[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43118-43119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20600]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0162; FRL-8949-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Information Collection Request 
for Proposed Regional Haze Regulations; EPA ICR No. 1813.07, OMB 
Control No. 2060-0412

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 September 25, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2003-0162, to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by e-mail: [email protected], or by mail to: EPA 
Docket Center, Agency Information Collection Request Activities: 
Proposed Collection and Comment Request for the Regional Haze 
Regulations Docket, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0162, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, 
Mailcode: 28221T, 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 Office for EPA, 
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Todd Hawes, Air Quality Policy 
Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, (C539-04), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 
27711; telephone number: (919) 541-5591; fax number: (919) 541-0824; 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 May 8, 2009 (74 FR 21680), EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments during the 
comment period. 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-2003-0162, which is available for online viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person at the Air Docket in the EPA 
Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC 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 Air Docket 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, confidential

[[Page 43119]]

business information (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: Proposed Regional Haze Regulations (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1813.07, OMB Control No. 2060-0412.
    ICR status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2009. 
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, and 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: This ICR is for activities related to the implementation 
of EPA's 1999 regional haze rule for the time period between October 
31, 2009, and October 30, 2012, and renews the previous ICR. The 
regional haze rule, as authorized by sections 169A and 169B of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA), requires States to develop implementation plans to 
protect visibility in 156 Federally-protected Class I areas. Tribes may 
choose to develop implementation plans. For this time period, States 
will be completing their implementation plans to comply with the rule. 
Before any agency, department, or instrumentality of the Federal 
government engages in, supports in any way, provides financial 
assistance for, licenses, permits, approves any activity, that agency 
has the affirmative responsibility to ensure that such action conforms 
to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) required under the regional haze 
rule. Section 176(c) of the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) require that 
all Federal actions conform with the SIP requirements. Depending on the 
type of action, the Federal entities must collect information 
themselves, hire consultants to collect the information or require 
applicants/sponsors of the Federal action to provide the information.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 37 
hours per response. 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.
    The ICR provides a detailed explanation of the Agency's estimate, 
which is only briefly summarized here:
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 859.
    Frequency of response: Annual.
    Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 1.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 31,841 hours.
    Estimated total annual costs: $1,880,000, which is comprised of 
labor costs exclusively. This includes $0 for both capital investment 
and maintenance and operational costs.
    Changes in the Estimates. There are only minor revisions to the 
cost estimates since the last renewal of this ICR (July 11, 2006; 71 FR 
39104). The last collection request anticipated the program progressing 
from the planning stages to implementation. That transition has been 
somewhat delayed as most States were late in getting their 
implementation plans submitted by the December 2007 deadline. Also, the 
decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to both vacate 
(on July 11, 2008) and subsequently remand (on December 23, 2008) the 
Clean Air Interstate Rule has added much uncertainty to the 
implementation phase of the program. Consequently, the amount of effort 
anticipated in July 2006 remains the same today, and burden estimates 
are essentially unchanged, except for revised labor and wage rates 
using 2007 cost estimates. Also, in 2006, it was estimated that one 
Tribe would submit a SIP; however no Tribes elected to submit SIPs and 
the number of respondents has been reduced by one.

    Dated: August 20, 2009.
John Moses,
Director, Collection of Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E9-20600 Filed 8-25-09; 8:45 am]
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