[Federal Register: August 4, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 149)]
[Notices]
[Page 45813-45815]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04au03-34]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[SFUND-2003-0004; FRL-7538-9]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR
No. 2104.01 to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 45814]]
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this document announces that the following Information
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Brownfields Program--
Revitalization Grantee Reporting. The ICR, which is abstracted below,
describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated
burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 3,
2003.
ADDRESSES: Follow the detailed instructions in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Maas, Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (OSWER), Office of Brownfields Cleanup and
Redevelopment (OBCR) 5105T, U.S. EPA Headquarters, Ariel Rios Building,
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number:
(202) 566-2778; fax number: (202) 566-2757; e-mail address:
maas.james@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR
1320.12. On April 4, 2003, (68 FR 16508) EPA sought comments on this
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received two comments in response
to this notice. One comment addressed reporting provisions under the
Agency's general assistance regulations at 40 CFR parts 30 and 31, and
does not pertain to the reporting requirements under this ICR. The
other comment stated that grantee burden would be reduced through
electronic reporting. EPA agrees with the commenter and, as addressed
in the supporting statement to the ICR, is planning to provide grantees
the option of providing reports electronically. In addition, EPA has
determined that information that was to be collected using the
Brownfields Budget Profile Form will be collected on an existing, OMB-
approved grants form; therefore, the Brownfields form and its
associated burden have been eliminated from this ICR.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. SFUND-2003-0004, which is available for public viewing at the
Superfund Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket
Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
Superfund Docket is (202) 566-0276. An electronic version of the public
docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments,
access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to
access those documents in the public docket that are available
electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the
docket ID number identified above.
Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice, and according to the following detailed
instructions: (1) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our
preferred method), by e-mail to superfund.docket@epa.gov, or by mail
to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund
Docket, Mail Code: 5202T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20460, and (2) Mail your comments to OMB at: Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention:
Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing
in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment
contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public
disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment
containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that
material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The
entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be
available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the
official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is
otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public
docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For
further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal
Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May
31, 2002), or go to www.epa.gov/edocket.
Title: Brownfields Program--Revitalization Grantee Reporting, (EPA
ICR Number 2104.01). This is a request for a new information
collection. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct
or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is
pending at OMB.
Abstract: The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act (Pub. L. 107-118) (``the Brownfields Amendments'')
was signed into law on January 11, 2002. The Act amends the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA), as amended, and authorizes EPA to award grants to states,
tribes, local governments, and other eligible entities to assess and
clean up brownfields sites. Under the Brownfields Amendments, a
brownfields site means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or
reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence
of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. For grant funding
purposes, EPA uses the term ``brownfields property(ies)'' synonymously
with the term ``brownfields sites.'' The Brownfields Amendments
authorize EPA to award several types of grants to eligible entities on
a competitive basis. Under subtitle A of the Small Business Liability
Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, states, tribes, local
governments, and other eligible entities can receive assessment grants
to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community
involvement related to brownfields properties; cleanup grants to carry
out cleanup activities at brownfields properties; grants to capitalize
revolving loan funds and provide subgrants for cleanup activities; and
job training grants to support the creation and implementation of
environmental job training and placement programs.
Grant recipients have general reporting and record keeping
requirements as a condition of their grant that result in burden. A
portion of this reporting and record keeping burden is authorized under
40 CFR parts 30 and 31 and identified in the EPA's general grants ICR
(OMB Control Number 2030-0020). EPA requires Brownfields program grant
recipients to maintain and report additional information to EPA on the
uses and accomplishments associated with the funded brownfields
activities. EPA has prepared several forms to assist grantees in
reporting the information and to ensure consistency of the information
collected. EPA will use this information to meet Federal stewardship
responsibilities to manage and track how program funds are being spent,
to evaluate the performance of the Brownfields Cleanup and
Redevelopment Program, to meet the Agency's reporting requirements
under the Government Performance Results
[[Page 45815]]
Act, and to report to Congress and other program stakeholders on the
status and accomplishments of the grants program. This ICR addresses
the burden imposed on grant recipients that are associated with those
reporting and recordkeeping requirements that are specific to grants
awarded under Subtitle A of the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. This ICR does not address the burden
imposed on grant recipients who are awarded grants under Subtitle C of
the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's
regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15, and are
identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5
hours per response for job training grant recipients, and 1.25 hours
per response for assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund grant
recipients. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or
provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time
needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize
technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and
disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to
comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements;
train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information;
search data sources; complete and review the collection of information;
and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities potentially affected by
this action are states, tribes, local governments, and certain non-
governmental organizations that apply for and receive grants from EPA
to support the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields properties.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 203.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 7,320.
Estimated Total Annual Capital and Operations and Maintenance Cost:
$0.
Changes in the Estimates: This is a new ICR and the estimated
burden represents an increase to the total estimated burden currently
identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens.
Dated: July 24, 2003.
Doreen Sterling,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-19743 Filed 8-1-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P