[Federal Register: October 24, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 205)]
[Notices]
[Page 60330-60331]
[DOCID:fr24oc07-53]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC07-511-001, FERC-511]

Commission Information Collection Activities, Proposed
Collection; Comment Request; Submitted for OMB Review

October 15, 2007.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of section 3507 of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507, the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (Commission) has submitted the information
collection described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review and reinstatement of this information collection
requirement. Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB
and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as
explained below. The Commission received no comments in response to an
earlier Federal Register notice of June 6, 2007 (72 FR 31304-05) and
has made this notification in its submission to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by November
20, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Address comments on the collection of information to the
Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer.
Comments to OMB should be filed electronically, c/o
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>and include the OMB Control No. as a point

of reference. The Desk Officer may be reached by telephone at (202)
395-7345. A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Executive Director, ED-34,
Attention: Michael Miller, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
Comments may be filed either in paper format or electronically. Those
persons filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing. For
paper filings, such comments should be submitted to the Office of the
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20426 and should refer to Docket No. IC07-511-001.
    Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in
WordPerfect, MS Word, Portable Document Format, or ASCII format. To
file the document, access the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov
 and click on ``Make an E-filing,'' and then follow the

instructions for each screen. First time users will have to establish a
user name and password. The Commission will send an automatic
acknowledgment to the sender's E-mail address upon receipt of comments.
User assistance for electronic filings is available at<PHONE_NUMBER> or
by e-mail to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Comments should not be submitted to the
e-mail address.
    All comments are available for review at the Commission or may be
viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov, using the

``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three
digits in the docket number field to access the document. For
assistance, contact FERC Online Support at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
202-502-6652 or toll-free at<PHONE_NUMBER>, or for TTY, contact
(202)502-8659.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Miller may be reached by
telephone at<PHONE_NUMBER>, by fax at<PHONE_NUMBER>, and by e-mail at
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description

    The information collection submitted for OMB review contains the
following:
    1. Collection of Information: FERC-511 ``Application for Transfer
of License''.
    2. Sponsor: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
    3. Control No.: 1902-0069.

The Commission is now requesting that OMB approve and reinstate with a
three-year extension of the expiration date, with no changes to the
existing collection. The information filed with the Commission is
mandatory.
    4. Necessity of the Collection of Information: Submission of this
information is necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its
responsibilities in implementing the statutory provisions of sections
4(e) and 8 of the Federal Power Act (FPA). Section 4(e) authorizes the
Commission to issue licenses for the construction, operation and
maintenance of reservoirs, power houses and transmission lines or other
facilities necessary for development and improvement of navigation and
for the development, transmission, and utilization of power from bodies
of water that Congress has jurisdiction over. Section 8 of the FPA
provides that the voluntary transfer of any license can only be made
with the written approval

of the Commission. Any successor to the licensee may assign the rights
of the original license but is subject to all of the conditions of the
license.
    The information filed with the Commission is a mandatory
requirement contained in the format of a written application for
transfer of license, executed jointly by the parties to the proposed
transfer. The transfer of a license may be occasioned by the sale or
merger of a licensed hydroelectric project. It is used by the
Commission's staff to determine the qualifications of the proposed
transferee to hold the license, and to prepare the transfer of the
license order. The Commission implements these requirements in the Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR Part 9 and 131.20.
    5. Respondent Description: The respondent universe currently
comprises 23 respondents (average) subject to the Commission's
jurisdiction
    6. Estimated Burden: 920 total hours, 23 respondents (average per
year), 1 response per respondent, and 40 hours per response (average).
    7. Estimated Cost Burden to respondents: 920 hours/2080 hours per
years x $122,137 per year = $54,022. The cost per respondent is
estimated to be on average $2,349.

    Statutory Authority: Sections 4(e) and 8 of the Federal Power
Act (16 U.S.C. 792-828c).

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-20883 Filed 10-23-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


                                                       Economic Analysis of the TSCA Section 5 Premanufacture and Significant New Use Notification Electronic Reporting; Revisions to Notification Regulations

RIN 2070-AJ98

November 17, 2014

-- Does not contain TSCA CBI  -

				Economic and Policy Analysis Branch
	Economics, Exposure and Technology Division
Office of Pollution, Prevention, and Toxics
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20460

This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed -- in whole or in part -- for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. If, however, a contract is awarded to this offeror as a result of -- or in connection with -- the submission of these data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in these data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in all sheets.
This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed -- in whole or in part -- for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. If, however, a contract is awarded to this offeror as a result of -- or in connection with -- the submission of these data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in these data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in all sheets.
Economic Analysis of the Premanufacture Notification Electronic Reporting Modified Final Rule
                                 Contributors
The EPA analyst responsible for this report is Stephanie Suazo of the Economic and Policy Analysis Branch; Economics, Exposure and Technology Division; Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Analytical and draft preparation support was provided by Abt Associates Inc. under EPA Contract No. EP-W-08-010.

                               Executive Summary
This economic analysis estimates the net burden and cost savings associated with the final rule to amend the premanufacture notification regulation to facilitate the introduction and use of electronic reporting of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 5 Notices of Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import (bona fides). This action is intended to streamline and reduce the administrative costs and burden of the notifications for both industry and EPA. In addition, the rule would amend the TSCA section 5 Premanufacture and Significant New Use Notification regulations by mandating the use of an updated version of the e-PMN reporting software. In January 2010, EPA issued a final rule requiring the use of the e-PMN reporting software for the submission of Premanufacture Notices (PMNs) and other TSCA section 5 notices and support documents to the Agency using the Internet through EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX). The new version of the e-PMN software described in this EA will operate as a "cloud", or Thin Client, software system rather than as a downloadable, or Thick Client, software system. This updated version of the software has a number of benefits including, but not limited to, the elimination of certain firewall and file submission size limitations that exist with the current version of the software.
There are two components of this action that are specific to bona fide submissions:
   1. Making the e-PMN software available for bona fide submissions, and
   2. Requiring use of the software for bona fide submissions as is now required for most TSCA section 5 notices and related documents including: PMNs (40 CFR part 720), Significant New Use Notices (SNUNs) (40 CFR part 721), Test Market Exemption Applications (TMEAs) (40 CFR part 720), Low Volume Exemption notices (LVEs) (40 CFR 723.50), Low Exposure/Low Release Exemption (LoRex) notices (40 CFR 723.50), biotechnology notices for genetically modified microorganisms (40 CFR part 725), Notices of Commencement of Manufacture or Import (NOCs) (40 CFR 720.102), and other support documents (e.g., correspondence, requests for suspensions of the notice review period, and test data).
Making the software available to industry is expected to result in cost savings for both industry and EPA. However, this rule, which includes a new requirement for electronic submission of bona fide notices, may result in some increase in cost to some industry users as they make the transition to the new method of submission.
As a result of making the software available to Industry users, EPA believes that submitters of bona fide notices will experience burden and cost savings because the time required to enter, review, and edit their notices using the e-PMN software and transmit their submissions to EPA electronically will be less than that for the existing paper-based process. In this economic analysis, estimated burden and cost savings are presented in comparison to the burden and costs that will be incurred if industry were to continue submitting notices via paper, as was outlined in the previous Information Collection Request (ICR) for TSCA section 5 Premanufacture and Significant New Use Notifications.
Once the rule (which includes the new requirement for electronic submission of bona fide notices) is fully implemented, EPA estimates a net burden savings to industry of 180 hours and a net cost of approximately $4,000 in the first year. In subsequent years, EPA estimates an annual net burden savings to industry of 489 hours and annual net cost savings of approximately $17,000. The Agency is projected to experience an annual net burden savings of 40 hours and annual net cost savings of $3,000 for these same submissions once the rule is fully implemented.
Requiring the use of the e-PMN software for submission of Notices of Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import eliminates the option of submitting paper. To the extent that any firm currently submits bona fides on paper, they are expected to incur transactions costs in order to meet these mandatory submission requirements. This may require some industry users to revise their internal processes or recordkeeping systems, invest in new hardware, or other adjustments, in order to submit their bona fides electronically. At this time, EPA is unable to estimate what these costs might be. However, any firm which has submitted section 5 notifications since April 2012, or which intends to submit any other TSCA section 5 notification types to EPA in the future, must use the e-PMN software in accordance with existing regulations for those submissions.
The total annual burden to society (industry plus EPA) from the e-PMN software is expected to decrease by 57 hours in the first year and 529 hours in subsequent years. The total cost to society is expected to increase by $1,000 in year one and decrease by $20,000 in future years. These cost savings may be diminished by any transactions costs that firms compelled to switch to the new software system might face for submission of Notices of Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import. EPA assumes that the transition from the Thick Client Version to the Thin Client Version will have a negligible impact on industry or Agency burden or costs, and, therefore, the cost savings associated with the transfer from the Thick Client Version to the Thin Client Version are only described qualitatively in this report.

