Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Regulatory Pilot Projects (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1755.07, OMB Control Number 2010-0026, 57868-57870 [05-19862]
Download as PDF
57868
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2005 / Notices
conditioners (MVACs). These
regulations were published in 57 FR
31261 on July 14, 1992, and are codified
at 40 CFR part 82, subpart B (§ 82.30 et
seq.). The information required to be
collected under the section 609
regulations is described below. This
information is currently approved for
use through September 30, 2005.
The information required to be
collected includes the following:
submission of a program plan to EPA by
organizations who want to participate as
an EPA-technician certification
program, submission of an application
by independent laboratories that proves
their general capacity to certify
refrigerant recovery and/or recycling
equipment to meet the Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE) standards
for recycled refrigerant, and for
equipment manufacturers or owners
wanting to grandfather their equipment,
the submission of an application,
supporting documents, flow sheets,
equipment components and other
information which would indicate that
the equipment is capable of recycling or
recovering the refrigerant to standards
set forth in Appendices A, B, C, D, E
and F to the regulations.
Motor vehicle air conditioning service
establishments are required by section
609 of the Act to certify that they have
purchased refrigerant recycling and/or
recovery equipment by January 1, 1992.
The Stratospheric Programs Division
(SPD) uses the certificates to confirm
compliance with section 609.
In order for technicians to service or
maintain MVACs, they must pass a
certification test as stipulated in section
609 of the Act. In the interest of
providing national harmony in
promoting technician awareness in the
proper handling of refrigerant, the
Agency is charged through section 609
with the establishment of minimum
national standards for technician
certification. The SPD uses the
information submitted by technician
certification programs to determine if
programs meet the standards established
by the Agency. In addition, the SPD
uses the information to insure that the
programs are at least as stringent as the
SAE J standards of the Society of
Automotive Engineers.
The information requested for all
entities that service MVACs is required
by section 609(d) of the Act with regard
to the following:
(1) Technician certification programs:
Proposed automotive technician
certification programs are required to be
approved by EPA in accordance with
section 609(b)(4);
(2) Business certification
requirements: Section 609(b)(2)(A)
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:55 Oct 03, 2005
Jkt 205001
requires EPA approval of independent
laboratories that certify equipment for
the extraction and reclamation of
refrigerant from MVACs;
(3) Manufacturers’ certification of
recovery equipment: The submission of
data for EPA determination of
substantially identical equipment is
addressed by section 609(b)(2)(B)
(substantially identical equipment is
equipment certified before the proposal
of regulations under section 609 that is
substantially identical to equipment
currently meeting EPA’s standards);
(4) Recordkeeping requirements: The
recordkeeping requirements for the
motor vehicle recycling program are
derived from section 114 of the Act.
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 40
CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
Burden Statement: The annual public
reporting and recordkeeping burden for
this collection of information is
estimated to average 0.11 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: New
and used motor vehicle dealers, gasoline
service stations, truck rental and leasing
without drivers, passenger car rental,
top, body, upholstery repair and paint
shops, general automotive repair shops
and automotive repair shops not
elsewhere classified.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
25,013.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:
2,865.
Estimated Total Annual Capital and
O&M Costs: $0.
Changes in the Estimates: The
decrease in burden results from the fact
that the number of service facilities
entering the market and changing
ownership was overstated in the
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
original ICR and was adjusted
downward in the last revision to this
ICR. In this revision to the ICR, we were
able to acknowledge significant cost
reductions in the public sector, because
the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data on
salaries shows that our previous salary
assumptions were arbitrarily inflated. In
addition, a number of erroneous entries
and inconsistencies were detected in the
previous revision to the ICR. Correcting
those errors has resulted in significant
reductions in resultant burden.
Dated: September 24, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05–19840 Filed 10–3–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[OA–2005–0002; FRL–7978–8]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Regulatory Pilot Projects
(Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1755.07,
OMB Control Number 2010–0026
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
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
for a renewal of an existing approved
collection. This ICR was scheduled to
expire on September 30, 2005. Under
OMB regulations, the Agency may
continue to conduct or sponsor the
collection of information while this
submission is pending at OMB. This ICR
describes the nature of the information
collection and its estimated burden and
cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be
submitted on or before November 3,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
referencing docket ID number OA–
2005–0002, to (1) EPA online using
EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email to OEI.docket@epa.gov, or by mail
to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental
Protection Agency, Regulatory
Innovation Pilot Projects, MC 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
E:\FR\FM\04OCN1.SGM
04OCN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2005 / Notices
for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20503.
Mr.
