The Partial Update of the TSCA Section 8(b) Inventory Data Base, Production and Site Reports, based on the TSCA Inventory Update Rule (IUR), is an information collection that takes place every four years, requiring manufacturers and importers of organic chemicals and other chemicals subject to final or proposed TSCA rules, regulations and orders to provide facility-specific information on chemicals. Respondents must provide manufacturing, processing, and use exposure-related data, including the volume of the chemical substance used on the reporting site; the volume of the chemical substance directly exported; whether the chemical substance is being recycled, remanufactured, reprocessed or reused; and the production volume above a certain threshold for each of the preceding calendar years. Respondents to the IUR are required to use e-CDRweb (the Agency-provided reporting tool) to submit a completed Form U (EPA Form 7740-8) electronically via the Internet. The data obtained under this collection helps EPA identify what chemicals the public may be exposed to as consumers or in commercial and industrial settings and to better assess routes of potential exposure to those chemicals. The Agency is thereby able to identify, assess, and control potential risks to human health and the environment posed by commercial chemical substances.
US Code:
15 USC 2607
Name of Law: Toxic Substances Control Act/Section 8(b)
Adjustment Changes:
The currently approved ICR used data from the 2006 IUR to estimate the number of sites and partial and full reports submitted to EPA. It estimated that a total of 4,153 sites would submit 3,696, partial reports and 23,838 full reports over the ICR period. EPA has adjusted the number of sites and reports using data from the April 2013, 2012 CDR database where a total of 4,753 sites submitted 12,010 partial reports and 20,348 full reports.
The previous ICR assumed all reporters would complete CDX registration activities; however, because CDX registration is a one-time action, EPA assumes that after a site's first reporting cycle, submitters will not incur any burden or cost for this IC activity. Therefore, this ICR calculates separate costs for new submitters who incur CDX registration and electronic signature burdens and for old submitters who have already incurred these costs.
The previous ICR covered parts of the 2012 and 2016 reporting cycles, therefore EPA assumed that all submitters would incur the larger "new" submitter burden in the first two years of the analysis and all submitters would incur the smaller "old" submitter burden in the last year of the analysis. For this ICR EPA assumed that approximately 95% of submitters would incur the lower "old" submitter burden for all three years. In addition, annual burden for the previous ICR partially covered portions of two reporting cycles, including two years of 2012 cycle reporting and one year of 2016 cycle reporting. The burden for the previous ICR averaged the annual burden over a six year period for 2012 reporting cycle and over a four year period for the 2016 burden and included a portion of the hours for each of those cycles. Because the 2016 and 2020 reporting cycles are 4 years, EPA adjusted the baseline burden estimates be averaged over a four year period only.
All costs were inflated from 2008$ to 2012$, which slightly increased the costs associated with the rule.
The total of all of the adjustments results in an increase of the baseline total burden of 2,573 hours and an increase in the annual burden of 858 hours.
Program Changes:
Beginning with the 2016 reporting cycle, EPA is lowering the reporting threshold for chemicals subject to certain TSCA orders from 25,000 pounds to 2,500 pounds, requiring that sites must report on chemicals exceeding the reporting threshold in any calendar year since the last principle reporting year, and is lowering the threshold for reporting downstream processing and use information from 100,000 pounds to 25,000 pounds. After accounting for all these changes, EPA expects that the number of sites and full reports submitted will increase, and there will be a decrease in the number of partial reports submitted, for a total of 4,991 sites submitting 39,337 reports (36,352 full reports and 2,985 partial reports).
In addition, beginning with the 2016 reporting cycle, sites will be required to submit production volumes for all years in the reporting cycle, as opposed to the production volume for just the reporting year. This will slightly increase the burden for completing Part II of Form U.
The program changes results in an increase of the baseline total burden of 942,684 hours and an increase in the annual burden of 314,228 hours.
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.
Form EPA Form 7740-8 Report Preparation, Form U, Part I
1884ss08_Attach5_consultmsg.docx
1884ss08_Attach4b_responses.pdf
Compliance Determination