Additional RCRA Burden Reduction Initiative

摘要

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) required that the federal government reduce the reporting and recordkeeping burden created by federal regulations by 40% (based on a September 30, 1995 baseline). To comply with the PRA, EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) must decrease the annual paperwork burden associated with its RCRA regulations by 5 million hours/year. As part of its compliance with the PRA, EPA has requested additional comment on ideas proposed to reduce the RCRA recordkeeping and reporting burden imposed on the regulated community, states, and the public (68 FR 61662; October 29, 2003). The burden reduction ideas in the October 29, 2003 notice were suggested by commenters on the proposed rulemak-ing (67 FR 2518; January 17, 2002). EPA requested comments prior to issuing a final burden reduction rule. The agency only accepted comments on the October 29, 2003 ideas, and did not reopen for comment any of the other ideas discussed in the proposed rule. Comments were to be submitted to EPA on or before December 15, 2003. According to OSW, the time burden associated with RCRA regulations has already been reduced by almost 5 million hours. In conjunction with reductions that have already occurred, and reductions that are planned, the OSW expects to reduce its RCRA reporting and recordkeeping burden by 47% from 1995 levels.