[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 21, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43207-43208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21343]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 372
[OPPTS-400104C; FRL-5393-4]
RIN 2070-AC71
Addition of Facilities in Certain Industry Sectors; Toxic
Chemical Release Reporting; Community Right-to-Know; Extension of
Comment Period
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: In the Federal Register of June 27, 1996, EPA issued a
proposed rule to add seven industry groups to the list of industries
required to report under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) section 313 and section 6607 of the Pollution
Prevention Act of 1990 (PPA). Except as provided in this Notice, the
period for accepting comments on the proposed rule ends August 26,
1996. EPA has added additional information to the public docket prior
to the close of the public comment period. This information is
summarized in this document. To assure that the public and other
interested parties may review and comment on the additional documents
and information, EPA is extending the comment period on the proposed
rule. EPA is requesting comment on the additional documents and
information only. Comments must be confined to the contents of these
documents.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 4, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted in triplicate to: OPPT
Docket Clerk, TSCA Document Receipt Office (7407), Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. E-G099, 401
M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. Comments containing information
claimed as confidential must be clearly marked as confidential business
information (CBI). If CBI is claimed, three additional sanitized copies
must also be submitted. Nonconfidential versions of comments on the
proposed rule will be placed in the rulemaking record and will be
available for public inspection. Comments should include the docket
control number for this document, OPPTS-400104C and the EPA contact for
this document. Unit III. of this document contains additional
information on submitting comments containing information claimed as
CBI.
Comments and data may also be submitted electronically by sending
electronic mail (e-mail) to: oppt.ncic@. 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 file format or ASCII file format.
All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by the
docket number OPPTS-400104C. No CBI should be submitted through e-mail.
Electronic comments on this proposed rule may be filed online at many
Federal Depository Libraries. Additional information on electronic
submissions can be found in Unit III. of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Crawford at 202-260-1715, e-mail:
crawford.tim@epamail.epa.gov, or Brian Symmes at 202-260-9121, e-mail:
symmes.brian@epamail.epa.gov, or the Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Information Hotline, Environmental Protection Agency,
Mail Stop 5101, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460, Toll free: 1-800-
535-0202, in Virginia and Alaska: 703-412-9877 or Toll free TDD: 1-800-
553-7672.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Availability: Electronic copies of the documents listed in
Unit IV. of this document are available from the EPA Public Access
gopher (gopher.epa.gov) at the Environmental Sub-Set entry under
``Rules and Regulations.''
I. Introduction
Current EPCRA section 313 reporting requirements apply to
facilities classified in the manufacturing sector (Standard Industrial
Classification codes 20-39) that have 10 or more full-time employees,
and that manufacture, process, or otherwise use one or more listed
section 313 chemicals above certain threshold amounts. EPA has been in
the process of evaluating industry groups for potential addition under
EPCRA section 313. EPA recently issued a proposed rule to add seven
industry groups to the list of industries subject to EPCRA section 313
reporting requirements (61 FR 33588, June 27, 1996) (FRL-5379-3).
[[Page 43208]]
II. Description of Additional Documents and Information
EPA believes that the revised interpretation of ``otherwise use''
for purposes of EPCRA section 313 threshold calculations, as proposed
in the June 27, 1996 Federal Register, may affect how certain
facilities currently covered under EPCRA section 313 report. As stated
in the proposal, EPA does not anticipate that this revised
interpretation will significantly change the reporting status of
facilities operating in the manufacturing sector because the revised
interpretation is most likely to impact only those facilities that are
in the business of managing waste materials from other facilities. In
the proposal, EPA requested specific comment on the number of
facilities within the manufacturing sector that this revised
interpretation might affect. EPA has continued its efforts to refine
its estimate of the quantitative impact that a revision of the
otherwise use interpretation might have on reporting facilities. This
Federal Register document is to notify interested parties that EPA has
added information to the docket estimating the potential impact of the
revised interpretation of ``otherwise use'' that includes receipt of
chemicals for the purposes of further waste management activities on
facilities currently covered under EPCRA section 313. This information
also relates to RCRA Subtitle C Hazardous Waste facilities receiving
materials from manufacturing facilities currently reporting to TRI.
This information is available for public review and comment, and is
contained in a document entitled Effects of Modified TRI Otherwise Use
Interpretation on Manufacturing Facilities and Other Waste Treatment
and Disposal Facilities (Ref. 1).
It has come to EPA's attention that the document entitled
Interpretive Guidance for Revised Interpretation for Otherwise Use has
not been readily available. By this Federal Register Notice, EPA is
notifying all interested parties that this document has been placed in
the public docket and that it is readily available.
In addition, EPA is providing additional information on potential
impacts of the proposed rule on small entities in the document
entitled: Estimated Impacts on Small Entities: Refined Estimation of
Company Revenue and Impacts (Ref. 2). In particular, this document
provides additional data on the distribution of company revenue and
employment within selected non-manufacturing SIC codes, the average
number of facilities per company, and revenue and employment data
sorted by the Small Business Administration's SIC code-specific size
standards.
III. Rulemaking Record
A record has been established for this rulemaking under docket
number ``OPPTS-400104C'' (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 noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.
The public record is located in the TSCA Nonconfidential Information
Center (NCIC), located at EPA Headquarters, Rm. E-B607, 401 M St., SW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
Any person who submits comments claimed as CBI must mark the
comments as ``confidential,'' ``CBI,'' or other appropriate
designation. Comments not claimed as confidential at the time of
submission will be placed in the public file. Any comments marked as
confidential will be treated in accordance with the procedures in 40
CFR part 2. Any person submitting comments claimed to be confidential
must prepare a nonconfidential public version of the comments in
triplicate that EPA can put in the public file.
Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at:
ncic@epamail.epa.gov
Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the
use of special characters and any form of encryption.
The official record for this rulemaking, as well as the public
version, described above will be kept in paper form. Accordingly, EPA
will transfer all comments received electronically into printed, paper
form as they are received and will place the paper copies in the
official rulemaking record which will also include all comments
submitted directly in writing. The official rulemaking record is the
paper record maintained at the address in ADDRESSES at the beginning of
this document.
IV. References
1. USEPA/OPPT. Effects of Modified TRI Otherwise Use Interpretation
on Manufacturing Facilities and Other Waste Treatment and Disposal
Facilities. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
(1996).
2. USEPA/OPPT. Estimated Impacts on Small Entities: Refined
Estimates of Company Revenue and Impacts.. U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington, DC (1996).
3. USEPA/OPPT. Interpretive Guidance for Revised Interpretation for
Otherwise Use. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
(1996).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 372
Environmental protection, Community right-to-know, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Toxic chemicals.
Dated: August 16, 1996.
Lynn R. Goldman,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic
Substances.
[FR Doc. 96-21343 Filed 8-20-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F
