[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 149 (Monday, August 4, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45813-45815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-19743]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[SFUND-2003-0004; FRL-7538-9]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR 
No. 2104.01 to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request

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: Brownfields Program--
Revitalization Grantee Reporting. The ICR, which is abstracted below, 
describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated 
burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 3, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Follow the detailed instructions in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Maas, Office of Solid Waste and 
Emergency Response (OSWER), Office of Brownfields Cleanup and 
Redevelopment (OBCR) 5105T, U.S. EPA Headquarters, Ariel Rios Building, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 
(202) 566-2778; fax number: (202) 566-2757; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. On April 4, 2003, (68 FR 16508) EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received two comments in response 
to this notice. One comment addressed reporting provisions under the 
Agency's general assistance regulations at 40 CFR parts 30 and 31, and 
does not pertain to the reporting requirements under this ICR. The 
other comment stated that grantee burden would be reduced through 
electronic reporting. EPA agrees with the commenter and, as addressed 
in the supporting statement to the ICR, is planning to provide grantees 
the option of providing reports electronically. In addition, EPA has 
determined that information that was to be collected using the 
Brownfields Budget Profile Form will be collected on an existing, OMB-
approved grants form; therefore, the Brownfields form and its 
associated burden have been eliminated from this ICR.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. SFUND-2003-0004, which is available for public viewing at the 
Superfund Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket 
Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the 
Superfund Docket is (202) 566-0276. An electronic version of the public 
docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, 
access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to 
access those documents in the public docket that are available 
electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the 
docket ID number identified above.
    Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice, and according to the following detailed 
instructions: (1) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our 
preferred method), by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail 
to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund 
Docket, Mail Code: 5202T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460, and (2) Mail your comments to OMB at: Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: 
Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
    EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted 
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing 
in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment 
contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public 
disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment 
containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that 
material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The 
entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be 
available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the 
official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is 
otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public 
docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For 
further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal 
Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 
31, 2002), or go to www.epa.gov/edocket.
    Title: Brownfields Program--Revitalization Grantee Reporting, (EPA 
ICR Number 2104.01). This is a request for a new information 
collection. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct 
or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is 
pending at OMB.
    Abstract: The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields 
Revitalization Act (Pub. L. 107-118) (``the Brownfields Amendments'') 
was signed into law on January 11, 2002. The Act amends the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA), as amended, and authorizes EPA to award grants to states, 
tribes, local governments, and other eligible entities to assess and 
clean up brownfields sites. Under the Brownfields Amendments, a 
brownfields site means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or 
reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence 
of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. For grant funding 
purposes, EPA uses the term ``brownfields property(ies)'' synonymously 
with the term ``brownfields sites.'' The Brownfields Amendments 
authorize EPA to award several types of grants to eligible entities on 
a competitive basis. Under subtitle A of the Small Business Liability 
Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, states, tribes, local 
governments, and other eligible entities can receive assessment grants 
to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community 
involvement related to brownfields properties; cleanup grants to carry 
out cleanup activities at brownfields properties; grants to capitalize 
revolving loan funds and provide subgrants for cleanup activities; and 
job training grants to support the creation and implementation of 
environmental job training and placement programs.
    Grant recipients have general reporting and record keeping 
requirements as a condition of their grant that result in burden. A 
portion of this reporting and record keeping burden is authorized under 
40 CFR parts 30 and 31 and identified in the EPA's general grants ICR 
(OMB Control Number 2030-0020). EPA requires Brownfields program grant 
recipients to maintain and report additional information to EPA on the 
uses and accomplishments associated with the funded brownfields 
activities. EPA has prepared several forms to assist grantees in 
reporting the information and to ensure consistency of the information 
collected. EPA will use this information to meet Federal stewardship 
responsibilities to manage and track how program funds are being spent, 
to evaluate the performance of the Brownfields Cleanup and 
Redevelopment Program, to meet the Agency's reporting requirements 
under the Government Performance Results

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Act, and to report to Congress and other program stakeholders on the 
status and accomplishments of the grants program. This ICR addresses 
the burden imposed on grant recipients that are associated with those 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements that are specific to grants 
awarded under Subtitle A of the Small Business Liability Relief and 
Brownfields Revitalization Act. This ICR does not address the burden 
imposed on grant recipients who are awarded grants under Subtitle C of 
the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.
    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, and are 
identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 
hours per response for job training grant recipients, and 1.25 hours 
per response for assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund grant 
recipients. 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: Entities potentially affected by 
this action are states, tribes, local governments, and certain non-
governmental organizations that apply for and receive grants from EPA 
to support the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields properties.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 203.
    Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 7,320.
    Estimated Total Annual Capital and Operations and Maintenance Cost: 
$0.
    Changes in the Estimates: This is a new ICR and the estimated 
burden represents an increase to the total estimated burden currently 
identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens.

    Dated: July 24, 2003.
Doreen Sterling,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-19743 Filed 8-1-03; 8:45 am]
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