[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52446-52448]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22651]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL_9985-54-OLEM]


The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board: 
Request for Nominations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Request for nominations.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites 
nominations of qualified candidates for possible consideration for a 
three-year appointment on the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest 
System Advisory Board (the ``Board'').
    Pursuant to the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment 
Act (the ``e-Manifest Act'' or the ``Act''), EPA has established the 
Board to provide practical and independent

[[Page 52447]]

advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on 
the activities, functions, policies and regulations associated with the 
Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest (e-Manifest) System. In accordance, 
with the e-Manifest Act, the EPA Administrator or designee will serve 
as Chair of the Board. This notice solicits nominations for possible 
consideration for candidates to potentially serve in the following 
positions on the Board: An expert in information technology (IT); An 
industry representative member with experience in using or representing 
users of the manifest system; and a state representative member 
responsible for processing manifests.

DATES: Nominations should be received on or before November 16, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Nominations should be submitted via email to Fred Jenkins, 
the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) of the e-Manifest Advisory at 
[email protected], and identified with ``BOARD NOMINATION'' in the 
subject line of the email.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Jenkins, Designated Federal 
Officer (DFO), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Resource 
Conservation and Recovery, (MC: 5303P), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20460, Phone: 703-308-7049; or by email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 30, 2018, EPA established a national 
system for tracking hazardous waste shipments electronically. This 
system, known as ``e-Manifest,'' is modernizing the nation's cradle-to-
grave hazardous waste tracking process while saving valuable time, 
resources, and dollars for industry and states.
    EPA established the e-Manifest system according to the Hazardous 
Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, enacted into law on 
October 5, 2012. The ``e-Manifest Act'' authorizes the EPA to implement 
a national electronic manifest system and requires that the costs of 
developing and operating the new e-Manifest system be recovered from 
user fees charged to those who use hazardous waste manifests to track 
off-site shipments of their wastes.
    This system enables users of the uniform hazardous waste manifest 
forms (EPA Form 8700-22 and Continuation Sheet 8700-22A) to have the 
option to more efficiently track their hazardous waste shipments 
electronically, in lieu of the paper manifest, from the point of 
generation, during transportation, and to the point of receipt by an 
off-site facility that is permitted to treat, store, or dispose of the 
hazardous waste. Electronic manifests obtained from the national system 
will augment or replace the paper forms that are currently used for 
this purpose, and that result in substantial paperwork costs and other 
inefficiencies. Congress intended that EPA develop a system that, among 
other things, meets the needs of the user community and decreases the 
administrative burden associated with the traditional paper-based 
manifest system on the user community. The EPA estimates e-Manifest 
will ultimately reduce the burden associated with preparing shipping 
manifests between 300,000 and 700,000 hours, saving state and industry 
users, on average, an annualized $65 million per year over the first 
six years of system operation, and more than $90 million once 
electronic manifests have been widely adopted. The system also serves 
as a national reporting hub and database for all manifests and shipment 
data. To ensure that these goals are met, the Act directs EPA to 
establish a Board to assess the effectiveness of the electronic 
manifest system and make recommendations to the Administrator for 
improving the system.
    In addition, the e-Manifest Act directs EPA to develop a system 
that attracts sufficient user participation and service revenues to 
ensure the viability of the system. As a result, the Act provides EPA 
broad discretion to establish reasonable user fees, as the 
Administrator determines are necessary, to pay costs incurred in 
developing, operating, maintaining, and upgrading the system, including 
any costs incurred in collecting and processing data from any paper 
manifest submitted to the system. In January 2018, EPA published its 
final methodology for setting user fees based on the costs of 
processing manifests and, in June 2018, the Agency released its user 
fees effective for the period between June 30, 2018, and September 30, 
2019.
    e-Manifest aligns with the Agency's E-Enterprise business strategy. 
E-Enterprise for the Environment is a transformative 21st century 
strategy--jointly governed by states and EPA--for modernizing 
government agencies' delivery of environmental protection. Under this 
strategy, the Agency will streamline its business processes and systems 
to reduce reporting burden on states and regulated facilities, and 
improve the effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory programs for 
EPA, states, and tribes.
    EPA has established the Board in accordance with the provisions of 
the e-Manifest Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 
U.S.C. App.2. The Board is in the public interest and supports EPA in 
performing its duties and responsibilities. Pursuant to the e-Manifest 
Act the Board is comprised of nine members, of which one member is the 
Administrator (or a designee), who serves as Chairperson of the Board, 
and eight members are individuals appointed by the EPA Administrator:
     At least two of whom have expertise in information 
technology (IT);
     At least three of whom have experience in using, or 
represent users of, the manifest system to track the transportation of 
hazardous waste under federal and state manifest programs; and;
     At least three state representatives responsible for 
processing those manifests.

