[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 84 (Friday, May 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24175-24176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11660]


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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.

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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 [email protected], 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

[[Page 24176]]

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. 98-11660 Filed 4-30-98; 8:45 am]
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