[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5888-5889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01806]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0691; FRL-11707]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Implementation of the Fine Particulate Matter 
(PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an

[[Page 5889]]

information collection request (ICR), Implementation of the Fine 
Particulate Matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (EPA ICR Number 2258.06; OMB Control Number 2060-0611) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed 
extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through January 31, 
2024. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal 
Register on August 15, 2023, during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before February 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2013-069, to EPA 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.
    Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Leigh Herrington, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Mailcode C539-01, Post Office Box 12055, Research Triangle Park, NC 
27711; telephone number: (919) 541-0882; fax number: (919) 541-2225; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a proposed extension of the ICR, 
which is currently approved through January 31, 2024. 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.
    Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register 
on August 15, 2023, during a 60-day comment period (88 FR 55453). This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. 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.
    Abstract: The PM2.5 NAAQS State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) Requirements Rule (PM2.5 SIP Requirements Rule) was 
effective on October 24, 2016 (81 FR 58010, August 24, 2016). This rule 
provides the framework of Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements for air 
agencies to develop state implementation plans to attain and maintain 
the PM2.5 NAAQS. States have applied this framework to 
develop attainment plans and redesignation requests and maintenance 
plans for areas designated nonattainment for the 1997 PM2.5 
NAAQS, the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2012 PM2.5 
NAAQS. This proposed ICR renewal covers the period February 1, 2024-
January 31, 2027.
    The initial ICR finalized with the PM2.5 NAAQS SIP 
Requirements Rule estimated, for the 3 years following the ICR approval 
date, the burden associated with plan development and plan revisions 
related to ongoing implementation efforts in 31 areas designated 
nonattainment for the 1997, 2006 and/or 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS. 
The estimates included the burden to develop and submit, and the burden 
to the EPA to review and to approve or disapprove, attainment plans to 
meet the requirements prescribed in CAA sections 110 and part D, 
subparts 1 and 4 of title I. A PM2.5 NAAQS attainment plan 
contains rules and other measures designed to improve air quality and 
achieve the NAAQS by the deadlines established under the CAA. It also 
must address several additional CAA requirements related to 
demonstrating timely attainment and must contain contingency measures 
in the event the nonattainment area does not achieve reasonable further 
progress throughout the attainment period or in the event the area does 
not attain the NAAQS by its attainment date. States that have attained 
by the applicable attainment date may be eligible to submit a 
redesignation request and maintenance plan to receive a redesignation 
from ``nonattainment'' to ``attainment.'' After a state submits an 
attainment or maintenance plan, the CAA requires the EPA to take action 
on the plan. Tribes located within the geographic boundary of a 
nonattainment area may develop or submit attainment plans, but they are 
not required to do so.
    This ICR supersedes the existing ICR--for which the EPA is 
proposing renewal in this action--for purposes of PM2.5 
NAAQS implementation.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: State and local governments.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory.
    Estimated number of respondents: 12.
    Frequency of response: Once per triggering event (i.e., an air 
agency is required to revise and submit a SIP revision when the area is 
initially designated as nonattainment, reclassified to a higher 
classification, when an areas fails to achieve reasonable further 
progress, when a Serious nonattainment area fails to timely attain, 
and/or when a state requests redesignation for a PM2.5 
nonattainment area that attains the NAAQS).
    Total estimated burden: 24,900 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $1.76M (present value per year), which 
includes $0 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 1800 hours of 
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. This decrease is due to the reduction in nonattainment 
areas from 18 to 12. While the hours decreased due to the fewer number 
of respondents, there is a present-day value increase in estimated 
costs due to the increase in labor rates and the need for several areas 
to continue to develop plans to help address complex air quality 
issues.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-01806 Filed 1-29-24; 8:45 am]
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