQ Fuels 
Reporting System and Verify utilize the EPA Central Data Exchange 
(CDX).
    This Notice may be of particular relevance to parties that have 
submitted data under the above-listed programs or systems. Since other 
parties may also be interested, the Agency 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 Notice under Docket 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0866.
    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 confidential 
business information (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-OAR-2009-0866 will be 
available for public viewing at the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA 
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. 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 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 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. Occasionally, the information 
submitted is claimed to be confidential business information. 
Information submitted

[[Page 7583]]

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 plans (SSPs), that are 
consistent with those regulations. 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.
    Controls regarding the handling of information claimed as CBI, 
including sharing of information with contractors, are also addressed 
in individual SSPs. The required SSPs adhere to EPA regulations and 
policies, as well as with the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) Standard 800-53, ``Recommended Security Controls for 
Federal Information Systems and Organizations.'' (NIST Standard 800-53 
addresses technical, physical, environmental and other controls for 
information systems, including Local Area Networks (LANs) where 
information claimed as CBI may be stored.) Security plans address 
background investigations, required training, and rules of behavior for 
employees and contractors who require access to information claimed as 
CBI. Controls contained in OTAQ's SSPs are approved by OTAQ management 
and by the Information Management Official in the Office of Air and 
Radiation and such approvals are valid for a period of three (3) years, 
but we review the individual controls in our SSPs at least annually or 
whenever any major program or system change occurs, whichever is more 
frequent. Information which has been submitted to EPA under Title II of 
the Clean Air Act that is claimed to be, or has been determined to be, 
CBI has been handled and will continue to be handled at all times in 
accordance with the appropriate security controls as stated above.
    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 Title II of the Clean Air Act and in connection with various OTAQ 
programs related to fuels, vehicles, and engines and are providing 
notice and an opportunity to comment. OTAQ collects this data in order 
to monitor compliance with Clean Air Act programs and, in many cases, 
to permit regulated parties flexibility in meeting regulatory 
requirements. For example, data that may contain CBI is collected in 
order to register fuels and fuel additives prior to introduction into 
commerce and to certify engines. Certain programs are designed to 
permit regulated parties an opportunity to comply on average, or to 
engage in transactions using various types of credits. For example, 
OTAQ collects information about batches of gasoline that refiners 
produce in order to ensure compliance with reformulated gasoline 
standards. The nature of the work and its necessity, and the type of 
access granted, is described below for each contractor.
    Normally, EPA is required to give affected businesses notice and an 
opportunity to comment at least five (5) working days prior to 
disclosure of information claimed as CBI to a Federal contractor. This 
Federal Register Notice provides advance notice to all affected 
businesses that, as described below, certain information may be 
provided to EPA contractors or enrollees under the Senior Environmental 
Employment (SEE) program.
