Notice2023-03821
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica (Renewal)
Primary source
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Published
February 24, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), "Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica (Renewal)" (EPA ICR No. 1808.10, OMB Control No. 2020-0007) 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 April 30, 2023. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on August 30, 2022, during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 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 88 Issue 37 (Friday, February 24, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11913-11914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03821]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OA-2019-0370; FRL-10745-01-OMS]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities
in Antarctica (Renewal)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an
information collection request (ICR), ``Environmental Impact Assessment
of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No.
1808.10, OMB Control No. 2020-0007) 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 April 30, 2023. Public comments were
previously requested via the Federal Register on August 30, 2022,
during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30
days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given
below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 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: Additional comments may be submitted on or before March 27,
2023.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to EPA, referencing Docket ID Number
EPA-HQ-OA-2019-0370, 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#f7989e8596a88482959a9e84849e9899b7989a95d9929887d9909881"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ddb2b4afbc82aea8bfb0b4aeaeb4b2b39db2b0bff3b8b2adf3bab2ab">[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.
Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. 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: Julie Roemele, NEPA Compliance
Division, Office of Federal Activities, Mail Code 2203A, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: 202-564-5632; email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#780a171d151d141d56120d14111d381d0819561f170e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4e3c212b232b222b60243b22272b0e2b3e2f60292138">[email protected]</span></a>.
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
<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>.
Abstract: The EPA's regulations at 40 CFR part 8, Environmental
Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica (Rule),
were promulgated pursuant to the Antarctic Science, Tourism, and
Conservation Act of 1996 (Act), 16 U.S.C. 2401 et seq., as amended, 16
U.S.C. 2403a, which implements the Protocol on Environmental Protection
(Protocol) to the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 (Treaty). The Rule provides
for assessment of the environmental impacts of nongovernmental
activities in Antarctica, including tourism, for which the United
States is required to give advance notice under Paragraph 5 of Article
VII of the Treaty, and for coordination of the review of information
regarding environmental impact assessments received from other Parties
under the Protocol. The requirements of the Rule apply to operators of
nongovernmental expeditions organized or proceeding from the territory
of the United States to Antarctica and include commercial and non-
commercial expeditions.
[[Page 11914]]
Expeditions may include ship-based tours; yacht, skiing or
mountaineering expeditions; privately funded research expeditions; and
other nongovernmental activities. The rule provides nongovernmental
operators with the specific requirements they need to meet to comply
with the requirements of Article 8 and Annex I to the Protocol. The
provisions of the Rule are intended to ensure that potential
environmental effects of nongovernmental activities undertaken in
Antarctica are appropriately identified and considered by the operator
during the planning process and that to the extent practicable
appropriate environmental safeguards which would mitigate or prevent
adverse impacts on the Antarctic environment are identified by the
operator.
Environmental Documentation. Persons subject to the Rule must
prepare environmental documentation to support the operator's
determination regarding the level of environmental impact of the
proposed expedition. Environmental documentation includes a Preliminary
Environmental Review Memorandum (PERM), an Initial Environmental
Evaluation (IEE), or a Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE).
The environmental document is submitted to the Office of Federal
Activities (OFA). If the operator determines that an expedition may
have: (1) less than a minor or transitory impact, a PERM needs to be
submitted no later than 180 days before the proposed departure to
Antarctica; (2) no more than minor or transitory impacts, an IEE needs
to be submitted no later than 90 days before the proposed departure; or
(3) more than minor or transitory impacts, a CEE needs to be submitted.
Operators who anticipate such activities are encouraged to consult with
EPA as soon as possible regarding the date for submittal of the CEE.
(Article 3(4), of Annex I of the Protocol requires that draft CEEs be
distributed to all Parties and the Committee for Environmental
Protection 120 days in advance of the next Antarctic Treaty
Consultative Meeting at which the CEE may be addressed.)
The Protocol and the Rule also require an operator to employ
procedures to assess and provide a regular and verifiable record of the
actual impacts of an activity which proceeds based on an IEE or CEE.
The record developed through these measures needs to be designed to:
(a) enable assessments to be made of the extent to which environmental
impacts of nongovernmental expeditions are consistent with the
Protocol; and (b) provide information useful for minimizing and
mitigating those impacts and, where appropriate, on the need for
suspension, cancellation, or modification of the activity. Moreover, an
operator needs to monitor key environmental indicators for an activity
proceeding based on a CEE. An operator may also need to carry out
monitoring to assess and verify the impact of an activity for which an
IEE would be prepared. For activities that require an IEE, an operator
should be able to use procedures currently being voluntarily utilized
by operators to provide the required information. Should an activity
require a CEE, the operator should consult with the EPA to: (a)
identify the monitoring regime appropriate to that activity, and (b)
determine whether and how the operator might utilize relevant
monitoring data collected by the U.S. Antarctic Program. OFA would
consult with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other interested
Federal agencies regarding the monitoring regime.
Environmental documents (e.g., PERM, IEE, CEE) are submitted to
OFA. Environmental documents are reviewed by OFA, in consultation with
the NSF and other interested Federal agencies and made available to
other Parties and the public as required under the Protocol or
otherwise requested. OFA notifies the public of document availability
at: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/receipt-environmental-impact-assessments-eias-regarding-nongovernmental">https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/receipt-environmental-impact-assessments-eias-regarding-nongovernmental</a>.
The types of nongovernmental activities currently being carried out
(e.g., ship-based tours, land-based tours, flights, and privately
funded research expeditions) are typically unlikely to have impacts
that are more than minor or transitory, thus an IEE is the typical
level of environmental documentation submitted. For the 1997-1998
through 2021-2022 austral summer seasons during the time the Rule has
been in effect, all respondents submitted IEEs except for three PERMs.
Paperwork reduction provisions in the Rule that are used by the
operators include: (a) incorporation of material in the environmental
document by referring to it in the IEE, (b) inclusion of all proposed
expeditions by one operator within one IEE; (c) use of one IEE to
address expeditions being carried out by more than one operator; and
(d) use of multi-year environmental documentation to address proposed
expeditions for a period of up to five consecutive austral summer
seasons.
Form Numbers: None.
Respondents/affected entities: Entities potentially affected by
this action are all private sector respondents with activities in
Antarctica, including tour operators, for which the United States is
required to give advance notice under paragraph 5 of Article VII of the
Antarctic Treaty of 1959; this includes all nongovernmental expeditions
to and within Antarctica organized in or proceeding from the territory
of the United States.
Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 8).
Estimated number of respondents: 516 (total).
Frequency of response: Annual.
Total estimated burden: 2,988 hours (per year). Burden is defined
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
Total estimated cost: $283,860 (per year), includes $0 annualized
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
Changes in the estimates: There is an increase of 1,444 hours in
the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently
approved by OMB. This increased adjustment is the result of an
anticipated increase in the number of respondent universe, the result
of the inclusion of more complex information regarding safety and
environmental issues, more diverse tourist activities and outcomes from
current Antarctic Treaty Consultative meetings, and the accounting of a
potential PERM, CEE and Emergency Report submitted by any of the 29
anticipated operators (every three years).
Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-03821 Filed 2-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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