

[Federal Register: March 2, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 41)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 10628-10630]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02mr06-11]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 745

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2005-0049; FRL-7762-7]
RIN 2070-AC83

 
Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program; Availability of 
Supplemental Information

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; availability of supplemental information.

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SUMMARY: On January 10, 2006, EPA proposed new requirements to reduce 
exposure to lead hazards created by renovation, repair, and painting 
activities that disturb lead-based paint. The proposal supports the 
attainment of the Federal government's goal of eliminating childhood 
lead poisoning by 2010. The proposal discussed requirements for 
training renovators and dust sampling technicians; certifying 
renovators, dust sampling technicians, and renovation firms; 
accrediting providers of renovation and dust sampling technician 
training; and for renovation work practices. EPA developed a draft 
analysis of the potential costs and benefits associated with this 
proposed rulemaking and included it in the docket for the proposed 
rule. With this document, EPA is announcing the availability of a 
revised economic analysis in the rulemaking docket. Comments on the 
revised economic analysis should be submitted to the docket for the 
proposed rule and must be received on or before April 10, 2006.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) no. EPA-HQ-OPPT-2005-0049, by one of the following methods.
     http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: OPPT Document Control Office (DCO, EPA East 
Bldg., Rm. 6428, 1201 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. 
Attention: Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2005-0049. The DCO is open from 
8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the DCO is (202) 564-8930. 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 number EPA-HQ-OPPT-
2005-0049. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://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 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-
mail. The regulations.gov website 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 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information 
is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as 
copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available electronically through regulations.gov or in 
hard copy at the OPPT Docket, 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 
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the 
OPPT Docket is (202) 566-0280.

[[Page 10629]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information contact: Colby 
Lintner, Regulatory Coordinator, Environmental Assistance Division 
(7408M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 554-1404; e-mail 
address:TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov.

    For technical information contact: Mike Wilson, National Program 
Chemicals Division (7404T), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 566-0521; e-mail 
address:wilson.mike@epa.gov.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may 
be of particular interest to anyone who performs renovations of target 
housing for compensation or dust sampling. Potentially affected 
entities may include, but are not limited to:
     Building construction (NAICS 236), e.g., single family 
housing construction, multi-family housing construction, residential 
remodelers.
     Specialty trade contractors (NAICS 238), e.g., plumbing, 
heating, and air-conditioning contractors, painting and wall covering 
contractors, electrical contractors, finish carpentry contractors, 
drywall and insulation contractors, siding contractors, tile and 
terrazzo contractors, glass and glazing contractors.
     Real estate (NAICS 531), e.g., lessors of residential 
buildings and dwellings, residential property managers.
     Other technical and trade schools (NAICS 611519), e.g., 
training providers.
     Engineering services (NAICS 541330) and building 
inspection services (NAICS 541350), e.g., dust sampling technicians.
    This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides 
a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this 
action. Other types of entities not listed in this unit could also be 
affected. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 
codes have been provided to assist you and others in determining 
whether this action might apply to certain entities. To determine 
whether you or your business may be affected by this action, you should 
carefully examine the applicability provisions in the regulatory text 
at Sec.  745.82 of the proposed rule. If you have any questions 
regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, 
consult the technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information 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 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.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. 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.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at the estimate.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggested alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

    In the Federal Register of January 10, 2006 (71 FR 1588) (FRL-7755-
5), EPA proposed new requirements to reduce exposure to lead hazards 
created by renovation, repair, and painting activities that disturb 
lead-based paint. Pursuant to Executive Order 12866, EPA submitted to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a draft analysis of the 
potential costs and benefits associated with the proposed rulemaking. 
The draft analysis was contained in a document titled Draft Economic 
Analysis for the Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program Proposed Rule 
(Draft Economic Analysis). The Agency has since completed a revised 
economic analysis. As discussed in the proposed rule, the revised 
economic analysis was conducted using other assumptions for baseline 
activities as well as further enhancements to the analysis. 
Accordingly, the revised economic analysis contains the Agency's 
updated estimate of the potential costs and benefits of the proposed 
rule. In addition, the revised economic analysis also supplements the 
Agency's analysis of potentially adverse economic impacts on small 
entities as part of the initial regulatory flexibility analysis 
prepared pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601et 
seq. The revised economic analysis serves other important purposes as 
well. It presents analyses that report the impact of the proposed rule 
on the paperwork burden, the financial condition of small entities, 
whether the regulation has a disproportionate effect on low-income and 
or minority persons, and the environmental health risk or safety risk 
to children due to the regulation. It specifically responds to the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, and the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act, as well as to Executive Orders 13132 (Federalism), 
13175 (Tribal Implications), 13211 (Energy Effects), and 12898 
(Environmental Justice).
    A copy of the revised economic analysis, Economic Analysis for the 
Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program Proposed Rule (Economic 
Analysis), is now available in the docket for this action (EPA-HQ-OPPT-
2005-0049). In addition to EPA's requests for comment in the proposed 
rule, EPA is seeking comments on all aspects of the Economic Analysis, 
including costs, benefits, and baseline assumptions. In particular, EPA 
requests comment on the studies used to estimate benefits and requests 
further submission of data or information regarding the estimated 
benefits of the proposed rule. Additionally, the Agency requests 
comments and information regarding available data to better estimate 
the number of small businesses affected by the proposed rule. In 
determining the number of small businesses affected by the proposed 
rule, the Agency applied the U.S. Economic Census data to the Small 
Business Administration's (SBA) definition of small business. However, 
applying the U.S. Economic Census data

[[Page 10630]]

requires either under or overestimating the number of small businesses 
affected by the proposed rule. For example, for many construction 
establishments the SBA defines small businesses as having revenues of 
less than $12 million. With respect to those establishments, the U.S. 
Economic Census data groups all establishments with revenues of $10 
million or more into one revenue bracket. On the one hand, using data 
for the entire industry would overestimate the number of small 
businesses affected by the proposed rule and would defeat the purpose 
of estimating impacts on small business. It would also underestimate 
the proposed rule's impact on small businesses because the impacts 
would be calculated using the revenues of large businesses in addition 
to small businesses. On the other hand, applying the closest, albeit 
lower, revenue bracket would underestimate the number of small 
businesses affected by the proposed rule while at the same time 
overestimating the impacts. Comments on the Economic Analysis should be 
submitted to the docket for the proposed rule. The comment period on 
the proposed rule (and therefore this Economic Analysis) currently ends 
on April 10, 2006.

List of Subjects in Part 745

    Environmental protection, Housing renovation, Lead, Lead-based 
paint, Reporting andrecordkeeping requirements.


    Dated: February 24, 2006.
Susan B. Hazen,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic 
Substances.
[FR Doc. E6-2940 Filed 3-1-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-S
