[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13748-13749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5627]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6548-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Evaluation of PrintSTEP

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 EPA is planning to submit the 
following proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB): Evaluation of PrintSTEP, EPA ICR 
Number: 1941.01.
    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 May 15, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may obtain a copy of the draft ICR by 
request from the Office of Compliance, by contacting Amy Porter at the 
contact information provided below. Details of the PrintSTEP evaluation 
is available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ooaujeag/sectors/
pdf/pgm__eval.pdf

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Porter, 2221A, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW, Washington DC, 20460. Phone: (202) 564-2431, Fax: (202) 564-
0027, E-mail: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Affected entities: Entities potentially 
affected by this action are those which volunteer to participate in the 
PrintSTEP pilots including State officials in Missouri, New Hampshire, 
and Minnesota and printers in those 3 states who participate in the 
pilots or the evaluation control groups, and members of the communities 
where participating printers are located.
    Title: Proposed Information Collection Request for the Evaluation 
of PrintSTEP.
    Abstract: Information will be collected for evaluation of the 
PrintSTEP pilot program. The evaluation aims to systematically identify 
the impacts the program has had on three types of stakeholders: 
printers, community residents, and the state government agencies 
administering the program. Specifically, the evaluation will determine 
the extent to which the 7 goals of the pilot program are met. The goals 
are: enhanced environmental protection; increased use of pollution 
prevention practices; simplified regulatory process for printers; 
improved efficiency of administration for state governments; enhanced 
public involvement; participants' realize benefits and are motivated to 
participate in PrintSTEP; and, cost effectiveness for all stakeholders.
    This broad set of expected outcomes will require a range of 
distinct data collection and analysis activities. Data will be gathered 
from printer's program applications, from telephone interviews, from 
in-person interviews and possibly from focus groups. Data will be 
collected before implementation, a short time after program 
implementation, and at the end of the pilot. Responses to the 
collection of information are voluntary. Names of persons providing 
informa-tion will be not recorded. More information is available in the 
final draft of the Evaluation Strategy which can be accessed at http://
www.epa.gov/ooaujeag/sectors/pdf/pgm__eval.pdf
    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 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 the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (ii) evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed 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

Estimated Recordkeeping and Reporting Hour Burden on Respondents

    The PrintSTEP evaluation includes a telephone interview with three 
types of respondents: (1) Printers who are voluntarily participating in 
the PrintSTEP program; (2) a comparison group of printers who are not 
participating in PrintSTEP; and (3) community members who have 
participated in the public involvement component of PrintSTEP. For both 
types of printers, written data will be collected on their costs 
associated with PrintSTEP and/or regulatory activities. For the 
comparison group of printers, additional written data will be collected 
on environmental releases. The written information requested is 
expected to take one hour for the printers participating in PrintSTEP 
and 2.75 hours for the comparison group printers. Comparison group 
printers will be asked to submit information on their environmental 
releases which the pilot participants provide in their PrintSTEP 
applications. It is anticipated that a total of 320 printers will be 
interviewed three times during the course of the evaluation and that 
they will be either an environmental professional, or a manager. It is 
expected that one interview will be conducted with each of 50 community 
members.
    The telephone portion of the survey for printers is expected to 
take 15 minutes to complete. The telephone interview with community 
members is expected to take 15 minutes. The estimates of respondent 
burden are shown in the table below.

[[Page 13749]]



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                                                                                                                          Estimated avg.
                                                                              Time to         Time to                     hourly wage of   Total respon-
                                                             Estimated      respond to       complete          Total        respondent    dent burden in
                     Respondent type                         number of       telephone        written       respondent      during the    monetary terms
                                                            respondents    survey  (hrs)     response      burden  (hrs)  survey  ($/hr)        ($)
                                                                \1\             \2\          (hrs) \2\                          \3\
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Wave 1:
    PrintSTEP printer...................................             160            0.25            1.00             200           25.00           5,000
    Comparison printer..................................             160            0.25            2.75             480           25.00          12,000
Wave 2:
    PrintSTEP printer...................................             160            0.25            1.00             200           25.00           5,000
    Comparison printer..................................             160            0.25            2.75             480           25.00          12,000
Wave 3:
    PrintSTEP printer...................................             160            0.25            1.00             200           25.00           5,000
    Comparison printer..................................             160            0.25            2.75             480           25.00          12,000
    Community member....................................              50            0.25            0.00              13            0.00               0
    Total for all 3 waves...............................  ..............  ..............  ..............            2053  ..............         51,000
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\1\ Based on estimated number of participants provided by pilot states with the breakdown as follows: 60, 60, and 40 participants expected in MO, NH,
  and MN, respectively.
\2\ Based on preliminary testing of the survey instruments by Abt Associates.
\3\ Based on Screenprinting and Graphic Imaging Association International's 1999 Wage Survey.

Estimated Recordkeeping and Reporting Cost Burden on Respondents

    The PrintSTEP evaluation utilizes telephone interviews and written 
data collection forms to collect all the data necessary from the 
respondent. The only cost to the respondents resulting from this survey 
is their time, which is covered in the section above. There are no 
other costs to the respondents and this section, therefore, is not 
applicable.
    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.

    Dated: February 24, 2000.
Michael M. Stahl,
Director, Office of Compliance.
[FR Doc. 00-5627 Filed 3-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P