04-24414. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1596.06, OMB Control Number 2060-0226

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the following Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2004. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before December 2, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2004-0077, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to [e-mail], or by mail to: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, Mail Code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Karen Thundiyil, Office of Atmospheric Programs, Mail Code 6205J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: [phone]; fax number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On June 15, 2004 (69 FR 33383), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. OAR-2004-0077, which is available for public viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is [phone], and the telephone number for the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center is [phone]. An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/​edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select “search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above.

Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, confidential business information (CBI), or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/​edocket.

Title: Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) (40 CFR Part 82, Subpart G) (Renewal).

Abstract: Information collected under this rulemaking is necessary to implement the requirements of the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program for evaluating and regulating substitutes for ozone-depleting chemicals being phased out under the stratospheric ozone protection provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Under CAA section 612, EPA is authorized to identify and restrict the use of substitutes for class I and class II ozone-depleting substances where EPA determines other alternatives exist that reduce overall risk to human health and the environment. The SNAP program, based on information collected from the manufacturers, formulators, and/or sellers of such substitutes, identifies acceptable substitutes. Responses to the collection of information are mandatory under section 612 for anyone who sells or, in certain cases, uses substitutes for an ozone-depleting substance after April 18, 1994, the effective date of the final rule. Under CAA section 114(c), emissions information may not be claimed as confidential.

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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.

Burden Statement: For persons filing a SNAP Information Notice or petition, the reporting burden is estimated to average 150 hours per year. For persons filing a TSCA/SNAP Addendum, the reporting burden is estimated to average 46 hours per year. For persons filing a notification of test marketing activity, the reporting burden is estimated to average 2 hours per year. For persons keeping records of use of a substitute subject to narrowed use limits, the recordkeeping burden is estimated to average 27 hours per year. For persons keeping records of a small volume use, the recordkeeping burden is estimated to average 12 hours per year. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Respondents/Affected Entities: Manufacturers, importers, formulators and processors of substitutes for ozone-depleting substances.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 279.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 8972.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $546,834, which includes $44,142 annualized capital/startup costs, $260 annual O&M costs, and $502,432 annual labor costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 1391 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is an adjustment to estimates based upon more widely available alternatives reducing the total number of users needing to keep records for alternatives subject to narrowed use limits.

Dated: October 26, 2004.

Joseph A. Sierra,

Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.