National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1463.06, OMB Control Number 2050-0096

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection, 1463.05. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2004. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before October 13, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number SFUND-2004-0002 to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email to superfund.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund Docket, Mail Code 5202T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marisa Guarinello, OSRTI, Mail Code 5204G, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 703-603-9028; fax number: 703-603-9100; email address: guarinello.marisa@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23745), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. SFUND-2004-0002, which is available for public viewing at the Superfund Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Superfund Docket is (202) 566-0276. An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket . Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select “search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above.

Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/edocket .

Title: National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) (Renewal)

Abstract: This Information Collection Request is a renewal ICR that covers the remedial portion of the Superfund Program, as specified in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 as amended (CERCLA) and the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). All remedial actions covered by this ICR (e.g., Remedial Investigations/Feasibility Studies) are stipulated in the statute (CERCLA) and are instrumental in the process of cleaning up National Priority List (NPL) sites to be protective of human health and the environment. Some community involvement activities covered by this ICR are not required at every site (e.g., Technical Assistance Grants) and depend very much on the community and the nature of the site and cleanup. All community activities seek to involve the public in the cleanup of the sites, gain the input of community members, and include the community's perspective on the potential future reuse of Superfund NPL sites. Community involvement activities can enhance the remedial process and increase community acceptance and the potential for productive and useful reuse of the sites.

The respondents on whom a burden is placed include State (and Tribal) governments and communities. Potential Responsible Parties (PRPs) are not addressed in this ICR because the Paperwork Reduction Act [5 CFR part 1320 (Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public, FRN 8/29/1995) Sect. 1320.4 (a)] does not require the inclusion of those entities that are the subject of administrative or civil action by the Agency. The ICR reports the estimated reporting and record-keeping burden hours and costs expected to be incurred by these entities and by the Federal government in its oversight capacities of State action and administration of community activities at Fund-lead NPL sites. Remedial activities undertaken by States at NPL sites are those required and recommended by CERCLA and the NCP and the cost of many of these activities may be reimbursed by the Federal government. All community involvement in the remedial process of Superfund is voluntary. Therefore, all cost estimates for community members is theoretical and does not represent expenditure of actual dollars.

States have responsibilities at new and on-going State-lead sites and at all State-lead, Federal-lead, and Federal Facility sites entering the remedial phase of Superfund. All other remedial activities taken by the State are done so at sites at which the State voluntarily assumes the lead agency role. Over each year of this ICR the State will be completing remedial activities at sites that entered the remedial phase of Superfund at different times.

Community members' participation in remedial activities at Superfund sites is purely voluntary and the level of involvement varies greatly depending on the complexity of the site, its location (urban vs. rural, industrial vs. residential, etc.), and the level of interest.

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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 8.4 hours per response.

Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Respondents/Affected Entities: State, Tribal, or local governments, and individuals or households.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,970.

Frequency of Response: As required.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 71,165.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $4,158,759, which includes $0 annualized capital, $849,624 O&M costs, and $3,309,135 for Respondent Labor costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 114,745 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. There were two avenues for change in the renewal of the ICR: (1) Omission of items the Paperwork Reduction Act does not require, (2) programmatic changes. Programmatic changes include the rate at which the Superfund program is able to address NPL sites and the timeline of the cleanup program as a whole as to the remedial stages of many of the sites. Other changes in burden hours and costs to respondents reflect the fact that the assumptions and resources used to obtain the numbers were not included in the previous renewal of the ICR. Assumptions and resources have been well documented in this Supporting Statement, and O&M costs have been broken out of the previously unseparated “other” costs.