[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57868-57870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19862]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OA-2005-0002; FRL-7978-8]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Regulatory Pilot Projects 
(Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1755.07, OMB Control Number 2010-0026

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 for a renewal of an 
existing approved collection. This ICR was scheduled to expire on 
September 30, 2005. 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 November 3, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OA-2005-
0002, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail 
to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Regulatory Innovation Pilot Projects, MC 28221T, 
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

[[Page 57869]]

for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Douglas Heimlich in the Office of 
Environmental Policy Innovation may be reached by phone at (202) 566-
2234, by e-mail at [email protected], or by FAX at (202) 566-
2200. Or, contact Dr. Gerald Filbin in the Office of Environmental 
Policy Innovation at (202) 566-2182, by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by FAX at (202) 566-2211.

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 June 8, 2005 (70 FR 33472), 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. OA-2005-0002, which is available for public viewing at the Office 
of the Administrator 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 Office of the Administrator 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 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: Regulatory Pilot Projects (Renewal).
    Abstract: In March 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
initiated Regulatory Innovation Pilot Projects in response to a 
challenge to transform the environmental regulatory system to better 
meet the needs of a rapidly changing society while maintaining the 
nation's commitment to protect human health and safeguard the natural 
environment. EPA's first regulatory innovation pilot mechanism was 
Project XL, or eXcellence and Leadership (http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL/
). EPA used Project XL to support a variety of innovation pilots to 
gather data and project experience that will help the Agency redesign 
current approaches to public health and environmental protection. 
Through site-specific agreements with project sponsors, Project XL has 
given companies, communities, local governments, military bases, and 
universities flexibility from certain environmental regulations in 
exchange for commitments to achieve superior environmental performance 
at less cost. EPA no longer accepts new projects under the XL program, 
however, EPA is completing the earlier projects initiated under Project 
XL.
    Before submitting an official Project XL proposal to EPA, the 
project sponsor typically engaged in informal discussions with EPA 
about proposal design. Once a formal proposal was submitted, EPA along 
with the corresponding state environmental agency reviewed the 
proposal. EPA based acceptance of proposals on the extent to which 
proposals met the following eight criteria: (1) Superior environmental 
performance, (2) cost savings and reduced paperwork, (3) stakeholder 
involvement, (4) innovation or pollution prevention, (5) 
transferability, (6) feasibility, (7) monitoring, reporting and 
evaluation, and (8) no shifting of risk burden. If the proposal was 
accepted, EPA and the partnering state agency negotiated the conditions 
of the proposal with the project sponsor along with other interested 
stakeholders, including local and national environmental groups and 
nearby community residents. Once an agreement was reached regarding the 
conditions of the proposal and the necessary regulatory flexibility, 
the Final Project Agreement (FPA) was signed and the project sponsor 
began implementation.
    Starting in 2002, EPA developed a new mechanism for pilot projects 
that allowed the Agency to test regulatory innovation strategically and 
on a larger scale. Information collection for the purpose of grant 
competition solicitations are covered under another Agency ICR and will 
not be included here except for burden created in pre-competition 
consultation with States on subject areas for inclusion in the annual 
State Innovation Grant solicitation. General information on the State 
Innovation Grant Program can be found at the following URL http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/).
    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: EPA estimates that each project sponsor for 
projects implemented under Project XL will use 20 hours, or 120 for all 
respondents, for the development of progress reports and a final 
project report and to address a small range of evaluation questions 
from EPA at the close of an individual project. Similarly, EPA 
anticipates that State Innovation Grants Projects may require States 
and Tribes that choose to respond to EPA's invitation to comment to 
expend up 32 hours each, annually, or 768 hours collectively (average 
of 24 States and Tribes providing comment) each year in consultation 
with EPA.
    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. 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

[[Page 57870]]

number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 
CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Companies, States or other entities 
in the voluntary Regulatory Pilot Projects.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 30.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 888 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Costs: $40,704, that includes $0 Capital or 
O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a reduction of 71,411 hours. 
This difference is largely a result of moving away from individual 
facility proposals and toward state-wide projects, thus reducing 
substantially the number of pre-proposal submissions for testing while 
focusing on larger, more systems-change oriented projects. This 
difference is also a result of EPA's ability to refine the estimates 
based upon 10 years of experience promoting regulatory innovation and a 
better understanding of the burden requirements necessary to develop 
and submit proposals for innovative pilot projects, and an improved 
understanding of innovative pilot projects and how to develop them.

    Dated: September 22, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-19862 Filed 10-3-05; 8:45 am]
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