    In the past, as also described below, EPA has disclosed certain 
information that had been claimed as CBI to EPA contractors providing 
support services prior to providing notice to the affected businesses 
and an opportunity to comment. EPA regrets this unintentional error and 
has taken steps to avoid this error in the future. We are unaware of 
any disclosures by contractors of information claimed as CBI. We are 
publishing this notice in order to comply with the notification 
requirements of 40 CFR part 2, subpart B.
    We are issuing this Notice to inform all submitters of information 
related to various fuels, vehicles, and engines programs that we have 
provided, and may in the future provide, access to material claimed as 
CBI to the contractors identified below on a need-to-know basis.
    Under Contract Number EP-W-09-22, PowerSolv, Incorporated, 1801 
Robert Fulton Drive 550, Reston, Virginia, 20191 and its 
subcontractor, Indus Corporation, 1951 Kidwell Drive--8th Floor, 
Vienna, Virginia, 22182 provide information technology (IT) development 
and support services related to various fuels reporting programs under 
40 CFR parts 79 and 80. The fuels programs for which reporting 
information may be provided to these entities include: Fuel and fuel 
additive registration, reformulated gasoline, anti-dumping, gasoline 
sulfur, ultra low sulfur diesel, benzene content and the renewable fuel 
standard. Access to fuels data, including information claimed as CBI, 
has been ongoing since July 1, 2009 and will continue until May 31, 
2010. If the contract is extended, this access will continue for the 
remainder of the contract without further notice. From October 1, 1993 
until September 30, 1998, the contractor was Vista Computer Services, 
under Contract Number 68-W3-0032. From October 1, 1998 until March 31, 
2004, the contractor was Vista Computer Services, under Contract Number 
68-W-98-230. From April 1, 2004 until June 30, 2009, the contractor was 
SPS Technologies, Incorporated (formerly known as Vista Computer 
Services) under Contract Number EP-W-04-024.
    Under Contract Number EP-06-095, Compass Solutions, Incorporated, 
2760 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 404, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 provides 
report processing and support services related to various fuels 
reporting programs under 40 CFR parts 79 and 80. Access to fuels data, 
including information claimed as CBI, has been on-going since October 
1, 1992 and will continue until September 30, 2010. Compass Solutions 
was formerly known as McWane and Associates and was referenced in a 
1992 letter sent to all then-registered fuel and fuel additive 
manufacturers to inform them of the disclosure of information claimed 
as CBI to these contractors. If the contract is extended, the access 
described in this paragraph will continue for the remainder of the 
contract and any further extensions without further notice.
    Under Contract Number GS35F4381G--Task Order 1530, Software 
Engineering & Specialized Scientific Support (SES3), 8400 Corporate 
Drive, New Carrollton, Maryland 20785, and its subcontractor, Computer 
Sciences Corporation (CSC), of the same address, provide IT support 
services related to the engine and vehicle compliance information 
system (i.e., the system formerly called CFEIS and currently called 
Verify) under 40 CFR parts 86 and 600 Access by this contractor and 
subcontractor to vehicle and engine data, including information claimed 
as CBI, has been ongoing since September 11, 2009 and is expected to 
continue until September 10, 2015. If the contract is extended, this 
access will continue for the remainder of the contract and any further 
extensions without further notice. Prior to 2009, the following 
contractors had access to the data, including information claimed as 
CBI, described in this paragraph: From July 1, 2004 until September 25, 
2009, the contractor was CSC, 8400 Corporate Drive, New Carrollton, 
Maryland 20785,