                               Table of Contents
1.	Introduction	1-6
2.	Industry Burdens and Costs	2-8
2.1	Scope of the Modified e-PMN Rule	2-8
2.2	Wage Rates	2-8
2.3	Firm Level Compliance Costs	2-9
2.3.1	Rule Familiarization	2-9
2.3.2	CDX Registration, CDX Electronic Signature, and Pay.gov Account Setup	2-10
2.4	Bona Fide Submission Costs Savings	12
2.4.1	Baseline Industry Burden for Completing a Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notice	12
2.4.2	Burden Reductions from the e-PMN Rule Amendment	14
2.5	Industry Burden	16
2.5.1	Total Annual Cost from Rule Familiarization	16
2.5.2	Total Annual Savings from Electronic Bona Fide Submissions	16
2.5.3	Total Annual Cost from New CDX Registrations	16
2.5.4	Total Change in Industry Burden	17
2.5.5	Efficiencies from the Thin Client Software	18
3.	Agency Burdens and Costs	20
3.1	Labor Rates for EPA Staff	20
3.2	Changes in Agency Burdens and Cost Associated with the Final e-PMN Rule	21
4.	Benefits of the Final e-PMN Modifications Rule	22
4.1	Industry Benefits	22
4.1.1	Electronic Reporting of Bona Fide Notifications	22
4.1.2	Updated e-PMN Software	23
4.2	Agency Benefits	23
4.2.1	Electronic Reporting of Bona Fide Notifications	23
4.2.2	Updated e-PMN Software	23
5.	Additional Analyses	24
5.1	Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)	24
5.2	Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)	24
5.3	Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)	24
5.4	Executive Order 13132, Federalism	25
5.5	Executive Order 12898, Environmental Justice	26
5.6	Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children	26
5.7	Executive Order 13175, Tribal Governments	26
5.8	Executive Order 13211, Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use	26
5.9	Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review	26
6.	REFERENCES	28

Introduction
This economic analysis estimates the net burden and cost savings associated with the final rule to amend the premanufacture notification regulations to require the use of electronic reporting of TSCA section 5 Notices of Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import (bona fides). This action is intended to streamline and reduce the administrative costs and burden of TSCA section 5 notifications for both industry and EPA.
The rule would also amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 5 Premanufacture and Significant New Use Notification regulations by mandating the use of an updated version of the e-PMN reporting software. In January 2010, EPA issued a final rule requiring the use of e-PMN reporting software for the submission of Premanufacture Notices (PMNs) and other TSCA section 5 notices and support documents to the Agency using the Internet through EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX). This new version of the e-PMN software will operate as a "cloud", or Thin Client, software system rather than as a downloadable, or Thick Client, software system.
The Thin Client Version of the e-PMN software has many advantages over the previous Thick Client Version. EPA developed the Thin Client Version to provide a more efficient way of accessing the e-PMN software and completing the e-PMN form, including additional built-in validation procedures. The Thin Client Version of the software was also designed to enable more efficient data transmittal, including increasing the size of files that can be submitted to EPA. By moving from the Thick Client Version of the e-PMN software to the Thin Client Version, the Agency has eliminated the roadblocks associated with firewalls that were previously encountered by some users by allowing submitters to work directly online within the Thin Client Version or, if they choose, to work offline using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema which allows them to later upload their information to the Thin Client Version. In completing the PMN form, submitters will find that sharing files within the Thin Client Version makes the information readily accessible to registrants of the submitting company and their designated support persons. A final benefit of using the Thin Client Version is that the most updated version of the e-PMN software will be available whenever the submitter logs into the Chemical Information Submission System (CISS).
This rule also amends existing regulations for notifying EPA of any new manufacturing site of a chemical substance for which an exemption was granted by EPA under 40 CFR 723.50. As required under 40 CFR 723.50(j)(6)(ii), a manufacturer (including importer) must notify EPA of any new manufacturing site of a chemical substance for which an exemption was granted by EPA under 40 CFR 723.50. Under the existing regulation, companies may use the Notice of Commencement (NOC) to report manufacturing site changes to EPA. However, the electronic version of the NOC in the e-PMN software cannot accommodate notifications of manufacturing site changes. Therefore, this direct final rule requires that such notifications be submitted electronically to EPA via CDX as a "support document" to the original notification.
This report presents EPA OPPT's analysis of potential changes to industry and government burden and costs that will result from this final rule to (1) require the electronic submission of bona fide notices and (2) modify the electronic reporting system for all TSCA section 5 notices. Section 2 of this report discusses activities to be undertaken by industry to comply with the final rule, presents estimated changes to industry costs and burden compared to the baseline of the current paper system, and calculates the total industry costs and burden. Section 3 focuses on changes to the Agency's burden and cost to administer the TSCA section 5 notices program as a result of implementing the final rule. Section 4 consists of a description of the qualitative benefits of the rule. Section 5 presents an analysis of other impacts as required by various statutes and executive orders.
Industry Burdens and Costs
Scope of the Modified e-PMN Rule
The 2010 e-PMN rule (40 CFR Parts 700, 720, 721, 723, and 725) required the majority of TSCA section 5 notices to be submitted electronically via CDX. The current rule modification now also requires the electronic submission of bona fide notices. Consequently, the methodology and results presented in this economic analysis characterize the changes in reporting burden specific only to bona fide notices, which EPA will now have the capability to receive electronically, rather than via the existing, paper-based process. EPA assumes that both the transition from the Thick Client Version to the Thin Client Version of the e-PMN software, as well as the changes to the procedures for notifying EPA of any new manufacturing site of a chemical substance for which an exemption was granted by EPA under 40 CFR 723.50, will have negligible impact on industry or Agency burden and costs, and, therefore, the cost savings associated with these changes are only described qualitatively in this report.
Wage Rates
The rule involves activities that may require efforts by employees in the following three labor classifications: managerial, technical, and clerical. Costs for each activity are calculated by estimating the labor hours required in each labor category and multiplying that burden by the wage rate for each labor category. This section presents the estimated wage rate in each labor category.
Loaded wage rates for managerial, technical, and clerical personnel are derived by combining data on wages and fringe benefits with estimates of overhead rates, following the methodology described in Wage Rates for Economic Analysis of the Toxics Release Inventory Program (EPA, 2002a). Wage data for each labor category in December 2013 are provided by the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) Supplemental Tables available on the BLS website (BLS, 2014a). The loaded wage rate is $77.82 for managerial labor; $64.55 for technical labor; and $30.35 for clerical labor. Table 1 presents the basic data used to calculate the loaded wage rates for all three categories of labor.
Table 1: Loaded Industry Wage Rates, December 2013
                                Labor Category
                                 Data Sources
                                     Date
                                 Wage (2013$)
                            Fringe Benefit (2013$)
                               Fringes as % wage
                              Over-head % wage[2]
                           Fringe + overhead factor
                                Loaded Wages[1]
                                    (2013$)