Douglas Heimlich in the Office of
Environmental Policy Innovation may
be reached by phone at (202) 566–2234,
by e-mail at heimlich.douglas@epa.gov,
or by FAX at (202) 566–2200. Or,
contact Dr. Gerald Filbin in the Office
of Environmental Policy Innovation at
(202) 566–2182, by e-mail at
filbin.gerald@epa.gov, or by FAX at
(202) 566–2211.
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 June 8, 2005 (70 FR 33472), EPA
sought comments on this ICR pursuant
to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no
comments.
EPA has established a public docket
for this ICR under Docket ID No. OA–
2005–0002, which is available for public
viewing at the Office of the
Administrator Docket in the EPA Docket
Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room
B102, 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 Office of
the Administrator Docket is (202) 566–
1752. An electronic version of the
public docket is available through EPA
Dockets (EDOCKET) at https://
www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET 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, select ‘‘search,’’ then key in the
docket ID number identified above.
Any comments related to this ICR
should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice. EPA’s
policy is that public comments, whether
submitted electronically or in paper,
will be made available for public
viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives
them and without change, unless the
comment contains copyrighted material,
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 in
EDOCKET. The entire printed comment,
including the copyrighted material, will
be available in the public docket.
Although identified as an item in the
official docket, information claimed as
CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:55 Oct 03, 2005
Jkt 205001
restricted by statute, is not included in
the official public docket, and will not
be available for public viewing in
EDOCKET. 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 go to https://www.epa.gov/
edocket.
Title: Regulatory Pilot Projects
(Renewal).
Abstract: In March 1995, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
initiated Regulatory Innovation Pilot
Projects in response to a challenge to
transform the environmental regulatory
system to better meet the needs of a
rapidly changing society while
maintaining the nation’s commitment to
protect human health and safeguard the
natural environment. EPA’s first
regulatory innovation pilot mechanism
was Project XL, or eXcellence and
Leadership (https://www.epa.gov/
ProjectXL/). EPA used Project XL to
support a variety of innovation pilots to
gather data and project experience that
will help the Agency redesign current
approaches to public health and
environmental protection. Through sitespecific agreements with project
sponsors, Project XL has given
companies, communities, local
governments, military bases, and
universities flexibility from certain
environmental regulations in exchange
for commitments to achieve superior
environmental performance at less cost.
EPA no longer accepts new projects
under the XL program, however, EPA is
completing the earlier projects initiated
under Project XL.
Before submitting an official Project
XL proposal to EPA, the project sponsor
typically engaged in informal
discussions with EPA about proposal
design. Once a formal proposal was
submitted, EPA along with the
corresponding state environmental
agency reviewed the proposal. EPA
based acceptance of proposals on the
extent to which proposals met the
following eight criteria: (1) Superior
environmental performance, (2) cost
savings and reduced paperwork, (3)
stakeholder involvement, (4) innovation
or pollution prevention, (5)
transferability, (6) feasibility, (7)
monitoring, reporting and evaluation,
and (8) no shifting of risk burden. If the
proposal was accepted, EPA and the
partnering state agency negotiated the
conditions of the proposal with the
project sponsor along with other
interested stakeholders, including local
and national environmental groups and
nearby community residents. Once an
agreement was reached regarding the
conditions of the proposal and the
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
57869
necessary regulatory flexibility, the
Final Project Agreement (FPA) was
signed and the project sponsor began
implementation.
Starting in 2002, EPA developed a
new mechanism for pilot projects that
allowed the Agency to test regulatory
innovation strategically and on a larger
scale. Information collection for the
purpose of grant competition
solicitations are covered under another
Agency ICR and will not be included
here except for burden created in precompetition consultation with States on
subject areas for inclusion in the annual
State Innovation Grant solicitation.
General information on the State
Innovation Grant Program can be found
at the following URL https://
www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/).
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 40
CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are
identified on the form and/or
instrument, if applicable.
Burden Statement: EPA estimates that
each project sponsor for projects
implemented under Project XL will use
20 hours, or 120 for all respondents, for
the development of progress reports and
a final project report and to address a
small range of evaluation questions from
EPA at the close of an individual
project. Similarly, EPA anticipates that
State Innovation Grants Projects may
require States and Tribes that choose to
respond to EPA’s invitation to comment
to expend up 32 hours each, annually,
or 768 hours collectively (average of 24
States and Tribes providing comment)
each year in consultation with EPA.
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. 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
E:\FR\FM\04OCN1.SGM
04OCN1
57870
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2005 / Notices
number. The OMB control numbers for
EPA’s regulations are listed in 40 CFR
Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15.
