[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 182 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52897-52898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20562]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPAHQ-OAR-2004-0501; FRL-8938-01-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 22, 2021.

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: Rebecca Taylor, Climate Protection 
Partnerships Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, MC 6202A 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-5211; 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 2001, 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 electricity 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 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

[[Page 52898]]

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: 761 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annually, on occasion, one time.
    Total estimated burden: 1,445 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $81,314 (per year), includes annualized 
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in Estimates: There is a substantial 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 
updated their program requirements 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 2.87 hours to 1.89 hours, additionally 
the total number of partners has been drastically reduced in both 
programs. For perspective on the magnitude of Partner decline, the 
number of Partners at year-end of 2018 there was an estimated 1959 (GPP 
has 1546, and CHP has 413). As of submitting this ICR the total of 
partners reporting annually is 761 (GPP has 751, and CHP has 10). The 
decrease in cost is due to O&M cost being mistakenly included in the 
past ICR. This ICR does not include O&M due to them not being relevant.

Jean Lupinacci Rausch,
Acting Director, Climate Protection Partnership Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-20562 Filed 9-22-21; 8:45 am]
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