                                      (a)
                                      (b)
                                 (c) =(b)/(a)
                                      (d)
                                 (e)=(c)+(d)+1
                                 (f)=(a) x (e)
                                  Managerial
BLS ECEC, Private Manufacturing industries, "Mgt, Business, and Financial"[3]
                                    Dec-13
                                    $46.25
                                    $23.71
                                    51.26%
                                      17%
                                     1.68
                                    $77.82
                            Professional/
Technical
BLS ECEC, Private Manufacturing industries, "Professional and related"[3]
                                    Dec-13
                                    $38.16
                                    $19.90
                                    52.15%
                                      17%
                                     1.69
                                    $64.55
                                   Clerical
BLS ECEC, Private Manufacturing industries, "Office and Administrative Support" 3
                                    Dec-13
                                    $18.05
                                    $9.23
                                    51.14%
                                      17%
                                     1.68
                                    $30.35
Notes:
1 Wage data are rounded to the closest pennies in this table; however, in calculations using these numbers for this report, unrounded values were used.
2 An overhead rate of 17% was used based on assumptions in Wage Rates for Economic Analyses of the Toxics Release Inventory Program (EPA, 2002a), and the Revised Economic Analysis for the Amended Inventory Update Rule: Final Report (EPA, 2002b).
[3] Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Supplementary Tables December 2013, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 12, 2014 (BLS, 2014a)
Firm Level Compliance Costs
Rule Familiarization
The rule will require bona fide submitters and their staff to become familiar with the requirements for electronic reporting. Rule familiarization is estimated to require 0.55 hours of technical labor and 0.27 hours of managerial labor, as described in the Economic Analysis of the Premanufacture Notification Electronic Reporting Final Rule (EPA, 2009a), which measures the costs of mandatory electronic reporting of TSCA section 5 notices. As shown in Table 2, the total labor cost associated with rule familiarization is $56.51.
Table 2: Rule Familiarization Burden and Cost for Bona Fide Submitters
                              Reporting Activity
                                Clerical Labor
                               (at $30.35/hour)
                       Technical Labor (at $64.55/hour)
                       Managerial Labor (at $77.82/hour)
                           Total Labor Cost (2013$)

                                    Burden
                                     Cost
                                    Burden
                                     Cost
                                    Burden
                                     Cost
                                    Burden
                                     Cost
Rule Familiarization
                                       0
                                    $0.00
                                     0.55
                                    $35.50
                                     0.27
                                    $21.01
                                     0.82
                                    $56.51
Note:
Costs may not equal labor wage rate times burden hours as shown, due to rounding. Unrounded estimates were used during the actual cost calculations.
Source: See; EPA, 2009a.
CDX Registration, CDX Electronic Signature, and Pay.gov Account Setup
If a firm has not completed a previous TSCA section 5 notice that required electronic submission under the 2010 e-PMN Rule (40 CFR Parts 700, 720, 721, 723, and 725) (including Premanufacture Notices (PMNs), SNUNs, Test Market Exemption (TME) applications, Low Volume Exemption (LVE) notices, Low Exposure/Low Release (LoREX) exemption notices, Biotechnology Notices for genetically modified microorganisms, Notices of Commencement of Manufacture or Import (NOCs), and support documents to section 5 notices), then the submitter must register their company and key users with the CDX reporting tool, deliver a CDX electronic signature to EPA, and establish and use a Pay.gov E-payment account. These activities are only required of first-time submitters of any section 5 notice. EPA receives an average of 116 bona fide submissions each year. In the first year of the rule, EPA conservatively assumes all bona fide submitters to be new registrants. After the first year, the number of new bona fides submitters is expected to be 50% of the number of annual submissions. Therefore, 116 new submitters will register in the first year and 58 will register for each of the subsequent years. These activities are estimated to require the following burden activities, based on the estimates presented in the Economic Analysis of the Premanufacture Notification Electronic Reporting Final Rule (EPA, 2009a):
               *       CDX registration: EPA estimates that companies will spend approximately 0.18 hours per employee to register with CDX (EPA, 2009a)
               *       CDX electronic signature: EPA estimates that companies will spend 0.25 hours preparing, submitting, and filing an electronic signature agreement (Authentication of Identity) form to EPA per employee. In addition, EPA estimates that a manager will spend an additional 0.50 hours accessing, preparing, and submitting verification forms (Verification of Authorization) for all authorized submitters to EPA. The total burden incurred by companies submitting and then verifying electronic signature agreements is 1.75 hours. Note that this burden does not include any additional time required to contact EPA's CDX help desk to notify a change of submitter status, should one occur (EPA, 2009a).
      Filing the electronic signature agreement may be done either through mail or electronically. EPA believes the cost of electronic filing to be negligible, and the cost of a paper filing via the US Postal Service to be $2.60 per company (including five $0.46 stamps and five $0.06 business envelopes). The average mailing cost per employee is $0.56 (USPS, 2013).
               *       Payment via Pay.gov account: EPA estimates that each manager will spend approximately 0.13 hours setting up a Pay.gov ID account, logging into the system, finding the appropriate form, and filling it out. This burden does not include the time required to click `submit' on the form and wait for payment processing (EPA, 2009a).
Table 3: CDX Registration, CDX Electronic Signature, and Pay.gov Account Setup Burden and Cost for First-Time Submitters
                             Registration Activity
                       Technical Labor ($64.55 per hour)
                       Managerial Labor $77.82 per hour)

                                    Burden
                                 (Per Employee)
                              Cost
(Per Employee)
                                    Burden
                                (Per Employee)
                              Cost
(Per Employee)
                               CDX Registration
                                     0.18
                                    $11.83
                                     0.18
                                    $14.27
                           CDX Electronic Signature
                                     0.25
                                    $16.14
                                     0.75
                                    $58.37
                                 Mailing Cost
                                     0.00
                                     $0.52
                                     0.00
                                     $0.52
                            E-Payment (Pay.gov ID)
                                     0.00
                                     $0.00
                                     0.13
                                    $10.37
                                     Total
                                     0.43
                                    $28.49
                                     1.07
                                    $83.52
Note:
Costs may not equal labor wage rate times burden hours as shown, due to rounding. Unrounded estimates were used during the actual cost calculations.
Source: See; EPA, 2009a

Bona Fide Submission Costs Savings
Baseline Industry Burden for Completing a Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notice
Under TSCA section 8(b), EPA is required to compile and publish a current list of each chemical substance that is manufactured or processed in the United States; this list is called the TSCA Inventory. EPA considers substances listed on the TSCA Inventory to be "existing" chemicals in U.S. commerce, and substances not on the TSCA Inventory are considered "new" chemicals. If a substance is determined to be a "new" chemical substance for TSCA purposes, it is subject to TSCA section 5 Premanufacture Notice requirements. If an intended manufacturer or importer of a chemical substance is unsure of the TSCA Inventory status of the chemical (e.g., cannot find that substance on one of the public sources of non-confidential TSCA Inventory data), the company or representative can obtain a written determination from EPA if it can demonstrate a "bona fide intent." It can do this by submitting a Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notice. The actions that submitters must take to complete a bona fide notice as well as the estimate baseline burden for each action are listed below. All burden estimates are taken from Regulatory Impact Analysis of Amendments to Regulations for TSCA Section 5 Premanufacture Notifications (EPA, 1994).
   * Provide Specific Chemical Identification Data: This includes the Chemical Abstracts Index (CASRN) name as well as information about the substances' manufacture or importation. EPA estimates this will take approximately 2 hours of technical time (EPA, 1994).
   * Provide a Signed Statement: This statement certifies that the submitter intends to manufacture or import that chemical substance for commercial purposes. EPA estimates this will take approximately 2 to 3 hours of managerial time (EPA, 1994).
   * Provide a Description of Research and Development Activities or a Description of Foreign Use (Importers Only): The submitter must provide a brief description of the research and development (R&D) activities conducted to date related to the substance, including the year in which the person first started to conduct R&D activity on the substance, and the general types of research and development activities conducted thus far (e.g., synthesis, substance isolation/purification, formulating, product development, process development, end-use application, toxicity testing, etc.). The person must also indicate whether any pilot plant or production-scale plant evaluations have been conducted involving the manufacture or processing of the substance. If an importer is unable to provide any information on R&D activities they must provide information on how long the substance has been in commercial use outside of the United States, the name of a country in which it has been commercially used, whether the importer believes that the substance has already been used commercially, in any country, for the same purpose or application that the importer is intending. Providing this information is expected to take to take 3 hours of technical time and 1 hour of managerial time (EPA, 1994).
   * Provide a Use, Infrared Spectroscopy, and Estimated Date of PMN Submission: The submitter must provide a detailed description of the intended use of the substance, an infrared spectrum of the substance, and information on the manufacturing, import, or processing facility location. The submitter must also provide the estimated month and year in which they intend to submit a PMN if EPA informs the submitter that the substance is not on the TSCA Inventory. EPA estimates that completing these tasks will take approximately 1 hour of technical time and 1 hour of managerial time (EPA, 1994).
   * Provide a Manufacturing Process Description: Domestic manufacturers must provide a description of the most probable manufacturing process. Importers must provide information on how they intend to process or use the substance for a commercial purpose. Providing this information is expected to take between 5 and 6 hours of technical time (EPA, 1994).
   * Possibly Submit a Letter of Support: This may be necessary if some information is withheld from the bona fides submitter. In some cases, a potential manufacturer may be intending to use reactants whose specific chemical identities are held confidential by their suppliers. In certain other cases, a potential importer may be intending to bring into the United States a substance whose identity is known only to its foreign manufacturer. In these cases, a letter of support from the domestic or foreign manufacturer of the confidential substances can be provided directly to EPA and should include specific chemical identity information. For the purposes of this analysis, the burden to the submitter for requesting this letter be sent to EPA is assumed to be included in the burden for providing chemical identity.
The Regulatory Impact Analysis of Amendments to Regulations for TSCA Section 5 Premanufacture Notifications (EPA, 1994) also states that between 3 and 4 hours of clerical time will be needed to support the activities listed above. EPA also estimates that there will be two hours of recordkeeping associated with each paper bona fide submission (EPA, 2011) and mailing costs associated with filing the submission (EPA, 2009a); neither of these costs is accounted for in the 1994 RIA. EPA assumes that regulated companies will incur mailing costs for export notifications delivered to EPA. Notifications are assumed to be shipped via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) as first-class registered mail with a return receipt (USPS, 2013). The estimated per-shipment and annual mailing costs incurred by individual submitters are detailed in Table 4.
Table 4: Derivation of Total Mailing Cost
                                Postal Service
                                     Cost
Registered mail, regular, with $0 declared value
                                    $11.20
Return receipt, requested at time of mailing (receive by mail)
                                     $2.55
Postage, regular First Class, up to 1 ounce
                                     $0.46
                                              Cost per export notice - Subtotal
                                    $14.21
Source: USPS, 2013.

