[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49921-49922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21556]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2015-0836; FRL-9984-87--Region 3]
Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request;
Collection of Information on Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing
Wasted Food To Support EPA's Sustainable Food Management Programs
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), ``Collection of Information on
Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Wasted Food to support EPA's
Sustainable Food Management Programs'' (EPA ICR No. 2533.02, OMB
Control No. 2050-0217) 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
request for approval of a renewal of an existing ICR. 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 December 3, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-
2015-0836 online using www.regulations.gov or by mail to: EPA Docket
Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 228221T, 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: Melissa Pennington, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 3, Mail Code 3LC33, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19103; telephone number: 215-814-3372; fax number:
215-814-3114; 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: EPA's Sustainable Food Management (SFM) Program promotes
the sustainable management of food which is a systematic approach that
seeks to reduce wasted food and its associated impacts over its' entire
lifecycle. The lifecycle of food includes use of natural resources,
manufacturing, sales, and consumption and ends with decisions on
recovery or final disposal.
[[Page 49922]]
Diversion of food waste from landfills is a critical component of this
effort. In order to effectively divert food waste from landfills,
sufficient capacity to process the diverted materials is required.
Knowledge of organics recycling capacity is needed to facilitate food
waste diversion and anaerobic digestion facilities provide a
significant amount of the needed capacity.
EPA's food recovery hierarchy prioritizes potential actions to
prevent and divert wasted food. According to the hierarchy, processing
wasted food via anaerobic digestion is a more desirable option than
landfilling or incineration because it creates more benefits for the
environment, society and the economy. Anaerobic digestion of food waste
and other organic materials generates renewable energy, reduces methane
emissions to the atmosphere, and provides opportunities to improve soil
health through the production of soil amendments. The SFM program
supports these efforts by educating state and local governments and
communities about the benefits of wasted food diversion. The SFM
program also builds partnerships with state agencies and other
strategic partners interested in developing organics recycling capacity
and provides tools to assist organizations in developing anaerobic
digestion (AD) projects.
The nationwide collection of data about AD facilities processing
food waste began in 2017 with a survey of all known AD facilities under
the initial Information Collection Request (ICR No. 2533.01). EPA
published the first annual report of findings based on this data in
July 2018. This information collection consists of a request to renew
ICR No. 2533.02 in order to continue to monitor growth and evaluate
trends in the capacity for processing of food waste and the amount of
food waste being processed via AD in the United States.
Data will be collected using electronic surveys that will be
distributed to respondents by email and will be available on EPA's AD
website.
Form numbers: EPA Form 6700-03, EPA Form 6700-04, EPA Form 6700-05.
Respondents/affected entities: Project Developers, Project Owners
or Plant Operators, and Livestock Farmers.
Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary.
Estimated number of respondents: 382 (total).
Frequency of response: Annually.
Total estimated burden: 254 hours (per year). Burden is defined at
5 CFR 1320.03(b).
Total estimated cost: $7,594 (per year), includes $0 annualized
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
Changes in estimates: The overall burden has slightly decreased
from the original ICR. For this renewal, some questions have been
revised for clarity, numerous questions have been eliminated and a
series of questions have been streamlined. The time to complete the
survey will decrease for operating years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 for
Respondents that previously provided data.
Dated: September 24, 2018.
John A. Armstead,
Director, Land and Chemicals Division, EPA Region III.
[FR Doc. 2018-21556 Filed 10-2-18; 8:45 am]
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