[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 60 (Friday, March 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17329-17331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06515]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0075; FRL-10007-13-OLEM]
Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System (``e-Manifest'')
Advisory Board; Revised Notice of Public Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Revised notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will convene the
Hazardous Waste Electronic System (``e-Manifest'') Advisory Board for a
three day virtual public meeting (held remotely via webcast and phone)
to seek the Board's consultation and recommendations regarding the e-
Manifest system (Meeting Theme: ``Reengineering Electronic Signatures
for Generators and Transporters to Increase Adoption of Electronic
Manifests''). This notice is a revision of the notice published in the
Federal Register (FR) of February 20, 2020, announcing the e-Manifest
public meeting. Due to potential impacts from the Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19), EPA is converting this public e-Manifest Advisory
Board meeting from an in-person meeting to a fully virtual meeting and
is thus updating information accordingly.
DATES: The e-Manifest Advisory Board meeting announced on February 20,
2020 (85 FR 9763) has been converted to a three-day virtual public
meeting which will be held on April 14-16, 2020, from approximately
10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (EDT) each day.
ADDRESSES: This public meeting will be conducted entirely via internet
webcasting and telephone. Please refer to the e-Manifest website at
www.epa.gov/e-manifest for information on how to access the live
webcasting of this public meeting.
Special accommodations. For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation of a
disability, please contact the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least ten (10) days prior to
the meeting to give the EPA as much time as possible to process your
request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public who wishes
further information should contact the e-Manifest Advisory Board DFO,
Fred Jenkins, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Resource
Conservation and Recovery, (MC: 5303P), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460, Phone: 703-308-7049; or by email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Meeting access: This meeting will be open to the public. The full
agenda and meeting materials will be available in the docket for the
meeting and at the e-Manifest website at www.epa.gov/e-manifest. This
public meeting will be conducted entirely virtually via the internet
and by telephone. Please refer to the e-Manifest website at
www.epa.gov/e-manifest for information on how to access the live
webcasting of this public meeting. For questions on document
availability, or if you do not have access to the internet, consult
with the DFO, Fred Jenkins, listed above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. In the event the Agency needs to make subsequent changes to
this meeting, the Agency will post future notices to its e-Manifest
website (www.epa.gov/e-manifest). The Agency strongly encourages the
public to refer to the e-Manifest website for the latest meeting
information, as sudden changes may be necessary.
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
This action is directed to the public in general. This action may
be of particular interest to persons who are or may be subject to the
Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment (e-Manifest) Act.
B. How may I participate in this meeting?
You may participate in this meeting by following the instructions
in this document. To ensure proper receipt of your public comments by
the EPA, it is imperative that you identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OLEM-2020-0075.
1. Oral comments. To pre-register to make oral comments, please
contact the DFO, Fred Jenkins, listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. Requests to present oral comments during the
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meeting will be accepted up until Tuesday April 7, 2020. To the extent
that time permits, interested persons who have not pre-registered may
be permitted by the e-Manifest Advisory Board Chair to present oral
comments during the virtual meeting at the designated time on the
agenda. Oral comments before the e-Manifest Advisory Board are limited
to approximately five (5) minutes per individual and/or organization
unless prior arrangements have been made.
2. Written comments. The Agency encourages written comments for the
virtual webcast meeting be submitted via regulations.gov under docket
number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0075 on or before April 7, 2020, to provide the
e-Manifest Advisory Board the time necessary to consider and review the
written comments. The e-Manifest Advisory Board may not be able to
fully consider written comments submitted after April 7, 2020. Written
comments are accepted until the date of the meeting, but anyone
submitting written comments after April 7, 2020, should contact the DFO
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through
regulations.gov or email. If your comments contain any information that
you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected, please contact the DFO
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to obtain special
instructions before submitting your comments.
2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting
your comments, see Tips for Effective Comments at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.
C. Purpose of the e-Manifest Advisory Board
The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board is
established in accordance with the provisions of the Hazardous Waste
Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, 42 U.S.C. 6939g, and the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App.2. The e-Manifest Advisory
Board is in the public interest and supports the EPA in performing its
duties and responsibilities.
The e-Manifest Advisory Board will provide recommendations on
matters related to the operational activities, functions, policies, and
regulations of the EPA under the e-Manifest Act, including: The
effectiveness of the e-Manifest IT system and associated user fees and
processes; matters and policies related to the e-Manifest program;
regulations and guidance as required by the e-Manifest Act; actions to
encourage the use of the electronic (paperless) system; changes to the
user fees as described in e-Manifest Act Section 2 (c)(3)(B)(i); and
issues in the e-Manifest area, including those identified in the EPA' s
E-Enterprise strategy that intersect with the e-Manifest system, such
as: Business-to-business communications; performance standards for
mobile devices; and the EPA's Cross Media Electronic Reporting Rule
(CROMERR) requirements.