Table 5 provides the baseline burden and cost for a single bona fide submission, based on the activities listed above. While the 1994 EA provides burden ranges, this analysis uses the mid-point burden estimates in the cost calculations. As shown in Table 5, the baseline burden of a single bona fide submission is approximately 21.5 hours, with a cost of $1,308.
Table 5: Baseline Burden for Paper Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notices
                                Labor Category
                     Hourly Burden Range For Submission[1]
                     Midpoint Hourly Burden For Submission
                      Hourly Burden for Recordkeeping[2]
                              Total Hourly Burden
                                 Wages (2013$)
                                  Total Cost
                                  Managerial
                                      4-5
                                      4.5

                                      4.5
                                    $77.82
                                     $350
                                   Technical
                                     11-12
                                     11.5
                                       1
                                     12.5
                                    $64.55
                                     $807
                                   Clerical
                                      3-4
                                      3.5
                                       1
                                      4.5
                                    $30.35
                                     $137
                                Mailing Cost[3]

                                    $14.21
                                     Total
                                    18 - 21
                                     19.5
                                       2
                                     21.5

                                    $1,308
Sources:
[1]EPA, 1994
[2]EPA, 2011
[3]USPS, 2013
Burden Reductions from the e-PMN Rule Amendment
EPA expects that bona fide submitters will experience burden savings because the time required to enter, review, and edit their notices using the e-PMN software and transmit their submissions to EPA electronically will be lower compared to the existing process of submitting a written notice to EPA. Anticipated burden reduction is likely to include:
   * Filling out a form for a chemical similar to one previously submitted will be faster with the e-PMN as the facility will already have an electronic copy of the earlier form to edit rather than having to fill out a new form.
   * Preparation and submission of attachments will be streamlined in the e-PMN, because those attachments that the submitter already has in electronic format can simply be attached, rather than the submitter sending paper copies with sequentially numbered pages. Burden will still be incurred to prepare a PDF file and submit attachments that are in paper format. Sanitized versions of attachments will still need to be prepared.
   * All relevant staff within the submitting company will be able to access the e-PMN form easily and directly input their information. The e-PMN form will also facilitate easier internal review prior to submission.
   * The number of forms that need to be resubmitted because they are declared incomplete or invalid by EPA should be greatly reduced because the e-PMN form cannot be printed or submitted via CDX if any fields are incomplete.
   * The cutting and pasting function in the e-PMN form will allow submitters to copy information within and across forms, reducing the time previously required to retype information.
   * All routine correspondence with the Agency, including submission of supporting documents, will be via CDX once the rule is fully implemented. This automation will save time and delivery costs, and will reduce delays in EPA's review of incoming notices.
In order to estimate the burden and cost savings to all submitters, EPA assumed that the burden savings associated with electronic reporting and submission via CDX are due to the reduction or elimination of clerical/administrative time, and a reduction in recordkeeping costs (EPA, 2009a). As mentioned above, although a majority of submitters already use an electronic format to prepare notices, EPA does not consider this in burden and cost savings estimates because it is not required under the current rule, nor are there OMB-approved estimates of burden from electronic preparation of a paper notice.
Form-level burden savings include those activities that are associated with each e-PMN submission once all registration, signature, and account set-up activities at the company level have been completed. Baseline form burden and cost includes form completion, recordkeeping, and postage. As a result of the modified final e-PMN rule, submitters will experience a reduction in form-level burden due to the efficiencies and reduced time associated with using e-PMN software to fill out bona fide notices and using CDX to submit these notices. EPA expects that electronic submission will remove all clerical burden associated with submitting a bona fide (3.5 hours), and all postage costs associated with mailing the notice ($14.21) (EPA, 2009a).
Although recordkeeping requirements under the current rule have not been changed, EPA assumes that the final rule will reduce recordkeeping burden by half because of the efficiencies in creating and storing bona fide notices and supporting documents electronically. For bona fide notices, baseline recordkeeping burden is estimated to be two hours. For each of these notices, one hour of recordkeeping burden will be saved (30 minutes for one technical staff member and 30 minutes for one clerical staff member).Table 6 presents the burden for one electronic bona fide submission. The burden per submission is now approximately 17 hours and $1,140.
Table 6: Burden for Electronic Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notices
                                Labor Category
                     Hourly Burden Range For Submission[1]
                     Midpoint Hourly Burden For Submission
                      Hourly Burden for Recordkeeping[1]
                              Total Hourly Burden
                                 Wages (2013$)
                                  Total Cost
                                  Managerial
                                     4 - 5
                                      4.5
                                       0
                                      4.5
                                    $77.82
                                     $350
                                   Technical
                                    11 - 12
                                     11.5
                                      .5
                                      12
                                    $64.55
                                     $775
                                   Clerical
                                      0
                                       0
                                      .5
                                      0.5
                                    $30.35
                                    $15.18
                                 Mailing Cost
                                       -
                                       -
                                       -
                                       -
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                     Total
                                    15 -17
                                      16
                                       1
                                      17
                                       -
                                    $1,140
Sources:
[1]EPA, 2009a

Industry Burden
Total Annual Cost from Rule Familiarization
EPA expects that all TSCA Section 5 submitters will need to become familiar with the new electronic reporting requirements generated by the final rule. Following the approach outlined in The Economic Analysis of the Premanufacure Notification Electronic Reporting Rule (EPA, 2009a), EPA calculated the annual number firms completing TSCA Section 5 submissions and assumes all of these firms will undergo rule familiarization in the first year of the rule. Between FY 2011 and FY 2013, an average of 336 firms submitted TSCA Section 5 notices each year, and the total industry burden for rule familiarization is calculated to be 275 hours and $18,966 for all 336 firms in the first year of the analysis.
Table 7: Industry Burden for Rule Familiarization (First Year Only)

                            Hourly Burden per Firm
                              Total Cost per Firm
                             Total Number of Firms
                              Total Hourly Burden
                                  Total Cost
                                   Baseline
                                     0.82
                                    $56.51
                                       0
                                       0
                                      $0
                                 Amended Rule
                                     0.82
                                    $56.51
                                      336
                                      275
                                    $18,966
                                 Burden Change
                           (Baseline - Amended Rule)
                                       0
                                      $0
                                      336
                                      275
                                    $18,966