Respondents/Affected Entities:
Companies, States or other entities in
the voluntary Regulatory Pilot Projects.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
30.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:
888 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Costs:
$40,704, that includes $0 Capital or
O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is a
reduction of 71,411 hours. This
difference is largely a result of moving
away from individual facility proposals
and toward state-wide projects, thus
reducing substantially the number of
pre-proposal submissions for testing
while focusing on larger, more systemschange oriented projects. This
difference is also a result of EPA’s
ability to refine the estimates based
upon 10 years of experience promoting
regulatory innovation and a better
understanding of the burden
requirements necessary to develop and
submit proposals for innovative pilot
projects, and an improved
understanding of innovative pilot
projects and how to develop them.
Dated: September 22, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05–19862 Filed 10–3–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[OECA–2005–0030; FRL–7978–9]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission for OMB Review
and Approval; Comment Request;
NESHAP for Source Categories:
Generic Maximum Achievable Control
Technology Standards (Renewal), ICR
Number 1871.04, OMB Control Number
2060–0420
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act, 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. This ICR is scheduled to
expire on December 31, 2005. Under
OMB regulations, the Agency may
continue to conduct or sponsor the
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:55 Oct 03, 2005
Jkt 205001
collection of information while this
submission is pending at OMB. This ICR
describes the nature of the information
collection and its estimated burden and
cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be
submitted on or before November 3,
2005.
Submit your comments,
referencing docket ID number OECA–
2005–0030, to (1) EPA online using
EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email to docket.oeca@epa.gov, or by mail
to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental
Protection Agency, Enforcement and
Compliance Docket and Information
Center, Mail Code 2201T, 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.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Learia Williams, Compliance
Assessment and Media Programs
Division, Office of Compliance, Mail
Code 2223A, Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 564–4113; fax number:
(202) 564–0050; e-mail address:
williams.learia@epa.gov.
EPA has
submitted the following ICR to OMB for
review and approval according to the
procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12.
On May 6, 2005 (70 FR 24020), EPA
sought comments on this ICR pursuant
to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no
comments.
EPA has established a public docket
for this ICR under Docket ID Number
OECA–2005–0030, which is available
for public viewing at the Enforcement
and Compliance Docket and Information
Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/
DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301
Constitution Avenue, 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 Enforcement and Compliance
Docket and Information Center Docket
is: (202) 566–1752. An electronic
version of the public docket is available
through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at
https://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use
EDOCKET 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.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
When in the system, select ‘‘search,’’
then key in the docket ID number
identified above.
Any comments related to this ICR
should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice. EPA’s
policy is that public comments, whether
submitted electronically or in paper,
will be made available for public
viewing in EDOCKET 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. 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 in
EDOCKET. The entire printed comment,
including the copyrighted material, will
be available in the public docket.
Although identified as an item in the
official docket, information claimed as
CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise
restricted by statute, is not included in
the official public docket, and will not
be available for public viewing in
EDOCKET. 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 go to https://www.epa.gov/
edocket.
Title: NESHAP for Source Categories:
Generic Maximum Achievable Control
Technology Standards (Renewal).
Abstract: The National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
(NESHAP) for Source Categories:
Generic Maximum Achievable Control
Technology (hereafter, this subpart is
referred to as the ‘‘generic MACT’’),
published at 40 CFR part 63, subpart
YY, were proposed on October 14, 1998
(63 FR 55178), and promulgated on June
29, 1999 (64 FR 34854). The rule
addressed hazardous air pollutant
(HAP) emission sources in these four
source categories: Polycarbonates (PC)
Production, Acrylic and Modacrylic
Fibers (AMF) Production, Acetal Resins
(AR) Production and Hydrogen Fluoride
(HF) Production. On November 22,
1999, the Agency proposed wastewater
provisions amendments (64 FR 63779)
to the promulgated generic MACT
applicable to the AR, AMF, and PC
production source categories. The HF
production source category does not
have wastewater streams.
Respondents are required to submit
one-time only reports of the (1) start of
construction for new facilities or an
initial notification if it is an existing
source at the time of rule promulgation,
(2) anticipated and actual start-up dates
for new facilities, and (3) physical or
operational changes to existing
E:\FR\FM\04OCN1.SGM
04OCN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57868-57870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19862]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OA-2005-0002; FRL-7978-8]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Regulatory Pilot Projects
(Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1755.07, OMB Control Number 2010-0026
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 an Information Collection
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request for a renewal of an
existing approved collection. This ICR was scheduled to expire on
September 30, 2005. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to
conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission
is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information
collection and its estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before November 3,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OA-2005-
0002, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail
to OEI.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental
Protection Agency, Regulatory Innovation Pilot Projects, MC 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
[[Page 57869]]
for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Douglas Heimlich in the Office of
Environmental Policy Innovation may be reached by phone at (202) 566-
2234, by e-mail at heimlich.douglas@epa.gov, or by FAX at (202) 566-
2200. Or, contact Dr. Gerald Filbin in the Office of Environmental
Policy Innovation at (202) 566-2182, by e-mail at
filbin.gerald@epa.gov, or by FAX at (202) 566-2211.
