[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39856-39857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19840]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6130-5]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Environmental Impact Assessment of 
Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica

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 the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Environmental Impact 
Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica, OMB Control No. 
2020-0007, expiring August 8, 1998. 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 August 24, 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. 1808.02.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental 
Activities in Antarctica, EPA ICR No. 1808.02, OMB Control No. 2020-
0007, expiring August 31, 1998. This is a request for extension of a 
currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The 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 (Act) of 1996, 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 
noncommercial expeditions. 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.
    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 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) in accordance with the schedule 
for the level of environmental documentation as provided in the Interim 
Final Rule.
    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 of an 
IEE or a CEE, including monitoring of key environmental indicators for 
an activity proceeding on the basis of a CEE, or, if necessary, an IEE.
    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 April 22, 
1998 (63 FR 19912). Four comment letters were received. Responses to 
comments are included in the ICR document.
    Burden Statement: 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 that fully incorporate paperwork 
reduction provisions of the Interim Final Rule are anticipated on 
behalf of eleven operators with an estimated annual average burden of 
25 hours per operator, including assessment and verification 
procedures. 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: Commercial tour operators and all 
other nongovernmental entities including privately funded research 
expeditions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 11.
    Frequency of Response: Once per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1415 hours.
    Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden: 0
    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. 1808.02, and OMB Control No. 2020-0007 in any 
correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, .S. Environmental Protection Agency, OP Regulatory 
Information Division (2137), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460;
    and

[[Page 39857]]

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: July 20, 1998.
Joseph Retzer,
Director, Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 98-19840 Filed 7-23-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P