[[Page 7584]]

with the following subcontractors: Concurrent Tech, Compubahn, Inc., 
TEK Systems, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), 
Innovate, Inc., CCS Technology Group, Ross & Associated, and CTC. The 
Contract Number was GS00T99ALD0203, Task Order Number T0002AJM038. From 
January 26, 2004 until July 7, 2006, the contractor was Lockheed 
Martin, 1010 Glebe Road, Arlington, Virginia 22201 and the following 
subcontractors: Solutron, Quest, Aprimus, DigitalNet, and Data Tech. 
The Contract Number was 68-W-04-005, Task Order Number 21. From 
December 1, 1998 until June 30, 2004, the contractor was Science 
Applications International Corporation, 200 North Glebe Road, Suite 
300, Arlington, Virginia 22203 and the following subcontractor: 
DynCorp, Indus. The Contract Number was 68-W-99-002.
    Under Contract Number EPC-07-050, URS EG&G Division, 20501 Seneca 
Meadows Parkway, Suite 300, Germantown, Maryland 20876 provides 
technical services and support related to defect and recall reporting 
for light-duty, heavy-duty, and non-road and marine engines under 40 
CFR parts 85 (subpart T), 89 (subpart I), 90 (subpart I), 91 (subpart 
J), 92 (subpart E), 94 (subpart E), and 1068 (subpart F). Certain data 
collected with regard to testing programs (e.g., sales data for engines 
and vehicles) may be claimed as CBI. Access to data, including 
information claimed as CBI, has been ongoing since October 1, 2007 and 
will continue until September 30, 2012. If the contract is extended, 
this access will continue for the remainder of the contract and any 
further extensions without further notice.
    Under Contract Number EP-C-06-003, Perrin Quarles Associates (PQA), 
Inc.,\1\ 652 Peter Jefferson Parkway, Suite 300, Charlottesville, 
Virginia 22911 provides technical and analytical support that involves 
access to information claimed as CBI related to the Information 
Management System (and internal certification database) and Verify 
under 40 CFR parts 86 and 600, OTAQ's Greenhouse Gas Project (a 
computer simulation of light-duty vehicle technologies for greenhouse 
gas emission reduction in the 2020-2025 timeframe), and the Fuels 
Economy Trends report under 40 CFR parts 600 and 1027 Access to data, 
including information claimed as CBI, started January 9, 2006 and will 
continue until December 31, 2010. If the contract is extended, this 
access will continue for the remainder of the contract and any further 
extensions without further notice.
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    \1\ On January 25, 2010, PQA announced that it had been acquired 
by SRA International (SRA) of Fairfax, Virginia.
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    Under Contract Number GS35F4797H, CGI, Incorporated, 12601 Fair 
Lakes Circle, Fairfax, Virginia 22033 provides IT development and 
support services related to submission of data via EPA's Central Data 
Exchange (CDX) related to various fuels reporting programs covered by 
the OTAQ Fuels Reporting System under 40 CFR parts 79 and 80 and Verify 
under 40 CFR parts 86 and 600. Access to fuels data, including 
information claimed as CBI, started on September 14, 2009 and will 
continue until March 31, 2012. Please note that information claimed as 
CBI is handled by this contractor only in encrypted (i.e., not human-
readable) format at its facility (at the address listed above) in 
Fairfax, Virginia. If the contract is extended, this access will 
continue for the remainder of the contract and any further extensions 
without further notice.
    Under Contract Number EPC-07-078, Eastern Research Group (ERG), 110 
Hartwell Avenue, Lexington, Massachusetts 02421 provides support to the 
SmartWay Transport program (a voluntary program) by collecting data 
from equipment manufacturers, vendor sales data, fleet and operational 
data from transportation providers and logistics firms, and freight 
operations data from shippers. ERG also assists in the processing of 
applications for EPA verification of diesel retrofit devices (a 
voluntary program). Access to data, including information claimed as 
CBI, started on May 30, 2008 and will continue until August 31, 2011. 
If the contract is extended, this access will continue for the 
remainder of the contract and any further extensions without further 
notice.
    In July 2004, OTAQ utilized the emergency services of AAA-
Datarecovery, 15 Ingleside Court, Rockville, Maryland 20850 in order to 
repair and restore a server that stored engine certification 
information, under EPA Procurement Request/Order PROKGRM-62EH32. This 
contractor had access to information claimed as CBI, but none of that 
data was in a human-readable format.
    OTAQ utilizes the services of enrollees under the Senior 
Environmental Employment (SEE) program. In Ann Arbor and Washington, 
DC, these enrollees are provided through Grant Number CQ-83880-01, 
Senior Service America, Inc., (SSAI) 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1200, 
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-3314. In Washington, DC, enrollees are 
also provided through Grant Number CQ-833436, the National Association 
for Hispanic Elderly (NAHE), 234 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 300, 
Pasadena, California 91101. Access to data involving all of OTAQ's 
programs, including information claimed as CBI, is ongoing and will 
continue until August 31, 2011. If these grants are extended, this 
access will continue for the remainder of the grants and any future 
extensions without further notice.
    Parties who wish 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.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Confidential business information.

    Dated: February 2, 2010.
Christopher Grundler,
Deputy Director, Office of Transportation & Air Quality.
[FR Doc. 2010-3406 Filed 2-19-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P