[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44074-44075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15742]
[[Page 44074]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978; FRL-10012-47-OECA]
Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Subcontractor to Information Claimed as Confidential Business
Information (CBI) Submitted Under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title I,
Programs and Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for Moving
Sources, and Act To Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's)
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) plans to
authorize a subcontractor to access information that will be submitted
to EPA under the Clean Air Act (CAA) Titles I and II and the Act to
Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) that may be claimed as, or may be
determined to be, confidential business information (CBI).
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 27, 2020. The
subcontractor's access to information collected under the CAA Titles I
and II, and the APPS, will begin on July 27, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA HQ-
OECA-2012-0978, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OECA-2012-0978 in the subject line of the message.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information
provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Kimes, Air Enforcement
Division, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (Mail Code
8MSU), Environmental Protection Agency, 1595 Wynkoop St., Denver, CO
80202; telephone number: (303) 312-6445; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Does this document apply to me?
This action is directed to the general public. However, this action
may be of particular interest to certain parties, including: Motor
vehicle manufacturers and importers; engine manufacturers and
importers; motor vehicle fuel and fuel additive producers and
importers; manufacturers, importers and distributors of motor vehicle
and engine emission control equipment and parts; and any other parties
subject to the regulations found in 40 CFR parts 79, 80, 85, 86, 89-92,
94, 1033, 1036, 1037, 1039, 1042, 1043, 1045, 1048, 1051, 1054, 1060,
1065, and 1068.
This Federal Register document may be of particular relevance to
parties that have submitted data to EPA under the above-listed
regulations. Because other parties may also be interested, EPA has not
attempted to describe all the specific parties that may be affected by
this action. If you have further questions regarding the applicability
of this action to a particular party, please contact the person listed
in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
II. How can I get copies of this document and other related
information?
A. Electronically
EPA has established a public docket for this Federal Register
document under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2012-0978.
All documents in the docket are identified in the docket index
available at http://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index,
some information is not publicly available, such as CBI or other
information for which disclosure is restricted by statute.
B. EPA Docket Center
The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Reading
Room for public visitors, with limited exceptions, to reduce the risk
of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff will continue to
provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. For
further information and updates on EPA Docket Center services, please
visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
III. Description of Programs and Potential Disclosure of Information
Claimed as CBI to Contractors and Subcontractors
EPA's OECA has responsibility for protecting public health and the
environment by enforcing standards for air pollution. In order to
implement various Clean Air Act and APPS programs, OECA collects
compliance reports and other information from the regulated industry.
Occasionally, the information submitted to, or obtained by, EPA, is
claimed to be CBI by persons submitting data to EPA. Information
submitted under such a claim is handled in accordance with EPA's
regulations at 40 CFR part 2, subpart B, and in accordance with EPA
procedures that are consistent with those regulations. When EPA has
determined that disclosure of information claimed as CBI to EPA
contractors or subcontractors is necessary, the corresponding contract
must address the appropriate use and handling of the information by the
EPA contractor and subcontractor and the EPA contractor and
subcontractor must require its personnel who require access to
information claimed as CBI to sign written non-disclosure agreements
before they are granted access to data.
On May 29, 2019 and January 15, 2020, EPA provided notice in the
Federal Register of, and an opportunity to comment on, EPA's
determination that subcontractors to EPA contractor Eastern Research
Group, Incorporated, (ERG) 14555 Avion Parkway, Suite 200, Chantilly,
VA, 20151, required access to CBI submitted to EPA under section 114 of
the CAA, section 208 of the CAA, and the APPS for the work ERG
subcontractors would be conducting under Contract Number 68HERH19C0004.
See Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Subcontractors to Information Claimed as Confidential Business
Information (CBI) Submitted under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title I,
Programs and Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for Moving
Sources, and Act To Prevent Pollution From Ships (APPS), May 29, 2019
(84 FR 24781); Access by United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Subcontractor to Information Claimed as Confidential Business
Information (CBI) Submitted Under Clean Air Act (CAA), Title I,
Programs And Activities Air, and Title II Emission Standards for Moving
Sources, and Act To Prevent Pollution From Ships (APPS), January 15,
2020 (85 FR 2422). In accordance with 40 CFR 2.301(h), EPA has now
determined that the subcontractor HSG, LLC (DBA Herndon Solutions
Group) also requires access to CBI submitted to EPA under section 114
of the CAA, section 208 of the CAA, and the APPS, and we are providing
notice and an opportunity to comment on HSG, LLC's access to
information claimed as CBI. We are issuing this Federal Register
document to inform all affected submitters of information that we plan
to grant access
[[Page 44075]]
to material that may be claimed as CBI to the subcontractor HSG, LLC on
a need-to-know basis.
Under Contract Number 68HERH19C0004, ERG provides enforcement
support for EPA's regulatory and enforcement activities, including
field inspections, investigations, audits, and other CAA regulatory and
enforcement support that involve access to information claimed as CBI.
ERG also employs subcontractors, who support these activities, under
the above-listed contract. The subcontractor HSG, LLC requires access
to information claimed as CBI to support EPA enforcement activities
described above. Access to data, including information claimed as CBI,
will commence six days after the date of publication of this document
in the Federal Register, and will continue until March 1, 2024. If the
contract and associated subcontracts are extended, this access will
continue for the remainder of the ERG contract without further notice.
If the contract expires prior to March 1, 2024, the access will cease
at that time. If ERG employs additional subcontractors to support EPA
on a regular basis or on a limited or one-time basis under the above-
listed contract, and those subcontractors require access to CBI, EPA
will notify affected companies of the contemplated disclosure and
provide them with an opportunity to comment by either sending them a
letter or by publishing an additional document in the Federal Register.
Parties who wish to obtain further information about this Federal
Register document, or about OECA's disclosure of information claimed as
CBI to subcontractors, may contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Dated: July 15, 2020.
Evan Belser,
Acting Director, Air Enforcement Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-15742 Filed 7-20-20; 8:45 am]
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