Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Implementation of the Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5

Citation84 FR 52104
Record Number2019-21327
Published date01 October 2019
SectionNotices
CourtEnvironmental Protection Agency
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2019)]
                [Notices]
                [Pages 52104-52105]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2019-21327]
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                ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
                [EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0691; FRL-10000-72-OAR]
                Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request;
                Implementation of the Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) National Ambient
                Air Quality Standards (Renewal)
                AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
                ACTION: Notice.
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to
                submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Fine Particulate
                Matter (PM2.5) NAAQS Implementation Rule (Renewal)'' (EPA
                ICR No. 2258.05, OMB Control No. 2060-0611), to the Office of
                Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with
                the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Before doing so, the EPA is
                soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed
                information collection as described below. This is a proposed renewal
                of the existing ICR for the PM2.5 NAAQS State Implementation
                Plan (SIP) Requirements Rule, which is currently approved through
                January 31, 2020. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is
                not required to a collection of information unless it displays a
                currently valid OMB control number.
                DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 2, 2019.
                [[Page 52105]]
                ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
                2013-0691, online using http://www.regulations.gov (our preferred
                method), or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection
                Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC
                20460.
                 The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in
                the public docket without change including any personal information
                provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information
                claimed to be Confidential Business Information, or other information
                whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Leigh Herrington, Office of Air
                Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
                by phone at (919) 541-0882 or by email at [email protected].
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents which explain in detail
                the information that the EPA will be collecting are available in the
                public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at http://www.regulations.gov, or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West,
                Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC The telephone
                number for the Docket Center is (202) 566-1744. For additional
                information about EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
                 Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the EPA is soliciting
                comments and information to enable it 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. The
                EPA will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as
                appropriate. The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for
                review and approval. At that time, the EPA will issue another Federal
                Register notice to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the
                opportunity to submit additional comments to 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.
                 Abstract: The final PM2.5 NAAQS State Implementation
                Plan (SIP) Requirements Rule (PM2.5 SIP Requirements Rule)
                was effective on October 24, 2016 (81 FR 58010). This rule provides the
                framework of Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements for air agencies to
                develop state implementation plans to help attain and maintain the
                PM2.5 NAAQS. States have applied this framework to develop
                attainment plans and redesignation requests and maintenance plans for
                areas designated nonattainment for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, the
                2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS.
                 The ICR finalized with the PM2.5 NAAQS SIP Requirements
                Rule estimated, for the 3 years following the ICR approval date, the
                burden associated with plan development and plan revisions related to
                ongoing implementation efforts in 31 areas designated nonattainment for
                the 1997, 2006 and 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS. The estimates included
                the burden to develop and submit, and the burden to the EPA to review
                and to approve or disapprove, attainment plans to meet the requirements
                prescribed in CAA sections 110 and part D, subparts 1 and 4 of title I.
                A PM2.5 NAAQS attainment plan contains rules and other
                measures designed to improve air quality and achieve the NAAQS by the
                deadlines established under the CAA. It also must address several
                additional CAA requirements related to demonstrating timely attainment
                and must contain contingency measures in the event the nonattainment
                area does not achieve reasonable further progress throughout the
                attainment period or in the event the area does not attain the NAAQS by
                its attainment date. States that have attained by the applicable
                attainment date may be eligible to submit a redesignation request and
                maintenance plan to receive a redesignation from ``nonattainment'' to
                ``attainment.'' After a state submits an attainment or maintenance
                plan, the CAA requires the EPA to approve or disapprove the plan.
                Tribes may develop or submit attainment plans, but are not required to
                do so.
                 This ICR supersedes the existing ICR--for which the EPA is
                proposing renewal in this action--for purposes of PM2.5
                NAAQS implementation.
                 Respondents/affected entities: State and local governments.
                 Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory.
                 Estimated number of responses: 18.
                 Frequency of response: Once per triggering event [i.e., an air
                agency is required to revise and submit a SIP revision when the area is
                reclassified to a higher classification, when an areas fails to achieve
                reasonable further progress, when a Serious nonattainment area fails to
                timely attain, and/or when a state requests redesignation for a
                PM2.5 nonattainment area that attains the NAAQS)].
                 Estimated burden for respondents: 25,500 hours per year. Burden is
                defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
                 Estimated labor cost for respondents: $1.6M (present value) per
                year.
                 Estimated cost: $0 annualized capital or operation & maintenance
                costs.
                 Changes in estimates: The EPA expects there to be a reduction in
                excess of 50 percent in the total estimated respondent burden for the
                period covered by this ICR (February 1, 2020-January 31, 2023) compared
                with the information collection that is currently approved by OMB. This
                decrease is due to the fact that the number of areas for which states
                have ongoing attainment planning obligations has decreased greatly. For
                the current ICR, the EPA estimated that 31 nonattainment areas would
                have planning requirements for the current three-year period (February
                1, 2017-January 31, 2020). For this renewal, the EPA estimates that
                only 18 nonattainment areas will have planning requirements to meet
                during the renewal period (February 1, 2020-January 31, 2023). Three of
                the areas are nonattainment for multiple PM2.5 NAAQS, thus
                allowing those affected states to take a streamlined approach to
                meeting their ongoing planning requirements. The burden estimate,
                detailed in the supporting statement located in the docket for this
                proposed renewal, accounts for potential new SIP revisions from states
                with nonattainment areas subject to reclassification and possible SIP
                revisions (in the form of maintenance plans) from states with areas
                that are attaining, or are expected to attain, the NAAQS.
                 Dated: September 19, 2019.
                Scott Mathias,
                Acting Director, Air Quality Policy Division.
                [FR Doc. 2019-21327 Filed 9-30-19; 8:45 am]
                 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
                

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