Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1596.07, OMB Control Number 2060-0226

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (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. This ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before January 14, 2008.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID number 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@epamail.epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 2822T, 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:

Monica Shimamura, Stratospheric Protection Division, Alternatives and Emission Reductions Branch, Mail Code 6205J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9337; fax number: (202) 343-2362; e-mail address: shimamura.monica@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 June 11, 2007 (72 FR 32095), 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 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 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, to 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: Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program (40 CFR part 82, subpart G) (Renewal).

ICR numbers: EPA ICR Number 1596.07, OMB Control Number 2060-0226.

ICR status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2007. 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). 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. 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, 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 under the Premanufacture Notice program under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Alternatives that will be used in pesticide formulations 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 respondent. 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: 268.

Frequency of Response: Annual.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 8,204 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Costs: $511,430. This includes an estimated $492,252 in labor costs, $18,918 in capital costs and $260 in O&M costs.

Changes in Estimates: The total number of burden hours requested for this information collection has decreased from 8,927 to 8,204. The SNAP burden hours have been decreasing since 2000 from 10,363 to 8,927 to 8,204 hours. The reason for this change in burden is the smaller number of respondents keeping records for alternatives that are subject to more narrowed use limits than three years ago because of the development of new substitutes. For example, users of some restricted fire suppressants now have other options available with no restriction, and thus no paperwork requirement. In addition, a smaller number of SNAP petitions are being filed than EPA estimated three years ago. The recordkeeping estimates remain the same.