Document ID: EPA_FRDOC_0001-29350
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Clean Water Act: Contractor Access to Confidential Business Information
Posted Date: 2023-03-08T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14362-14363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04755]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-10742-01-OW]

Clean Water Act; Contractor Access to Confidential Business 
Information

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intended transfer of confidential business 
information to contractor and its subcontractors.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to transfer 
confidential business information (CBI) collected from numerous 
industries under a newly awarded contract, effective November 1, 2022, 
to Eastern Research Group (ERG) and its subcontractors. Transfer of 
this information is necessary for ERG to assist the Office of Water in 
the preparation of effluent guidelines and standards and with its 
effluent guidelines planning and review activities. Much of the 
information being transferred was or will be collected under the 
authority of section 308 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Interested 
persons may submit comments on this intended transfer of information to 
the person listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document.

DATES: Comments on the transfer of data are due March 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control 
Officer, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303T), U.S. EPA, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, or via email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control 
Officer, at (202) 566-1044, or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has transferred CBI to various 
contractors and subcontractors over the history of the effluent 
guidelines program under 40 CFR 2.302(h). EPA determined that this 
transfer was necessary to enable the contractors and subcontractors to 
perform their work in supporting EPA in planning, developing, and 
reviewing effluent guidelines and standards for certain industries.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 2.302(h)(2), EPA is giving notice that, 
effective November 1, 2022, it has entered into a new contract with 
ERG, contract number 68HERC23D0001, located in Chantilly, Virginia. The 
purpose of this contract is to secure technical and engineering 
analysis support for EPA in its development, review, implementation, 
and defense of water-related initiatives

[[Page 14363]]

for a variety of industries. To obtain assistance in responding to this 
contract, ERG has entered into contracts with the following 
subcontractors and consultant: Avanti Corporation (located in 
Alexandria, Virginia), Corollo Engineering (located in Walnut Creek, 
California), Craftwater (located in San Diego, California), GrantTech 
(located in New London, Connecticut), Great Lakes Environmental Center 
(GLEC, located in Traverse City, Michigan), Horsley Witten Group, Inc. 
(located in Sandwich, Massachusetts), Rumley Solutions, Inc., dba/
Hummingbird Firm (located in Atlanta, Georgia), LimnoTech, Inc., dba/
LimnoTech (located in Washington, District of Columbia), Mabbett & 
Associates, Inc. (located in Stoneham, Massachusetts), PG 
Environmental, LLC (located in Chantilly, Virginia and Golden, 
Colorado), and RESPEC Inc. (located in Rapid City, South Dakota and 
Decatur, Georgia).
    All EPA contractor, subcontractor, and consultant personnel are 
bound by the requirements and sanctions contained in their contracts 
with EPA and in EPA's confidentiality regulations found at 40 CFR part 
2, subpart B. ERG will adhere to an EPA-approved security plan which 
describes procedures to protect CBI. ERG will apply the procedures in 
this plan to CBI previously gathered by EPA and to CBI that may be 
gathered in the future. The security plan specifies that contractor 
personnel are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and are 
briefed on appropriate security procedures before they are permitted 
access to CBI. No person is automatically granted access to CBI: a need 
to know must exist.
    The information that will be transferred to ERG consists of 
information previously collected by EPA to support the development and 
review of effluent limitations guidelines and standards under the CWA 
and that EPA had transferred to ERG under a previous contract with 
them. In particular, information, including CBI, collected for the 
planning, development, and review of effluent limitations guidelines 
and standards for the following industries may be transferred to ERG 
under the new contract: airport deicing; aquaculture; centralized waste 
treatment; coal bed methane; concentrated animal feeding operations; 
coal mining; construction and development; drinking water treatment; 
industrial container and drum cleaning; industrial laundries; 
industrial waste combustors; iron and steel manufacturing; landfills; 
meat and poultry products; metal finishing; metal products and 
machinery; nonferrous metals manufacturing; oil and gas extraction 
(including coalbed methane); ore mining and dressing; organic 
chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibers; pesticide chemicals; 
petroleum refining; pharmaceutical manufacturing; pulp, paper, and 
paperboard manufacturing; shale gas extraction; steam electric power 
generation; textile mills; timber products processing; tobacco; 
transportation equipment cleaning; and other industrial categories that 
EPA has reviewed or may review as part of its CWA required annual 
review activities.
    EPA also intends to transfer to ERG all information listed in this 
notice, of the type described above (including CBI) that may be 
collected in the future under the authority of section 308 of the CWA 
or voluntarily submitted (e.g., in comments in response to a Federal 
Register notice), as is necessary to enable ERG to carry out the work 
required by its contract to support EPA's effluent guidelines planning 
and review process and the development of effluent limitations 
guidelines and standards.

Deborah Nagle,
Director, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2023-04755 Filed 3-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P