[Federal Register: February 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 38)]
[Notices]
[Page 9640-9642]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28fe05-64]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OAR-2002-0073, FRL-7877-8]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Recordkeeping and Period Reporting of the Production,
Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction, Transhipment and Feedstock Use
of Ozone-Depleting Substances, EPA ICR Number 1432.22, 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 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 May 31, 2005.
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 April 29, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number No. OAR-
2002-0073, 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, (EPA/
DC), Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West, Room B102, 1301
Constitution Ave, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jabeen Akhtar, Office of Atmospheric
Programs, Stratospheric Protection Division, Mail Code 6205J,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9313; fax number:
202-343-2338; e-mail address: akhtar.jabeen@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this
ICR under Docket ID number OAR-2002-0073, which is available for public
viewing at the EPA Air 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
the EPA Air 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.
[[Page 9641]]
Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action
are:
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Category NAICS Examples of potentially regulated entities
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1. Industrial organic chemicals, NEC.......... 325199 Producers, importers, or exporters of CBM.
2. Pharmaceutical preparations................ 325412 Transformers of CBM.
3. Pesticides and agricultural chemicals, NEC. 32532 Transformers of CBM.
4. Chemicals and allied products, NEC......... 42269 Lab suppliers of CBM.
5. Testing laboratories, except veterinary 54138 Lab users of CBM.
testing labs.
6. Medical and diagnostic laboratories........ 6215 Lab users of CBM.
7. Research and development in the physical, 54171 Lab users of CBM.
engineering and life sciences.
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Title: Recordkeeping and Period Reporting of the Production,
Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction, Transhipment and Feedstock Use
of Ozone-Depleting Substances.
Abstract: With this renewal Information Collection Request (ICR),
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation is renewing the ICR for the final
rule for the phaseout of chlorobromomethane (CBM) (68 FR 42884) which
imposed recordkeeping and reporting requirements associated with the
production, import, export, recycling, destruction, transhipment, and
feedstock use of CBM.
Producers, importers, and exporters are required to submit to EPA
quarterly reports of the quantity of CBM in each of their transactions;
they are also required to report the quantity of CBM transformed or
destroyed. Producers, importers, and exporters are also required to
maintain records such as Customs entry forms, bills of lading, sales
records, and canceled checks to support their quarterly reports. The
quarterly reports may be faxed or mailed to EPA, where they may be
handled as confidential business information. EPA informs respondents
that they may assert claims of business confidentiality for any of the
information they submit. Information claimed confidential will be
treated in accordance with the procedures for handling information
claimed as confidential under 40 CFR part 2, subpart b, and will be
disclosed only if EPA determines that the information is not entitled
to confidential treatment. If no claim of confidentiality is asserted
when the information is received by EPA, it may be made available to
the public without further notice to the respondents (40 CFR 2.203).
EPA will store the submitted information in a computerized database
designed to track production, import, and export balances and transfer
activities. All the information requested from respondents under this
ICR is required by statute (CAA Section 603(b)) and to ensure that the
U.S. maintains compliance with the Montreal Protocol reporting
requirements under Article 7. 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 companies affected by the regulation for CBM, the reporting
burden, which includes time for preparing and submitting reports, was
estimated to be an average of 19.4 hours per respondent per year. This
estimate was calculated by dividing the total number of hours spent
annually on reporting requirements (2,580) by the total number of
respondents (133) (i.e., 2580/133 = 19.4). The recordkeeping burden for
these companies, which includes time for gathering information and
developing and maintaining records, was estimated to average 13.38
hours per respondent per year. This estimate was calculated by using
figures from a previous ICR, entitled ``Recordkeeping and Periodic
Reporting of the Production, Import, Export, Recycling, Destruction,
Transhipment and Feedstock Use of Ozone-Depleting Substances'' (ICR
1432.21). The labor costs portion of the industry reporting burden is
estimated in Table I of ICR 1432.22. The estimate included the time
needed to comply with EPA's reporting requirements. The total industry
annual labor cost burden was estimated to be $198,350.
It is expected that firms which are subject to the recordkeeping
and reporting requirements for CBM are largely a subset of firms which
already perform these recordkeeping and reporting requirements for
already-regulated ozone-depleting substances. Therefore, any additional
O&M costs were expected to be minimal. A value of $3,000 for total
industry O&M costs was assumed.
The following is a summary of the estimates taken from ICR 1432.22:
Total number of potential respondents: 133
Frequency of response: Quarterly, annually
Respondent annual burden hours: 2,580
Respondent annual labor costs: $198,350
Respondent capital/start-up costs: $0
Respondent O & M costs: $3,000
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.
[[Page 9642]]
Dated: February 8, 2005.
Drusilla Hufford,
Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.
[FR Doc. 05-3797 Filed 2-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P