Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities Under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System (Renewal)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities Under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System (EPA ICR Number 0801.25, OMB Control Number 2050-0039), 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 January 31, 2021. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 19, 2020 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 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.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before March 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to EPA, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2018-0756 online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by email to rcradocket@epa.gov, 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:

Bryan Groce, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Program Implementation and Information Division, (5303P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (703) 308-8750; fax number: (703) 308-0514; email address: groce.bryan@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 www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, 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: This Information Collection Request covers recordkeeping and reporting activities for the hazardous waste manifest paper and electronic system under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act (Pub. L. 112-195). EPA's authority to require use of a manifest system stems primarily from RCRA 3002(a)(5) (also RCRA Sections 3003(a)(3) and 3004). Regulations are found in 40 CFR part 262 (registrant organizations and generators), part 263 (transporters), and parts 264 and 265 (TSDFs). The manifest lists the wastes that are being shipped and the TSDF to which the wastes are bound. Generators, transporters, and TSDFs handling hazardous waste are required to complete the data requirements for manifests and other reports. The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act provided EPA authority to establish the national electronic hazardous waste manifest system to track hazardous waste shipments electronically. The Act also provided EPA authority to adopt regulations that (1) allow it to accept electronic manifests originated in the e-Manifest system as the legal equivalent to paper manifests; (2) require manifest users to submit paper copies of the manifest to the system for data processing; (3) collect manifests in the e-Manifest system for hazardous waste subject to federal or state law; and (4) set up user fees to offset the costs of developing and operating the e-Manifest system.

Pursuant to the Act, EPA modified the manifest regulations on February 7, 2014 (the e-Manifest “One Year Rule”), to authorize use of electronic manifests (or e-Manifests) for tracking offsite shipments of hazardous waste from a generator's site to the site of the receipt and disposition of the hazardous waste. On January 3, 2018, EPA finalized the e-Manifest User Fee Final Rule which established the fee methodology that EPA uses to determine the user fees applicable to the electronic and paper manifests submitted to the national system. EPA launched the e-Manifest system on June 30, 2018. TSDFs and other receiving facilities must submit manifests, both paper and electronic, to EPA. In addition to fees for RCRA wastes, EPA is charging TSDFs and other facilities receiving state-only regulated wastes a fee for each manifest submitted to the system. Regulations regarding copy submission requirements for interstate shipments and the applicability of e-Manifest system and fees to facilities receiving state-only regulated wastes are found in 40 CFR part 260 (Hazardous Waste Management System). Regulations regarding imposition of user fees on receiving facilities for their manifest submissions, with references to key fee methodology, fee dispute, and fee sanction requirements are found in parts 264 and 265.

Form Numbers: Form 8700-22 and 8700-22A.

Respondents/affected entities: Business or other for-profit.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (RCRA 3002(a)(5)).

Estimated number of respondents: 106,136 (total).

Frequency of response: Each shipment.

Total estimated burden: 2,362,089 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).

Total estimated cost: $118,940,729 (per year), includes $29,043,234 annualized capital costs and operation & maintenance costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 140,411 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB, resulting from EPA's updates to the annual number of manifests offered into transportation. Based on its recent analysis of e-Manifest data, EPA estimates a decrease in the annual number of paper and electronic manifests from the currently approved ICR. In addition, there is an increase of $3,273,919 in the total respondent costs compared with the currently approved ICR. This increase resulted primarily from an improved methodology and updated data for estimating the user fees paid by destination facilities.