The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is establishing new requirements that will authorize the use of electronic manifests (or e-Manifests) as a means to track off-site shipments of hazardous waste from a generator's site to the site of the receipt and disposition of the hazardous waste. This final rule also implements certain provisions of the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, Public Law 112-195, which directs EPA to establish a national electronic manifest system (or e-Manifest system), and to impose reasonable user service fees as a means to fund the development and operation of the e-Manifest system. The requirements announced here clarify explicitly that electronic manifest documents obtained from the Agency's national e-Manifest system and completed in accordance with today's regulation, are the legal equivalent of the paper manifest forms (EPA Forms 8700-22 and 8700-22A) that are currently authorized for use in tracking hazardous waste shipments. Upon completion of the e-Manifest system, the electronic manifest documents authorized by this final regulation will be available to manifest users as an alternative to the paper manifest forms, to comply with federal and state requirements respecting the use of the hazardous waste manifest. Users who elect to opt out of the electronic submittal to the e-Manifest system may continue to use the paper manifest to track their shipments during transportation, which then will be submitted by the designated facility for inclusion in the e-Manifest system. EPA recognizes that there will be a period of transition to electronic submittals and the Agency will, as we implement e-Manifest, assess what measures might be effective to expedite the transition from paper manifests to electronic manifests. This final regulation further clarifies those electronic signature methods that the Agency recommends for executing electronic manifests in the first generation of the national e-Manifest syste