[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52716-52718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20450]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7257-9]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Continuing Collection; 
Comment Request; National Health Protection Survey of Beaches

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

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 continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: National Health 
Protection Survey of Beaches, EPA ICR Number 1814.02, OMB Control 
Number 2040-0189, expiration date 01/31/2003. 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 October 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send or deliver comments to the following addresses: Mr. 
Rick Hoffmann, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, 
Standards and Health Protection Division (4305T), 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, Washington, DC 20460. Location for Hand Delivery: EPA West 
(Connecting Wing, Room 5233LL, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the ICR without 
charge by contacting EPA staff listed in the section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Rick Hoffmann at EPA, (202) 566-
0388, by email at [email protected], or facsimile at 202-566-0409. 
Or download a copy of the ICR off the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA ICR No. 1814.02.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Health Protection Survey of Beaches (OMB Control 
No. 2040-0189; EPA ICR No. 1814.02; expiring 01/31/03).
    Abstract: Bacterial and other microbiological contaminants continue 
to pose potentially serious human health problems for the Nation's 
recreational waters, including bathing beaches. These adverse effects 
have been one of EPA's long-standing concerns. They are directly 
related to such Clean Water Act responsibilities as water quality 
standards and surface water quality, and to the Agency's efforts to 
ensure that the waters of the United States are ``fishable'' and 
``swimmable.'' In response to this concern, EPA initiated its annual 
National Health Protection Survey of Beaches (Beach Survey) starting in 
1997. This voluntary nationwide survey collects, and makes available to 
the public, information related to beach water quality including: 
monitoring agency and organization, monitoring and public notification 
procedures and responsibilities; water quality standards; advisories 
and closings; and reasons for advisories and closings.
    Currently, all beach information collected by EPA is obtained 
through the Beach Survey. However, EPA plans to significantly reduce 
the amount of information collected through the survey and instead 
obtain this information through grants to state and local governments 
awarded under the authority of the Beaches Environmental Assessment and 
Coastal Health (BEACH) Act. Since the information will be collected 
either through the Beach Survey or BEACH Act grants (but not both), 
there will be no duplication of effort and the net burden will be the 
same.
    An Information Collection Request for the BEACH Act grant program 
has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (EPA ICR 
Number 2048.01, OMB Control Number 2040-0244). Congress passed the 
BEACH Act in October 2000. The BEACH Act amended

[[Page 52717]]

the Clean Water Act by adding section 406 ``Coastal Recreation Water 
Monitoring and Notification.'' Section 406(b) authorizes 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 of receiving a 
grant. Section 406(b) requires a grant awardee to identify the factors 
that the awardee uses to prioritize use of the grant funds, and a list 
of waters that will be monitored using grant funds. Section 406(b) also 
requires that a grant awardee's program be consistent with the grant 
program performance criteria established by EPA under section 406(a). 
EPA published these program performance criteria on July 19, 2002 
(Federal Register: July 19, 2002 (67 FR 47540)). EPA needs information 
from the grant awardee to determine if the monitoring and notification 
programs are consistent with these criteria. Section 406(b) of the 
Clean Water Act also requires a grant awardee to 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) of the Clean Water 
Act 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 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).
    This BEACH Act requirement will greatly reduce the amount of 
information collected by the National Health Protection Survey of 
Beaches. However, there is still a need to conduct a limited survey. 
EPA proposes to send its voluntary survey to those agencies that are 
not eligible for BEACH grants. For example, agencies responsible for 
monitoring inland recreational waters are not eligible to receive 
grants under the BEACH Act. EPA proposes to continue collecting 
information about these inland waters because they are an important 
concern. For example, the National Health Protection Survey of Beaches 
for the 2001 swim season received information about more than 600 
inland beaches. Approximately 23% of these beaches were under advisory 
or closed at least once during the swim season due to the potential 
risk of bacteriological contamination. Therefore, water quality at 
inland bathing beach areas remains an important concern to EPA. If an 
eligible state decides not to apply for a grant, EPA would send its 
voluntary surveys to appropriate agencies. EPA will ensure that these 
surveys are not sent to agencies receiving beach grants.
    The annual Beach Survey will be sent to appropriate environmental 
health officials from State, tribal, county, and city agencies, as well 
as representatives from various interest groups. It will obtain and 
verify information on the location and condition of swimming beaches 
and the agencies and persons responsible for maintaining and issuing 
advisories or closings for those beaches. Responses to the 
questionnaire will be gathered either on paper questionnaires or 
electronically via the Internet.
    EPA will assemble the information into an electronic database and 
that can be readily analyzed and shared with responsible parties (e.g., 
EPA program and regional offices, other federal, state, tribal, county, 
and city agencies), as well as the public. The nationwide collection of 
information is conducted annually, with an average estimated number of 
respondents of approximately 300 agencies in the first year, declining 
to an estimated 50 agencies in the third year. The estimated annual 
cost for the survey per respondent is anticipated to decrease each 
year, since respondents will only be requested to provide information 
that has changed during the year.
    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 2.4 
hours per response. For the first year of the survey covered by this 
Information Collection Request it is estimated that 300 surveys will be 
completed. During the second and third years of the survey covered by 
this ICR it is estimated that 50 surveys will be received each year. 
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.
    This burden estimate assumes that there will be a major drop in 
current participants due to reporting of data through BEACH Act grants. 
However. there may be a very gradual increase in the inland, freshwater 
beach participants as interest increases in the survey.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities potentially affected by 
this action are State, County, City, and Tribal representative with 
responsibilities for assessing the impact of water contaminated by 
microbiological pollutants on persons using beaches and related 
recreational waters.
    Comments: You may submit comments by mail, e-mail, or delivered by 
hand to the addresses shown in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.


[[Page 52718]]


    Dated: August 2, 2002.
Geoffrey H. Grubbs,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 02-20450 Filed 8-12-02; 8:45 am]
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