[Federal Register: July 31, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 147)]
[Notices]
[Page 44947-44949]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31jy03-68]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OAR-2003-0018, FRL-7538-2]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR
No. 1626.08 (OMB No. 2060-0256) to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment
Request
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this document announces that the following Information
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: National Refrigerant
Recycling and Emissions Reduction Program. This ICR describes the
nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 2,
2003.
ADDRESSES: Follow the detailed instructions in SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julius Banks, Global Programs
Division, Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Atmospheric Programs;
Mail Code 6205J; Environmental Protection Agency; 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW; Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-9870; fax
number: (202) 565-2096; e-mail address: banks.julius@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR
1320.12. On March 10, 2003 (68 FR 11389), EPA sought comments on this
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. OAR-2003-0018, which is available for public viewing at the Air and
Radiation Docket and Information Center 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 Air and Radiation Docket and Information
Center is (202) 566-1742. An electronic version of the public docket is
available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at: http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
Use EDOCKET to 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 OMB and EPA
within 30 days of this notice, and according to the following detailed
instructions: (1) Mail your comments to OMB at: Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
[[Page 44948]]
Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC
20503, and (2) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our
preferred method), by e-mail to: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov, or by mail to:
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation
Docket and Information Center (6102T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20460.
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, confidential business information (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 http://www.epa.gov/edocket
.
Title: National Refrigerant Recycling and Emissions Reduction
Program (OMB Control Number 2060-0256, EPA ICR Number 1626.08). This is
a request to renew an existing approved collection that is scheduled to
expire on July 31, 2003. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue
to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this
submission is pending at OMB.
Abstract: EPA has developed regulations under the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990 (the Act) establishing standards and requirements
regarding the use and disposal of class I and class II ozone-depleting
substances used as refrigerants during the service, maintenance,
repair, or disposal of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment.
Section 608(c) of the Act states that effective July 1, 1992, it is
unlawful for any person in the course of maintaining, servicing,
repairing, or disposing of refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment
to knowingly vent or otherwise knowingly release or dispose of any
class I or class II substance used as a refrigerant in the equipment in
a manner which permits the substance to enter the environment.
During 1993, EPA promulgated regulations under section 608 of the
Act for the recycling of ozone-depleting refrigerants recovered during
the servicing and disposal of air-conditioning and refrigeration
equipment. These regulations were published on May 14, 1993 (58 FR
28660) and codified in 40 CFR part 82, subpart F (82.150 et seq.).
The regulations require persons servicing refrigeration and air-
conditioning equipment to observe certain service practices that reduce
emissions of ozone depleting refrigerants. The regulations also
establish certification programs for technicians, recycling and
recovery equipment, and off-site refrigerant reclaimers. In addition,
EPA requires that ozone depleting refrigerants contained ``in bulk'' in
appliances be removed prior to disposal of the appliances and that all
refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, except for small
appliances and room air conditioners, be provided with a servicing
aperture that facilitates recovery of the refrigerant. Moreover, the
Agency requires that substantial refrigerant leaks in equipment be
repaired when they are discovered. These regulations significantly
reduce emissions of ozone depleting refrigerants, and therefore aid
U.S. and global efforts to minimize damage to the ozone layer and the
environment as a whole.
To facilitate compliance with and enforcement of section 608
requirements, EPA requires reporting and record keeping requirements of
technicians; technician certification programs; equipment testing
organizations; refrigerant wholesalers and purchasers; refrigerant
reclaimers; refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment owners; and
other establishments that perform refrigerant removal, service, or
disposal. The record keeping requirements and periodic submission of
reports, to EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Atmospheric
Programs, occur on an annual, biannual, onetime, or occasional basis
depending on the nature of the reporting entity and the length of time
that the entity has been in service. Specific reporting and record
keeping requirements were published in 58 FR 28660 and codified under
40 CFR part 82, subpart F (82.166). These reporting and recordkeeping
requirements also allow EPA to evaluate the effectiveness of the
refrigerant regulations, and help the Agency determine if we are
meeting the obligations of the United States, under the 1987 Montreal
Protocol, to reduce use and emissions of ozone-depleting substances to
the lowest achievable level.
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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15, and are
identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average: 18
hours for the two EPA-approved refrigerant recovery/recycling equipment
testing organizations; 3,375 hours for an estimated 2,250 service
establishments that will change ownership or enter the market; 375
hours for an estimated 375 disposal establishments that change
ownership or enter the market; 67,500 hours for the maintenance of
copies of signed statements by an estimated 7,500 disposal
establishments; 20 hours for certification of an estimated 4
refrigerant reclaimers that change ownership or enter the market; 275
hours for reclaimer reporting from an estimated 55 respondents; 40,000
hours for an estimated 5,000 refrigerant wholesalers to maintain
records of refrigerant sales transactions; 150 hours for an estimated 5
technician certification programs applying for first-time approval;
1,552 hours for 97 technician certification programs to maintain
records; 90,000 hours for an estimated 30,000 technicians acquiring
certification for the first time and maintaining certification cards;
6,000 hours for an estimated 300,000 previously certified technicians
to maintain their certification cards; 56 hours for an estimated 10
owners of industrial process refrigeration equipment (appliances) who
request a 30-day extension to the 30-day leak repair requirement or the
retrofit requirement; 1,360 hours for an estimated 310 owners of
industrial process refrigeration and commercial and comfort cooling
equipment (appliances) who maintain information on purged/destroyed
refrigerant that they wish to exclude from their leak rate
calculations, records on the calculation of the full charge using a
range, or plans to retire or retrofit their appliances.
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
[[Page 44949]]
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.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities potentially regulated by
this action are those that recover, recycle, reclaim, sell, or
distribute in interstate commerce refrigerants that contain
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and/or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs); and
those that service, maintain, repair, or dispose of appliances
containing CFC or HCFC-refrigerants. In addition, the owners or
operators of appliances containing CFC or HCFC-refrigerants may be
potentially regulated.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 345,608.
Frequency of Response: Reporting requirements under this rulemaking
are primarily required on an annual basis, with the exception of
technician testing organizations who are required to report biannually.
The frequency of recordkeeping requirements under this rulemaking vary
depending upon the actions of the respondent but are generally required
on a transactional basis.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 210,681.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $6,973,541, includes $0 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 208,865 hours in
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is not due to a change in any
program requirement. The adjustment is the result of changes in EPA's
estimates of labor rates, time required to submit reports and maintain
records, and the overall number of respondents.
Dated: July 22, 2003.
Doreen Sterling,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-19503 Filed 7-30-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P