This ICR covers the public reporting
and record keeping requirements associated with Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI) reporting for the dioxin and dioxin-like compounds
category. EPA collects information from facilities and enters it
into TRI under the authority of section 313 of the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) (42 U.S.C. 11001
et seq.) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) (42
U.S.C. 11071 to 11079). Currently, facilities subject to the TRI
reporting requirements may either use the EPA Toxic Chemical
Release Inventory Form R (EPA Form #9350-1, which is approved under
OMB Number 2070-0093), or the EPA Toxic Chemical Release Inventory
Form A Certification Statement (EPA Form #9350-2, which is approved
under OMB Number 2070-0143). The Form R must be completed if a
facility manufactures, processes, or otherwise uses any listed
chemical above threshold quantities. For the Form A Certification
Statement, EPA established an alternate threshold for those
facilities with low annual reportable amounts of a listed toxic
chemical. A facility that meets the appropriate reporting
thresholds, but estimates that the total annual reportable amount
of the chemical does not exceed 500 pounds per year, can take
advantage of an alternate manufacture, process, or otherwise use
threshold of 1 million pounds per year for that chemical, provided
that certain conditions are met, and submit the Form A
Certification Statement instead of the Form R. Facilities may
submit information on multiple chemicals on a single Form A
Certification Statement. Facilities are currently prohibited from
using the Form A Certification Statement for dioxin reporting.
Facilities are required to fill out the Form R when reporting for
dioxin and dioxin-like compounds and are required to fill out Form
R Schedule 1 if they have any of the information collected on that
schedule. This ICR is for the Form R Schedule 1, which is a
schedule addition to the Form R that allows for the reporting of
the gram quantities for the individual members of the dioxin and
dioxin-like compounds category when such data are available. EPA
currently requires that dioxin and dioxin-like compounds be
reported in units of total grams for the entire category, and
requires facilities to provide a single distribution of the dioxin
and dioxin-like compounds for the data reported by the facility.
EPA is revising the reporting for this category by requiring
facilities to report the mass quantity of each individual member of
the category instead of reporting the single distribution of the
members of category. This information is in addition to the total
grams data currently reported for the entire category. As with all
reporting under EPCRA section 313, facilities should use readily
available data collected pursuant to other provisions of law to
calculate this information, or where such data are not readily
available, must make reasonable estimates of the amounts involved.
See 42 U.S.C. 11042 (g)(2). Facilities are not required to conduct
any testing or monitoring in order to submit this information. See
42 U.S.C. 11042 (g)(2).
US Code:
42
USC 11001 Name of Law: Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act
The increase in burden is
occurring due to the new information being collected on the Form R
Schedule 1 which is necessary to fulfill EPA's responsibilities
under EPCRA section 313(g). The Form R Schedule 1 provides
additional data on dioxin and dioxin-like compounds by requiring
facilities to report the mass quantity of each individual member of
the category instead of reporting the single distribution of the
members of category. The additional data can be used to calculate
toxic equivalency (TEQ) values for the category, which will help
data users to better understand the relative hazards associated
with the reported quantities. Since TEQ values are a common way
that mass quantities of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds are
described; the ability to calculate TEQ values for TRI data will
facilitate easier comparisons with other domestic and international
data sources.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Dioxin and Dioxin-Like Compounds; Toxic Equivalency Information; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (Final rule)