[Federal Register: December 17, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 241)]
[Notices]
[Page 71405-71407]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17de07-65]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OECA-2007-0468; FRL-8507-6]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Environmental Impact Assessment
of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica (Renewal); EPA ICR No.
1808.05, OMB Control No. 2020-0007
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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. 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 January 16,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-
2007-0468, to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by email to docket.oeca@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket
Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance
Docket; Environmental Protection Agency; Mailcode: 2822T, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to:
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: Aimee Hessert, NEPA Compliance
Division, Office of Federal Activities, (Mail Code 2252A),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-0993; fax number:
(202) 564-0072; e-mail address: hessert.aimee@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 June 12, 2007 (72 FR 32292), EPA sought comments on this
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received 1 comment during the
comment period, which is addressed in the ICR. Any additional comments
on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this
notice.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2007-0468, which is available for online viewing at
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Enforcement and
Compliance Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC Public
Reading Room is open from 8 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 is 202-564-7152.
Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at
http://www.regulations.gov, to submit or view public comments, access the
index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those
documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the
system, select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number
identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made
available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov as EPA receives
them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted
material, Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other information
whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For further
information about the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Title: Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental
Activities in Antarctica (Renewal).
ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1808.05, OMB Control No. 2020-0007.
ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2007.
Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor
the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.
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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when
approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, are displayed either by
publication in the Federal Register or
[[Page 71406]]
by other appropriate means, such as on the related collection
instrument or form, if applicable. The display of OMB control numbers
in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
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 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 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) 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 related 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 in 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
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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 to 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 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 1663
hours annually, or 72 hours per response. 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 which have subsequently
changed; 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: Most operators are ship-based or
land-based tour operators. The SIC Code for Tour Operators is 4725 and
the NAICS Code is 561520.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 23.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1663 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $133,916, includes $4,219 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 115 hours in the
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase 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: December 6, 2007.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E7-24371 Filed 12-14-07; 8:45 am]
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