[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 179 (Friday, September 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46732-46733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20036]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0501; FRL-9983-76-OAR]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; 
Information Collection Request for Green Power Partnership and Combined 
Heat and Power Partnership; EPA ICR Number 2173.07 (Renewal), OMB 
Control No. 2060-0578

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an 
information collection request (ICR), ``Information Collection Request 
for Green Power Partnership and Combined Heat and Power Partnership'' 
(EPA ICR Number 2173.07 (Renewal), OMB Control No. 2060-0578) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is 
soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed 
information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension 
of the ICR, which is currently approved through March 31, 2019. 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.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 13, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2004-0501, online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by 
email to [email protected] or by mail to: EPA Docket 
Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460. EPA's policy is that all 
comments received will be included in the public docket without change 
including any personal information provided, unless the comment 
includes profanity, threats, information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Kent, Climate Protection 
Partnerships Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, MC 6202A 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: 202-343-9046; fax number: 202-343-2208; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents which explain in detail 
the information that the EPA will be collecting are available in the 
public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at 
www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone 
number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, EPA is soliciting 
comments and information to enable it 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. EPA 
will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as appropriate. 
The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for review and 
approval. At that time, EPA will issue another Federal Register notice 
to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to 
submit additional comments to OMB.
    Abstract: In 2002, EPA's Energy Supply and Industry Branch (ESIB) 
launched two partnership programs with industry and other stakeholders: 
The Green Power Partnership (GPP) and the Combined Heat and Power 
Partnership (CHPP). These voluntary partnership programs, along with 
others in the ESIB, encourage organizations to invest in clean, 
efficient energy technologies, including renewable energy and combined 
heat and power. To continue to be successful, it is critical that EPA 
collect information from these program stakeholders to ensure these 
organizations are meeting their clean energy goals and to assure the 
credibility of these voluntary non-regulatory programs.
    EPA has developed this ICR to obtain authorization to collect 
information from organizations participating in the GPP and CHPP, and 
other ESIB voluntary programs. Organizations that join these programs 
voluntarily agree to the following respective actions: (1) Designating 
a Green Power or CHP liaison and filling out a Partnership Agreement or 
Letter of Intent (LOI) respectively, (2) for the GPP, reporting to EPA, 
on an annual basis, their progress toward their green power commitment 
via a 3-page reporting form; (3) for the CHP Partnership, reporting to 
EPA information on their existing CHP projects, new project 
development, and other CHP-related

[[Page 46733]]

activities via a one-page reporting form (for projects) or via an 
informal email or phone call (for other CHP-related activities). In 
addition to these actions, organizations may voluntarily apply for 
recognition to the programs' established annual recognition events, 
which require submitting additional information. EPA uses the data 
obtained from its Partners to assess the success of these programs in 
achieving their national energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction 
goals. Partners are organizational entities that have volunteered to 
participate in either Partnership program.
    Respondents/affected entities: Entities potentially affected by 
this action are company, institutional, and public-sector organizations 
that voluntarily participate in the EPA's Green Power Partnership (GPP) 
or Combined Heat and Power Partnership (CHPP). These include both 
service and goods providing industries, educational institutions and 
non-governmental organizations, commercial and industrial 
organizations, and local, state, or federal government agencies.
    Forms: EPA-430-K-013, EPA-430-F-05-034; EPA-5900-353.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary.
    Estimated number of respondents: 6,871 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annually, on occasion, one time.
    Total estimated burden: 6,598 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $731,382 (per year), includes annualized 
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in estimates: There is minimal decrease in hours in the 
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. Since the last ICR renewal, both the GPP and CHPP have 
introduced program efficiencies to reduce program burden and simplified 
collection forms into pre-populated spreadsheets or documents. As a 
result of these changes, the average number of hours per Partner has 
decreased from 3.2 hours to 2.87 hours, but the total hourly burden for 
Partners still increased because of an increase in the number of 
Partners. For perspective on the magnitude of Partner growth, the 
number of Partners at the end of 2008 was 1,308, whereas by year-end 
2018 there was an estimated 1959 (GPP has 1546, and CHP has 413). The 
previous ICR also overestimated the growth of both programs and as 
such, the out year's number of respondents was larger than the program 
actually achieved. The GPP program is also re-evaluating program 
requirements which may have an impact on the number of respondents in 
the future. EPA will update the estimated respondent burden before 
submission to OMB for review.

    Dated: September 4, 2018.
Carolyn Snyder,
Director, Climate Protection Partnership Division.
[FR Doc. 2018-20036 Filed 9-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P