[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28378-28379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11500]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2012-0104; FRL-9516-7]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Brownfields Program--
Accomplishment Reporting (Renewal)

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 June 13, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-2012-0104, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by email to [email protected], or by mail to: 
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, 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 Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Lentz, Office of Brownfields 
and Land Revitalization, (5105T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 
566-2745; fax number (202) 566-1476; email 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 February 10, 2012 (77 FR 7143), EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received one comment during the 
comment period, which was not relevant to this ICR, and is not 
addressed in the ICR. Any additional comments on this ICR should be 
submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice.
    The EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-2012-0104, which is available for online viewing at 
www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Superfund 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 Superfund Docket is 202-566-9744.
    Use the EPA's electronic docket and comment system at 
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 the EPA's policy is that public 
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made 
available for public viewing at www.regulations.gov as the

[[Page 28379]]

EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains 
copyrighted material, confidential business information (CBI), or other 
information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For 
further information about the electronic docket, go to 
www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Brownfields Program--Accomplishment Reporting (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2104.04, OMB Control No. 2050-0192.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2012. 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 the 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: The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields 
Revitalization Act (Pub. L. 107-118) (``the Brownfields Amendments'') 
was signed into law on January 11, 2002. The Act amends the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA), as amended, and authorizes the EPA to award cooperative 
agreements to states, tribes, local governments, and other eligible 
entities to assess and clean up brownfields sites. Under the 
Brownfields Amendments, a brownfield site means real property, the 
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the 
presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or 
contaminant. For funding purposes, the EPA uses the term ``brownfield 
property(ies)'' synonymously with the term ``brownfield sites.'' The 
Brownfields Amendments authorize the EPA to award several types of 
cooperative agreements to eligible entities on a competitive basis.
    Under subtitle A of the Small Business Liability Relief and 
Brownfields Revitalization Act, States, tribes, local governments, and 
other eligible entities can receive assessment cooperative agreements 
to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community 
involvement related to brownfields properties; cleanup cooperative 
agreements to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields properties; 
cooperative agreements to capitalize revolving loan funds and provide 
subgrants for cleanup activities; and job training cooperative 
agreements to support the creation and implementation of environmental 
job training and placement programs. Under Subtitle C of the Small 
Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, State and 
tribes can receive cooperative agreements to establish and enhance 
their response programs. The cooperative agreements support activities 
necessary to establish or enhance four elements of state and tribal 
response programs and to meet the public record requirements under the 
statute. The four elements eligible for funding include: (a) Timely 
survey and inventory of brownfield sites in the State or in the tribal 
land; (b) oversight and enforcement authorities or other mechanisms and 
resources; (c) mechanisms and resources to provide meaningful 
opportunities for public participation; and (d) mechanisms for approval 
of a cleanup plan and verification and certification that cleanup is 
complete. States and tribes that receive funding under subtitle C must 
establish a public record system during the funding period unless an 
adequate public record system is already established.
    Cooperative agreement recipients (recipients) have general 
reporting and record keeping requirements as a condition of their 
cooperative agreement that result in burden. A portion of this 
reporting and record keeping burden is authorized under 40 CFR Parts 30 
and 31 and identified in the EPA's general grants ICR (OMB Control 
Number 2030-0020). The EPA requires Brownfields program recipients to 
maintain and report additional information to the EPA on the uses and 
accomplishments associated with the funded brownfields activities. The 
EPA uses several forms to assist recipients in reporting the 
information and to ensure consistency of the information collected. The 
EPA uses this information to meet Federal stewardship responsibilities 
to manage and track how program funds are being spent, to evaluate the 
performance of the Brownfields Cleanup and Land Revitalization Program, 
to meet the Agency's reporting requirements under the Government 
Performance Results Act, and to report to Congress and other program 
stakeholders on the status and accomplishments of the program.
    This ICR addresses the burden imposed on recipients that are 
associated with those reporting and recordkeeping requirements that are 
specific to cooperative agreements awarded under the Small Business 
Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1.22 
hours per response. It is estimated to average 4 hours per response for 
Job Training recipients, and 1.25 hours per response for subtitle A 
assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund and subtitle C recipients. 
Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, 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 procedures 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: State, Local, and Tribal 
Governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,007.
    Frequency of Response: Bi-Annual for subtitle C recipients; 
Quarterly for subtitle A recipients.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,167 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $308,911, includes $0 annualized 
capital or O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 13,383 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This reflects the EPA's updating of burden 
estimates for this collection based on an increase in number of 
experienced recipients familiar with reporting requirements, a lowered 
number of responses based on previous data submission, and improvements 
in the Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES) 
reporting database.

John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2012-11500 Filed 5-11-12; 8:45 am]
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