[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60858-60860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-22959]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPPT-2004-0077; FRL-7827-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Asbestos-Containing Materials in 
Schools Rule and Revised Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan Rule, EPA 
ICR No. 1365.07, OMB No. 2070-0091

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: Asbestos-Containing Materials 
in Schools Rule and Revised Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan Rule, EPA 
ICR No. 1365.07, OMB No. 2070-0091. This is a request to renew an 
existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on 
October 31, 2004. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to 
conduct or

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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 November 12, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID Number OPPT-
2004-0077, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by 
email to [email protected] or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics (OPPT), Mailcode: 7407T, 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: Barbara Cunningham, Acting Director, 
Environmental Assistance Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 7408, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-
554-1404; 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 March 19, 2004, EPA sought comments on this renewal ICR (69 
FR 13032). EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). 
EPA received no comments during the comment period.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. OPPT-2004-0077, which is available for public viewing at the OPPT 
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 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 Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics Docket is 202-566-0280. 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: Asbestos-Containing Materials in Schools Rule and Revised 
Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan Rule.
    Abstract: The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) 
requires local education agencies (LEAs) to conduct inspections, 
develop management plans, and design or conduct response actions with 
respect to the presence of asbestos-containing materials in school 
buildings. AHERA also requires states to develop model accreditation 
plans for persons who perform asbestos inspections, develop management 
control plans, and design or conduct response actions. This information 
collection addresses the burden associated with recordkeeping 
requirements imposed on LEAs by the asbestos in schools rule, and 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements imposed on states and training 
providers related to the model accreditation plan rule.
    Responses to the collection of information are mandatory (see 40 
CFR part 763, subpart E). Respondents may claim all or part of a notice 
as CBI. EPA will disclose information that is covered by a CBI claim 
only to the extent permitted by, and in accordance with, the procedures 
in 40 CFR part 2.
    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 included on the 
related collection instrument or form, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to be 20.5 hours 
per response for schools, 140 hours per response for states, and 5.5 
hours per response for training providers. 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: Local education agencies (e.g., 
elementary or secondary school districts); asbestos training providers 
to schools and educational systems; state education departments or 
commissions; and public health programs.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Estimated No. of Respondents: 121,321.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,485,440 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Costs: $66,571,300.
    Changes in Burden Estimates: This request reflects an increase in 
the total estimated burden of 273,289 hours (from 2,212,151 hours to 
2,485,440 hours) from that currently in the OMB inventory. This 
increase is attributable to a change in the method of calculating total 
annual burden for LEAs. In previous ICRs, total burden was estimated 
for the remainder of the 30-year implementation period, then averaged 
over each of the remaining years to estimate annual burden. Because 
burden is expected to decline over time as schools abate friable ACM, 
this method produced lower annual burden estimates for the earlier 
years in the period because total burden was averaged over a larger 
number of years. For this ICR renewal, the average estimated number of 
schools of each type in the three years of the renewal period (years 
17-19 of the implementation period) is used with the unit burden 
estimates to derive an

[[Page 60860]]

annual burden estimate. This is a more transparent method since it 
relies on simple multiplication of the estimated number of respondents 
by the unit burden associated with each.

    Dated: October 4, 2004.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 04-22959 Filed 10-12-04; 8:45 am]
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