Document ID: EPA-HQ-SFUND-2005-0007-0019
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: EPA Worker Protection Standards for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (Renewal)
Posted Date: 2019-08-30T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45759-45760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18733]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2005-0007, FRL-9994-81-OMS]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; EPA Worker Protection Standards for 
Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), EPA Worker Protection Standards 
for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (EPA ICR Number 
1426.12, OMB Control Number 2050-0105) 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 August 31, 2019. Public comments were 
previously requested via the Federal Register on November 27, 2018 
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 September 30, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
SFUND-2005-0007, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by email to superfund.docket@epa.gov or by mail to: 
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB via email 
to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer 
for EPA.
    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sella M. Burchette, U.S. Environmental 
Response Team, MS 101, Building 205, Edison, NJ 08837, telephone 
number: 732-321-6726; fax number: 732-321-6724; email address: 
burchette.sella@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 or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. 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: Section 126(f) of the Superfund Amendments and 
Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) requires EPA to set worker 
protection standards for state and local employees engaged in hazardous 
waste operations and emergency response in the 27 states that do not 
have Occupational Safety and Health Administration approved state 
plans. The EPA coverage, as cited in 40 CRF 311, required to be 
identical to the OSHA standards, extends to three categories of 
employees: Those engaged in clean-ups at uncontrolled hazardous waste 
sites, including corrective actions at Treatment, Storage and Disposal 
(TSD) facilities regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery 
Act (RCRA); employees working on routine hazardous waste operations at 
RCRA TSD facilities; and employees involved in emergency response 
operations without regard to location. This ICR renews existing 
mandatory record keeping collection of ongoing activities including 
monitoring of any potential employee exposure at uncontrolled hazardous 
waste sites, maintaining records of employee training, refresher 
training, medical exams and reviewing emergency response plans.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Entities potentially affected by 
this action are those state and local employees engaged in hazardous 
waste operations and emergency response in the 27 states that do not 
have Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) approved state 
plans.
    Respondent's Obligation to respond: 40 CFR 311 has no reporting 
requirements. There are record keeping requirements by inference in 
Section (e) and by statute in Section (f)[8] of OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.120.
    Estimated total number of respondents: 1,115,213.
    Frequency of response: Varies per activity.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 591,732 hours.
    Estimated total annual costs: $18,534,441, which is entirely labor 
costs. There are no capital investment or maintenance and operational 
costs.
    Changes in Estimates: For this ICR, the annual burden hour estimate 
is 591,732 hours. This represents an increase in 336,255 hours from the 
previous ICR. There have been no programmatic changes or modifications 
to per-activity estimates; the burden increase is a result of 
corrections being

[[Page 45760]]

applied to the underlying calculations used in previous renewal 
packages.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-18733 Filed 8-29-19; 8:45 am]
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