Total Annual Savings from Electronic Bona Fide Submissions
Table 8 presents the burden reduction for a single bona fide submission and the total expected annual industry savings, after accounting for CDX registration costs for new TSCA section 5 submitters. Submitters are expected to save approximately 4.5 hours and $168 per bona fide submission. EPA receives approximately 116 bona fides per year, for an industry savings of 522 hours and $19,475.
Table 8: Industry Burden Reduction for Submitting Electronic Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notices

                         Hourly Burden per Submission
                Hourly Burden for Recordkeeping per Submission
                      Total Hourly Burden per Submission
                           Total Cost per Submission
                          Total Number of Submissions
                              Total Hourly Burden
                                  Total Cost
                                   Baseline
                                     19.5
                                       2
                                     21.5
                                    $1,308
                                      116
                                     2,494
                                   $151,711
                                 Amended Rule
                                      16
                                       1
                                      17
                                    $1,140
                                      116
                                     1,972
                                   $134,512
                    Burden Change (Baseline - Amended Rule)
                                     -3.5
                                      -1
                                     -4.5
                                     -$168

                                     -522
                                   -$19,475

Total Annual Cost from New CDX Registrations
In addition to the cost saving generated from electronic submission, new submitters of TSCA section 5 notices will incur costs associated with rule familiarization, CDX Registration, CDX Electronic Signature, and Pay.gov Account Setup. EPA conservatively estimates that in the first year of the rule, all 116 bona fide submitters will be new registrants. In the subsequent years of the rule, EPA estimates approximately 50 percent of all bona fide submitters will be first-time registrants with CDX as a result of the rule, resulting in 58 staff members registering with CDX. Using the percentages of technical and managerial registrants presented in Section 2.3.2, EPA estimates that 80% of the registrants will be technical staff (93 employees in the first year, 46 employees in subsequent years) and 20 % will be managerial staff (23 employees in the first year,12 employees in subsequent years). The industry will incur an additional burden of 65 hours and $4,497 in the first year and 33 hours and $2,276 in the years after the first as a result of CDX registration for bona fide submissions.
Table 9: Industry Burden for New CDX Registrations Resulting from Requiring Electronic Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notices

                      Technical Labor Burden per Employee
                       Technical Labor Cost per Employee
                     Total Number of Technical Registrants
                     Managerial Labor Burden per Employee
                      Managerial Labor Cost per Employee
                    Total Number of Managerial Registrants
                                 Total Burden
                                  Total Cost

                                      (a)
                                      (b)
                                      (c)
                                      (d)
                                      (e)
                                      (f)
                             (g)=(a)*(c)+ (d)*(f)
                             (h)=(b)*(c)+ (e)*(f)
                                  First Year
                                   Baseline
                                       0
                                    $64.55
                                       0
                                       0
                                    $77.82
                                       0
                                       0
                                    $0.00
                                 Amended Rule
                                     0.43
                                    $64.55
                                      93
                                     1.07
                                    $77.82
                                      23
                                     64.6
                                    $4,497
                    Burden Change (Baseline - Amended Rule)
                                     0.43
                                      -
                                      93
                                     1.07
                                       -
                                      23
                                     64.6
                                    $4,497
                               Subsequent Years
                                   Baseline
                                       0
                                    $64.55
                                       0
                                       0
                                    $0.00
                                       0
                                       0
                                    $0.00
                                 Amended Rule
                                     0.43
                                    $64.55
                                      46
                                     1.07
                                    $77.82
                                      12
                                     32.62
                                    $2,276
                    Burden Change (Baseline - Amended Rule)
                                     0.43
                                       -
                                      46
                                     1.07
                                       -
                                      12
                                     32.62
                                    $2,276

Total Change in Industry Burden
Overall, in the first year, industry is expected to save approximately 182 hours but expend $3,988 as a result of electronic submission, after accounting for new CDX registration costs. In the first year, costs are expected to increase as a result of the costs associated with rule familiarization for all section 5 submitters. However, in subsequent years, industry is expected to save 489 hours and $17,199 annually as a result of the final rule.
Table 10: Total Industry Burden for Electronic Submission of Bona Fide Notices and New CDX Registration

                  Industry Burden for Rule Familiarization[1]
                   Industry Cost for Rule Familiarization[1]
                 Industry Burden for Electronic Submission[2]
                  Industry Cost for Electronic Submission[2]
                    Industry Burden for CDX Registration[3]
                     Industry Cost for CDX Registration[3]
                              Total Hourly Burden
                                  Total Cost

                                      (a)
                                      (b)
                                      (c)
                                      (d)
                                      (e)
                                      (f)
                               (g)=(a)+(c)+ (e)
                               (h)=(b)+ (d)+ (f)
                                  First Years
                                   Baseline
                                       0
                                       0
                                     2,494
                                   $151,711
                                       0
                                    $0.00
                                     2,494
                                   $151,711
                                 Amended Rule
                                      275
                                    $18,302
                                     1,972
                                   $132,236
                                      65
                                    $4,497
                                     2,312
                                   $155,699
                    Burden Change (Baseline - Amended Rule)
                                      275
                                    $18,302
                                     -522
                                   -$19,475
                                      65
                                    $4,497
                                     -182
                                    $3,988
                               Subsequent Years
                                   Baseline
                                       0
                                       0
                                     2,494
                                   $151,711
                                       0
                                    $0.00
                                     2,494
                                   $151,711
                                 Amended Rule
                                       0
                                      $0
                                     1,972
                                   $132,236
                                      33
                                    $2,276
                                     2,005
                                   $134,512
                    Burden Change (Baseline - Amended Rule)
                                       0
                                      $0
                                     -522
                                   -$19,475
                                      33
                                    $2,276
                                     -489
                                   -$17,199
Sources:
[1]Table 7
[2]Table 8
[3]Table 9

Efficiencies from the Thin Client Software
EPA expects that bona fide notice submitters will experience burden savings because the time required to enter, review, and edit their notices using the e-PMN software and transmit their submissions to EPA via the Thin Client Version of the submission software will be reduced compared to the existing process of submitting a written notice to EPA. Submitters of other TSCA section 5 notices will also experience burden reductions resulting from the transition from the Thick Client Version to the Thin Client Version of the software:
   * The Thin Client Version will provide a more efficient way of accessing the e-PMN software and completing the e-PMN form, including additional built-in validation procedures, reducing the potential for invalid submissions.
   *  The Thin Client Version of the software is designed to enable more efficient data transmittal, including increasing the size of files that can be submitted to EPA.
   * The Thin Client Version eliminates the roadblocks associated with firewalls that were previously encountered by some users of the Thick Client Version and allows users to work offline using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema which allows them to later upload their information to the Thin Client Version.
   * Submitters will find that sharing files within the Thin Client Version makes the information readily accessible to registrants of the submitting company and their designated support persons.

Agency Burdens and Costs
Labor Rates for EPA Staff
Agency labor costs are calculated based on annual Federal salaries for the Washington-Baltimore area published by the Office of Personnel Management effective January 2013 (OPM, 2013). EPA assumes that, on average, a federal GS-13, Step 5 full-time equivalent (FTE) will conduct its collection and administrative activities under this final rule. The average salary for a GS-13, Step 5 employee was $100,904 in 2013, without fringe benefits and overhead costs. In order to derive the fully loaded salary, EPA multiplied the annual salary by an assumed loading factor of 1.6 to reflect federal fringe benefits and overhead (EPA, 2009b), which results in a fully loaded annual salary of $161,446 (see Table 11). Dividing the fully loaded annual salary by 2,080 hours (i.e., the number of hours in a work year) yields an hourly FTE wage rate of $77.62.
Fully loaded costs for Agency labor are shown in Table 11.
Table 11: Derivation of Loaded Agency Wage Rates
                                Labor Category
                       Data Source for Wage Information
                                     Date
                                     Wage
                                Fringe Benefit
                               Fringes as % wage
                              Overhead as % wage
                           Fringe + overhead factor
                                 Loaded Wages

                                      (a)
                                      (b)
                                  (c)=(b)/(a)
                                      (d)
                                 (e)=(c)+(d)+1
                                  (f)=(a)*(e)
                                 EPA staff FTE
Annual Federal staff cost: OPM Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-PA-VA-WV, area, GS-13 Step 5 pay rates, with 60% overheads [a].
                                   Jan 2013
                               $100,904 (annual)
                                      --
                          [Included in 60% overhead]
                                    60% [b]
                                     1.60
                               $161,446 (annual)

                                $48.51 (hourly)

                                $77.62 (hourly)
Notes:
[a] The Agency salary is the unloaded federal GS-13 Step 5 salary ($100,904 for 2013),from the OPM salary table for the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia Locality Pay Area (OPM, 2013). Hourly rates are based on annual salary divided by 2,080 hours.
[b] The 60% fringes-and-overhead rate is from an EPA guide, Instructions for Preparing Information Collection Requests (ICRs) (EPA, 2009b).