The sole duty of the Advisory Board is to provide advice and
recommendations to the EPA Administrator. As required by the e-Manifest
Act, the e-Manifest Advisory Board is composed of nine (9) members. One
(1) member is the EPA Administrator (or a designee), who serves as
Chairperson of the Advisory Board. The rest of the committee is
composed of:
At least two (2) members who have expertise in information
technology;
At least three (3) members who have experience in using or
represent users of the manifest system to track the transportation of
hazardous waste under the e-Manifest Act;
At least three (3) members who are state representatives
responsible for processing manifests.
All members of the e-Manifest Advisory Board, except for the EPA
Administrator, are appointed as Special Government Employees or
representatives.
D. Public Meeting
EPA launched the e-Manifest system on June 30, 2018. e-Manifest
enables those persons required to use a Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act manifest under either federal or state law to have the
option of using electronic manifests to track shipments of hazardous
waste and to meet certain RCRA requirements. By enabling the transition
from a paper-intensive process to an electronic system, the EPA
estimates e-Manifest will ultimately save state and industry users more
than $50 million annually, once electronic manifests are widely
adopted.
EPA will convene its next public meeting of the e-Manifest System
Advisory Board from April 14-16, 2020. The purpose of this meeting is
for the Board to advise the Agency on its proposed additional methods
for increasing the use of electronic manifests, which include
reengineering electronic signatures for generators and transporters to
reduce the administrative burdens and barriers to electronic
manifesting.
Since the launch of e-Manifest, the Agency has learned through
experience that it can likely increase adoption of electronic manifests
by providing generators and transporters more flexibility in their
methods for performing electronic signatures. This is supported by the
final recommendations of the e-Manifest Advisory Board, following its
June 2019 Advisory Board meeting, which was focused on increasing
adoption of the e-Manifest system. In its final recommendations,
delivered to the Agency on September 23, 2019, the Advisory Board
identified numerous challenges with generator and transporter adoption
of electronic manifests. In particular, the Advisory Board asked the
Agency to reevaluate its signature requirements and stated that the
Agency should consider the costs and benefits, given the diversity of
roles/types of users.
The Agency is thus considering additional methods available for
generator and transporter electronic signatures and will consult the
Advisory Board on these methods during the April 2020 Advisory Board
meeting. Specifically, EPA will present three methods for generator/
transporter electronic signature, which could potentially all be
available for generators and transporters to use.
A first method for generators and transporters is to require at
least one person (per respective generator and transporter) to become
registered in EPA's RCRAInfo system as a ``Site Manager.'' (Note: The
Agency is not intending at this time to make any changes to the current
registration process for Site Managers as this role allows users to
manage permissions within their organization with respect to other
modules in EPA's RCRAInfo system, in addition to e-Manifest.) Under
this method, the Site Manager would identify/confirm/update the
specific personnel (e.g., employee on the loading dock, driver) on the
electronic manifest who will have firsthand knowledge of the manifest
shipment, and who will be responsible for electronically signing the
generator certification or transporter acknowledgment of receipt by
identifying/confirming/updating the name and either a phone number or
email address associated with that name. The system would then send a
link to that phone number/email of the individual employee, who could
then simply click a link to electronically sign the electronic
manifest.
A second method for generators and transporters is to require at
least one
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person to become registered in EPA's RCRAInfo system as a ``Site
Manager'' for their respective sites, and have all other personnel
become registered in the same way as ``Preparers'' are registered.
These personnel would receive a username and password using the current
registration process and would then request access to their site(s), as
appropriate, but would not need to undergo further identity proofing.
Generator and transporter personnel that are registered could then log
in with their username/password and could create and edit electronic
manifests for their sites. Electronic signatures under this method for
generators and transporters would consist of, after logging in to their
account, clicking a button to electronically sign.
A third method is for generators and transporters to use digitized
signature pads that have been approved by the Agency under its CROMERR
program. This method would require generators and transporters to
possess units that allow them to capture a physical signature
electronically, for example, using a stylus.
The Agency intends to provide more detail regarding these methods
in its meeting materials, which will be published in the docket for the
meeting.
E. e-Manifest Advisory Board Documents and Meeting Minutes
The meeting background paper, related supporting materials, charge/
questions to the Advisory Board, the Advisory Board membership roster
(i.e., members attending this meeting), and the meeting agenda are
available in the docket for this meeting. In addition, the Agency may
provide additional background documents as the materials become
available. You may obtain electronic copies of these documents, and
certain other related documents that might be available at https://www.regulations.gov/ and the e-Manifest Advisory Board website at:
https://www.epa.gov/e-manifest/hazardous-waste-electronic-manifest-system-e-manifest-advisory-board.
The e-Manifest Advisory Board will prepare meeting minutes
summarizing its recommendations to the Agency approximately ninety (90)
days after the meeting. The meeting minutes will be posted on the e-
Manifest Advisory Board website or may be obtained from the docket at
http://www.regulations.gov/.
Dated: March 23, 2020.
Donna Salyer,
Acting Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Office
of Land and Emergency Management.
[FR Doc. 2020-06515 Filed 3-26-20; 8:45 am]
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