[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 202 (Friday, October 17, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61773-61776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24825]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 3
[EPA-HQ-OEI-2003-0001; FRL-8730-7]
RIN 2025-AA23
Extension of Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule Deadline for
Authorized Programs
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to amend the Final Cross-Media Electronic
Reporting Rule (CROMERR) deadline for authorized programs (states,
tribes, or local governments) with existing electronic document
receiving systems to submit an application for EPA approval to revise
or modify their authorized programs. This action proposes to extend the
current October 13, 2008, deadline until January 13, 2010.
Additionally, in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal
Register, EPA is making this revision as a direct final rule without a
prior proposed rule. If the Agency receives no relevant adverse
comment, EPA will not take further action on this proposed rule.
DATES: Written comments must be received by November 3, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OEI-2003-0001, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Mail: CROMERR Docket, Environmental Protection Agency,
Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Room, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Avenue, Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries are only accepted during
the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEI-
2003-0001. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
[[Page 61774]]
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov
or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access''
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you
submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to
consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special
characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or
viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit the
EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the CROMERR Docket, EPA/DC,
EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The
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 Public
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
CROMERR Docket is (202) 566-1752.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Evi Huffer, Office of Environmental
Information (2823T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; (202) 566-1697; [email protected],
or David Schwarz, Office of Environmental Information (2823T),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; (202) 566-1704; [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What Does This Rule Do?
This rule proposes to provide temporary regulatory relief to
states, tribes, and local governments with ``authorized programs'' as
defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 3.3. Any such
authorized program that operates an ``existing electronic document
receiving system'' as defined in 40 CFR 3.3 will have an additional 15
months to submit an application to revise or modify its authorized
program to meet the requirements of 40 CFR part 3. Specifically, this
rule proposes to amend 40 CFR 3.1000(a)(3) by extending the October 13,
2008, deadline to January 13, 2010.
II. Why Is EPA Issuing This Proposed Rule?
EPA proposes to extend the current due date for submitting
applications under CROMERR for authorized programs with existing
electronic document receiving systems, and imposes no additional
requirements beyond those imposed by the underlying final rule (70 FR
59848, October 13, 2005). EPA has published a direct final rule in the
``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register because EPA
views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no adverse
comment. We have explained our reasons for this action in the preamble
to the direct final rule.
If EPA receives no adverse comment, the Agency will not take
further action on this proposed rule. If EPA receives adverse comment,
the Agency will withdraw the direct final rule and it will not take
effect. EPA will address all relevant public comments in any subsequent
final rule based on this proposed rule.
EPA will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any
parties interested in commenting on this proposed rule or the direct
final rule listed elsewhere in today's Federal Register must do so at
this time. For further information about commenting, please see the
ADDRESSES section of this document.
III. Does This Action Apply to Me?
This action will affect states, tribes, and local governments that
have an authorized program as defined in 40 CFR 3.3 and also have an
existing electronic document receiving system, as defined in 40 CFR
3.3. For purposes of this rulemaking, the term ``state'' includes the
District of Columbia and the United States territories, as specified in
the applicable statutes. That is, the term ``state'' includes the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana
Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, depending on
the statute.
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Category Examples of affected entities
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Local government............. Publicly owned treatment works, owners
and operators of treatment works
treating domestic sewage, local and
regional air boards, local and regional
waste management authorities, and
municipal and other drinking water
authorities.
Tribe and State governments.. States, tribes or territories that
administer any federal environmental
programs delegated, authorized, or
approved by EPA under Title 40 of the
CFR.
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This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this
action. If you have questions regarding the applicability of this
action to a particular entity, consult the person listed in the
preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
IV. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
A. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI in a disk or CD-ROM that
you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then
identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific
information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version
of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the
comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be
submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked
will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in
40 CFR part 2.
[[Page 61775]]
B. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
V. Summary of Rule
This proposed rule would amend 40 CFR 3.1000(a)(3) by extending the
current October 13, 2008 deadline for authorized programs with existing
electronic document receiving systems to submit applications to January
13, 2010.
For additional discussion of the proposed rule change, see the
direct final rule EPA has published in the ``Rules and Regulations''
section of today's Federal Register. This proposal incorporates by
reference all the reasoning, explanation, and regulatory text from the
direct final rule.
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review
This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the
terms of Executive Order (E.O.) 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993)
and is therefore not subject to review under the E.O.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
This action does not impose any information collection burden. This
action merely extends the current due date for submitting applications
under CROMERR for authorized programs with existing electronic document
receiving systems, and imposes no additional requirements. However, the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has previously approved the
information collection requirements contained in the existing
regulations (40 CFR part 3) under the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and has assigned OMB control
number 2025-0003, EPA ICR number 2002.03. A copy of the OMB approved
Information Collection Request (ICR) may be obtained from Susan Auby,
Collection Strategies Division; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(2822T); 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460 or by
calling (202) 566-1672. The ICR is also available electronically in
www.regulations.gov.