Changes in Agency Burden and Cost Associated with the Final e-PMN Rule
The conversion to an electronic reporting system, as well as the adoption of the Thin Client Version of the software to facilitate form submission and processing, is expected to create long-term burden reductions and efficiencies for EPA. For example, when data is submitted electronically, the time required for EPA staff to review and process the information will be reduced because manual data entry or processing will be eliminated. The use of CDX will enable EPA to notify the submitter that the Agency has received the submission and will lead to higher quality data being available more quickly to EPA.
EPA also expects to realize burden savings attributable to the eventual elimination of its current systems of processing bona fide notices. These savings will stem from eliminating manual data entry of bona fides and related support documents, reducing resources dedicated to quality assurance/quality control (AQ/AC) of the current paper-based system, and either greatly reducing or eliminating operating and maintenance costs for the existing system.
Baseline Agency burden associated with bona fide notices, 2 hours per notice, is taken from the most recent version of the Information Collection Request for Premanufacture Review Reporting and Exemption Requirements for New Chemical Substances and Significant New Use Reporting Requirements for Chemical Substances (EPA, 2011). The Agency extramural cost of $91.74 for contract support was taken from the Regulatory Impact Analysis of Amendments to Regulations for TSCA Section 5 Premanufacture Notifications and inflated to 2013 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Cost Index (ECI) for Private industry, Professional and Related Labor (BLS, 2014b). Potential Agency burden savings associated with the modified final e-PMN rule are characterized based on information in the CDX Business Case Analysis regarding the estimated monetary benefit from using CDX. For this analysis, EPA assumes an average annual savings of 17 percent, based on the assumptions used in EPA, 2009a, for a total post compliance burden of 1.66 hours per notice. As a result of electronic bona fide submissions the Agency expects to save approximately 39 hours and $3,100 annually.

Table 12: Agency Burden Reductions for Electronic Submissions of Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import Notices

                         Hourly Burden per Submission
                            Hourly Agency Wage Rate
                            Agency Extramural Cost
                           Total Cost per Submission
                          Total Number of Submissions
                              Total Hourly Burden
                                  Total Cost
                                   Baseline
                                     2.00
                                    $77.62
                                    $93.53
                                     $249
                                      116
                                      232
                                   $28,857
                                 Amended Rule
                                     1.66
                                    $77.62
                                    $93.53
                                     $222
                                      116
                                      193
                                   $25,795
                                 Cost Savings
                                     0.34

                                    $26.39

                                     39.44
                                    $3,061

Benefits of the Final e-PMN Modifications Rule
As mentioned in the other sections of this Economic Analysis, the final reporting system is intended to streamline and reduce the administrative costs and burden associated with TSCA section 5 reporting for both industry and EPA. EPA expects the rule to result in improved efficiencies within the New Chemicals Program and an enhanced ability to carry out broader government efforts to move to modern, electronic methods of information gathering. Under the modification to the final e-PMN rule, (1) submitters of bona fide notices will be required to submit these notices to the Agency electronically; and (2) the EPA will be moving to a new version of the e-PMN software that operates as a "cloud", or Thin Client Version of the software system rather than as a downloadable, or Thick Client, software system. CDX is a point of entry or web services node for the electronic submission of environmental data to the Agency. CDX works with EPA program offices such as the New Chemicals Program that are seeking to identify ways to better manage incoming data, and with stakeholders such as bona fide notice submitters looking for ways to reduce time and money spent to meet EPA reporting requirements. This section discusses the benefits expected to result from electronic reporting via a thin-client system and from the electronic submission of bona fides for both industry and the Agency.
Industry Benefits
Electronic Reporting of Bona Fide Notifications
As a result of the modification to the e-PMN rule, EPA expects bona fide notice submitters to experience burden savings because the time required to enter, review, edit, and transmit their submissions to EPA will be reduced. The e-PMN software includes numerous helpful features for completing and submitting bona fides. A validation mechanism will alert users when a required field on the form is either missing information or contains certain kinds of incorrect information. Further, maintaining electronic files is also expected to be less burdensome than hardcopy files. Additional benefits to companies using the bona fide notice software include:
      * Filling out a form for a chemical similar to one previously submitted will be faster with the electronic submission of bona fide notices as the facility will already have an electronic copy of the earlier form to edit rather than having to fill out a new form.
      * Preparation and submission of attachments will be streamlined because those attachments that are already in electronic format can simply be attached rather than submitting hard copies with sequentially numbered pages. Burden will still be incurred to prepare a PDF file and submit attachments that are in paper format. Sanitized versions of attachments will still need to be prepared.
      * All relevant staff within the submitting company will be able to easily access the electronic bona fide notice form and directly input their information. The electronic form will also facilitate easier internal review prior to submission.
      * The electronic bona fide notice form will allow submitters to attach chemical structure diagrams using EPA-approved software.
      * The cutting and pasting function in the electronic bona fide notice software will allow submitters to copy information within and across forms, cutting down on time previously required to retype information.
EPA expects that this automation will save industry time and postage, because routine correspondence with the Agency, including submission of supporting documents, will be via CDX. By streamlining the bona fide reporting process, the use of CDX will eliminate the need for submitters to print, photocopy, and mail paper notices. The system will provide immediate electronic confirmation that EPA received the submitter's information.
Updated e-PMN Software
The new Thin Client Version of the electronic submission software, a module within the Chemical Information Submission System (CISS), will benefit industry submitters. CISS was developed by EPA as a web-based reporting tool for use in submitting data for all sections of TSCA electronically to the Agency. CISS provides user-friendly navigation, works with CDX to secure online communication, creates a completed Portable Document Format (PDF) file for review prior to submission, and enables data, reports, and other information to be submitted easily as PDF attachments, or by other electronic standards, such as XML. The Thin Client system will eliminate certain firewall and file submission size limitations that exist with the current version of the software. The Thin Client Version provides a more efficient way of accessing the e-PMN software, completing the e-PMN form, and submitting data. It will allow submitters to work directly online or, if they choose, to work offline using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema which allows them to later upload their information to the Thin Client Version. In completing the PMN form, submitters will find that sharing files within the Thin Client Version makes the information readily accessible to registrants of the submitting company and their designated support persons. A final benefit of using the Thin Client Version is that the most updated version of the e-PMN software will be available whenever the submitter logs into CISS.
Agency Benefits
Electronic Reporting of Bona Fide Notifications
EPA expects that the conversion to an electronic reporting system will create long-term burden reduction and efficiencies for the Agency. The need to process paper forms will be eliminated and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) and O&M costs for the existing system will be reduced. The electronic bona fide notice software will also improve data quality because it will facilitate data correction and validation by highlighting fields with omitted or inconsistent data prior to submission.
Updated e-PMN Software
The new Thin Client Version of the electronic submission software, a module within the Chemical Information Submission System (CISS), will also benefit the Agency. It will reduce error associated with Agency data entry. It will ensure that all bona fide submissions contain the necessary information to process the notice. The cloud based system will also give EPA the ability to provide widespread automatic software updates to all CDX users; this will ensure that updates and bug fixes will be universal and that all users will have the same software version.

