[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 52 (Friday, March 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14904-14905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05778]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0616; FRL-10018-35]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal of an 
Existing Collection and Request for Comment; User Fees for the 
Administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), this 
document announces that EPA is planning to submit an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 
The ICR, entitled: ``User Fees for the Administration of the Toxic 
Substances Control Act (TSCA)'' and identified by EPA ICR No. 2569.02 
and OMB Control No. 2070-0208, represents the renewal of an existing 
ICR that is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2021. Before submitting 
the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on 
specific aspects of the proposed information collection that is 
summarized in this document. The ICR and accompanying material are 
available in the docket for public review and comment.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 18, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0616, by using the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments. Do not submit electronically any information 
you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
    Due to the public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA 
Docket Center (EPA/DC) and Reading Room is closed to visitors with 
limited exceptions. The staff continues to provide remote customer 
service via email, phone, and webform. For the latest status 
information on EPA/DC services and docket access, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information contact: 
Marc Edmonds, 7407M, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 566-0758; email address: 
edmonds.marc@epa.gov.
    For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 
422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: (202) 
554-1404; email address: TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. What information is EPA particularly interested in?

    Pursuant to PRA section 3506(c)(2)(A) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
EPA specifically solicits comments and information to enable it to:
    1. 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.
    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimates of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used.
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected.
    4. 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. In particular, EPA is requesting comments from 
very small businesses (those that employ less than 25) on examples of 
specific additional efforts that EPA could make to reduce the paperwork 
burden for very small businesses affected by this collection.

II. What information collection activity or ICR does this action apply 
to?

    Title: User Fees for the Administration of the Toxic Substances 
Control Act (TSCA).
    ICR number: EPA ICR No. 2569.02.
    OMB control number: OMB Control No. 2070-0208.
    ICR status: This ICR is currently scheduled to expire on October 
31, 2021. 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 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), after 
appearing in the Federal Register when approved, 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 for certain EPA regulations is 
consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
    Abstract: The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st 
Century Act of 2016 made transformative changes to the TSCA, including 
an amendment that provides EPA with authority to collect fees to defray 
25% of the costs associated with administering sections 4, 5, and 6 of 
TSCA, as well as the costs of collecting, processing, reviewing and 
providing access to and protecting CBI from disclosure as appropriate 
under TSCA section 14. The payment from manufactures (defined by 
statute to include importers) of a chemical substance who: are required 
to submit information to EPA under TSCA section 4, who submit certain 
notices and exemption requests to EPA under TSCA section 5, who 
manufacture a chemical substance that is subject to a risk evaluation 
under TSCA section 6(b)(4), and who process a chemical substance that 
is the subject of a Significant New Use Notice (SNUN) or Test Market 
Exemption (TME) under TSCA section 5 and who are required to submit

[[Page 14905]]

information to EPA under TSCA section 4 related to a SNUN submission. 
These fees are intended to achieve the goals articulated by Congress to 
provide a sustainable source of funds for EPA to fulfill its legal 
obligations to conduct the activities required under TSCA sections 4, 5 
and 6 (such as risk-based screenings, designation of applicable 
substances as High- and Low-Priority, conducting risk evaluations to 
determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of 
injury to health or the environment, requiring testing of chemical 
substances and mixtures, and evaluating and reviewing manufacturing and 
processing notices), as well as the activities under TSCA section 14 
(i.e., collecting, processing, reviewing, and providing access to and 
protecting information about chemical substances from disclosure as 
appropriate.
    As amended in 2016, TSCA section 26(b) provides EPA with authority 
to establish fees to defray 25% the costs associated with administering 
TSCA sections 4, 5, 6 and of collecting, processing, reviewing, and 
providing access to and protecting information about chemical 
substances from disclosure as appropriate under TSCA section 14. Fee 
payments from chemical manufactures (including importers) who make 
submissions under TSCA section 5, are required to submit information 
under TSCA section 4 or are subject to a risk evaluation under TSCA 
section 6. EPA is not collecting a fee for submissions of Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) submitted under TSCA section 14.
    Burden statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3 
hours per response. Burden is defined in 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    The ICR, which is available in the docket along with other related 
materials, provides a detailed explanation of the collection activities 
and the burden estimate that is only briefly summarized here:
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities potentially affected by 
this ICR may include the following entities (identified by North 
American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes):
     Petroleum and Coal Products (NAICS code 324);
     Chemical Manufacturing (NAICS code 325); and
     Chemical, Petroleum and Merchant Wholesalers (NAICS code 
424).
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 1,348.
    Frequency of response: On occasion.
    Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 
0.833
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 581 hours.
    Estimated total annual costs: $ 273,388. This includes an estimated 
burden cost of $230,607 it is estimated that there are no capital 
investment or maintenance and operational costs.

III. Are there changes in the estimates from the last approval?

    There is an increase in the total estimated respondent burden 
compared with that identified in the ICR currently approved by OMB due 
to the increase in the number of entities potentially affected by this 
ICR and an increase in the number of information collection activities. 
The change in potentially affected entities reflects the number of 
submissions received under TSCA sections 5 and 6. EPA's burden 
estimates for this collection based upon historical information on the 
number of chemicals per premanufacture notices (PMNs), significant new 
use notifications (SNUNs), microbial commercial activity notices 
(MCANs), and exemption notices and applications including low-volume 
exemptions (LVEs), test-marketing exemptions (TMEs), low exposure/low 
release exemptions (LoREXs), TSCA experimental release applications 
(TERAs), certain new microorganism (Tier II) exemptions, and film 
article exemptions., and actions under TSCA section 6. This change is 
an adjustment.
    In addition, OMB has requested that EPA move towards using the 18-
question format for ICR Supporting Statements used by other federal 
agencies and departments and is based on the submission instructions 
established by OMB in 1995, replacing the alternate format developed by 
EPA and OMB prior to 1995. EPA intends to update this Supporting 
Statement during the comment period to reflect the 18-question format, 
and has included the questions in an attachment to this Supporting 
Statement. In doing so, the Agency does not expect the change in format 
to result in substantive changes to the information collection 
activities or related estimated burden and costs.

IV. What is the next step in the process for this ICR?

    EPA will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as 
appropriate. The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for 
review and approval pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.12. EPA will issue another 
Federal Register document pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(1)(iv) to 
announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to submit 
additional comments to OMB. If you have any questions about this ICR or 
the approval process, please contact the technical person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

    Dated: March 15, 2021.
Michal Freedhoff,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021-05778 Filed 3-18-21; 8:45 am]
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