[Federal Register: August 31, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 168)]
[Notices]
[Page 51780-51781]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31au05-101]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OAR-2002-0073; FRL-7963-3]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Recordkeeping and Periodic
Reporting of the Production, Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction,
Transhipment, and Feedstock Use of Ozone-Depleting Substances
(Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1432.25, OMB Control Number 2060-0170
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 an Information Collection
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on August 31,
2005. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and
its estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 30,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2002-
0073, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail
to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: Environmental Protection
Agency, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Air and Radiation Docket and
Information Center, Mail Code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention:
Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kirsten M. Cappel, Office of
Atmospheric Programs, Stratospheric Protection Division, Mail Code
6205J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9556; fax number:
(202) 343-2338; e-mail address: cappel.kirsten@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 June 14th, 2005 (70 FR 34470) 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-2002-0073 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 Avenue, 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 EPA and OMB
within 30 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,
[[Page 51781]]
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: Recordkeeping and Periodic Reporting of the Production,
Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction, Transhipment, and Feedstock Use
of Ozone-Depleting Substances (Renewal)
Abstract: The international treaty The Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone and Title VI of the Clean Air Act
(CAA) established limits on total United States (U.S.) production,
import, and export of class I and class II controlled ozone depleting
substances (ODS). Under its Protocol commitments, the United States is
obliged to cease production and import of class I controlled substances
with exemptions for essential uses, critical uses, previously used
material, and material that will be transformed, destroyed, or exported
to developing countries. The Protocol also establishes limits and
reduction schedules leading to the eventual phaseout of class II
controlled substances with similar exemptions beyond the phaseout.
Additionally, the CAA has its own limits on production and consumption
of controlled substances that EPA must adhere to and enforce.
To ensure the United States compliance with the limits and
restrictions established by the Protocol and the CAA, the ODS phaseout
regulations establish control measures for individual companies. The
limits and restrictions for individual United States companies are
monitored by EPA through the recordkeeping and reporting requirements
established in the regulations stated in 40 CFR part 82, subpart A. To
submit required information, regulated entities can download reporting
forms from EPA's stratospheric ozone Web site (http://www.epa.gov/ozone/record.index.html
), complete them, and then send them to EPA via
U.S. Mail or fax. Upon receipt of the reports, the data is entered and
subsequently stored in the Stratospheric Protection Tracking System
(Tracking System). The Tracking System is a secure database that
maintains all of the data that is submitted to EPA and allows the
Agency to: (1) Maintain control over total production and consumption
of controlled substances to satisfy conditions of the CAA and fulfill
the United States obligations under the Protocol; (2) monitor
compliance with limits and restrictions on production, imports,
exports, and specific exemptions to the phaseout for individual U.S.
companies; and (3) enforce against illegal imports and violations
related to the control of class I and class II substances.
Additionally, reporting on the exemptions permits an entity to retain
the benefit of being able to produce or import a controlled class I ODS
beyond the date of complete phaseout.
EPA is developing an electronic reporting system through the
Agency's Central Data Exchange (CDX) that will allow regulated entities
to download, complete, and submit reports electronically. Electronic
reporting is expected to make the reporting process more effective and
efficient for reporting companies and EPA. When electronic reporting
becomes available, EPA will change its guidance document and its ICR to
indicate a reduction in burden hours.
Pursuant to regulations 40 CFR part 2, subpart B, reporting
businesses are entitled to assert a business confidentiality claim
covering any part of the submitted business information as defined in
40 CFR 2.201(c).
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 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 about
seven hours per response per respondent. 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.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Persons that produce, import,
export, destroy, transform as a feedstock, distribute, or apply
controlled ODS.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,138.
Frequency of Response: On occasion, quarterly, and annually (as
applicable).
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 8,370.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $714,160, which includes $0 annualized
capital/startup costs, $5,580 annual O&M costs, and $708,520 annual
labor costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 1,567 hours in the
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is largely attributed to the
reduction of the number of responses and respondents. The decrease in
Agency hours is due to the longevity of the regulatory program and its
implementation. Estimates have also been refined based on historical
information.
Dated: August 25, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-17362 Filed 8-30-05; 8:45 am]
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