Additional Analyses
This section presents the additional analysis required under various statutes and Executive Orders.
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
Pursuant to section 605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., the Agency hereby certifies that this rule will not have a significant adverse economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, due to the burden-reducing nature of this rule, which will benefit all submitters regardless of the size of the entity.
Small entities include small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. For purposes of assessing the impacts of today's rule on small entities, small entity is defined as: (1) a small business as defined by the Small Business Administration's (SBA) regulations at 13 CFR 121.201; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government of a city, county, town, school district or special district with a population of less than 50,000; and (3) a small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.
In determining whether a rule has a significant adverse economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, an agency may certify that a rule will not have a significant adverse economic impact on a substantial number of small entities if the rule relieves regulatory burden, or otherwise has a positive economic effect on all of the small entities subject to the rule. This rule is expected to reduce existing regulatory burden.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
Based on EPA's experience with past bona fides, State, local, and tribal governments have not been affected by this reporting requirement, and EPA does not have any reason to believe that any State, local, or tribal government will be affected by this rulemaking. As such, EPA has determined that this regulatory action does not impose any enforceable duty, contain any unfunded mandate, or otherwise have any effect on small governments subject to the requirements of sections 202, 203, 204, or 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (Public Law 104-4).
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
The information collection requirements contained in this direct final rule have been submitted for approval to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. The PRA was enacted to minimize the paperwork burden for individuals; businesses; State, local and tribal governments; and other entities resulting from the collection of information by or for the federal government. 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 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
OMB has already approved the underlying information collection requirements described in this direct final rule under OMB control numbers 2070-0012 and 2070-0038 (EPA Information Collection Request (ICR) No. 0574.15, Premanufacture Review Reporting and Exemption Requirements for New Chemical Substances and Significant New Use Reporting Requirements for Chemical Substances; and, EPA ICR No. 1188.11, TSCA Section 5(a)(2) Significant New Use Rules for Existing Chemicals), respectively. EPA has submitted a request for additional approval to OMB under PRA because the direct final rule alters the required form and format of the existing, approved collections of information. This rule-related ICR addresses the incremental paperwork activities related to submitting TSCA Section 5 information to EPA electronically, by effectuating program change burden reductions related to the clerical level efficiencies resulting from electronic submission of bona fide notices. In addition, EPA is also adding an information collection to cover CDX registration activities for new TSCA section 5 submitters and EPA is moving from a Thick Client software system to a "cloud - based," or Thin Client, software system. While EPA expects that the change in the software system will reduce the burden to all submitters of TSCA section 5 notices, this burden reduction is expected to be minimal and has not been quantified for this ICR change request. The information collection requirements described in the final rule are not enforceable until OMB approves them.
The ICR document for this final rule provides a detailed presentation of the estimated burden and costs for three years of the rule-related program. Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b). In the first year of the rule, the total burden to industry is expected to decrease 182 hours and the total cost is expected to increase by $3,988, for a total burden of 2,312 hours and $155,699. This includes an average per firm burden of 0.82 hours for rule familiarization for 336 TSCA Section 5 submitters (Section 2.5.1), a per-submission burden of 17.0 hours for electronic reporting of 116 bona fide submissions (Section 2.5.2), a per-registrant burden 0.43 hours for 93 new technical labor CDX registrations, and a-per registrant burden of 1.07 hours for 23 new managerial CDX registrants (Section 2.5.3). In all subsequent years of the rule the total industry burden is expected to decrease by 485 hours and $17,199. This includes a per submission burden of 17.0 hours for electronic reporting of 116 bona fide submissions (Section 2.5.2), a per-registrant burden 0.43 hours for 46 new technical labor CDX registrations, and a per-registrant 1.07 hours for 12 new managerial CDX registrants (Section 2.5.3).
The information collected under the existing ICR will be modified by changing the form in which the submitter completes and submits the required information to EPA. As such, responses to the collection of information covered by these ICRs are still mandatory but, with the final rule, respondents will be required to use the e-PMN software to complete bona fide notices. Respondents will be required to use the Thin Client Version of the e-PMN software to generate, complete, and, ultimately, submit the form. However, use of the current Thick Client Software will be allowed until the effective date of this rule.
Executive Order 13132, Federalism
Executive Order 13132, entitled Federalism (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999), requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure "meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the development of regulatory policies that have federalism implications." Policies that have federalism implications are defined in the Executive Order to include regulations that have "substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government" (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999).
The final rule establishes reporting and recordkeeping requirements that apply to manufacturers (including importers) and processors of certain chemicals. EPA has no information to indicate that any state or local government manufactures or processes the chemical substances covered by this action.
Executive Order 12898, Environmental Justice
Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low Income Populations" (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994), establishes federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision directs federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States.
The information collected under this final rule, if finalized, will assist EPA and others in determining the potential hazards and risks associated with various chemicals manufactured and used at high production volumes. Although not directly impacting environmental justice-related concerns, this information will enable the Agency to better protect human health and the environment, including in low-income and minority communities.
Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children
Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), requires EPA to identify and assess environmental health and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children. This type of analysis is required for rules that will have an impact of $100 million or more only. The impact of this SNUR will be less than $100 million and therefore no analysis of such impacts on children is required.
Executive Order 13175, Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175 is Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments (59 FR 22951, November 6, 2000). This rule does not have Tribal implications because EPA has no information to indicate that any tribal government manufactures or processes the chemical substances covered by this action.
Executive Order 13211, Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use
This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211, entitled Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001), because this action is not expected to affect energy supply, distribution, or use.
Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011), requires EPA to base regulations on the best available science, allow for public participation and the open exchange of ideas, promote predictability and reduce uncertainty, identify and use the best, most innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends, consider both the costs and benefits qualitatively and quantitatively and ensure regulations are accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand.
The final rule establishes reporting and recordkeeping requirements that apply to manufacturers (including importers) and processors of certain chemicals. Consistent with EO 13563, this document qualitatively and quantitatively describes both the costs and benefits of the final rule as well as the underlying data used in the analyses. EPA chose the best available data to analyze the costs and benefits described in this document and the best analytic approaches given the available data and other constraints.
REFERENCES
   40 CFR Parts 700, 720, 721, 723, and 725. TSCA Section 5 Premanufacture and Significant New Use Notification Electronic Reporting; Revisions to Notification Regulations. January 6, 2010 http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/newchems/epmn/epmn-frnotice.pdf
   BLS, 2014a. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Summary, Private industry workers, Goods-producing industries, white-collar occupations, Table 11. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Washington, DC. December 2013.
      BLS, 2014b. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Cost Index  -  Total Compensation: Professional and Related Private Industry, Not Seasonally Adjusted. (Series ID: CIU2010000120000I (B)), extracted August 2014. http:/data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/srgate. (BLS 2014b)
   EPA, 1994. Regulatory Impact Analysis of Amendments to Regulations for TSCA Section 5 Premanufacture Notifications September 1994.
   EPA, 2002 a. Wage Rates for Economic Analysis of the Toxics Release Inventory Program. U.S.EPA, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Economic and Policy Analysis Branch. Washington, DC. June 10, 2002.
EPA, 2002b. Revised Economic Analysis for the Amended Inventory Update Rule: Final Report. U.S.EPA, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Economic and Policy Analysis Branch. Washington, DC. August 2002.
EPA, 2009a. The Economic Analysis of the Premanufacure Notification Electronic Reporting Rule July 29, 2009.
      EPA, 2009b. U.S. EPA, Office of Environmental Information, Collection Strategies Division, ICR Handbook EPA's Guide to Writing Information Collection Requests under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 199. Revised 10/2009.
EPA, 2011. Information Collection Request for Premanufacture Review Reporting and Exemption Requirements for New Chemical Substances and Significant New Use Reporting Requirements for Chemical Substances EPA ICR No: 0574.15	OMB Control No.: 2070-0012. November 2011.
OPM, 2013. U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table 2013-DCB (Washington  -  Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA). 2007.
      U.S. Postal Service (USPS), 2013. 2013 USPS Postage Rate Increase Guide <http://www.stamps.com/whitepapers/2013-usps-postage-rate-increase-guide.pdf>. Accessed August 2014.


