[Federal Register: October 28, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 209)]
[Notices]
[Page 63979-63980]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28oc08-65]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0094; FRL-8735-2]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Reporting Requirements Under
EPA's Climate Leaders Partnership (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 2100.03, OMB
Control No. 2060-0532
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 November 28,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2002-0094, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (preferred
method), by e-mail to a-and-r-docket@epamail.epa.gov, or by mail to:
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation
Docket and Information Center, MC 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 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: Manuel J. Oliva, Climate Protection
Partnerships Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, 6202J,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
[[Page 63980]]
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202)
343-9094; fax number: (202) 565-2134; e-mail address
oliva.manuel@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 May 30, 2008 (73 FR 31087), EPA sought comments on this ICR
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. 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-OAR-2002-0094, which is available for online viewing at
www.regulations.gov, or in-person viewing at the Air and Radiation
Docket and Information Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA
West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 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
Air and Radiation Docket is 202-566-1742.
Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at
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 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 www.regulations.gov.
Title: Reporting Requirements under EPA's Climate Leaders
Partnership (Renewal).
ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2100.03, OMB Control No. 2060-0532.
ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2008.
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, and included on the related
collection instrument or form, if applicable.
Abstract: In an effort to aid implementation of U.S. commitments in
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the
President announced a Climate Change Strategy on February 14, 2002,
wherein he set a national U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity goal of
18 percent by 2012. Part of that strategy challenges companies to set
GHG reduction goals by working with EPA through the voluntary Climate
Leaders program. EPA has developed this renewal ICR to ensure that the
program remains credible by obtaining continued authorization to
collect information from Climate Leaders Partners to ensure the
partners are meeting their GHG goals over time. Companies that join
Climate Leaders voluntarily agree to the following: Completing and
submitting a Partnership Agreement; negotiating a corporate GHG
reduction goal; submitting a GHG inventory management plan;
participating in an onsite review of the inventory management plan, and
reporting to EPA, on an annual basis, the company's GHG emissions
inventory, and progress toward their GHG reduction goal via Climate
Leaders Annual GHG Inventory Summary and Goal Tracking Form. The
information contained in the inventories of the companies that join
Climate Leaders may be considered Confidential Business Information
(CBI) and is maintained as such. EPA uses the data obtained from the
companies to assess the success of the program in achieving its GHG
reduction goals. Responses to the information collection are voluntary.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to equal 19,636
hours and to average 87 hours per 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 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: Climate Leaders Partner
Corporations.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 225.
Frequency of Response: Annually, on occasion, one-time.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 19,636.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $1,847,826, which includes $0
annualized capital/startup costs; $105 annualized Operating and
Maintenance (O&M) costs and $1,847,721 annualized labor costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 7,681 hours in
the total estimated burden compared with that identified in the ICR
currently approved by OMB. Although the reporting requirements of the
Climate Leader Partnership have been streamlined to reduce the
individual burden for each reporter, the increase in overall costs are
due to the continued growth in the number of companies participating in
the Partnership. EPA has collaborated with partners to develop these
revised reporting requirements, which are better suited for
establishing and tracking progress of corporate GHG reduction goals.
This change is result of a more interactive program approach between
EPA and Climate Leaders Partners and a larger number of partners in the
program since the currently approved ICR.
Dated: October 23, 2008.
Deborah Williams,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E8-25679 Filed 10-27-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P