Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Reporting Requirements Under EPA's Climate Leaders Partnership (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 2100.02, OMB Control No. 2060-0532, 41214-41215 [E6-11527]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 139 (Thursday, July 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41214-41215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11527]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0094; FRL-8200-6 ]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Reporting Requirements Under 
EPA's Climate Leaders Partnership (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 2100.02, OMB 
Control No. 2060-0532

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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 August 21, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2002-0094, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (preferred 
method), by e-mail to a-and-r-docket@epamail.epa.gov, or by mail to: 
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation 
Docket and Information Center, MC 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to: 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: James Sullivan, Climate Protection 
Partnerships Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, 6202J, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9241; fax number: 
(202) 565-2134; e-mail address sullivan.jamest@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 June 1, 2006 (71 FR 31177), 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-OAR-2002-0094, which is available for online viewing at 
www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air and Radiation 
Docket and Information Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA 
West Building, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room is open from 8 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 
Air and Radiation Docket is 202-566-1742.
    Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at 
www.regulations.gov, to submit or view public comments, access the 
index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those 
documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the 
system, select ``docket search,'' 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 www.regulations.gov as EPA receives 
them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted 
material, CBI, or other information whose public disclosure is 
restricted by statute. For further information about the electronic 
docket, go to www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Reporting Requirements Under EPA's Climate Leaders 
Partnership (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2100.02, OMB Control No. 2060-0532.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2006. 
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 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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when 
approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, and included on the related 
collection instrument or form, if applicable.
    Abstract: In an effort to aid implementation of U.S. commitments in 
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 
President announced a Climate Change Strategy on February 14, 2002, 
wherein he set a national U.S. GHG intensity goal of 18 percent by 
2012. Part of that strategy challenges companies to set GHG reduction 
goals by working with EPA through the voluntary Climate Leaders 
program. EPA has developed this renewal ICR to ensure that the program 
remains credible by obtaining continued authorization to collect 
information from Climate Leaders Partners to ensure the Partners are 
meeting their GHG goals over time. Companies that join Climate Leaders 
voluntarily agree to the following: Completing and submitting a 
Partnership Agreement; negotiating a corporate GHG reduction goal; 
submitting a GHG inventory management plan; participating in an onsite 
review of the inventory management plan, and reporting to EPA, on an 
annual basis, the company's GHG emissions inventory, and progress 
toward their GHG reduction goal via Climate Leaders Annual GHG 
Inventory Summary and Goal Tracking Form. The information contained in 
the inventories of the companies that join Climate Leaders may be 
considered confidential business information and is maintained as such. 
EPA uses the data obtained from the companies to assess the success of 
the program in achieving its GHG reduction goals. Responses to the 
information collection are voluntary.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to equal 11,955 
hours and to average 94.13 hours per year per respondent. The average 
number of annual burden hours on first year partners for each type of 
one-time response is: 9.67 hours to complete and submit a Partnership 
Agreement, 46.75 hours for documenting and submitting an Inventory 
Management Plan, 22.25 hours participating in an on-site verification 
of the Inventory Management Plan, 41 hours for negotiating and setting 
a GHG reduction goal, 117.5 hours for establishing a base year 
inventory, and 3.5 hours to submit a company profile that is posted on 
the Web. For all other partners who have

[[Page 41215]]

been part of the program for longer than one year, the average number 
of annual burden hours is 67 hours for verifying and updating the 
Annual GHG Inventory Summary and Goal Tracking Form one time per year.
    Partners may also submit voluntary updates of company profiles or 
contact information, via the Climate Leaders Web site or e-mail. These 
updates would take 3 hours per response. All of these activities are 
included in the annual burden estimate.
    There are no capital or start-up costs associated with this 
information collection. The average annual operation and maintenance 
cost resulting for this collection of information is $3 per respondent. 
The average annual labor cost is $6,914 per respondent. The resulting 
total annual cost averaged over the three year period is $878,176.
    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 
which have subsequently changed; 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: Climate Leaders Partner 
Corporations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 127.
    Frequency of Response: Annually, on occasion, one-time.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 11,955.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $878,000, includes $0 annual capital/
startup costs, $60 annual O&M costs and $878,000 annual labor costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 6,841 hours in 
the total estimated burden compared with that identified in the ICR 
currently approved by OMB. This increase includes an adjustment of 
4,637 hours and a program change of 2,204 hours. This increase reflects 
an evolution of the Climate Leader Partnership which has modified the 
reporting and tracking procedures in order to continue to assess the 
program's effectiveness. EPA has collaborated with partners to develop 
these revised reporting requirements, which are better suited for 
establishing and tracking progress of corporate GHG reduction goals. 
This change is result of a more interactive program approach between 
EPA and Climate Leaders partners and a larger number of partners in the 
program since the currently approved ICR.

    Dated: July 12, 2006.
Sara Hisel McCoy,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E6-11527 Filed 7-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P