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 June 8, 2005 (70 FR 33472), EPA sought comments on this ICR
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. OA-2005-0002, which is available for public viewing at the Office
of the Administrator Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA
West, Room B102, 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 Office of the Administrator Docket is (202) 566-1752. An electronic
version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET)
at https://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET 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, select ``search,'' then
key in the docket ID number identified above.
Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments,
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available
for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change,
unless the comment contains copyrighted material, 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 in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the
copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although
identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as
CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not
included in the official public docket, and will not be available for
public viewing in EDOCKET. 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 go to https://www.epa.gov/
edocket.
Title: Regulatory Pilot Projects (Renewal).
Abstract: In March 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
initiated Regulatory Innovation Pilot Projects in response to a
challenge to transform the environmental regulatory system to better
meet the needs of a rapidly changing society while maintaining the
nation's commitment to protect human health and safeguard the natural
environment. EPA's first regulatory innovation pilot mechanism was
Project XL, or eXcellence and Leadership (https://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL/
). EPA used Project XL to support a variety of innovation pilots to
gather data and project experience that will help the Agency redesign
current approaches to public health and environmental protection.
Through site-specific agreements with project sponsors, Project XL has
given companies, communities, local governments, military bases, and
universities flexibility from certain environmental regulations in
exchange for commitments to achieve superior environmental performance
at less cost. EPA no longer accepts new projects under the XL program,
however, EPA is completing the earlier projects initiated under Project
XL.
Before submitting an official Project XL proposal to EPA, the
project sponsor typically engaged in informal discussions with EPA
about proposal design. Once a formal proposal was submitted, EPA along
with the corresponding state environmental agency reviewed the
proposal. EPA based acceptance of proposals on the extent to which
proposals met the following eight criteria: (1) Superior environmental
performance, (2) cost savings and reduced paperwork, (3) stakeholder
involvement, (4) innovation or pollution prevention, (5)
transferability, (6) feasibility, (7) monitoring, reporting and
evaluation, and (8) no shifting of risk burden. If the proposal was
accepted, EPA and the partnering state agency negotiated the conditions
of the proposal with the project sponsor along with other interested
stakeholders, including local and national environmental groups and
nearby community residents. Once an agreement was reached regarding the
conditions of the proposal and the necessary regulatory flexibility,
the Final Project Agreement (FPA) was signed and the project sponsor
began implementation.
Starting in 2002, EPA developed a new mechanism for pilot projects
that allowed the Agency to test regulatory innovation strategically and
on a larger scale. Information collection for the purpose of grant
competition solicitations are covered under another Agency ICR and will
not be included here except for burden created in pre-competition
consultation with States on subject areas for inclusion in the annual
State Innovation Grant solicitation. General information on the State
Innovation Grant Program can be found at the following URL https://
www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/).
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 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on
the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
Burden Statement: EPA estimates that each project sponsor for
projects implemented under Project XL will use 20 hours, or 120 for all
respondents, for the development of progress reports and a final
project report and to address a small range of evaluation questions
from EPA at the close of an individual project. Similarly, EPA
anticipates that State Innovation Grants Projects may require States
and Tribes that choose to respond to EPA's invitation to comment to
expend up 32 hours each, annually, or 768 hours collectively (average
of 24 States and Tribes providing comment) each year in consultation
with EPA.
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. 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
[[Page 57870]]
number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40
CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Companies, States or other entities
in the voluntary Regulatory Pilot Projects.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 30.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 888 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Costs: $40,704, that includes $0 Capital or
O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is a reduction of 71,411 hours.
This difference is largely a result of moving away from individual
facility proposals and toward state-wide projects, thus reducing
substantially the number of pre-proposal submissions for testing while
focusing on larger, more systems-change oriented projects. This
difference is also a result of EPA's ability to refine the estimates
based upon 10 years of experience promoting regulatory innovation and a
better understanding of the burden requirements necessary to develop
and submit proposals for innovative pilot projects, and an improved
understanding of innovative pilot projects and how to develop them.
Dated: September 22, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-19862 Filed 10-3-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P