The Board will meet publicly at least annually to provide 
recommendations on matters related to the operational activities, 
functions, policies, and/or regulations of the EPA under the e-Manifest 
Act.
    Member Nominations: Pursuant to the e-Manifest Act, the Board 
assists the Agency in evaluating the effectiveness of the e-Manifest IT 
system and associated user fees; identifying key issues associated with 
the system, including the need (and timing) for user fee adjustments; 
recommending system enhancements; and providing independent advice on 
matters and policies related to the e-Manifest program. The e-Manifest 
Board provides recommendations on matters related to the operational 
activities, functions, policies, and regulations of the EPA under the 
e-Manifest Act, including proposing actions to encourage the use of the 
electronic (paperless) system, and actions related to the E-Enterprise 
strategy that intersect with e-Manifest. These intersections may 
include issues such as business-to-business communications, performance 
standards for mobile devices, and Cross Media Electronic Reporting Rule 
(CROMERR) compliant e-signatures. Any interested person and/or 
organization may nominate qualified individuals for membership. EPA 
values and welcomes diversity. To obtain nominations of diverse 
candidates, the Agency encourages nominations of women and men of all 
racial and ethnic groups. All nominations will be considered; however, 
applicants need to be aware of the representation from specific sectors 
required by the e-Manifest Act. Further, state and industry nominees 
should have a comprehensive knowledge of hazardous

[[Page 52448]]

waste generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal 
under RCRA Subtitle C at the federal, state, and local levels.
    Nominees who represent states should have comprehensive knowledge 
of state programs that used manifest data prior to the initiation of 
the federal electronic manifest, such as in-state programs and/or in-
state tracking systems/databases. Nominees who represent industry 
should have strong knowledge of existing industry systems/devices/
approaches and business operations to provide valuable input on e-
Manifest integration into current industry data systems. IT nominees 
should have core competencies and experience in large-scale systems and 
application development and integration, deployment and maintenance, 
user help desk and support, and expertise relevant to support the 
complexity of an electronic manifest system. Examples of this expertise 
may include but are not limited to: Expertise with web-based and mobile 
technologies, particularly that support large-scale operations for 
geographically diverse users; expertise in IT security, including 
perspective on federal IT security requirements; expertise in 
electronic signature and user management approaches; expertise with 
scalable hosting solutions such as cloud-based hosting; and expertise 
in user experience. Existing knowledge of, or willingness to gain an 
understanding of, EPA shared services and enterprise architecture is a 
plus. Another plus for any nominee is experience in setting and/or 
managing fee-based systems in general.
    Additional criteria used to evaluate nominees will include:
     Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication 
skills;
     Demonstrated experience developing group recommendations;
     Willingness to commit time to the Board and demonstrated 
ability to work constructively on committees;
     Absence of financial conflicts of interest;
     Impartiality (including the appearance of a lack of 
impartiality); and
     Background and experiences that would help contribute to 
the diversity of perspectives on the Board, e.g., geographic, economic, 
social, cultural, educational backgrounds, professional affiliations 
and other considerations.
    Nominations must include a resume, which provides the nominee's 
background, experience and educational qualifications, as well as a 
brief statement (one page or less) describing the nominee's interest in 
serving on the Board and addressing the other criteria previously 
described. Nominees are encouraged to provide any additional 
information that they believe would be useful for consideration, such 
as: availability to participate as a member of the Board; how the 
nominee's background, skills and experience would contribute to the 
diversity of the Board; and any concerns the nominee has regarding 
membership. Nominees should provide their name, occupation, position, 
current business address, email, and telephone number in the 
application.
    Moreover, in accordance with the EPA Administrator's Directive 
issued on October 31, 2017, please describe any involvement you have 
with the Agency through EPA grant funded projects which you (nominee/
applicant) are currently serving as the principal investigator (PI) or 
co-investigator (COI). The Agency recognizes that different variables 
may factor into this criterion and as a result will evaluate each 
situation on a case by case basis.
    In addition to a statement regarding grant funded projects, the 
nominee/applicant should include previous employment and/or current 
contracting sources with the Agency. To help the Agency in evaluating 
the effectiveness of its outreach efforts, also tell us how you learned 
of this opportunity in your statement of interest (cover letter).
    Interested candidates may self-nominate. The Agency will 
acknowledge receipt of nominations. Persons selected for membership 
will receive compensation for travel and a nominal daily compensation 
(if appropriate) while attending meetings. Additionally, candidates 
selected to serve as Information Technology (IT) ``Expert'' Members 
will be designated as Special Government Employees (SGEs) or 
consultants. Candidates designated as SGEs will be required to fill out 
the ``Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for Environmental 
Protection Agency Special Government Employees'' (EPA Form 3310-48). 
This confidential form provides information to EPA ethics officials to 
determine whether there is a conflict between the SGE's public duties 
and their private interests, including an appearance of a loss of 
impartiality as defined by federal laws and regulations. One example of 
a potential conflict of interest may be for IT professional(s) serving 
in an organization that is awarded any related e-Manifest system 
development contract(s).

    Dated: October 4, 2018.
Barnes Johnson,
Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Office of Land 
and Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2018-22651 Filed 10-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


