DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Supporting Statement ‑
OMB No. 1140-0042 _
Statement of Process - Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection
A. Justification
1. Public Law 104‑132, 110 Stat. 1214, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
of 1996 ("the Act") was enacted on April 24, 1996. Title VI of the Act, "Implementation of Plastic Explosives Convention," added new requirements to the Federal explosives laws in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 40. Section 607 of the Act states that, except as otherwise provided, the amendments made by Title VI shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment, i.e., on April 24, 1997. The stated purpose of Title VI is to fully implement the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection, Done at Montreal on 1 March 1991 ("the Convention").
The Convention represents an important achievement in international cooperation in
response to the threat posed to the safety and security of international civil aviation by
virtually undetectable plastic explosives in the hands of terrorists. Such explosives were
used in the tragic destruction of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in
December 1988, and UTA flight 772 in September 1989. In the aftermath of these
bombings, the international community moved to draft a multilateral treaty to ensure that
plastic explosives would thereafter contain a chemical marking agent to render them
detectable.
The Act amended the Federal explosives laws in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 40 by adding new
subsections (I)‑(o) to section 842. Section 8420) makes it unlawful for any person to
manufacture any plastic explosive that does not contain a detection agent. Section
842(m) makes it unlawful for any person to import or bring into the U.S. or export from
the U.S. any plastic explosive that does not contain a detection agent. The provisions of
this section do not apply to the importation or bringing into the U.S. or the exportation
from the U.S. of any plastic explosive that was imported or brought into or manufactured
in the U.S. prior to the date of enactment of the Act by or on behalf of any agency of the
U.S. performing military or police functions (including any military reserve component) or
by or on behalf of the National Guard of any State, not later than 15 years after the
Convention enters into force with respect to the U.S. or by or on behalf of the National
Guard of any State, not later than 15 years after the Convention enters into force
with respect to the U.S.
Section 842(n) provides that it is unlawful for any person to ship, transport, transfer,
receive, or possess any plastic explosive that does not contain a detection agent.
Exceptions to the prohibitions are provided for any plastic explosive that was
imported or brought into, or manufactured in the U.S. prior to the date of enactment
of the Act by any person during the period beginning on that date, i.e., April 24, 1996
and ending 3 years after that date, i.e., April 24, 1999. Exceptions to the prohibitions
are also provided. for any plastic explosive that was imported or brought into, or
manufactured in the U.S. prior to the date of enactment of the Act by or on behalf of
any agency of the U.S. performing a military or police function (including any military
reserve component) or by or on behalf of the National Guard of any State, not later
than 15 years after the date of entry into force of the Convention on the marking of
Plastic Explosives with respect to the U.S. Changes to the regulations are prescribed
in § 55.180. In addition, to ensure compliance with the law, § 55.184(a) provides that
a complete and accurate statement of process with regard to any plastic explosive or
to any detection agent that is to be introduced into a plastic explosive or formulated
in such plastic explosive shall be submitted by any licensed manufacturer or licensed
importer, upon request, to the Director.
2. A complete and accurate statement of process with regard to any plastic explosive or to any detection agent that is to be introduced into a plastic explosive or formulated in such plastic explosive shall be submitted by any licensed manufacturer or licensed importer upon request, to the Director. The information contained in the Statement of Process is required to ensure compliance with the provisions of Public Law 104‑132. The respondent will be required to record the acquisition of all taggant materials along with the quantity used in each batch and lot. Additionally, all batch/lot numbers must be recorded. This information will be used to ensure that plastic explosives contain a detection agent as required by law.
.
3. The Statement of Process is a written document that can be submitted by fax, email or mailed..
4. ATF uses a Subject Classification Code to identify duplication. Similar information is not available elsewhere for this information collection requirement.
5. ATF does not use any method to minimize the burden to small businesses since all entities regardless of size, are required by statute to complete this collection of information statement.
If this information collection was not conducted or is conducted less frequently there would be a threat posed to the safety and security of international civil aviation by virtually undetectable plastic explosives in the hands of terrorists.
7. This information collection is conducted in a manner consistent with 5 CFR 1320.6.
8. ATF consulted with the explosives industry with regard to this information collection. A
60-day and 30- day Federal Register notice was published in order to solicit comments
from the general public. No comments were received.
9. No payment or gift is offered to the respondents. ‑
10. The responses are kept in a secure location and is handled by staff with special
clearances.
11. No questions of a sensitive nature are asked of the respondents.
12. The estimated number of respondents is 8 annually. The frequency of responses is
quarterly. The total number of responses is 32. We estimate the respondent can retrieve
the required information in approximately 20 minutes and complete the statement in an
additional 10 minutes. This totals 30 minutes of reporting burden. The total burden
associated with this information collection is 16 hours.
13. There is no startup cost or annual cost to the respondent.
14. There is no cost to the Federal Government.
15. There are no program changes or adjustments. There is no change in burden from the
previous submission.
16. The results of this collection will not be published.
17. ATF does not request approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of
the information for this collection.
18. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.
Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
This information does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE |
| Author | ATF |
| Last Modified By | lbryant |
| File Modified | 2007-02-08 |
| File Created | 2007-02-08 |