02-14635. Industrial Economics Inc.; Transfer of Data

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces that pesticide related information submitted to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including information that may have been claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) by the submitter, will be transferred to Industrial Economics Inc. in accordance with 40 CFR 2.307(h)(3) and 2.308(i)(2). Industrial Economics Inc. has been awarded multiple contracts to perform work for OPP, and access to this information will enable Industrial Economics Inc. to fulfill the obligations of the contract.

DATES:

Industrial Economics Inc. will be given access to this information on or before June 17, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

By mail: Erik R. Johnson, FIFRA Security Officer, Information Resources and Services Division (7502C), Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

This action applies to the public in general. As such, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Additional Information, Including Copies of this Document and Other Related Documents?

You may obtain electronic copies of this document, and certain other related documents that might be available electronically, from the EPA Internet Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/​. To access this document, on the Home Page select “Laws and Regulations,” “Regulations and Proposed Rules,” and then look up the entry for this document under the “Federal Register—Environmental Documents.” You can also go directly to the Federal Register listings at http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr/​.

II. Contractor Requirements

Under contract number GS-10F-0224J, the contractor will perform the following:

EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) is responsible for providing assistance to enforcement professionals from EPA and the States in determining: (1) A violator's economic benefit of noncompliance; (2) the violator's ability to pay for compliance, clean-ups and civil penalties (hereinafter referred to as “ability to pay”); (3) the value of a supplemental environmental project (SEP); and (4) the value of compliance. This assistance is largely provided through five current computer models: Ben, Abel, Indipay, Munipay and Project. Ben calculates a violator's economic savings from violating the law. Abel, Indipay, and Munipay evaluate claims of inability to pay from for-profit entities, individuals and municipalities, respectively. Project calculates the net-present, after-tax value of a proposed supplemental environmental project.

OECA also provides support in these areas through the use of expert financial consultants where the models are insufficient. OECA must keep its models up to date, provide educational programs to ensure proper application of the models, support negotiations, trials and hearings, and provide advice to our enforcement professionals as to issues that arise in using the models.

Since there are very few corporate finance, municipal finance, or accounting experts within OECA, the contractor shall provide that expertise and update the models, develop new models as appropriate and educate enforcement staff on the models. The contractor shall also provide expert advice to enforcement personnel regarding financial issues that impact enforcement litigation, and when directed, support enforcement negotiations, and appear as expert witnesses in hearings and trials. However, EPA employees will make all policy decisions in regard to finance/accounting issues.

To the extent that the work under this contract requires access to proprietary or confidential business or financial data of other companies, and as long as, such data remains proprietary or confidential, the contractor shall protect such data from unauthorized use and disclosure.

All files or other information identified as CBI shall be treated as confidential and kept in a secure area with access limited to only contractor personnel directly involved in the case or special project assignment. The contractor, subcontractor, and consultant 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. The contractor, subcontractors, and consultant must adhere to EPA-approved security plans which describe procedures to protect CBI, and are required to sign non-disclosure agreements before gaining access to CBI.

All official data, findings, and results of investigations and studies completed by the contractor shall be available for EPA and Department of Justice internal use only. The contractor shall not release any part of such data without the written direction of the project officer.

This contract involves no subcontractors.

OPP has determined that the contracts described in this document involve work that is being conducted in connection with FIFRA, in that pesticide chemicals will be the subject of certain evaluations to be made under this contract. These evaluations may be used in subsequent regulatory decisions under FIFRA.

Some of this information may be entitled to confidential treatment. The information has been submitted to EPA under sections 3, 4, 6, and 7 of FIFRA and under sections 408 and 409 of FFDCA.

In accordance with the requirements of 40 CFR 2.307(h)(3), the contract with Industrial Economics Inc., prohibits use of the information for any purpose not specified in these contracts; prohibits disclosure of the information to a third party without prior written approval from the Agency; and requires that each official and employee of the contractor sign an agreement to protect the information from unauthorized release and to handle it in accordance with the FIFRA Information Security Manual. In addition, Industrial Economics Inc. is required to submit for EPA approval a security plan under which any CBI will be secured and protected against unauthorized release or compromise. No information will be provided to Industrial Economics Inc. until the requirements in this document have been fully satisfied. Records of information provided to Industrial Economics Inc. will be maintained by EPA Project Officers for these contracts. All information supplied to Industrial Economics Inc. by EPA for use in connection with these contracts will be returned to EPA when Industrial Economics Inc. has completed its work.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Business and industry
• Government contracts
• Government property
• Security measures

Dated: June 3, 2002.

Linda Vlier Moos,

Acting Director, Information Resources and Services Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.