[Federal Register: July 8, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 131)]
[Notices]
[Page 39013-39014]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08jy08-64]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OW-2008-0357, FRL-8688-8]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Reporting Requirements for BEACH Act Grants, EPA ICR
Number 2048.01, 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 EPA is planning to submit a
continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on July 25, 2008.
Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is
soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information
collection as described below.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 8, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2008-
0357, to EPA online at Regulations.gov using the Comment or Submission
function (our preferred method), by hand delivery to the EPA Docket
Center (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC (during normal hours of operation), or by mail to: EPA
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Docket (2822T),
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
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 established a public docket for this
ICR under Docket ID number OW-2008-0357, which is available for public
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. An electronic version of the public
docket is available through the Regulations.gov Web site (http://
www.regulations.gov/). Use Regulations.gov to obtain a copy of the
draft collection of information, 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
in the Comment or Submission field. Any comments related to this ICR
should be submitted to EPA within 60 days of this notice.
EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public
[[Page 39014]]
viewing on Regulations.gov without change as they are received by EPA,
with the exception of comments containing copyrighted material,
confidential business information (CBI), or other information whose
public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a
comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference
to that material in the version of the comment that is placed on
Regulations.gov. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted
material, will be available in the public docket. For those comments
containing information claimed as CBI, or information otherwise
restricted by statute, that material will be identified as an item in
the official docket but will not be included in the official public
docket or available for public viewing on Regulations.gov. For further
information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register
notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002),
or online at: http://www.regulations.gov.
Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are
those coastal and Great Lakes state, local, and tribal governments
which are eligible for BEACH Act grants. These are governments that
develop and implement programs for the monitoring and notification of
coastal (marine and Great Lakes) recreation waters adjacent to beaches
or similar points of access that are used by the public.
Title: Reporting Requirements for BEACH Act Grants.
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 state and local
governments to develop and implement programs for the monitoring and
public notification of coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches or
similar points of access that are used by the public upon satisfaction
of the requirements of the BEACH Act. The Section obligates a grant
recipient to collect and submit information to EPA as a condition for
receiving the grant. Specific provisions of 406(b) include the
requirements that a grant recipient submit the factors used to
prioritize funds and a list of waters for which the grant funds will be
used, and that a grant recipient's program be consistent with the
performance requirements set by EPA under section 406(a). EPA needs
this information from the grant recipients to determine if their
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) obligates grant recipients to submit a report to EPA describing
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 the
responsibility for implementing a monitoring and notification program
to local governments, and the content of the monitoring and
notification program.
The information encompassed 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, and enables EPA to fulfill its obligations to make this
information available to the public under Sections 406(e) and (g).
An agency may not conduct nor 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.
The EPA would like to solicit comments 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.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1,993
hours per grant recipient per year. This burden represents a report and
accompanying data to be are submitted each year by the 40 eligible
states and territories. In subsequent years, authorized tribes and
local governments may also become eligible for BEACH Act grants. 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: (1) Review instructions; (2) 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; (3) 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;
(4) search data sources; (5) complete and review the collection of
information; and (6) transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
Dated: July 1, 2008.
Ephraim King,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. E8-15439 Filed 7-7-08; 8:45 am]
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