EPA Mandates Electronic Reporting Under TSCA
Wednesday 04 December 2013 at 8:26 pm.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending certain reporting requirements that were promulgated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to require the use electronic reporting. EPA is requiring the use of electronic reporting in order to minimize the paperwork burden associated with the underlying regulatory requirements and to minimize the cost to the Federal Government of the creation, collection, maintenance, use, dissemination, and disposition of information. This action will also improve the quality and use of information to strengthen decisionmaking, accountability, and openness in government and society, as well as provide for the timely dissemination of public information and in a manner that promotes the utility of the information to the public and makes effective use of information technology. This final rule is effective March 4, 2014.
EPA is promulgating amendments to reporting requirements under TSCA section 4 (including test rules and Enforceable Consent Agreements (ECAs)), TSCA section 5, TSCA section 8(a) Preliminary Analysis Information Rule (PAIR) at 40 CFR part 712, and TSCA section 8(d) Health and Safety Data Reporting Rules at 40 CFR part 716. EPA developed this action in accordance with its final plan for periodic retrospective reviews of existing regulations under Executive Order 13563, entitled "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review." This final rule was proposed in the Federal Register issue of April 17, 2012 (Ref. 1). The purpose of the amendments is to manage and leverage EPA's information resources to reduce information collection burdens on the public; increase EPA program efficiency and effectiveness; and improve the integrity, quality, and utility of information to all users within and outside the Agency, including capabilities for ensuring dissemination of public information, public access to Federal Government information, and protections for privacy and security.
This final rule is part of broader government efforts to move to modern, electronic methods of information gathering. EPA's Chemical Information Submission System (CISS) Web-based reporting tool and e-PMN software enable more efficient data transmittal via the Central Data Exchange (CDX) and reduces errors with the built-in validation procedures. EPA believes the adoption of electronic reporting reduces the reporting burden for submitters by reducing the cost and time required to review, edit, and transmit data to the Agency. The resource and time requirements to review and process data by the Agency will also be reduced and document storage and retrieval will require fewer resources. In addition, the final rule ensures the legal dependability of electronically submitted documents so that they meet the needs of the compliance and enforcement programs. The legal dependability of electronically submitted documents is ensured by valid electronic signatures that can be submitted into evidence, assurance that electronic documents can be authenticated to provide evidence of what an individual submitted and/or attested to, and assurance that electronic signatures resist repudiation by the signatory.
The Agency is extending the TSCA section 5 electronic reporting requirements to Notice of Commencements (NOCs) and support documents (e.g., correspondence, amendments, and test data) relating to TSCA section 5 notices submitted to EPA prior to April 6, 2010, the effective date of the TSCA Section 5 Premanufacture and Significant New Use Notification Electronic Reporting; Revisions to Notification Regulations (Ref. 2). Previously, follow-up submissions for TSCA section 5 notices submitted before this date were not subject to electronic reporting requirements.
Effective March 4, 2014, EPA will only accept data, reports, and other information subject to these rules when submitted through CDX and the CISS tool for the submission of forms, reports, and other documents. TSCA section 5 submissions, however, must be submitted through CDX using e-PMN software downloaded from EPA's CDX Web site. Data, reports, and other information not submitted in the manner required will not be considered by EPA to have met the filing requirements of those rules. The CISS tool is also available for use in making voluntary submissions, such as those under Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), electronically, following the same procedures described in this final rule. Submitters should register through CDX and submit data, reports, and other documents through the CISS tool.
This final rule requires submitters to register with EPA's CDX, request access to CSPP, and use the CISS tool to prepare a file for submission.
EPA is requiring that NOCs and support documents relating to legacy TSCA section 5 notices be submitted to EPA using the same process as described in 40 CFR 720.40(a)(2), see Unit II.A.3. All NOCs and support documents are required to be generated using e-PMN software and be completed through the finalization step of the software. See the e-PMN final rule (Ref. 2) for more detailed information on the process for submitting NOCs and support documents.