[Federal Register: June 15, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 114)]
[Notices]               
[Page 33383-33384]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15jn04-43]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OAR-2004-0077, FRL-7773-2]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Significant New Alternatives 
Policy (SNAP) Program Final Rulemaking Under Title VI of the Clean Air 
Act Amendments of 1990, EPA ICR Number 1596.06, OMB Control Number 
2006-0226

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 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 August 16, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2004-
0077, 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, Air and 

Radiation Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode 6102T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Thundiyil, Global Programs 
Division, Mail Code 6205J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 
343-9464; fax number: (202) 343-2363; e-mail address: 
thundiyil.karen@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this 
ICR under Docket ID number OAR-2004-0077, which is available for public 
viewing at the Air and Radiation 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

[[Page 33384]]

the Air and Radiation Docket 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 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, 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.

    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action 
aremanufacturers, importers, formulators and processors of substitutes 
for ozone-depleting substances.
    Title: Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program Final 
Rulemaking Under Title VI of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
    Abstract: Information collected under this rulemaking is necessary 
to implement the requirements of the Significant New Alternatives 
Policy (SNAP) program for evaluating and regulating substitutes for 
ozone-depleting chemicals being phased out under the stratospheric 
ozone protection provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Under CAA 
section 612, EPA is authorized to identify and restrict the use of 
substitutes for class I and class II ozone-depleting substances where 
EPA determines other alternatives exist that reduce overall risk to 
human health and the environment. The SNAP program, based on 
information collected from the manufacturers, formulators, and/or 
sellers of such substitutes, identifies acceptable substitutes. 
Responses to the collection of information are mandatory under section 
612 for anyone who sells or, in certain cases, uses substitutes for an 
ozone-depleting substance after April 18, 1994, the effective date of 
the final rule. Under CAA section 114(c), emissions information may not 
be claimed as confidential.
    To develop the lists of acceptable and unacceptable substitutes, 
the Agency must assess and compare ``overall risks to human health and 
the environment'' posed by use of substitutes in the context of 
particular applications. EPA requires submission of information 
covering a wide range of health and environmental factors. These 
include intrinsic properties such as physical and chemical information, 
ozone depleting potential, global warming potential, toxicity, and 
flammability, and use-specific data such as substitute applications, 
process description, environmental release data, environmental fate and 
transport, and cost information. Once a completed submission has been 
received, a 90 day review period under the SNAP program will commence. 
Any substitute which is a new chemical must also be submitted to the 
Agency under the Premanufacture Notice program under the Toxic 
Substances Control Act (TSCA). Alternatives that will be used in 
pesticide formulations must be filed jointly with EPA's Office of 
Pesticide Programs and with SNAP.
    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: For persons filing a SNAP Information Notice or 
petition, the reporting burden is estimated to average 150 hours per 
year from each of approximately 14 submitters, with estimated labor 
costs of roughly $8400 and average annualized startup costs of $3153 
for gathering information from each respondent. For persons filing a 
TSCA/SNAP Addendum, the reporting burden is estimated to average 46 
hours per year from each of two submitters at a labor cost of $2576 
each. For persons filing a notification of test marketing activity, the 
reporting burden is estimated to average 2 hours per year from one 
submitter at a cost of $112. For persons keeping records supporting use 
of a substitute subject to narrowed use limits, the recordkeeping 
burden is estimated to average 27 hours per year from approximately 250 
users, at an average cost of $1512 each. For persons keeping records of 
a small volume use, the recordkeeping burden is estimated to average 12 
hours per year from each of approximately ten companies at an average 
cost of $672 each. The total burden on respondents is estimated at 8972 
hours per year at a cost of roughly $547,000.
    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.

    Dated: June 1, 2004.
Brian J. McLean,
Director, Office of Atmospheric Programs.
[FR Doc. 04-13409 Filed 6-14-04; 8:45 am]

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