[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 173 (Thursday, September 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46621-46622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-22374]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7048-6]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; ``Stakeholder Preferences Regarding Environmental 
Quality, Quality of Life, and Economic Development in Survey of Cape 
May County, New Jersey''

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: Stakeholder Preferences 
Regarding Environmental Quality,

[[Page 46622]]

Quality of Life, and Economic Development in Survey of Cape May County, 
New Jersey, EPA ICR No. 2019.01. 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 October 9, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments, referencing EPA ICR No. 2019.01 to the 
following addresses: Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Collection Strategies Division (Mail Code 2822), 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460; and to Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the ICR contact Sandy 
Farmer at EPA by phone at (202) 260-2740, by E-mail at 
[email protected], or download off the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA ICR No. 2019.01. For technical 
questions about the ICR contact Dr. Janet L. Gamble at (202) 564-3387.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Stakeholder Preferences Regarding Environmental Quality, 
Quality of Life, and Economic Development in Survey of Cape May County, 
New Jersey, EPA ICR No. 2019.01. This is a new collection.
    Abstract: The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in cooperation 
with the Global Change Research Program (GCRP) in the Office of 
Research and Development (ORD) of the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) is proposing to conduct a survey of individual residents 
and business managers in Cape May County, New Jersey. The survey will 
solicit Cape May County (NJ) residents' perceptions about their quality 
of life, how they prioritize risks to their quality of life, and their 
judgments about trade-offs among alternative actions that would reduce 
vulnerability to these risks. The focus will be on risks related to 
changes in land-use practices such as development of open land, and 
risks related to the potential for storm damages that could accompany 
sea-level rise or climate change. The survey approach also will solicit 
business managers' perceptions of direct and indirect risks from 
flooding.
    This data collection is motivated by the Mid-Atlantic Regional 
Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and 
Change (MARA), that showed that many potential impacts from climate 
change will exacerbate existing environmental stresses, particularly 
those from economic development and sea level rise. Yet little is known 
about how individuals and their communities are willing to make trade-
offs between protection of nearby ecosystems and local economic 
development. This is particularly important in coastal communities 
where a major component of many livelihoods stems from tourism based on 
ecological features such as migratory bird habitat. Paradoxically, 
development decisions to accommodate more tourists could decrease the 
habitat for the ecosystems that attract tourists. This could be 
compounded by failing to account for climate change and for the sea-
level rise that is occurring as Mid-Atlantic coastal areas subside; 
sea-level rise and climate change could affect both ecosystem habitat 
as well as developed areas. Decisions by individual citizens, 
businesses, developers, local planners, and environmental protection 
agencies could be improved by having information about the relative 
importance of a range of quality-of-life characteristics, including 
habitat and infrastructure protection, when compared with economic 
development. Because Cape May County has many of these features, it is 
an appropriate test case for identifying preferences about such trade-
offs.
    The data is being collected by Penn State University in 
collaboration with EPA/ORD Global Change Research Program, under 
Cooperative Agreement No. R-82840701-0. This survey is not associated 
with any rule-making process within the Federal government. Instead, 
Penn State will use this research to demonstrate the potential 
usefulness of such an approach for localities that want more 
information about tradeoffs related to development decisions. For Cape 
May County, the data will be used to assess the relative importance of 
quality-of-life characteristics and citizens' willingness to make 
trade-offs among actions to improve the levels and resiliency of those 
characteristics. The results will be useful most directly for (and are 
expected to be used by) the residents of Cape May County. The 
development, pretesting and revision, implementation, and analysis of 
the data will demonstrate the usefulness of the questionnaire for 
implementation by other communities facing similar issues.
    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 6, 
2001 (66 FR 18239); no comments were received.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and record keeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 12 
minutes per response. 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: Individuals/Households and 
Businesses/For Profit Entities.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2125.
    Frequency of Response: One time only.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 454 hours.
    Estimated Total Annualized Capital, O&M Cost Burden: $ 5,000.
    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 addresses listed above. Please 
refer to EPA ICR No. 2019.01 in any correspondence.

    Dated: August 23, 2001
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 01-22374 Filed 9-5-01; 8:45 am]
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