[Federal Register: November 19, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 224)]
[Notices]
[Page 69633-69634]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19no08-78]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0357; FRL-8742-2]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Reporting Requirements for BEACH
Act Grants (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 2048.03, OMB Control Number 2040-
0244
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. 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 December 19,
2008.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OW-2008-0357, to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our
preferred method), by e-mail to ow-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Docket (28221T),
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: Lars Wilcut, Standards and Health
Protection Division, Office of Science and Technology (4305T),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0447; fax number:
(202) 566-0409; e-mail address: wilcut.lars@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 July 8, 2008 (73 FR 39013), 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-OW-2008-0357, which is available for public viewing at
http://www.regulations.gov, or in-person viewing at the Water Docket in
the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 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 Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
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 public docket, and to access those
documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once
in the system, 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: Reporting Requirements for BEACH Act Grants (Renewal).
ICR Numbers: EPA ICR No. 2048.03, OMB Control No. 2040-0244.
ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30, 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 of 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 in the Federal
Register or 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: Congress passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment and
Coastal Health (BEACH) Act in October 2000 to amend the Clean Water
Act, in part by adding section 406, ``Coastal Recreation Water
Monitoring and Notification.'' Section 406(b) authorizes EPA to make
grants to States and local governments to develop and implement
programs for monitoring and public notification for coastal recreation
waters adjacent to beaches or similar points of access that are used by
the public, if the State or local government satisfies the requirements
of the BEACH Act.
Several of these requirements require a grant recipient to collect
and submit information to EPA as a condition for receiving the grant.
Section 406(b) requires a grant recipient to provide the factors that
the state or local government uses to prioritize funds and a list of
waters for which the grant funds will be used. Section 406(b) also
requires that a grant recipient's program be consistent with the
performance requirements set by EPA under section 406(a); EPA needs
information from the grant recipients to determine if the monitoring
and notification programs are consistent with these criteria. On July
19, 2002, EPA published the National Beach Guidance and Required
Performance Criteria for Grants (67 FR 47540). Section 406(b) also
requires that a grant
[[Page 69634]]
recipient submit a report to EPA that describes the data collected as
part of a monitoring and notification program and the actions taken to
notify the public when water quality standards are exceeded. Section
406(c) requires a grant recipient to identify lists of coastal
recreation waters, processes for States to delegate to local
governments the responsibility for implementing a monitoring and
notification program, and the content of the monitoring and
notification program.
The information covered by this ICR is required of States and local
governments that seek to obtain BEACH Act funding. It allows EPA to
properly review State and local governments' monitoring and
notification programs to determine if they are eligible for BEACH Act
grant funding. This information also enables EPA to fulfill its
obligations to make this information available to the public as
required by sections 406(e) and (g).
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 2,374
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; 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: Environmental and public health
agencies in coastal and Great Lakes states, territories and authorized
tribes.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 40.
Frequency of Response: Annual.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 94,947.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $11,928,370, includes $3,938,760
annualized capital or O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: The annual operation and maintenance
costs increased by $188,760. This is because the estimated number of
beaches monitored by grant recipients increased from 3,472 (estimated
from EPA's 2003 National List of Beaches) to 3,647 (estimated from the
2007 National Beaches Survey), a 5.0% increase.
Dated: November 13, 2008.
John Moses,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E8-27471 Filed 11-18-08; 8:45 am]
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