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.
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.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency
to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative
Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses,
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
For purposes of assessing the impacts of this proposed rule on
small entities, a small entity is defined as: (1) A small business that
meets the definition for small businesses based on SBA size standards
at 13 CFR 121.201; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a
government of a city, county, town, school district or special district
with a population of less than 50,000 (Under the RFA definition, States
and tribal governments are not considered small governmental
jurisdictions.); and (3) a small organization that is any not-for-
profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated and is not
dominant in its field.
After considering the possibility of economic impacts of today's
proposed rule on small entities, I certify that this action will not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The small entities directly regulated by this proposed rule
are small governmental jurisdictions. In determining whether a rule has
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities, the impact of concern is any significant adverse economic
impact on small entities, since the primary purpose of the regulatory
flexibility analyses is to identify and address regulatory alternatives
``which minimize any significant economic impact of the rule on small
entities.'' Thus, an agency may certify that a rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
if the rule relieves regulatory burden, or otherwise has a positive
economic effect on all of the small entities subject to the rule.
This proposed rule merely extends the current due date for
submitting applications under CROMERR for authorized programs with
existing electronic document receiving systems. EPA has therefore
concluded that today's action will relieve regulatory burden for all
affected small entities. We continue to be interested in the potential
impacts of the proposed rule on small entities and welcome comments on
issues related to such impacts.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
This action contains no Federal mandates under the provisions of
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), 2 U.S.C.
1531-1538 for state, tribe, or local governments or the private sector.
This action merely extends the current due date for submitting
applications under CROMERR for authorized programs with existing
electronic document receiving systems, and imposes no additional
requirements. EPA has determined that this rule does not contain a
federal mandate that may result in expenditures of $100 million or more
for states, tribes, and local governments, in the aggregate, or the
private sector in any one year. Therefore, this action is not subject
to
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the requirements of sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.
This action is also not subject to the requirements of section 203
of UMRA because it contains no regulatory requirements that might
significantly or uniquely affect small governments. This action merely
extends the current due date for submitting applications under CROMERR
for authorized programs with existing electronic document receiving
systems, and imposes no additional requirements.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132, entitled ``Federalism'' (64 FR 43255, August
10, 1999), requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure
``meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the
development of regulatory policies that have federalism implications.''
``Policies that have federalism implications'' is defined in the
Executive Order to include regulations that have ``substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government.''
This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as
specified in Executive Order 13132. This action merely extends the
current due date for submitting applications under CROMERR for
authorized programs with existing electronic document receiving
systems, and imposes no additional requirements. Thus, Executive Order
13132 does not apply to this rule.
F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments
This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). It will neither
impose substantial direct compliance costs on tribal governments, nor
preempt Tribal law. This action merely extends the current due date for
submitting applications under CROMERR for authorized programs with
existing electronic document receiving systems, and imposes no
additional requirements. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to
this action.
G. Executive Order 13045: Children's Health Protection
Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) applies to
any rule that (1) is determined to be ``economically significant'' as
defined under Executive Order 12866, and (2) concerns an environmental
health or safety risk that EPA has reason to believe may have a
disproportionate effect on children. If the regulatory action meets
both criteria, the Agency must evaluate the environmental health or
safety effects of the planned rule on children, and explain why the
planned regulation is preferable to other potentially effective and
reasonably feasible alternatives considered by the Agency. EPA
interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those regulatory
actions that are based on health or safety risks, such that the
analysis required under section 5-501 of the Order has the potential to
influence the regulation.
This proposed rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because
it is not an economically significant action as defined by Executive
Order 12866 and it does not establish an environmental standard
intended to mitigate health or safety risks. This action merely extends
the current due date for submitting applications under CROMERR for
authorized programs with existing electronic document receiving
systems, and imposes no additional requirements.
H. Executive Order 13211: Energy Effects
This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions
Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355 (May 22, 2001)) because it is not a
significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Public Law 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272
note) directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its
regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with
applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards
are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods,
sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or
adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA
to provide Congress, through OMB, with explanations when the Agency
decides not to use available and applicable voluntary consensus
standards.
Today's action does not involve technical standards. EPA's
compliance with section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note))
has been addressed in the preamble of the underlying final rule [70 FR
59848, October 13, 2007].
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
Executive Order (EO) 12898 (59 FR 7629 (Feb. 16, 1994)) establishes
federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision
directs federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs,
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income
populations in the United States.
EPA has determined that this proposed rule will not have
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects on minority or low-income populations because it does not
affect the level of protection provided to human health or the
environment. This proposed rule merely extends the current regulatory
schedule for submitting applications under CROMERR for authorized
programs with existing electronic document receiving systems.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 3
Environmental protection, Conflict of interests, Electronic
records, Electronic reporting requirements, Electronic reports,
Intergovernmental relations.
Dated: October 10, 2008.
Stephen L. Johnson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E8-24825 Filed 10-16-08; 8:45 am]
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