Document ID: EPA-HQ-TRI-2017-0057-0026
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2017-09-29T04:00Z

Subject: 	Request for Assistance; Renewal of Existing Information Collection Request; Comment 
		Request on Toxic Chemical Release Reporting and Renewals of Form R, Form A, and 
		Form R Schedule 1 (EPA ICR No. 1363.26, OMB Control No. 2025-0009)

      On May 30, 2017, EPA published a Notice in the Federal Register (82 FR 24702) titled "Toxic Chemical Release Reporting and Renewals of Form R, Form A, and Form R Schedule 1" (EPA ICR No. 1363.26, OMB Control No. 2025-0009) (https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EPA-HQ-TRI-2017-0057). This Notice refers to EPA's intention to request renewed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of an information collection pursuant to section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Section 313 of EPCRA requires certain facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use specified toxic chemicals in amounts above reporting threshold levels to submit annually to EPA and to designated State or Tribal officials toxic chemical release forms containing information specified by EPA. 42 U.S.C. 11023. In addition, pursuant to section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA), facilities reporting under section 313 of EPCRA must also report pollution prevention and waste management data, including recycling information, for such chemicals; see 42 U.S.C. 13106.

      In addition to public notice and comment requirement that the above Notice initiates, OMB regulations at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1) require agencies to consult with potential respondents and data users about specific aspects of an information collection request (ICR) before submitting it to OMB for review and approval, regardless, in the case of ICR renewals, of whether changes have or have not been made to the collection activity.

      As part of this required consultation, I am contacting you to solicit your input.  Please note that if you take this opportunity to provide input, your name, affiliation, e-mail address, phone number and any information you provide (e.g., copies of e-mails) will be incorporated and attached to the ICR supporting statement, which will be a public document.  In addition, the OMB Desk Examiner for the ICR in question may contact you to verify the accuracy of any comments EPA identifies in the ICR.

      EPA solicits your input on the following questions:

      ::	Are the data that EPA seeks under this ICR available from any public source, or already 
      collected by another EPA office or by another agency?  If so, where can the data be found?
      ::	Is it clear what is required for data submission?  If not, are there any suggestions for 
      clarifying instructions? 
      ::	Do you agree with EPA's estimated burden and costs (the ICR addresses only the costs 
      associated with paperwork)?  
      ::	Are the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) labor rates accurate?  If you have any reason to 
      consider the BLS labor rates as used by EPA inaccurate or inappropriate, explain your rationale.

      To access the Federal Register Notice, the ICR supporting document, and any public comments received to date, go to: 
      ::	www.regulations.gov/ 
      ::	enter EPA-HQ-TRI-2017-0057 in the Enter Keyword or ID field
      ::	click on "Search"
      ::	then click on any of the documents listed within the docket to read the document; you 
      will be most interested in the Supporting Statement, identified by its title beginning 
      "Information Collection Request..."

      Your response will be greatly appreciated.  If you have any comments in response to the above questions, or with respect to any other part of the information collection, please respond by return e-mail by July 31, 2017 to vail.cassandra@epa.gov.  EPA will consider those responses, as well as any public comment received in response to the Federal Register Notice identified above, in preparing a final document for OMB review.

Thank you for your assistance. 

Sincerely yours,

Larry Reisman, Acting Division Director
Toxics Release Inventory Program Division 
Washington, DC 20460