2011-24870. Receipt of Request for Waiver from Testing

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

Regulations issued by EPA under section 4 of the Toxic Substances

Control Act require that specified chemical substances be tested to determine if they are contaminated with halogenated dibenzo-p- dioxins (HDDs) or halogenated dibenzofurans (HDFs), and that results be reported to EPA. However, the regulations allow for exclusion and waiver from these requirements if an appropriate application is submitted to EPA and is approved. EPA has received a request for a waiver from these testing requirements from 3M and will accept comments on this request. EPA will publish another Federal Register notice on or before November 14, 2011, announcing its decisions on this request.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before October 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2011-0793, by one of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
• Hand Delivery: OPPT Document Control Office (DCO), EPA East Bldg., Rm. 6428, 1201 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Attention: Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2011-0793. The DCO is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the DCO is [phone]. Such deliveries are only accepted during the DCO's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.

Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2011-0793. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the docket without change and may be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-mail. The regulations.gov Web site is an “anonymous access” system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.

Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index available at http://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either in the electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov,, or, if only available in hard copy, at the OPPT Docket. The OPPT Docket is located in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) at Rm. 3334, EPA West Bldg., 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number of the EPA/DC Public Reading Room is [phone], and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket is [phone]. Docket visitors are required to show photographic identification, pass through a metal detector, and sign the EPA visitor log. All visitor bags are processed through an X-ray machine and subject to search. Visitors will be provided an EPA/DC badge that must be visible at all times in the building and returned upon departure.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For technical information contact: Rebecca Edelstein, National Program Chemicals Division, Office Pollution Prevention and Toxics (7404T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

This action is directed to the public in general. As such, the Agency has not attempted to describe the specific entities that this action may apply to. Although others may be affected, this action applies directly to the submitter of the request for waiver. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.

2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, remember to:

i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).

ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.

iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes.

iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information and/or data that you used.

v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced.

vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and suggest alternatives.

vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of profanity or personal threats.

viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline identified.

II. Background

A. What action is the agency taking?

EPA is announcing receipt of a request for waiver from testing from 3M. EPA will accept comments on this request and will publish another Federal Register notice on or before November 14, 2011, announcing its decisions on this request. See 40 CFR 766.32(c).

B. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

Under 40 CFR part 766, EPA requires testing of certain chemical substances to determine whether they may be contaminated with HDDs and HDFs. Under 40 CFR 766.32(a)(2)(i), a waiver may be granted if a responsible company official certifies that the chemical substance is produced only in quantities of 100 kilograms (kg) or less per year, and only for research and development purposes.

Under 40 CFR 766.32(b), a request for a waiver must be made 60 days before resumption of manufacture or importation of a chemical substance not being manufactured, imported, or processed as of June 5, 1987.

On September 14, 2011, EPA received a waiver request from 3M under 40 CFR 766.32(a)(2)(i). The request indicates that 3M intends to import tetrabromobisphenol A (CASRN 79-94-7), a chemical substance subject to testing under 40 CFR part 766, as part of an experimental formulation for research and development purposes. 3M will import less than 100 kg of tetrabromobisphenol A.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Dibenzofurans
• Dioxins
• Hazardous substances
• Tetrabromobisphenol A

Dated: September 22, 2011.

Wendy C. Hamnett,

Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.