[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 176 (Monday, September 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55153-55155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20601]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[SFUND-2004-0002, FRL-7811-7]


National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan 
(NCP) (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1463.06, OMB Control Number 2050-0096

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 an Information Collection 
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing 
approved collection, 1463.05. This ICR is scheduled to expire on 
October 31, 2004. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to 
conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission 
is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information 
collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before October 13, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number SFUND-
2004-0002 to (1) EPA online using

[[Page 55154]]

EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email 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) 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marisa Guarinello, OSRTI, Mail Code 
5204G, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 703-603-9028; fax number: 703-
603-9100; email 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 30, 2004 (69 FR 23745), EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. SFUND-2004-0002, 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. 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 http://www.epa.gov/edocket.

Title: National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan 
(NCP) (Renewal)

    Abstract: This Information Collection Request is a renewal ICR that 
covers the remedial portion of the Superfund Program, as specified in 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act of 1980 as amended (CERCLA) and the National Oil and Hazardous 
Substance Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). All remedial actions 
covered by this ICR (e.g., Remedial Investigations/Feasibility Studies) 
are stipulated in the statute (CERCLA) and are instrumental in the 
process of cleaning up National Priority List (NPL) sites to be 
protective of human health and the environment. Some community 
involvement activities covered by this ICR are not required at every 
site (e.g., Technical Assistance Grants) and depend very much on the 
community and the nature of the site and cleanup. All community 
activities seek to involve the public in the cleanup of the sites, gain 
the input of community members, and include the community's perspective 
on the potential future reuse of Superfund NPL sites. Community 
involvement activities can enhance the remedial process and increase 
community acceptance and the potential for productive and useful reuse 
of the sites.
    The respondents on whom a burden is placed include State (and 
Tribal) governments and communities. Potential Responsible Parties 
(PRPs) are not addressed in this ICR because the Paperwork Reduction 
Act [5 CFR part 1320 (Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public, FRN 
8/29/1995) Sect. 1320.4 (a)] does not require the inclusion of those 
entities that are the subject of administrative or civil action by the 
Agency. The ICR reports the estimated reporting and record-keeping 
burden hours and costs expected to be incurred by these entities and by 
the Federal government in its oversight capacities of State action and 
administration of community activities at Fund-lead NPL sites. Remedial 
activities undertaken by States at NPL sites are those required and 
recommended by CERCLA and the NCP and the cost of many of these 
activities may be reimbursed by the Federal government. All community 
involvement in the remedial process of Superfund is voluntary. 
Therefore, all cost estimates for community members is theoretical and 
does not represent expenditure of actual dollars.
    States have responsibilities at new and on-going State-lead sites 
and at all State-lead, Federal-lead, and Federal Facility sites 
entering the remedial phase of Superfund. All other remedial activities 
taken by the State are done so at sites at which the State voluntarily 
assumes the lead agency role. Over each year of this ICR the State will 
be completing remedial activities at sites that entered the remedial 
phase of Superfund at different times.
    Community members' participation in remedial activities at 
Superfund sites is purely voluntary and the level of involvement varies 
greatly depending on the complexity of the site, its location (urban 
vs. rural, industrial vs. residential, etc.), and the level of 
interest.
    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 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 8.4 
hours 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: State, Tribal, or local governments, 
and individuals or households.

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    Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,970.
    Frequency of Response: As required.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 71,165.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $4,158,759, which includes $0 
annualized capital, $849,624 O&M costs, and $3,309,135 for Respondent 
Labor costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 114,745 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. There were two avenues for change in the renewal 
of the ICR: (1) Omission of items the Paperwork Reduction Act does not 
require, (2) programmatic changes. Programmatic changes include the 
rate at which the Superfund program is able to address NPL sites and 
the timeline of the cleanup program as a whole as to the remedial 
stages of many of the sites. Other changes in burden hours and costs to 
respondents reflect the fact that the assumptions and resources used to 
obtain the numbers were not included in the previous renewal of the 
ICR. Assumptions and resources have been well documented in this 
Supporting Statement, and O&M costs have been broken out of the 
previously unseparated ``other'' costs.

    Dated: September 1, 2004.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 04-20601 Filed 9-10-04; 8:45 am]
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