[Federal Register: February 5, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 24)]
[Notices]
[Page 6723-6724]
[DOCID:fr05fe08-57]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796; FRL-8524-4]
RIN 2050-AE81

Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion
Wastes in Landfills and Surface Impoundments; Reopening of Comment
Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Data Availability; Reopening of Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reopening the
comment period for the Notice of Data Availability (NODA) entitled
``Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Wastes
in Landfills and Surface Impoundments.'' This NODA announces the
availability of new information and data concerning the management of
coal combustion wastes (CCW) in landfills and surface impoundments that
will be used by the Agency to inform its decisionmaking regarding its
Regulatory Determination for CCW disposed of in landfills and surface
impoundments. This NODA was published on August 29, 2007 (72 FR 49714),
and the comment period was scheduled to close on November 27, 2007.
However, a number of environmental groups requested additional time to
respond to the issues raised in the NODA and its accompanying
documents. Consequently, the Agency extended the comment period an
additional 60 days to January 28, 2008 (72 FR 57572). The same group of
commenters then requested a short amount of additional time to finish
gathering information that they believe is necessary to complete their
comments. Therefore, we are reopening the comment period from the date
of publication of this notice to close on February 11, 2008.

DATES: The comment period is reopened from the date of publication of
this notice to close on February 11, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
RCRA-2006-0796, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line

instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail)
to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796.
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail system is
not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an e-mail comment
directly to the docket without going through EPA's electronic public
docket, EPA's e-mail system automatically captures your e-mail address.
E-mail addresses that are automatically captured by EPA's e-mail system
are included as part of the comment that is placed in the official
public docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.
     Fax: Comments may be faxed to<PHONE_NUMBER>. Attention
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796.
     Mail: Send two copies of your comments to Notice of Data
Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Wastes in Landfills and
Surface Impoundments, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 5305T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796.
     Hand Delivery: Deliver two copies of your comments to the
Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Wastes
in Landfills and Surface Impoundments Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796. Such deliveries are only accepted
during the docket's normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays), and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-
2006-0796. EPA's policy is that all comments

received will be included in the public docket without change and may
be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any

personal information provided, unless the comment includes information
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit
information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov
Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not
know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the
body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA
without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address

will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that
is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If
you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your
name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with
any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
 We also request that interested parties who would

like information they previously submitted to EPA to be considered as
part of this action, identify the relevant information by docket entry
numbers and page numbers. For additional instructions on submitting
comments, go to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexander Livnat, Office of Solid
Waste (5306P), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460-0002,
telephone<PHONE_NUMBER>, e-mail address<EMAIL_ADDRESS>For
more information on this rulemaking, please visit http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/other/fossil/index.htm/
.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NODA that is the subject of this notice,
and which was published in the Federal Register on August 29, 2007 (72
FR 49714), announces the availability of new information and data
contained in three documents that the Agency is requesting public
comments on, concerning the management of CCW in landfills and surface
impoundments. The three documents that the Agency is requesting
comments on are: A joint U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and EPA report
entitled, Coal Combustion Waste Management at Landfills and Surface
Impoundments, 1994-2004; a draft risk assessment conducted by EPA on
the management of CCW in landfills and surface impoundments; and EPA's
damage case assessment. The Agency is soliciting comments on the extent
to which the damage case information, the results of the risk
assessment, and the new liner and ground water monitoring information
from the DOE/EPA report should affect the Agency's decisions. EPA is
also requesting direct comment on the draft risk assessment document to
help inform a planned peer review. In addition, the Agency has included
in the docket to the NODA a rulemaking petition submitted by a number
of citizens' groups, as well as two approaches regarding the management
of CCW, one prepared by the electric utility industry and the other
prepared by a number of citizens' groups. The Agency will consider all
the information provided through the NODA, the comments and new
information submitted on the NODA, as well as the results of a
subsequent peer review of the risk assessment, as it continues to
follow-up on its Regulatory Determination for CCW disposed of in
landfills and surface impoundments.
    The comment period for the NODA was scheduled to close on November
27, 2007. However, a number of environmental groups requested that EPA
extend the comment period by 75 days, noting that additional time was
needed in order to comment meaningfully on the information contained in
the NODA and to perform extensive analysis on several documents, some
of which are highly technical. The commenters also noted that, due to
the length and complexity of the draft risk assessment (Human and
Ecological Risk Assessment of Coal Combustion Wastes), it would be
necessary to engage expert review that will consequently increase the
time necessary to prepare their comments.
    EPA believed that the 90-day public comment period originally
established was reasonable. However, since the Agency will be
considering all the information provided through the comments and new
information submitted on the NODA, as well as the results of a
subsequent peer review of the risk assessment, we believed it was
important that commenters have adequate time to analyze the data
noticed in the NODA so that they may provide informed and meaningful
comments to the Agency. Therefore, we decided to extend the comment
period by 60 days, thereby extending the comment period to 150 days. We
believed an additional 60 days was adequate for commenters to analyze
the data noticed in the NODA and available in the docket to the NODA.
Because the 60-day extension would have ended on January 26, 2008,
which is a Saturday, the comment period was extended until the
following Monday, January 28, 2008.
    The same group of commenters, noted above, requested a short amount
of additional time to finish gathering information that is necessary to
complete their comments. We believe this request is reasonable given
the nature and volume of materials provided for comment; therefore, we
are reopening the comment period from the date of publication of this
notice to close on February 11, 2008.

    Dated: January 29, 2008.
Susan Parker Bodine,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. E8-2063 Filed 2-4-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 92 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29171-29172]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10234]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA-4650-DR; Docket ID FEMA-2022-0001]

Washington; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major
disaster for the State of Washington (FEMA-4650-DR), dated March 29,
2022, and related determinations.

DATES: The declaration was issued March 29, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Webster, Office of Response and
Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street SW,
Washington, DC 20472,<PHONE_NUMBER>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that, in a letter
dated March 29, 2022, the President issued a major disaster declaration
under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq. (the ``Stafford
Act''), as follows:

    I have determined that the damage in certain areas of the State
of Washington resulting from severe winter storms, straight-line
winds, flooding, landslides, and mudslides during the period of
January 1 to January 15, 2022, is of sufficient severity and
magnitude to warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C.
5121 et seq. (the ``Stafford Act''). Therefore, I declare that such
a major disaster exists in the State of Washington.
    In order to provide Federal assistance, you are hereby
authorized to allocate from funds available for these purposes such
amounts as you find necessary for Federal disaster assistance and
administrative expenses.
    You are authorized to provide Public Assistance in the
designated areas and Hazard Mitigation throughout the State.
Consistent with the requirement that Federal assistance be
supplemental, any Federal funds provided under the Stafford Act for
Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation will be limited to 75
percent of the total eligible costs.
    Further, you are authorized to make changes to this declaration
for the approved assistance to the extent allowable under the
Stafford Act.

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hereby gives notice
that pursuant to the authority vested in the Administrator, under
Executive Order 12148, as amended, Toney L. Raines, of FEMA is
appointed to act as the Federal

Coordinating Officer for this major disaster.
    The following areas of the State of Washington have been designated
as adversely affected by this major disaster:

    Cowlitz, Franklin, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Klickitat, Lewis,
Mason, Pacific, Skagit, Skamania, Thurston, and Wahkiakum Counties
and the Skokomish Indian Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, Shoalwater
Bay Indian Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation, Squaxin
Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island Reservation, Hoh Indian Tribe,
Nisqually Indian Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis
Reservation, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and the Upper Skagit
Indian Tribe for Public Assistance.
    All areas within the State of Washington are eligible for
assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

    The following Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers
(CFDA) are to be used for reporting and drawing funds: 97.030,
Community Disaster Loans; 97.031, Cora Brown Fund; 97.032, Crisis
Counseling; 97.033, Disaster Legal Services; 97.034, Disaster
Unemployment Assistance (DUA); 97.046, Fire Management Assistance
Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and
Households In Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049,
Presidentially Declared Disaster Assistance--Disaster Housing
Operations for Individuals and Households; 97.050, Presidentially
Declared Disaster Assistance to Individuals and Households--Other
Needs; 97.036, Disaster Grants--Public Assistance (Presidentially
Declared Disasters); 97.039, Hazard Mitigation Grant.

Deanne Criswell,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2022-10234 Filed 5-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-23-P