2012-21327. Access to Confidential Business Information by Enrollees Under the Senior Environmental Employment Program

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

EPA has authorized grantee organizations under the Senior Environmental Employment (SEE) Program and their enrollees access to information which has been submitted to EPA under the environmental statutes administered by the Agency. Some of this information may be claimed or determined to be confidential business information (CBI).

DATES:

Comments concerning CBI access will be accepted on or before September 4, 2012.

ADDRESSES:

Comments should be submitted to: Susan Street, National Program Manager, Senior Environmental Employment Program (MC 3600M), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Street [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Senior Environmental Employment (SEE) program is authorized by the Environmental Programs Assistance Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-313), which provides that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may “make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements with,” specified private, nonprofit organizations for the purpose of “providing technical assistance to Federal, State and local environmental agencies for projects of pollution prevention, abatement, and control.” Cooperative agreements under the SEE Program provide support for many functions in the Agency, including clerical support, staffing hot lines, providing support to Agency enforcement activities, providing library services, compiling data, and providing support in scientific, engineering, financial and other areas.

In performing these tasks, grantees and cooperators under the SEE Program and their enrollees may have access to potentially all documents submitted under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Emergency Planning Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), to the extent that these statues allow disclosure of confidential information to “authorized representatives of the United States” or to “contractors.” Some of these documents may contain information claimed as confidential.

EPA provides confidential information to enrollees working under the following cooperative agreements:

Cooperative Agreement No.	Organization
National Association for Hispanic Elderly (NAHE)
QS-833757	NAHE
Q-834244	NAHE
Q-834373	NAHE
Q-834621	NAHE
Q-834687	NAHE
QS-836112	NAHE
National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA)
QS-833692	NAPCA
Q-834156	NAPCA
Q-834311	NAPCA
Q-834312	NAPCA
Q-834313	NAPCA
Q-834314	NAPCA
Q-834315	NAPCA
Q-834372	NAPCA
Q-834607	NAPCA
Q-835153	NAPCA
Q-835159	NAPCA
Q-835160	NAPCA
Q-835185	NAPCA
Q-835231	NAPCA
National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc. (NCBA)
Q-832975	NCBA
Q-833567	NCBA
Q-833568	NCBA
Q-833570	NCBA
Q-833572	NCBA
Q-834211	NCBA
Q-834212	NCBA
Q-834374	NCBA
Q-834432	NCBA
Q-834433	NCBA
Q-834434	NCBA
Q-834569	NCBA
Q-834571	NCBA
Q-834680	NCBA
Q-835016	NCBA
Q-835017	NCBA
Q-835018	NCBA
Q-835020	NCBA
Q-835021	NCBA
Q-835052	NCBA
Q-835053	NCBA
Q-835154	NCBA
Q-835362	NCBA
Q-835363	NCBA
National Council on the Aging, Inc. (NCOA)
QS-833832	NCOA
Q-834129	NCOA
Q-834130	NCOA
Q-834157	NCOA
Q-834266	NCOA
Q-834351	NCOA
Q-834773	NCOA
Q-835094	NCOA
Q-835207	NCOA
Q-835353	NCOA
National Older Worker Career Center, Inc. (NOWCC)
Q-833890	NOWCC
Q-833982	NOWCC
Q-833983	NOWCC
Q-833987	NOWCC
Q-834011	NOWCC
Q-834038	NOWCC
Q-834039	NOWCC
Q-834095	NOWCC
Q-834096	NOWCC
Q-834112	NOWCC
Q-834119	NOWCC
Q-834122	NOWCC
Q-834124	NOWCC
Q-834355	NOWCC
Q-834375	NOWCC
Q-835004	NOWCC
Q-835005	NOWCC
Q-835006	NOWCC
Q-835007	NOWCC
Q-835026	NOWCC
Q-835027	NOWCC
Q-835028	NOWCC
Q-835029	NOWCC
Q-835030	NOWCC
Q-835045	NOWCC
Q-835046	NOWCC
Q-835047	NOWCC
Q-835101	NOWCC
Q-836111	NOWCC
Senior Service America, Inc. (SSAI)
Q-833884	SSAI
Q-834162	SSAI
Q-834243	SSAI
Q-834245	SSAI
Q-834370	SSAI
Q-834570	SSAI
Q-834779	SSAI
Q-834888	SSAI
Q-834983	SSAI
Q-835049	SSAI
Q-835092	SSAI
Q-835100	SSAI
Q-835229	SSAI

Among the procedures established by EPA confidentiality regulations for granting access to confidential business information is notification to the submitters of CBI that SEE-grantee organizations and their enrollees will have access to this information. See 40 CFR 2.301(h)(2)(iii) for information submitted under the CAA, 40 CFR 350.23 for EPCRA, and corresponding provisions of 40 CFR 2.302-2.311, for other statutes listed above. This document is intended to fulfill that requirement.

The grantee organizations are required by the cooperative agreements to protect confidential information. SEE enrollees are required to sign confidentiality agreements and to adhere to the same security procedures as Federal employees.

Dated: August 22, 2012.

Susan Street,

SEE Program Manager.