[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2010)] [Notices] [Pages 1055-1057] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2010-150] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0525; FRL-9101-2] Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Fuels and Fuel Additives: Health- Effects Research Requirements for Manufacturers (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 1696.06, OMB Control No. 2060-0297 AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost. DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before February 8, 2010. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR- 2006-0525, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket, Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to: [[Page 1056]] 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: James W. Caldwell, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Mail code: 6406J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9303; fax number: (202) 343-2802; e-mail address: [email protected]. 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 September 9, 2009 (74 FR 46422), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. Any additional comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice. EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0525, which is available for online viewing at http://www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC 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 is 202-566-1742. Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at http://www.regulations.gov, to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov 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. For further information about the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Title: Fuels and Fuel Additives: Health-Effects Research Requirements for Manufacturers (Renewal). ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1696.06, OMB Control No. 2060-0297. ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2010. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. 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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR Part 9, and are displayed either by publication in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, such as on the related collection instrument or form, if applicable. The display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR Part 9. Abstract: In accordance with the regulations at 40 CFR part 79, subparts A, B, C, and D, Registration of Fuels and Fuel Additives, manufacturers (including importers) of motor-vehicle gasoline, motor- vehicle diesel fuel, and additives for those fuels, are required to have these products registered by the EPA prior to their introduction into commerce. Registration involves providing a chemical description of the fuel or additive, and certain technical, marketing, and health- effects information. The development of health-effects data, as required by 40 CFR part 79, subpart F, is the subject of this ICR. The information collection requirements for subparts A through D, and the supplemental notification requirements of Subpart F (indicating how the manufacturer will satisfy the health-effects data requirements) are covered by a separate ICR (OMB Control No. 2060-0150). The health- effects data will be used to determine if there are any products that have evaporative or combustion emissions that may pose an unreasonable risk to public health, thus meriting further investigation and potential regulation. This information is required for specific groups of fuels and additives as defined in the regulations. For example, gasoline and gasoline additives which consist of only carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and/or sulfur, and which involve a gasoline oxygen content of less than 1.5 weight percent, fall into a ``baseline'' group. Oxygenates, such as ethanol, when used in gasoline as an oxygen level of at least 1.5 weight percent, define separate ``nonbaseline'' groups for each oxygenate. Additives which contain elements other than carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and/or sulfur fall into separate atypical groups. There are similar grouping requirements for diesel fuel and diesel fuel additives. Manufacturers may perform the research independently or may join with other manufacturers to share in the costs for each applicable group. Several research consortiums (groups of manufacturers) have been formed. The largest consortium, organized by the American Petroleum Institute (API), represents most of the manufacturers of baseline gasoline, baseline diesel fuel, baseline fuel additives, and the prominent nonbaseline oxygenated additives for gasoline. The research is structured into three tiers of requirements for each group. Tier 1 requires an emissions characterization and a literature search for information on the health effects of those emissions. Voluminous Tier 1 data for gasoline and diesel fuel were submitted by API and others in 1997. Tier 1 data have been submitted for biodiesel, water/diesel emulsions, several atypical additives, and renewable diesel fuels. Tier 2 requires short-term inhalation exposures of laboratory animals to emissions to screen for adverse health effects. Tier 2 data have been submitted for baseline diesel, biodiesel, and water/diesel emulsions. Alternative Tier 2 testing can be required in lieu of standard Tier 2 testing if EPA concludes that such testing would be more appropriate. The EPA reached that conclusion with respect to gasoline and gasoline- oxygenate blends, and alternative requirements were established for the API consortium for baseline gasoline and six gasoline-oxygenate blends. Alternative Tier 2 requirements have also been established for the manganese additive MMT manufactured by the Afton Chemical Corporation (formerly the Ethyl Corporation). Tier 3 provides for follow-up research, at EPA's discretion, when remaining uncertainties as to the significance of observed health effects, welfare effects, and/or emissions exposures from a fuel or fuel/additive mixture interfere with EPA's ability to make reasonable estimates of the potential risks posed by emissions from a fuel or additive. To date, EPA has not imposed any Tier 3 requirements. Under Section 211 of the Clean Air Act, (1) submission of the health-effects information is necessary for a manufacturer to obtain registration of a motor-vehicle gasoline, diesel fuel, or fuel additive, and thus be allowed to introduce that product into commerce, and (2) the information shall not be considered confidential. Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 7,067 hours per [[Page 1057]] response. 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 which have subsequently changed; 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: Manufacturers of Fuels and Fuel Additives. Estimated Number of Respondents: 3. Frequency of Response: On Occasion. Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 21,200. Estimated Total Annual Cost: $2,831,480, which includes $2,244,480 in labor costs, $205,000 in capital costs and $382,000 in O&M costs. Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 8,950 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is the result of reduced activity with the completion of the MMT alternative Tier 2 testing program the near completion of the oxygenate alternative Tier 2 testing program. Dated: December 24, 2009. Richard T. Westlund, Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division. [FR Doc. 2010-150 Filed 1-7-10; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P