Notice2022-14678
Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; BEACH Act Grant Program (Renewal)
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 11, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 131 (Monday, July 11, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 131 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41124-41125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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 <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> (our preferred method), by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e7a8b0caa388848c8293a7829786c9808891"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4a051d670e2529212f3e0a2f3a2b642d253c">[email protected]</span></a>, 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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#91fdf0e3f8fcf4e3bffdf8e2f0d1f4e1f0bff6fee7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c7aba6b5aeaaa2b5e9abaeb4a687a2b7a6e9a0a8b1">[email protected]</span></a>.
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
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> 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 <a href="http://www.epa.gov/dockets">http://www.epa.gov/dockets</a>.
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]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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