[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 50 (Monday, March 15, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12152-12153]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5765]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OA-2003-0006, FRL-7636-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Innovation Database Information Collection, EPA ICR 
Number 2128.01

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 a 
proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request for a new collection. 
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 1, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OA-2003-
0006, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to 
[email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, OEI Docket, 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marc Olender, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: (202) 566-2238; fax number: (202) 566-2200; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this 
ICR under Docket ID number OA-2003-0006, which is available for public 
viewing at the OEI 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 OEI 
Docket is (202) 566-1752. An electronic version of the public docket is 
available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. 
Use EDOCKET to obtain a copy of the draft collection of information, 
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 within 
60 days of this notice. 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.
    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
State regulatory agencies.
    Title: State Input to the EPA Innovation Catalogue.
    Abstract: The Innovation Catalogue is a searchable Web-based 
database containing over 500 innovative projects from across the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is hosted on the EPA's 
Intranet. The Innovation Catalogue is one of the Agency's tools for 
communicating and fostering the transfer of our innovation experience. 
It has been used to identify pollution prevention case study 
candidates, and has also proven to be a valuable means of providing 
quarterly reports on the Agency's innovation activities and 
accomplishments to the Administrator. The Innovation Catalogue has 
expanded EPA's professional tool box for solving environmental problems 
innovatively.
    Thus far, the Catalogue has only been accessible to EPA staff for 
viewing and editing via a password-protected Intranet site. However, 
the Agency is proposing to make the Catalogue accessible to State 
government staff. State staff who are interested in accessing the 
database could request a password, after which they would be granted 
access to the Catalogue. Once registered, they would be given viewing 
and submittal access. State officials with passwords would be able to 
contribute innovations of their own for publication in the database, 
and in addition, they would be granted editing access to projects that 
they submitted.
    State involvement with the Innovation Catalogue would be voluntary. 
EPA would work with State organizations and State trade associations, 
such as the Environmental Council of States, to publicize the 
availability of the database. EPA would encourage voluntary State 
involvement in the database by asking state environmental agencies to 
contribute their own innovative projects for consideration and 
publication in the

[[Page 12153]]

Innovation Catalogue. State staffers would input their innovative 
projects directly into the Catalogue using a predefined template. State 
input into the Catalogue would enrich the database with a larger and 
more diverse range of innovative projects. By sharing information on 
innovative approaches between the EPA and its State partners, both EPA 
and the States would benefit from using more cost-effective and 
creative techniques of environmental protection.
    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 in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
    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: EPA estimates that each State will submit 15 
entries to the Innovation Catalogue per year. We have derived this 
estimate from our discussions with Innovation Coordinators in the 
Regions. Each entry will take approximately one hour. We anticipate 
that each State will revise and update its entry twice a year, which 
will also take an hour. Average State salaries were obtained from the 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employer Costs for Employee 
Compensation (ECEC) data from December 2002. The calculations 
summarizing these estimates follow in the table below.

             Table 1.1.--Summary of Annualized Respondent Burden, January 1, 2004-December 31, 2007
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                                                  Facility/state     Facility
                                                   burden hours     burden cost    Total burden    Total burden
                                                        \1\             \2\          hours \3\         cost
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State Submissions to the Catalogue
New Submissions for Consideration...............              30          $37.47            1500      $56,205.00
Revising Published Submissions..................              30           37.47            1500       56,205.00
Summary:
    Total Respondent Burden, 2004-2007..........             180           37.47            9000      337,230.00
    Annualized Total Respondent Burden..........              60           37.47            3000      112,410.00
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\1\ EPA estimates burden hours by assuming each State will submit 15 new entries per year, with each new
  submission requiring 2 hours. EPA estimates that each State will submit a revision of each submission every
  six months, and revisions will only require 1 hour.
\2\ EPA estimates hourly non-EPA labor rates from several sources. For State Government and Respondent wages,
  EPA uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) data from December
  2002 (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t04.htm and http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t12.htm,
  respectively). Consistent with the Office of Management and Budget's 1999 guidance Estimating Paperwork Burden
  (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/5cfr1320.html), EPA uses an adjusted labor rate reflective of benefits
  and overhead costs.
\3\ Calculated by multiplying the Facility Burden Hours by the Number of Facilities/States.
\4\ Calculated by multiplying the Total Burden Hours by the FacilityBurden Cost.


    Dated: March 1, 2004.
Elizabeth A. Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation.
[FR Doc. 04-5765 Filed 3-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P