[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13243-13244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6978]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPPTS-00236; FRL-5777-4]
Toxic Substances; Correction of Misreported Chemical Substances
on the TSCA Inventory; Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposed Renewal and Request for Comment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this notice announces that EPA is planning to submit the
following continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the procedures described in
5 CFR 1320.12. Before submitting the following ICR to OMB for review
and reapproval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the
information collection, which is briefly described below. The ICR is a
continuing ICR entitled ``Correction of Misreported Chemical Substances
on the TSCA Inventory,'' EPA ICR No. 1741.02, OMB No. 2070-0145. This
ICR covers the reporting of corrected information to the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 8(b) Inventory of Chemical
Substances, which relates to reporting requirements that appear at 40
CFR part 710. 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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
Dates: Written comments must be submitted on or before May 18, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Each comment must bear the docket control number ``OPPTS-
00236'' and administrative record number 191. All comments should be
sent in triplicate to: OPPT Document Control Officer (7407), Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M
St., SW., Rm. G-099, East Tower, Washington, DC 20460. Comments and
data may also be submitted electronically to:
oppt.ncic@epamail.epa.gov. Follow the instructions under Unit III. of
this document. No TSCA Confidential Business Information (CBI) should
be submitted through e-mail.
All comments which contain information claimed as CBI must be
clearly marked as such. Three sanitized copies of any comments
containing information claimed as CBI must also be submitted and will
be placed in the public record for this document. Persons submitting
information any portion of which they believe is entitled to treatment
as CBI by EPA must assert a business confidentiality claim in
accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) for each such portion. This claim must
be made at the time that the information is submitted to EPA. If a
submitter does not assert a confidentiality claim at the time of
submission, EPA will consider this as a waiver of any confidentiality
claim and the information may be made available to the public by EPA
without further notice to the submitter.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information contact: Susan
B. Hazen, Director, Environmental Assistance Division (7408), Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M
St., SW., Washington, DC 20460, Telephone: 202-554-1404, TDD: 202-554-
0551, e-mail: TSCA-Hotline@epamail.epa.gov. For technical information
contact: Scott Sherlock, Information Management Division (7407), Office
of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency,
401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460, Telephone: 202-260-1536; Fax:
202-260-1657; e-mail: sherlock.scott@epamail.epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Availability:
Internet
Electronic copies of the ICR are available from the EPA Home Page
at the Federal Register - Environmental Documents entry for this
document under ``Laws and Regulations'' (http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/).
Fax-on-Demand
Using a faxphone call 202-401-0527 and select item 4058 for a copy
of the ICR.
I. Background
Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are
persons who manufacture, process, or import chemical substances in the
United States.
[[Page 13244]]
For the collection of information addressed in this notice, EPA
would like to solicit comments to:
1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility.
2. Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used.
3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected.
4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
II. Information Collection
EPA is seeking comments on the following ICR, as well as the
Agency's intention to renew the corresponding OMB approval, which is
currently scheduled to expire on May 31, 1998.
Title: Correction of Misreported Chemical Substances on the TSCA
Inventory.
ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1741.02, OMB No. 2070-0145.
Abstract: Section 8(b) of the TSCA requires EPA to compile and keep
current an Inventory of Chemical Substances in Commerce, which is a
listing of chemical substances manufactured, imported, and processed
for commercial purposes in the United States. The purpose of the
Inventory is to define, for the purpose of TSCA, what chemical
substances exist in U.S. commerce. Since the Inventory thereby performs
a regulatory function by distinguishing between existing chemicals and
new chemicals, which TSCA regulates in different ways, it is imperative
that the Inventory be accurate.
However, from time to time, EPA or respondents discover that
substances have been incorrectly described by reporting companies.
Reported substances have been unintentionally misidentified as a result
of simple typographical errors, the misidentification of substances, or
the lack of sufficient technical or analytical capabilities to
characterize fully the exact chemical substances. EPA has developed
guidelines (45 FR 50544, July 29, 1980) under which incorrectly
described substances listed in the Inventory can be corrected.
This information collection request pertains to the use of the TSCA
Chemical Substance Inventory Reporting Form C (EPA Form 7710-3C), which
is used by the chemical industry in submitting requests to EPA to
correct misreported chemical identities of substances listed on the
Inventory. The correction mechanism ensures the accuracy of the
Inventory without imposing an unreasonable burden on the chemical
industry. Without the Inventory correction mechanism, a company that
submitted incorrect information would have to file a premanufacture
notification (PMN) under TSCA section 5 to place the correct chemical
substance on the Inventory whenever the previously reported substance
is found to be misidentified. This would impose a much greater burden
on both EPA and the submitter than the existing correction mechanism.
Responses to this collection of information are voluntary.
Burden statement: The burden to respondents for complying with this
ICR is estimated to total 200 hours per year with an annual cost of
$8,100. These totals are based on an average burden of 1 hour per
response for an estimated 200 respondents making one response annually.
These estimates include the time needed to determine applicability;
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.
III. Public Record and Electronic Submissions
The official record for this document as well as the public
version, has been established for this document under docket control
number ``OPPTS-00236'' (including comments and data submitted
electronically as described below). A public version of this record,
including printed, paper versions of electronic comments, which does
not include any information claimed as CBI, is available for inspection
from 12 noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The official rulemaking record is located in the TSCA
Nonconfidential Information Center, Rm. NE-B607, 401 M St., SW.,
Washington, DC.
Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at:
oppt.ncic@epamail.epa.gov
Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the
use of special characters and any form of encryption. Comments and data
will also be accepted on disks in WordPerfect 5.1/6.1 or ASCII file
format. All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by
the docket control number ``OPPTS-00236'' and administrative record
number 191. Electronic comments on this document may be filed online at
many Federal Depository Libraries.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Information collection requests,
Reporting and recordkeeping.
Dated: March 9, 1998.
Susan H. Wayland,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic
Substances.
[FR Doc. 98-6978 Filed 3-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F
