2022-01590. Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Community Right-to-Know Reporting Requirements Under Sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) (...

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Community Right-to-Know Reporting Requirements under Sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPA ICR Number 1352.16, OMB Control Number 2050-0072) 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 March 31, 2022. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on August 20, 2021 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 February 28, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to EPA, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-2004-0006; online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method) 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 [e-mail]. 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.

Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wendy Hoffman, Office of Emergency Management, Mail Code 5104A, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: [phone]; email address: [e-mail].

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. For further information about the EPA's public docket, Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/​dockets. The telephone number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744.

Abstract: The authority for these requirements is sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11011, 11012). EPCRA section 311 requires owners and operators of facilities subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to submit a list of chemicals or Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) (for those chemicals that exceed thresholds, specified in 40 CFR part 370) to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) or Tribal Emergency Response Commission (TERC), Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) or Tribal Emergency Planning Committee (TEPC), and the local fire department (LFD) with jurisdiction over their facility. This is a one-time requirement unless a facility becomes subject to the regulations or has updated information on the hazardous chemicals that were already submitted by the facility. EPCRA section 312 requires owners and operators of facilities subject to the OSHA HCS to submit an inventory form (for those chemicals that exceed the thresholds, specified in 40 CFR part 370) to the SERC (or TERC), LEPC (or TEPC), and LFD with jurisdiction over their facility. This inventory form, the Tier II Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Form, is to be submitted on or before March 1 of each year and must include the inventory of hazardous chemicals present at the facility in the previous calendar year. Currently, all states require facilities to submit the Federal Tier II form or the state-equivalent, including electronic submission.

Form Numbers: Tier I Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Form, EPA Form No. 8700-29, Tier II Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Form, EPA Form No. 8700-30.

Respondents/affected entities: Manufacturers and non-manufacturers required to have available a MSDS (or Safety Data Sheet (SDS)) under the OSHA HCS.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (sections 311 and 312 of EPCRA).

Estimated number of respondents: 471,787 facilities (total). This figure includes 3,052 LEPCs and SERCs.

Frequency of response: Annual.

Total estimated burden: 6,963,271 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).

Total estimated cost: $306,735,727 (per year), includes $1,715,094 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.

Changes in the Estimates: O&M costs were reduced from the previous ICR renewal for two reasons. First, mailing costs were reduced by two-thirds because electronic communications have greatly reduced the reliance on the use of mail services. In addition, EPA no longer assumes that filing cabinets used to store paper forms are replaced every 15 years. Instead, EPA now believes it is more reasonable to assume that the file cabinets are used indefinitely.

Courtney Kerwin,

Director, Regulatory Support Division.