[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]
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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.
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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: 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]
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