[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 77 (Wednesday, April 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19912-19914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10715]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6000-6]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Environmental Documentation and Associated Reporting
for Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in
Antarctica
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 notice announces that EPA is planning to submit the
following proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB): Environmental Documentation and
Associated Reporting for Environmental Impact Assessment of
Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica, EPA ICR No. 1808.02, OMB
Control No. 2020-0007. 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 June 22, 1998.
CONTACTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND TO BE PLACED ON THE PROJECT
MAILING LIST: For a copy of the ICR or for further information on this
project, contact Mr. Joseph Montgomery or Ms. Katherine Biggs, Office
of Federal Activities (2252A), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone (202) 564-7157 or
(202) 564-7144, respectively. Information on this project, including
the Supporting Statement for this ICR, is also available on the World
Wide Web at: http//www.epa.gov/oeca/ofa.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are
nongovernmental operators, including tour operators, conducting
expeditions to Antarctica.
Title: Environmental Documentation and Associated Reporting for
Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in
Antarctica, EPA ICR No. 1808.02, OMB Control No. 2020-0007, expiring
August 8, 1998.
Abstract: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated an
Interim Final Rule for Environmental Impact Assessment of
Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica, 40 CFR part 8, in accordance
with the Antarctic Science, Tourism, and Conservation Act of 1996
(Act), 16 U.S.C. 2401 et seq., as amended, 16 U.S.C. 2403a, which
implements the Protocol on Environmental Protection (Protocol) to the
Antarctic Treaty of 1959 (Treaty). The Interim Final Rule provides for
assessment of the environmental impacts of nongovernmental activities
in Antarctica, including tourism, and for coordination of the review of
information regarding environmental impact assessments received from
other Parties under the Protocol. The requirements of the Interim Final
Rule apply to operators of nongovernmental expeditions organized in or
proceeding from the territory of the United States to Antarctica and
include commercial and non-commercial expeditions. Expeditions may
include ship-based tours; yacht, skiing or mountaineering expeditions;
privately funded research expeditions; and other nongovernmental or
nongovernmental-sponsored activities. The Interim Final Rule does not
apply to individual U.S. citizens or groups of citizens planning to
travel to Antarctica on an expedition for which they are not acting as
an operator. (Operators, for example, typically acquire use of vessels
or aircraft, hire expedition staff, plan itineraries, and undertake
other organizational responsibilities.)
Environmental Documentation. Persons subject to the Interim Final
Rule at 40 CFR part 8 must prepare environmental documentation, as
appropriate, to support the operator's determination regarding the
level of environmental impact of the proposed expedition. Environmental
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documentation includes a Preliminary Environmental Review Memorandum
(PERM), an Initial Environmental Evaluation (IEE), or a Comprehensive
Environmental Evaluation (CEE). The environmental documentation must be
submitted to the Office of Federal Activities (OFA). If the operator
determines that an expedition will have: (1) Less than a minor or
transitory impact, a PERM must be submitted no later than 180 days
before the proposed departure to Antarctica; (2) no more than minor or
transitory impacts, an IEE must be submitted no later than 90 days
before the proposed departure; or (3) more than minor or transitory
impacts, a CEE must be submitted. Operators who anticipate such
activities are encouraged to consult with EPA as soon as possible
regarding the date for submittal of the CEE.1
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\1\ Article 3(4), of Annex I of the Protocol requires that draft
CEEs be distributed to all Parties and the Committee for
Environmental Protection 120 days in advance of the next Antarctic
Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) at which the CEE may be
addressed. For example, CEEs that would have been considered at the
May 1997 ATCM for expeditions during the 1997-1998 austral season
would have to have been distributed by January 1997, and CEEs to be
considered at the May 1998 ATCM for expeditions during the 1998-1999
austral season would have to have been distributed by January 1998.
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The Protocol and the Interim Final Rule also require an operator to
employ procedures to assess and provide a regular and verifiable record
of the actual impacts of an activity which proceeds on the basis on an
IEE or CEE, including monitoring of key environmental indicators for an
activity proceeding on the basis of a CEE, or, if necessary, an IEE.
For activities requiring an IEE, an operator should be able to use
procedures currently being voluntarily utilized by operators to provide
the required information. For activities requiring a CEE, OFA will
consult with the National Science Foundation and other interested
federal agencies regarding the monitoring regime that is appropriate to
the activity proposed, and with regard to possible utilization by the
operator of relevant monitoring data collected by the U.S. Antarctic
Program.
The record developed through these measures must be designed to:
(a) Enable assessments to be made of the extent to which environmental
impacts of nongovernmental expeditions are consistent with the
Protocol; and (b) provide information useful for minimizing and
mitigating those impacts and, where appropriate, on the need for
suspension, cancellation, or modification of the activity.
Environmental documentation will be reviewed by the OFA, in
consultation with the National Science Foundation and other interested
federal agencies, and will also be made available to other Parties and
the public, including tour operators and environmental groups, as
required under the Protocol or otherwise requested.
Environmental documents (i.e., PERM, IEE, CEE) must be submitted to
the Office of Federal Activities and may include electronic copy for
ease in providing documentation to the public via the World Wide Web
at: http://www.epa.gov/oeca/ofa. At the time the Interim Final Rule was
promulgated, EPA anticipated a total of eight respondents annually. The
EPA further anticipated that the types of nongovernmental activities
currently being carried out (e.g., ship-based tours and privately
funded research expeditions) would typically be unlikely to have
impacts that are more than minor or transitory, thus an IEE should be
the typical level of environmental documentation. At the time the
Interim Final Rule was promulgated, such documentation requirements
were estimated to require about 120 hours total per year per operator
for preparation of the IEE and associated records of assessment and
verification.
