[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8581-8583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3356]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2003-0039, FRL-7875-5]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Reporting Requirements for BEACH Act Grants, EPA ICR 
Number 2048.01, OMB Control Number 2040-0244

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

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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 
continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request to renew an existing 
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2005. 
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 April 25, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0039, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to 
[email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Water Docket (4101T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lars Wilcut, Standards and Health 
Protection Division, Office of Science and Technology (4305T), 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0447; fax number: 
(202) 566-0409; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this 
ICR under Docket ID number OW-2003-0039, which is available for public 
viewing at the Water 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 Water Docket is (202) 566-2422. 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 http://www.epa.gov./edocket.
    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
those coastal and Great Lakes state, local, and tribal governments 
which are eligible for BEACH Act grants. These are governments that 
develop and implement programs for monitoring and notification of 
coastal (marine and Great Lakes) recreation waters adjacent to beaches 
or similar points of access that are used by the public.
    Title: Reporting Requirements for BEACH Act Grants.
    Abstract: Congress passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment and 
Coastal Health (BEACH) Act in October 2000 to amend the Clean Water 
Act, in part 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 recipient to collect 
and submit information to EPA as a condition for receiving the grant. 
Section 406(b) requires a grant recipient to provide the factors that 
the state or local government uses to prioritize funds and a list of 
waters for which the grant funds will be used. Section 406(b) also 
requires that a grant recipient's program be consistent with the 
performance requirements set by EPA under section 406(a); EPA needs 
information from the grant recipients to determine if the monitoring 
and notification programs are consistent with these criteria. On July 
19, 2002, EPA published the National Beach Guidance and Required 
Performance Criteria for Grants (67 FR 47540). Section 406(b) also 
requires that a grant recipient 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) requires a grant recipient 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 covered by this ICR 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).
    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: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1,993 
hours per grant recipient per year. This burden represents a report and 
accompanying data which are submitted each year by the 35 eligible 
States and Territories. In

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subsequent years, authorized Tribes and local governments may also 
become eligible for BEACH Act grants. 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.

    Dated: February 9, 2005.
Geoffrey H. Grubbs,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 05-3356 Filed 2-18-05; 8:45 am]
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