[Federal Register: May 14, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 94)]
[Notices]
[Page 26814-26817]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14my04-31]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OECA-2004-0026, ER-FRL-6651-3]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental
Activities in Antarctica (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1808.04, OMB Control
Number 2020-0007
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a
continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31,
2004. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is
soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information
collection as described below.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 13, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OECA-
2004-0026, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-
mail to docket.oeca@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center,
Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance Docket and
Information Center, Mail Code: 2201T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Biggs, Office of Federal
Activities, Mail Code 2252A, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202)
564-7144; fax number: (202) 564-0072;
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e-mail address: biggs.katherine@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this
ICR under Docket ID number OECA-2004-0026, which is available for
public viewing at the Enforcement and Compliance Docket and Information
Center 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 Enforcement
and Compliance Docket and Information Center is (202) 564-1927. An
electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA
Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to obtain
a copy of the draft collection of information, 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 within
60 days of this notice. 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 http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are
all nongovernmental operators with activities in Antarctica, including
tour operators, for which the United States is required to give advance
notice under paragraph 5 of Article VII of the Antarctic Treaty of
1959; this includes all nongovernmental expeditions to and within
Antarctica organized in or proceeding from the territory of the United
States.
Title: Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental
Activities in Antarctica (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1808.04, OMB Control
Number 2020-0007.
Abstract: The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulations
at 40 CFR Part 8, Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental
Activities in Antarctica (Final Rule), were promulgated pursuant to the
Antarctic Science, Tourism, and Conservation Act of 1996 (Act), 16
U.S.C. 2401 et seq., as amended, 16 U.S.C. 2403a, which implements the
Protocol on Environmental Protection (Protocol) to the Antarctic Treaty
of 1959 (Treaty). The Final Rule provides for assessment of the
environmental impacts of nongovernmental activities in Antarctica,
including tourism, for which the United States is required to give
advance notice under Paragraph 5 of Article VII of the Treaty, and for
coordination of the review of information regarding environmental
impact assessments received from other Parties under the Protocol. The
requirements of the Final Rule apply to operators of nongovernmental
expeditions organized in or proceeding from the territory of the United
States to Antarctica and include commercial and non-commercial
expeditions. Expeditions may include ship-based tours; yacht, skiing or
mountaineering expeditions; privately funded research expeditions; and
other nongovernmental activities. The Final Rule does not apply to
individual U.S. citizens or groups of citizens planning to travel to
Antarctica on an expedition for which they are not acting as an
operator. (Operators, for example, typically acquire use of vessels or
aircraft, hire expedition staff, plan itineraries, and undertake other
organizational responsibilities.) The Final Rule provides
nongovernmental operators with the specific requirements they need to
meet in order to comply with the requirements of Article 8 and Annex I
to the Protocol. The provisions of the Final Rule are intended to
ensure that potential environmental effects of nongovernmental
activities undertaken in Antarctica are appropriately identified and
considered by the operator during the planning process and that to the
extent practicable, appropriate environmental safeguards which would
mitigate or prevent adverse impacts on the Antarctic environment are
identified by the operator.
Environmental Documentation. Persons subject to the Final Rule must
prepare environmental documentation to support the operator's
determination regarding the level of environmental impact of the
proposed expedition. Environmental documentation includes a Preliminary
Environmental Review Memorandum (PERM), an Initial Environmental
Evaluation (IEE), or a Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE).
The environmental document is submitted to the Office of Federal
Activities (OFA). If the operator determines that an expedition may
have: (1) Less than a minor or transitory impact, a PERM needs to be
submitted no later than 180 days before the proposed departure to
Antarctica; (2) no more than minor or transitory impacts, an IEE needs
to be submitted no later than 90 days before the proposed departure; or
(3) more than minor or transitory impacts, a CEE needs to be submitted.
Operators who anticipate such activities are encouraged to consult with
EPA as soon as possible regarding the date for submittal of the CEE.
(Article 3(4), of Annex I of the Protocol requires that draft CEEs be
distributed to all Parties and the Committee for Environmental
Protection 120 days in advance of the next Antarctic Treaty
Consultative Meeting (ATCM) at which the CEE may be addressed.)
The Protocol and the Final Rule also require an operator to employ
procedures to assess and provide a regular and verifiable record of the
actual impacts of an activity which proceeds on the basis of an IEE or
CEE. The record developed through these measures needs to be designed
to: (a) Enable assessments to be made of the extent to which
environmental impacts of nongovernmental expeditions are consistent
with the Protocol; and (b) provide information useful for minimizing
and mitigating those impacts and, where appropriate, on the need for
suspension, cancellation, or modification of the activity. Moreover, an
operator needs to monitor key environmental indicators for an activity
proceeding on the basis of a CEE. An operator may also need to carry
out monitoring in order to assess and verify the impact of an activity
for which an IEE would be prepared. For activities that require an IEE,
an operator should be able to use procedures currently being
voluntarily utilized by operators to provide the required information.
