[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 26, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49176-49177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24063]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7065-5]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Reporting Requirements for BEACH Grants

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): Reporting Requirements for BEACH Act 
Grants EPA ICR No. 2048.01. 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 November 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may obtain a copy of the ICR without 
charge

[[Page 49177]]

by contacting EPA staff listed in the section below. Please send 
comments concerning this notice to the Standards and Health Protection 
Division (4305), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington DC, 20460. 
Please submit electronic comments to [email protected]. Overnight 
delivery or hand delivery should be delivered to the Standards and 
Health Protection Division at 401 M Street, SW; Room 509 West Tower; 
Washington, DC, 20460. Please see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for other 
information about comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Charles Kovtach at EPA, telephone 
202-260-3754; email [email protected]; facsimile 202-260-3754.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   
    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
those coastal and Great Lakes state, local, and tribal governments 
which are eligible for BEACH Act grants. These are governments that 
develop and implement programs for monitoring and notification of 
coastal (marine and Great Lakes) recreation waters adjacent to beaches 
or similar points of access that are used by the public.
    Title: Reporting Requirements for BEACH Act Grants, EPA ICR No. 
2048.01.
    Abstract: Congress passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment and 
Coastal Health (BEACH) Act October 2000, to amend the Clean Water Act 
in part by adding section 406 ``Coastal Recreation Water Monitoring and 
Notification.'' Section 406(b) requires EPA to make grants to States 
and local governments to develop and implement programs for monitoring 
and public notification for coastal recreation waters adjacent to 
beaches or similar points of access that are used by the public, if the 
State or local government satisfies the requirements of the BEACH Act.
    Several of these requirements require a grant awardee to collect 
and submit information to EPA as a condition for receiving the grant. 
Section 406(b) requires a grant awardee to provide the factors that the 
awardees use to prioritize funds and a list of waters for which the 
grant funds will be used. Section 406(b) also requires that a grant 
awardee's program is consistent with the performance requirements set 
by EPA under section 406(a); EPA needs information from the grant 
awardee to determine if the monitoring and notification programs are 
consistent with these criteria. On July 31, 2001, EPA published the 
draft performance criteria for BEACH Act grants (66 FR 39510, July 31, 
2001). Section 406(b) also requires that a grant awardee submit a 
report to EPA that describes the data collected as part of a monitoring 
and notification program and the actions taken to notify the public 
when water quality standards are exceeded. Section 406(c) requires a 
grant awardee to identify lists of coastal recreation waters, processes 
for States to delegate to local governments the responsibility for 
implementing a monitoring and notification program, and the content of 
the monitoring and notification program.
    The information covered by this draft ICR is required of States and 
local governments that seek to obtain BEACH Act funding. It allows EPA 
to properly review State and local governments' monitoring and 
notification programs to determine if they are eligible for BEACH Act 
grant funding. This information also enables EPA to fulfill its 
obligations to make this information available to the public as 
required by sections 406(e) and (g).
    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: The annual public reporting and record keeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 408 
hours per response for the first year of the implementation grant 
program, 281 hours per response in the second year, and 274 hours in 
the third year. This burden represents a report that is submitted once 
each year. For the first year of the grant program, 34 States and 
territories will be eligible for the grants. In subsequent years, 
authorized tribes will become eligible and local governments may become 
eligible if their State monitoring and notification programs are not 
consistent with the section 406(a) performance criteria.
    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.
    Comments: You may submit comments by mail, e-mail, or delivered by 
hand to the addresses shown in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. 
EPA will not accept facsimiles (faxes). If you mail or hand deliver 
comments, please send an original and three copies of your comments and 
enclosures (including references). If you want receipt of your comments 
acknowledged, you must include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. You 
may also submit your comments by sending an e-mail to 
[email protected] or by disk. If you do, you must submit 
electronic comments as an ASCII file, or a WordPerfect 5.1, WordPerfect 
6.1, or WordPerfect 8 file avoiding the use of special characters and 
any form on encryption, and identify these comments by the ICR No. 
2048.01 on the subject line. You may file electronic comments on this 
notice at many Federal Depository Libraries. You should not send 
confidential business information by e-mail.

    Dated: September 17, 2001.
Geoffrey H. Grubbs,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 01-24063 Filed 9-25-01; 8:45 am]
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