[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 28, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44278-44279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-22012]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 372
[OPPTS-400104D; FRL-5394-7]
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; further 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). In order to provide additional time to
comment on this proposal and the additional documents available as
announced in the Federal Register on August 21, 1996 (61 FR 43207), EPA
is extending the comment period until September 25, 1996.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 25, 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-400104D and the EPA contact for
this document. Unit II. 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@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 file format or ASCII file format.
All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by the
docket number OPPTS-400104D. 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 II. 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:
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). At 61
FR 43207, August 21, 1996 (FRL-5393-4), EPA issued a Notice extending
the comment period for certain additional documents to September 4,
1996. This Notice further extends the comment period for the proposal
and the additional documents to September 25, 1996.
EPA believes that by extending the comment period by 30 days it can
adequately satisfy the needs of those who strongly feel that they need
additional time to prepare their comments on the proposed rule as well
as those who feel equally strongly that the public's right to know
about toxic chemical releases and other waste information from these
additional industry groups should not be delayed another year.
Expanding the amount of information available to the American public
about the environment in their community is a priority for EPA. The
Agency remains committed to receiving and reviewing public comments and
moving expeditiously to finalize this important rulemaking.
II. Rulemaking Record
A record has been established for this rulemaking under docket
number ``OPPTS-400104D'' (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.
[[Page 44279]]
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 372
Environmental protection, Community right-to-know, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Toxic chemicals.
Dated: August 23, 1996.
Susan H. Wayland,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic
Substances.
[FR Doc. 96-22012 Filed 8-23-96; 4:46 pm]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F
