Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program (Renewal)

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 the following 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 July 25, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0077 to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by e-mail to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to: 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:

Melissa Fiffer, Stratospheric Protection Division, Alternatives and Emissions Reduction Branch, Mail Code 6205J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9464; fax number: (202) 343-2362; e-mail address: fiffer.melissa@epa.gov.

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 January 31, 2011, 76 FR 5366, 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-2004-0077, which is available for online viewing at 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 public 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: Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program (Renewal)

ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1596.08, OMB Control No. 2060-0226.

ICR status: This ICR is currently scheduled to expire on June 30, 2011. 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: Information collected under this rulemaking is necessary to implement the requirements of the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program for evaluating and regulating substitutes for ozone-depleting chemicals being phased out under the stratospheric ozone protection provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and globally under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Under CAA Section 612, EPA is authorized to identify and restrict the use of substitutes for class I and class II ozone-depleting substances where EPA determines other alternatives exist that reduce overall risk to human health and the environment. The SNAP program, based on information collected from the manufacturers, formulators, and/or sellers of such substitutes, identifies acceptable substitutes. Responses to the collection of information are mandatory under Section 612 for anyone who sells or, in certain cases, uses substitutes for an ozone-depleting substance after April 18, 1994, the effective date of the final rule. Measures to protect confidentiality of information collected under the SNAP program are based on EPA's confidentiality regulations (40 CFR 2.201 et seq., or Subpart B). Submitters may designate all or portions of their forms or petitions as confidential. EPA requires the submitters to substantiate their claim of confidentiality. Under CAA Section 114(c), emissions information may not be claimed as confidential.

To develop the lists of acceptable and unacceptable substitutes, the Agency must assess and compare “overall risks to human health and the environment” posed by use of substitutes in the context of particular applications. EPA requires submission of information covering a wide range of health and environmental factors. These include intrinsic properties such as physical and chemical information, ozone depleting potential, global warming potential, toxicity, and flammability, and use-specific data such as substitute applications, process description, environmental release data, exposure data during use of a substitute, environmental fate and transport, and cost information. Once a completed submission has been received, a 90 day review period under the SNAP program will commence. Any substitute which is a new chemical must also be submitted to the Agency through a Premanufacture Notice under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Alternatives that will be used as sterilants must be filed jointly with EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs and with SNAP.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 hours per 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, importers, formulators and processors of substitutes for ozone-depleting substances.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 221.

Frequency of Response: Annual.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 6,683.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $476,742, which includes $22,281 annualized capital or O&M costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 1,521 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This is due to changes in EPA's estimates of the burden hours and number of respondents fulfilling reporting and record-keeping requirements.

The development of new substitutes resulted in a greater number of persons filing a SNAP Information Notice or TSCA/SNAP Addendum to increase slightly, but also resulted in fewer respondents keeping records for alternatives that are subject to use conditions or narrowed use limits. In addition, respondents filing a SNAP Information Notice reported a decrease in total annual burden of hours when collecting data to complete the form and when responding to requests for additional information. This decrease may be attributable to increased respondent familiarity with EPA's forms, more examples in the public record for respondents to research and use in preparing responses, and general increased availability of computer software and information via the Internet.