Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NESHAP for Vinyl Chloride (Renewal)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Vinyl Chloride (EPA ICR Number 0186.16, OMB Control Number 2060-0071), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through December 31, 2021. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register , on February 8, 2021 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. An agency may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before November 15, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0625, online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Muntasir Ali, Sector Policies and Program Division (D243-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-0833; email address: ali.muntasir@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Supporting documents, which explain in detail the information that the EPA will be collecting, are available in the public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at https://www.regulations.gov,, or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For additional information about EPA's public docket, visit: http://www.epa.gov/dockets.

Abstract: The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Vinyl Chloride (40 CFR part 61, subpart F) apply to existing facilities and new facilities that produce the following: (1) Ethylene dichloride (EDC) by reaction of oxygen and hydrogen chloride with ethylene; (2) vinyl chloride (VC) by any process; and (3) one or more polymers containing any fraction of polymerized VC. Owners and operators of affected facilities are required to comply with the recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the General Provisions (40 CFR part 61, subpart A), as well as the specific requirements at 40 CFR part 61, subpart F. This includes submitting initial notifications, performance tests, and periodic reports. They are also required to maintain records of the occurrence and duration of any startup, shutdown, or malfunction in the operation of an affected facility, or any period during which the monitoring system is inoperative. These notifications, reports, and records are used by EPA to determine compliance with the standards.

Form Numbers: None.

Respondents/affected entities: Ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride plants.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 61, subpart F).

Estimated number of respondents: 16 (total).

Frequency of response: Initially, quarterly, and occasionally.

Total estimated burden: 6,540 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).

Total estimated cost: $1,490,000 (per year), which includes $720,000 in annualized capital/startup and/or operation & maintenance costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is no change in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. This situation is due to two considerations: (1) The regulations have not changed over the past three years and are not anticipated to change over the next three years; and (2) the growth rate for this industry is very low or non-existent, so there is no significant change in the overall burden. The estimate of the number of respondents is based on a review of data from EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Since there are no changes in the regulatory requirements and there is no significant industry growth, there are also no changes in the capital/startup or operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.