Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Community Right-to-Know Reporting Requirements Under Sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), EPA ICR Number 1352.10, OMB Control Number 2050-0072

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2004. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before July 20, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number SFUND-2004-0006, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to superfund.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund Docket, Mail code 5305T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sicy Jacob, Office of Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response, 5104A, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-8019; fax number: 202-564-8233; e-mail address: jacob.sicy@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID number SFUND-2004-0006, which is available for public viewing at the Superfund Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Superfund Docket is (202) 566-0276. An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket . Use EDOCKET to obtain a copy of the draft collection of information, submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select “search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above.

Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA within 60 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to www.epa.gov./edocket .

Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are those facilities required to prepare or have available an MSDS for a hazardous chemical under the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Entities more likely to be affected by this action may include chemical, non-chemical manufacturers, retailers, petroleum refineries, utilities, etc.

Title: Community Right-to-Know Reporting Requirements under Sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)

Abstract: The authority for these requirements is sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11011, 11012). EPCRA Section 311 requires owners and operators of facilities subject to OSHA HCS to submit a list of chemicals or MSDSs (for those chemicals that exceed thresholds, specified in 40 CFR part 370) to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and the local fire department (LFD) with jurisdiction over their facility. The submittal of a list of chemicals or MSDSs is a one-time requirement. However, facilities must submit updates to the list of chemicals, within three months, when a new hazardous chemical comes on-site above the reporting threshold. If significant new information arises concerning a previously submitted MSDS, a facility must submit a revised MSDS. EPCRA Section 312 requires owners and operators of facilities subject to OSHA HCS to submit an inventory form (for those chemicals that exceed the thresholds, specified in 40 CFR part 370) to the SERC, LEPC, and LFD with jurisdiction over their facility. This activity is to be completed on March 1 of each year, on the inventory of chemicals in the previous calendar year.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.

The EPA would like to solicit comments to:

(i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(iv) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Burden Statement: The average burden for MSDS reporting under 40 CFR 370.21 is estimated at 1.6 hours for new and newly regulated facilities and approximately 0.6 hours for those existing facilities that obtain new or revised MSDSs or receive requests for MSDSs from local governments. For new and newly regulated facilities, this burden includes the time required to read and understand the regulations, to determine which chemicals meet or exceed reporting thresholds, and to submit MSDSs or lists of chemicals to SERC, LEPCs, and local fire departments. For existing facilities, this burden includes the time required to submit revised MSDSs and new MSDSs to local officials. The average reporting burden for facilities to perform Tier I or Tier II inventory reporting under 40 CFR 370.25 is estimated to be approximately 3.1 hours per facility, including the time to develop and submit the information. There are no recordkeeping requirements for facilities under EPCRA Sections 311 and 312.

The average burden for state and local governments to respond to requests for MSDSs or Tier II information under 40 CFR 370.30 is estimated to be 0.17 hours per request. The average burden for state and local governments for managing and maintaining the reports is estimated to be 32.25 hours. The average burden for maintaining and updating the 312 database is 320 hours. The total burden to facilities over the three-year information collection period is estimated to be 5,686,000 hours, at a cost of $186 million, with an associated state and local burden of 401,000 hours at a cost of $9.2 million. The burden hours listed here are from the previously approved ICR. The labor costs have been adjusted to December 2003 wage rate published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.