[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 131 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41124-41125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14678]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0641; FRL-9984-01-OW]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; BEACH 
Act Grant Program (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to 
submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Beaches Environmental 
Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act Grant Program'' (EPA ICR No. 
2048.07, OMB Control No. 2040-0244) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA). 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 April 30, 2023. 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 September 9, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2015-0641 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: Lisa Larimer, Office of Water, Office 
of Science and Technology, Standards and Health Protection Division 
(4305T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-1017; fax number: 
(202) 566-0409; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents which explain in detail 
the information that 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 (44 United States Code 
(U.S.C.) 3501 et seq), 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: The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health 
(BEACH) Act amends the Clean Water Act (CWA) in part and authorizes the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award BEACH Act grants to 
coastal and Great Lakes states, tribes, and territories (collectively 
referred to as jurisdictions) to develop and implement beach monitoring 
and notification programs. The grants assist those jurisdictions to 
develop and implement a consistent approach to monitor recreational 
water quality; assess, manage, and communicate health risks from 
waterborne microbial contamination; notify the public of pollution 
occurrences; and post beach advisories and closures to prevent public 
exposure to microbial pathogens.
    Per CWA section 406, 33 U.S.C. 1346, to qualify for a BEACH Act 
grant, a jurisdiction must submit information to EPA documenting that 
its beach monitoring and notification program is consistent with 
performance criteria outlined in the National Beach Guidance and 
Required Performance Criteria for Grants, 2014 Edition. In addition, 
recipients of BEACH Act grants must submit water quality monitoring 
data and information on public notification actions to EPA. All beach 
program information will be collected by the EPA's Office of Science 
and Technology, stored in the Beach Advisory and Closing On-line 
Notification (BEACON) system, and accessible via EPA's Beaches website 
for use by the public; state, tribal, territorial, and local 
environmental and public health agencies; and EPA.
    This ICR renews the BEACH Act Grant Program ICR, OMB Control Number 
2040-0244, which is approved through April 30, 2023. This ICR renewal 
describes the estimated burden associated with the information 
collection of water quality monitoring data and public notification 
actions from recipients of BEACH Act grants.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Potential respondents to this ICR 
are recipients of BEACH Act grants, including 29 coastal and Great 
Lakes states, 4 tribes, 5 U.S. territories, and Erie County, 
Pennsylvania.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Required to obtain or retain a 
benefit (Section 406 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1346).

[[Page 41125]]

    Estimated number of respondents: 40 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annual; however, the Agency encourages more 
frequent reporting to provide more up-to-date information to the 
public.
    Total estimated burden: 254,634 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $17,663,581 (per year), includes $7,222,280 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance (O&M) costs.
    Changes in Estimates: There is an increase of 162,750 hours in the 
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. This increase is in response to feedback to better 
account for labor costs and to structure the ICR to better align with 
the burden associated with the present program. Specifically, the 
increase is due to three main reasons: (1) the existing ICR did not 
fully capture the respondent labor associated with collecting water 
quality samples, (2) the restructuring of actions into developmental 
and annual grant activities and subsequent recalculation of the 
associated burden, and (3) the anticipated addition of one tribal 
respondent. The total respondent cost increased by $2.1M, due to the 
changes described, an increase in the cost to analyze water samples, 
and slight increases in the salary rates. However, this increase is 
offset by a $4.3M decrease in respondent O&M cost resulting from using 
actual respondent sampling frequency data rather than previous 
estimates that overcounted sampling. Agency burden and cost increased 
by 117 hours because the existing ICR did not capture some of the labor 
associated with the administration of beach grants or the Agency O&M 
cost for contractor assistance to jurisdictions with data submission 
and maintaining the statutorily required database.

Deborah Nagle,
Director, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2022-14678 Filed 7-8-22; 8:45 am]
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