Should an activity require a CEE, the operator should consult with EPA
to: (a) Identify the monitoring regime appropriate to that activity,
and (b)
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determine whether and how the operator might utilize relevant
monitoring data collected by the U.S. Antarctic Program. OFA would
consult with the National Science Foundation and other interested
Federal agencies regarding the monitoring regime.
In cases of emergency relating to the safety of human life or of
ships, aircraft, equipment and facilities of high value, or the
protection of the environment which would require an activity to be
undertaken without completion of the documentation procedures set out
in the Final Rule, the operator would need to notify the Department of
State within 15 days of any activities which would have otherwise
required preparation of a CEE, and provide a full explanation of the
activities carried out within 45 days of those activities. (During the
time the Interim Final and Final Rules have been in effect, there were
no emergencies requiring notification by U.S. operators. An Interim
Final Rule was in effect from April 30, 1997, until replaced on
December 6, 2001, by the Final Rule.)
Environmental documents (e.g., PERM, IEE, CEE) are submitted to
OFA. Environmental documents are reviewed by OFA, in consultation with
the National Science Foundation and other interested Federal agencies,
and also made available to other Parties and the public as required
under the Protocol or otherwise requested. OFA notifies the public of
document availability via the World Wide Web at: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/international/antarctica/index.html.
The types of
nongovernmental activities currently being carried out (e.g., ship-
based tours, land-based tours, flights, and privately funded research
expeditions) are typically unlikely to have impacts that are more than
minor or transitory, thus an IEE is the typical level of environmental
documentation submitted. For the 1997-1998 through 2003-2004 austral
summer seasons during the time the Interim Final Rule and Final Rule
have been in effect, all respondents submitted IEEs with the exception
of one PERM. Paperwork reduction provisions in the Final Rule that are
used by the operators include: (a) Incorporation of material into the
environmental document by referring to it in the IEE; (b) inclusion of
all proposed expeditions by one operator within one IEE; (c) use of one
IEE to address expeditions being carried out by more than one operator;
and (d) use of multi-year environmental documentation to address
proposed expeditions for a period of up to five consecutive austral
summer seasons.
Coordination of Review of Information Received from Other Parties
to the Treaty. The Final Rule also provides for the coordination of
review of information received from other Parties and the public
availability of that information including: (1) A description of
national procedures for considering the environmental impacts of
proposed activities; (2) an annual list of any IEEs and any decisions
taken in consequence thereof; (3) significant information obtained and
any action taken in consequence thereof with regard to monitoring from
IEEs and CEEs; and (4) information in a final CEE. This provision
fulfills the United States' obligation to meet the requirements of
Article 6 of Annex I to the Protocol. The Department of State is
responsible for coordination of these reviews of drafts with interested
Federal agencies, and for public availability of documents and
information. This portion of the Final Rule does not impose paperwork
requirements on any nongovernmental person subject to U.S. regulation.
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 in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
The EPA would like to solicit comments to:
(i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden
of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and
(iv) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Burden Statement: The Supporting Statement for this ICR renewal,
available at the public docket for this ICR under Docket ID number
OECA-2004-0026, describes the models used for calculating the estimated
respondent burden and cost for the various levels of environmental
impact assessment documentation that may be submitted by the
respondents under the Final Rule, including assessment and verification
procedures and operation and maintenance (O&M). The Supporting
Statement also describes the model used for the estimated respondent
burden and cost for emergency reporting.
Based on the environmental documentation submitted by operators for
the past seven austral summer seasons and EPA's expectation of the
types of nongovernmental activities likely to continue to be undertaken
by U.S.-based operators, EPA anticipates that during the three-year
period this information collection will be in effect, 17 operators with
multi-year IEEs will submit supplemental information as annual updates.
EPA further anticipates that two operators may submit revised IEEs, and
three additional IEEs may be submitted for one-time only expeditions
during each of the three years. EPA does not anticipate receiving any
PERMs, CEEs, or emergency reporting. EPA expects the paperwork
reduction measures in the Final Rule will continue to be used by the
operators, and that the annual assessment and verification procedures
associated with IEEs will continue. The burden and cost estimates
include assessment and verification procedures and O&M. Based on these
assumptions, the estimated 3-year total and annual average respondent
burden is estimated as 1,275 hours, or 25 hours per operator per year.
The estimated average time annually per respondent ranges from 25 to
185 hours depending on the level of environmental documentation and the
paperwork reduction provisions employed by the respondent. The
estimated 3-year total and annual average respondent cost is estimated
as $96,107, or $1,884 per operator per year. The estimated average cost
per respondent to prepare and submit environmental documentation for
the first year ranges from $1,820 to $13,531, and the estimated average
cost per respondent to prepare and submit environmental documentation
for the subsequent two years this ICR would be in effect would range
from $1,917 to $14,396, depending on the level of environmental
documentation and the paperwork reduction provisions employed by the
respondent.
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
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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.
Dated: May 11, 2004.
Anne Norton Miller,
Director, Office of Federal Activities.
[FR Doc. 04-10991 Filed 5-13-04; 8:45 am]
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