[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39013-39014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15439]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2008-0357, FRL-8688-8]


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 (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 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 25, 2008. 
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 September 8, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2008-
0357, to EPA online at Regulations.gov using the Comment or Submission 
function (our preferred method), by hand delivery to the EPA Docket 
Center (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC (during normal hours of operation), or by mail to: EPA 
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Docket (2822T), 
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-2008-0357, which is available for public 
viewing at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA 
West, Room 3334, 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) 566-2426. An electronic version of the public 
docket is available through the Regulations.gov Web site (http://www.regulations.gov/). Use Regulations.gov 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, then key in the docket ID number identified above 
in the Comment or Submission field. 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

[[Page 39014]]

viewing on Regulations.gov without change as they are received by EPA, 
with the exception of comments containing copyrighted material, 
confidential business information (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 on 
Regulations.gov. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted 
material, will be available in the public docket. For those comments 
containing information claimed as CBI, or information otherwise 
restricted by statute, that material will be identified as an item in 
the official docket but will not be included in the official public 
docket or available for public viewing on Regulations.gov. 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 online at: http://www.regulations.gov.
    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 the 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 state and local 
governments to develop and implement programs for the monitoring and 
public notification of coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches or 
similar points of access that are used by the public upon satisfaction 
of the requirements of the BEACH Act. The Section obligates a grant 
recipient to collect and submit information to EPA as a condition for 
receiving the grant. Specific provisions of 406(b) include the 
requirements that a grant recipient submit the factors used to 
prioritize funds and a list of waters for which the grant funds will be 
used, and that a grant recipient's program be consistent with the 
performance requirements set by EPA under section 406(a). EPA needs 
this information from the grant recipients to determine if their 
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) obligates grant recipients to submit a report to EPA describing 
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 the 
responsibility for implementing a monitoring and notification program 
to local governments, and the content of the monitoring and 
notification program.
    The information encompassed 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, and enables EPA to fulfill its obligations to make this 
information available to the public under Sections 406(e) and (g).
    An agency may not conduct nor 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 to be are submitted each year by the 40 eligible 
states and territories. In 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: (1) Review instructions; (2) 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; (3) 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; 
(4) search data sources; (5) complete and review the collection of 
information; and (6) transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

    Dated: July 1, 2008.
Ephraim King,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. E8-15439 Filed 7-7-08; 8:45 am]
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