Agency information collection activities: Submission for OMB review; comment request,

[Federal Register: May 1, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 84)]

[Notices]

[Page 24175-24176]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr01my98-70]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6007-1]

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Compliance Information Project

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that the following Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Compliance Information Project. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost; where appropriate, it includes the actual data collection instrument.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Sandy Farmer at EPA by phone at (202) 260-2740, by email at farmer.sandy@epamail.epa.gov, or download off the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA ICR No. 1802.01

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Compliance Information Project (CIP); EPA ICR No. 1802.01. This is a new collection.

Abstract: The purpose of the CIP is to test creative new strategies for identifying compliance information which, to date, EPA or the States may have failed to capture or utilize. Sources of such information may include unutilized studies or reports, produced by States, private parties, or other government agencies, and observations by field personnel which, for one reason or another, escape our traditional methods for collecting and documenting information. The CIP is designed to channel such unidentified or unutilized compliance information to the personnel who design and implement our information, targeting, and planning systems to fill gaps in the Agency's or the States' databases, guide us to previously unidentified compliance problems, enhance our ability to describe our successes, or help us in other ways.

Non-Federal respondents will be State compliance and enforcement personnel, especially field inspectors and persons who manage inspectors. Through the CIP, the Agency will conduct field personnel roundtable interviews in each

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of the ten EPA Regions, and invite one or two representatives from each State to participate along with Regional personnel. At the request of the States which participated in the pilot roundtable in Region III, the Agency will provide the interview questions in the form of a questionnaire to each of the participants in advance of the roundtable so that each participating organization may prepare for the roundtables and afterwards prepare detailed written responses. The Agency will conduct the roundtables as a group discussion of the questionnaire topics with managers and/or inspectors from the Region and each of the states in the Region. Participants will then return to their states, distribute the questionnaire across media organizations, complete written responses to the questionnaire, and then forward the responses to EPA.

State involvement and participation is essential if the CIP is to succeed. Consultation and coordination with each State participating in the round table process is an integral part of the overall project design. Each participating State will receive opportunities to comment on all aspects of the Project, including the design and the content of our discussion questions and work products, and how the new information is used. EPA has extended similar opportunities for involvement to the Environmental Council of States and all of the major State environmental associations. Initial responses to the Project from the States have been positive. In general, the States appear to share EPA's interest in exploring for new sources of compliance information. The States will receive access to all of the compliance information gathered by EPA through the Project, whether from federal, state, or non-governmental sources.

Responses to the information collection request are voluntary and not required to obtain or retain any benefit. The Agency will ask persons who participate in the CIP not to refer to specific persons, facilities, or cases by name, nor collect, as part of this project, references to specific persons, facilities, or cases in any form, unless such information is already in the public record. The Agency will not, and in fact will be unable to, use compliance information collected through the CIP to form compliance conclusions, rank or index performance of specific persons, facilities, or cases. The Agency will not ask for, nor collect, any confidential business information (CBI). All information submitted to the Agency for which a claim of confidentiality is made will be safeguarded. 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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. The Federal Register document required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on 12/30/97. No comments were received.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 117 hours per responding entity. 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: States.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 50.

Frequency of Response: 1.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 5,850 hours.

Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden: $260,667.

Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of automated collection techniques to the following addresses. Please refer to EPA ICR No. 1802.01 in any correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OPPE Regulatory Information Division (2137), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503.

Dated: April 27, 1998. Joseph Retzer, Director, Regulatory Information Division.

[FR Doc. 98-11660Filed4-30-98; 8:45 am]

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