In cases of emergency relating to the safety of human life or of
ships, aircraft, equipment and facilities of high value, or the
protection of the environment which require an activity to be
undertaken without completion of the documentation procedures set out
in the Interim Final Rule, the operator must notify the Department of
State within 15 days of any activities which would have otherwise
required preparation of a CEE, and provide a full explanation of the
activities carried out within 45 days of those activities. For the
1997-1998 austral season, there were no emergencies requiring
notification by U.S. operators.
For the 1997-1998 austral season, there were, in fact, nine
respondents who submitted a total of four IEEs. Paperwork reduction
provisions in the Interim Final Rule that were used by the operators
included:
(a) Incorporation of material into the environmental document by
referring to it in the IEE;
(b) Inclusion of all proposed expeditions by one operator within
one IEE; and
(c) Use of one IEE to address expeditions being carried out by more
than one operator; e.g., one IEE included multiple expeditions by five
operators in the Peninsular Area, and another IEE included multiple
expeditions by two operators for non-Peninsular Area expeditions.
Coordination of Review of Information Received from Other Parties
to the Treaty. The Interim Final Rule also provides for the
coordination of review of information received from other Parties and
the public availability of that information including: (1) A
description of national procedures for considering the environmental
impacts of proposed activities; (2) an annual list of any IEEs and any
decisions taken in consequence thereof; (3) significant information
obtained and any action taken in consequence thereof with regard to
monitoring from IEEs and CEEs; and (4) information in a final CEE. This
provision fulfills the United States' obligation to meet the
requirements of Article 6 of Annex I to the Protocol. The Department of
State is responsible for coordination of these reviews of drafts with
interested Federal agencies, and for public availability of documents
and information. This portion of the Interim Final Rule does not impose
paperwork requirements on any nongovernmental person subject to U.S.
regulation.
Background on ICR Burden: Persons subject to the Interim Final Rule
at 40 CFR part 8 must prepare environmental documentation to support
the operator's determination regarding the level of environmental
impact of the proposed expedition. The Interim Final Rule provides for
incorporation of material into an environmental document by referring
to it in the document when the effect will be to reduce paperwork.
Further, an operator may include more than one proposed expedition
within one environmental document and one environmental document may
also be used to address expeditions being carried out by more than one
operator to further reduce burden. The operator must submit its
environmental documentation, along with an electronic copy in HTML
format, if available, by mail or by special delivery. In cases of
emergency, the operator must notify the Department of State within 15
days of any activities which would have otherwise required preparation
of a CEE, and provide a full explanation of the activities carried out
within 45 days of those activities.
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 EPA and other
Federal agencies, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
(ii) Evaluate the accuracy of EPA's estimate of the burden of the
proposed
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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: For the limited time the Interim Final Rule will
be in effect, EPA assumed an IEE would be the most likely environmental
documentation submitted by operators, and that there would be no
reporting for cases of emergency. The EPA further assumed that, for the
initial year the Interim Final Rule was in effect (e.g., 1997-1998) and
the subsequent three years, the most likely scenario would be:
(1) For the initial year, no PERMs or CEEs would be submitted, with
four IEEs submitted on behalf of nine operators;
(2) For the subsequent three years, four revised IEEs would be
submitted on behalf of nine operators;
(3) For the initial year and subsequent three years, procedures
would be implemented to assess and provide a regular and verifiable
record of the actual impacts of any activity which proceeds on the
basis of an IEE;
(4) No PERMs, new IEEs, or CEEs would be submitted during the
subsequent three years; and
(5) For the initial year, no emergencies would occur requiring
emergency reporting, and none would occur during the subsequent three
years.
The detailed estimate of burden and costs, which considers all
three levels of environmental documentation, and includes the models
and assumptions for the estimate of burden and costs for operators is
presented in EPA's Supporting Statement for this ICR which is available
from the Contacts or at the World Wide Website listed above. In
summary, based on the most likely scenario listed above, EPA
anticipates the following:
Affected Public: Commercial tour operators and all other
nongovernmental entities including privately funded research
expeditions.
Frequency of Reporting: Once per year.
Number of Respondents: 9.
Estimated Average Annual Time: For the initial year, no PERMs or
CEEs were submitted; four IEEs were submitted on behalf of nine
operators with an estimated average burden of 216 hours per IEE, or 96
hours per operator, including assessment and verification procedures.
For each of the subsequent years, four IEEs are anticipated on behalf
of nine operators with an estimated annual average burden of 96 hours
per IEE, or 43 hours per operator, including assessment and
verification procedures.
Estimated Start-up Costs: None.
Estimated O&M Costs: The O&M costs for the initial year and each of
the subsequent years are estimated at $140 for an IEE including
assessment and verification procedures, or $62 per operator.
Estimated Total Burden for the Initial Year and Three Subsequent
Years: The total respondent burden is estimated as 2,020 hours, or 224
hours per operator; and the total respondent cost is estimated as
$126,746, or $14,083 per operator.
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 number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's
regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.
Dated: April 16, 1998.
Richard E. Sanderson,
Director, Office of Federal Activities.
[FR Doc. 98-10715 Filed 4-21-98; 8:45 am]
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