[Federal Register: November 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 211)]
[Notices]
[Page 63526-63527]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02no04-52]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OECA-2004-0026; FRL-7832-5]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; 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 (EPA).
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 an Information Collection
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31,
2004. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or
sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending
at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and
its estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before December 2,
2004.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OECA-
2004-0026, to (1) 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, and (2) 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.
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; e-mail address:
biggs.katherine@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 Friday, May 14, 2004 (69 FR 26814), EPA sought comments on
this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA has addressed the comments
received.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. 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) 564-1752. 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. 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
.
Title: Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental
Activities in Antarctica (Renewal).
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 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.
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).
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)
[[Page 63527]]
Identify the monitoring regime appropriate to that activity, and (b)
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.
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 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 1,548
hours annually, or 70 hours per response. This hourly burden reflects
annual submission of different levels of environmental documentation by
an anticipated 22 respondents (e.g., U.S.-based nongovernmental
operators). 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 are
all nongovernmental operators with activities in Antarctica, including
tour operators.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 22.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1,548.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $124,000, includes $4,000 annualized
capital or O&M costs and $120,000 annual labor costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 986 hours and
$4,000 in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB
Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This increased adjustment is the
result of an increase in the number of respondents anticipated during
the 3-year ICR renewal period and the level of environmental
documentation EPA anticipates the respondents will submit.
Dated: October 26, 2004.
Joseph A. Sierra,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 04-24415 Filed 11-1-04; 8:45 am]
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