[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 219 (Monday, November 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61872-61873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-29764]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6474-7]
Clean Water Act; Contractor Access to Confidential Business
Information
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intended transfer of confidential business
information to contractors and subcontractors.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to transfer
confidential business information (CBI) collected from the pulp, paper,
and paperboard manufacturing; pharmaceutical manufacturing; and other
industries listed below to Science Applications International
Corporation, Inc. (SAIC); Abt Associates, Inc.; Westat; Stratus
Consulting; and their subcontractors. Transfer of the information will
allow the contractors and subcontractors to support EPA to develop
effluent limitations guidelines and standards and intake water
regulations under the Clean Water Act (CWA), and in developing or
evaluating the need for regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA). The information being transferred was or will be
collected under the authority of section 308 of the CWA. Some of the
information was provided voluntarily by industrial facilities; this
information also could have been collected under section 308. Some
information being transferred from the pulp, paper, and paperboard
industry was collected under the additional authorities of section 114
of the CAA and section 3007 of the RCRA. Interested persons may submit
comments on this intended transfer of information to the address noted
below.
DATES: Comments on the transfer of data are due November 22, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Mr. David Hoadley, Document Control
Officer, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303), 911 East Tower, U.S.
EPA, 401 M Street S.W., Washington, DC 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Hoadley, Document Control
Officer, at (202) 260-7765.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has previously transferred to its
contractors, SAIC (located in Reston, Virginia) and Abt Associates
(located in Bethesda, Maryland) information, including CBI concerning
certain industries collected under the authority of section 308 of the
CWA. EPA determined that this transfer was necessary to enable the
contractors and subcontractors to perform their work in supporting EPA
in developing effluent guidelines and standards for certain industries.
Notice to this effect was provided to the affected industries.
Today, EPA is giving notice that it has entered into additional
contracts, numbers 68-C-99-233 and 68-C-99-239, with SAIC and Abt
Associates, respectively. EPA has also entered into two other
contracts, 68-C-99-242, with Westat (located in Rockville, Maryland),
and 68-W6-0055, with Stratus Consulting (located in Boulder, Colorado).
The reason for these contracts is to secure additional contractor
support in statistical analysis, survey and database development,
economic analyses, and ecological analyses. To obtain assistance in
responding to these contracts, SAIC, Abt Associates, and Westat have
entered into contracts with their subcontractors.
SAIC will provide similar statistical analysis support services as
previously provided in contract number 68-C4-0046. In the new contract,
SAIC has obtained the services of three subcontractors, Westat, Neptune
and Company, Inc. (located in Los Alamos, New Mexico), and Premier,
Inc. (located in Dunn Loring, Virginia) for additional statistical
analysis support.
Abt Associates will provide the same type of economic and
regulatory analysis and evaluation support services as previously
provided in contract number 68-C4-0060. In the new contract, Abt
Associates has retained, from the previous contract, the economic
analysis services of three subcontractors: Eastern Research Group
(located in Lexington, Massachusetts); Industrial Economics, Inc.
(located in Cambridge, Massachusetts); and RCG/Hagler Bailly Inc.
(located in Boulder, Colorado). Abt Associates has also obtained the
economic analysis services of five other subcontractors: ICF (located
in Fairfax, Virginia); NRDA (Tuscaloosa, Alabama); Environomics
(located in Bethesda, Maryland); GLEC (located in Traverse City,
Michigan); and Tetra Tech (located in Fairfax, Virginia).
Westat will provide general survey, statistical and data analysis,
and database support. Westat also has obtained the services of three
subcontractors: SAIC, NuStats International (located in Austin, Texas),
and I-Solutions Group, Inc. (located in Vienna, Virginia) for
additional support in surveys and statistical analysis.
Stratus Consulting will provide ecological and economic analysis.
All EPA contractor and subcontractor 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.
SAIC, Abt Associates, Westat, Stratus Consulting, and their
subcontractors adhere to EPA-approved security plans which describe
procedures to protect CBI. The procedures in these plans are applied to
CBI previously gathered by EPA for the industries identified below and
to CBI that may be gathered in the future for these industries. The
security plans specify that contractor and subcontractor 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.
[[Page 61873]]
The information that will be transferred to SAIC, Abt Associates,
Westat, and their subcontractors consists primarily of information
previously collected by EPA to support the development of effluent
limitations guidelines and standards under the CWA. (EPA does not
intend to transfer this information to Stratus Consulting.) In
particular, information, including CBI, collected for the development
of effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the following
industries may be transferred: airport deicing; centralized waste
treatment; coal mining and remining; industrial laundries; industrial
waste combustors; iron and steel; landfills; machinery products and
manufacturing; oil and gas; organic chemicals; pesticide manufacturing;
pesticides formulating, packaging, and repackaging; pharmaceutical
manufacturing; petroleum refining; pulp, paper, and paperboard
manufacturing; steam and electric; and transportation equipment
cleaning.
In addition, EPA will transfer to all four contractors (i.e., SAIC,
Abt Associates, Westat, and Stratus Consulting) and their
subcontractors information collected under Section 308 of the CWA to
support development of regulations for intake of water under Section
316(b) of the CWA. This information was and will be collected from
plants that generate electricity by means of steam and thus have large
cooling water needs. Facilities in the traditional steam electric
utility category are classified under Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) codes 4911 and 493, while nonutility power
producers include Paper and Allied Products (SIC Major Group 26),
Chemical and Allied Products (SIC Major Group 28), Petroleum and Coal
Products (SIC Major Group 29), and Primary Metals (SIC Major Group 33).
EPA also intends to transfer to SAIC, Abt Associates, Westat,
Stratus Consulting, and their subcontractors 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,
as is necessary to enable SAIC, Abt Associates, Westat, Stratus
Consulting, and their subcontractors to carry out the work required by
their contracts to support EPA's development of effluent limitations
guidelines and standards and intake water regulations for the
industries listed above.
Dated: November 8, 1999.
Geoffrey H. Grubbs,
Director, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 99-29764 Filed 11-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
