[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 212 (Thursday, November 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64521-64523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18497]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0407; FRL-8238-5]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Information Collection Activities 
Associated With EPA's ENERGY STAR Program in the Commercial and 
Industrial Sectors (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 1772.04, OMB Control No. 
2060-0347

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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. The ICR, which is abstracted below, 
describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated 
burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before December 4, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2006-0407, to: (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail to: 
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation 
Docket and Information Center, Mailcode: 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to: Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.


    Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding 
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing 
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary 
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of 
operation for people who wish to make hand deliveries or visit the 
Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal 
Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for

[[Page 64522]]

current information on docket operations, locations and telephone 
numbers. The Docket Center's mailing address for U.S. mail and the 
procedure for submitting comments to http://www.regulations.gov are 
not affected by the flooding and will remain the same.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Susan Bailey, Climate Protection 
Partnerships Division, Mailcode: 6202J, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: 202-343-9014; fax number: 202-343-2204; 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 June 1, 2006 (71 FR 31179), EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. Any additional 
comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days 
of this notice.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0407, which is available for online viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/
DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. 
The EPA/DC 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 Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center is 202-566-1742.
    Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at http://www.regulations.gov, to submit or view public comments, access the 
index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those 
documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the 
system, select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number 
identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public 
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made 
available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov as EPA 
receives them and without change, unless the comment contains 
copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public disclosure 
is restricted by statute. For further information about the electronic 
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Information Collection Activities Associated with EPA's 
ENERGY STAR Program in the Commercial and Industrial Sectors (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1772.04, OMB Control No. 2060-0347.
    ICR Status: This ICR is currently scheduled to expire on November 
30, 2006. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or 
sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending 
at OMB. 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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal 
Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, are displayed 
either by publication in the Federal Register or by other appropriate 
means, such as on the related collection instrument or form, if 
applicable. The display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA 
regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
    Abstract: ENERGY STAR is a voluntary program helping businesses and 
individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. 
The Program focuses on reducing utility-generated emissions by reducing 
the demand for energy. In 1991, EPA launched the Green Lights program 
to encourage corporations, State and local governments, colleges and 
universities, and other organizations to adopt energy-efficient 
lighting as a profitable means of preventing pollution and improving 
lighting quality. Since then, EPA has rolled Green Lights into ENERGY 
STAR and expanded ENERGY STAR to encompass organization-wide energy 
performance improvement, such as building technology upgrades, product 
purchasing initiatives, and employee training. At the same time, EPA 
has streamlined the reporting requirements of ENERGY STAR and focused 
on providing incentives for improvements (e.g., ENERGY STAR Awards 
Program). EPA also makes tools and other resources available over the 
Web to help the public overcome the barriers to evaluating their energy 
performance and investing in profitable improvements.
    To join ENERGY STAR, organizations are asked to complete a 
Partnership Letter or Agreement that establishes their commitment to 
energy efficiency. Partners agree to undertake efforts such as 
baselining, tracking, and benchmarking their organization's energy 
performance by using tools such as those offered by ENERGY STAR; 
developing and implementing a plan to improve energy performance in 
their facilities and operations by following the energy management 
strategy provided by ENERGY STAR; and educating staff and the public 
about their Partnership with ENERGY STAR, and highlighting achievements 
with the ENERGY STAR, where available.
    Partners also may be asked to periodically submit information to 
EPA as needed to assist in program implementation. For example, EPA 
maintains the Service and Product Provider Directory to provide the 
public with easy access to energy efficiency services and products that 
can help companies lower operating costs and increase their bottom 
line. Businesses wishing to appear in this directory are asked to 
submit a completed profile that details their services and products.
    Partnership in ENERGY STAR is voluntary and can be terminated by 
Partners or EPA at any time. EPA does not expect organizations to join 
the program unless they expect participation to be cost-effective and 
otherwise beneficial for them.
    In addition, Partners and any other interested party can help EPA 
promote energy-efficient technologies by evaluating the efficiency of 
their buildings using EPA's on-line tools (e.g., Portfolio Manager) and 
applying for recognition.
    If a claim of confidential business information (CBI) is asserted, 
EPA will manage that information in accordance with EPA's provisions on 
confidentiality.
    Burden Statement: The annual public recordkeeping and reporting 
burden for joining the ENERGY STAR program and related activities is 
expected to vary depending on the type of Partner. The burden per 
Partner is expected to range from about 2 hours for a Commercial and 
Industrial Sector Partner to prepare/submit a Partnership Letter to 7 
hours for an Energy Efficiency Program Sponsor to prepare/submit a 
Partnership Agreement and related information (e.g., a brief plan 
outlining the key activities it intends to undertake to cooperatively 
promote ENERGY STAR in the commercial and/or industrial markets). These 
burden estimates include the time for reading the instructions and 
requirements, gathering information, and preparing/submitting the 
information to EPA. The burden for benchmarking in Portfolio Manager is 
estimated to vary depending on the type of benchmarking method. The 
burden per respondent for manual benchmarking is estimated to be 30 
minutes to read Portfolio Manager instructions, 5 hours to gather and 
enter building data for a new benchmark, and 1.5 hours to perform a 
repeat benchmark. The burden per respondent for the import tool is 
estimated to be 30 minutes for reading the Portfolio Manager 
instructions and 1 hour for

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collecting building data, downloading it into the tool, and emailing it 
to EPA. The burden per respondent for ENERGY STAR Exchange Services is 
estimated to be 20 hours for the host to set up its account and 
automated process, 2 hours to collect building data and set up each 
customer, and 15 minutes per month to submit customer information to 
EPA and retrieve/relay scores to customers. The burden for entering 
information into the ENERGY STAR Energy Performance Indicator (EPI) is 
estimated to range from 10 to 15 minutes per plant. This includes time 
for reading the EPI's instructions and entering data in order to 
generate a score. Finally, the burden per respondent for applying to 
EPA for recognition is estimated to vary depending on the type of 
recognition. The burden per respondent is estimated to range from 15 
minutes for preparing/submitting a plant's energy efficiency score to 
EPA for recognition (e.g., for EPA permission to display a banner or 
plant flag) to 26.5 hours for preparing/submitting an application to 
EPA for an ENERGY STAR Award.
    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 
which have subsequently changed; 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: Organizations participating in 
ENERGY STAR in the Commercial and Industrial Sectors.
    Approximate Number of Respondents: 6,000.
    Frequency of Response: One-time, on occasion, monthly, annually, 
and/or periodically, depending on the type of respondent and 
collection.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 54,500.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $5,436,710, including $3,574,491 in 
labor costs and $1,862,219 in O&M costs. There are no capital/start-up 
costs to respondents.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 28,843 hours in 
the total estimated annual burden hours currently identified in the OMB 
Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. The majority of this decrease 
occurred because EPA adjusted the number of respondents and the burden 
for some activities based on improved and updated data and analysis. 
The burden estimates in ICR 1772.04 reflect EPA's program experience 
gained over the past three years. In addition, EPA modified some of its 
information collections to address EPA and stakeholder needs.

    Dated: October 28, 2006.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
 [FR Doc. E6-18497 Filed 11-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P