Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 128 / Monday, July 3, 2000 / Notices 41067

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6728–7]

Agency Information Collection

Activities; Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request; Tolerance

Petitions for Pesticides on Food/Feed

and New Inert Ingredients

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Submission to OMB.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice

announces that the Information

Collection Request (ICR) has been

forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and

approval: Tolerance Petitions for

Pesticides on Food/Feed and New Inert

Ingredients, [EPA ICR No. 0597.07,

OMB No. 2070–0024]. The ICR, which

is abstracted below, expires on June 30,

2000. The ICR describes the nature of

the information collection and its

estimated cost and burden. The Agency

is requesting that OMB renew approval

of the ICR for a three year period. On

June 9, 1999 (64 FR 30988), EPA

solicited comment on this ICR pursuant

to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received

comments, which have been addressed

in this ICR prior to submission to OMB.

DATES: Additional comments may be

submitted on or before August 2, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For a copy of

the ICR contact Sandy Farmer by phone

at 202–260–2740, by e-mail at

farmer.sandy@epa.gov, or download off

the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/icr

and refer to EPA ICR No. 0597.07 and

OMB Control No. 2070–0024.

ADDRESSES: Send comments, referencing

the proper ICR numbers, to the

following addresses: Sandy Farmer, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Collection Strategies Division (2822),

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,

N.W.,Washington, DC 20460; and to

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer

for EPA, 725 17th Street, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20503.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Tolerance Petitions for

Pesticides on Food/Feed and New Inert

Ingredients [EPA ICR No. 0597.07, OMB

No. 2070–0024]. This is a request to

renew a currently approved information

collection pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.12.

Abstract: The use of pesticides to

increase crop production may result in

pesticide residues in or on the crop. To

protect the public health from unsafe

pesticide residues, the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits on

the nature and level of residues

permitted. Food or feed commodities

found to contain pesticide residues in

excess of established tolerances are

considered adulterated, and are subject

to seizure. This ICR covers all requests

for tolerances, or exemptions from the

requirement of a tolerance, for both

active and inert ingredients in

pesticides. The type of data that are

required to be submitted is dependent

on the type of tolerance that is sought.

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 are listed

in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter

15.

Burden Statement: Under the PRA,

‘‘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. The annual respondent

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to average 1,726 hours per

petitioner. No forms are associated with

this collection, however, petitioners

must submit information related to: (1)

The name, chemical identity, and

composition of the pesticide chemical;

(2) chemical use; (3) safety reports; (4)

residue test results; (5) residue removal;

(6) proposed MRLs for the pesticidal

chemical; (7) reasonable grounds in

support of the petition; (8) an analysis

of factors relevant to the provisions of

FQPA, specifically, aggregate exposure,

children’s exposure, special

sensitivities, cumulative effects and

endocrine disruptor effects; 9) an

informative summary of the petition or

application, including a summary of the

supporting data, information,

accompanying rationales, and a

statement providing permission to

publish such summary; and a cover

letter and fee. The following is a

summary of the estimates taken from the

ICR:

Respondents/Affected Entities: Any

person seeking a tolerance action.

Estimated Number of Annual

Respondents: 150.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated total annual responses for

each respondent: 1.

Estimated Total Annual Burden:

258,900 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Non-labor

Costs: $0.

Changes in Burden Estimates: The

total burden associated with this ICR

has increased from 216,300 hours in the

previous ICR to 258,900 for this ICR.

This increase in burden represents a

change in the underlying statutory

requirements under which the Agency

may take a tolerance action. The ICR

provides a more detailed description of

these changes and the activities

currently related to this ICR. As such,

the Agency considers this to be a

program change.

According to the procedures

prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12, EPA has

submitted this ICR to OMB for review

and approval. Any comments related to

the renewal of this ICR should be

submitted within 30 days of this notice,

as described above.

Dated: June 21, 2000.

Oscar Morales,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.

[FR Doc. 00–16755 Filed 6–30–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6729–1]

Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle

Budgets in Submitted State

Implementation Plans for

Transportation Conformity Purposes;

District of Columbia, Maryland,

Virginia; Revised Phase II Plans for the

Metropolitan Washington D.C. Ozone

Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy status.

SUMMARY: EPA is announcing that the

motor vehicle emissions budgets for the

out-years 2015 and 2020 (budgets)

established in revised Phase II Plans for

the Metropolitan Washington DC Ozone

Nonattainment Area are adequate for

transportation conformity purposes. The

revised Phase II Plans which establish

these out-year budgets were submitted

by the District of Columbia on March

22, 2000, and by the State of Maryland

and Commonwealth of Virginia on

March 31, 2000 as State Implementation

Plans (SIPs) revisions. These SIP

revisions consist of revisions to the

attainment plan for the Metropolitan

Washington D.C. Ozone Nonattainment

Area and have been made to establish

revised out-year budgets for 2015 and

2020. EPA has found these out-year

budgets adequate for transportation

conformity purposes.

DATES: The finding that these out-year

budgets of the revised attainment plan

are adequate was made in letters dated

June 22, 2000 from EPA Region III to the

District of Columbia, the State of

Maryland and the Commonwealth of

41068 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 128 / Monday, July 3, 2000 / Notices

Virginia. This adequacy finding is

effective on July 18, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

T. Wentworth, P.E., U.S. EPA, Region

III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA.

19103 at (215) 814–2183 or by e-mail at:

wentworth.paul@epa.gov .

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Throughout this document ‘‘we, us,’’ or

‘‘our’’ refer to EPA. The word ‘‘budgets’’

refers to the motor vehicle emission

budgets for volatile organic compounds

(VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) for

the out-years 2015 and 2020. The word

‘‘SIP’’ in this document refers to the

revised Phase II SIPs submitted on

March 22, 2000, March 31, 2000 and

March 31, 2000 by the District,

Maryland and Virginia , respectively.

The revised Phase II SIPs consist of the

revised attainment plan for the one-hour

National Ambient Air Quality Standard

(NAAQS) for ozone for the Metropolitan

Washington DC Nonattainment Area.

On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit

Court ruled that budgets contained in

submitted SIPs cannot be used for

conformity determinations until EPA

has affirmatively found them adequate.

By transmittal letters dated as shown

below, the District, Maryland, and

Virginia each formally submitted

revisions to the attainment plan for the

purpose of establishing out-year budgets

for 2015 and 2020 for the Metropolitan

Washington DC Ozone Nonattainment

Area. The revised Phase II SIPs

submittal dates are:

The District of Columbia—March 22,

2000;

Maryland—March 31, 2000;

Virginia—March 31, 2000.

On April 24, 2000, we posted the

availability of these revised Phase II

SIPs and their budgets on our

conformity website for the purpose of

soliciting public comment on the

adequacy of the budgets. The comment

period closed on May 24, 2000.

On June 22, 2000, EPA Region III sent

letters to the District of Columbia, the

State of Maryland and the

Commonwealth of Virginia which

constituted final Agency actions on the

adequacy of the budgets contained in

the revised Phase II SIPs. Those actions

were EPA’s finding that the mobile

budgets contained in the revised

attainment plan are adequate for

transportation conformity purposes. As

a result of our finding, the budgets

contained in the submitted revised

attainment plans for the Metropolitan

Washington D.C. Nonattainment Area

may be used for future conformity

determinations. This is an

announcement of an adequacy finding

that we already made on June 22, 2000.

The effective date of this finding is July

18, 2000. This finding will also be

announced on EPA’s website: http://

www.epa.gov/oms/traq (once there,

click on the ‘‘Conformity’’ button, then

look for ‘‘Adequacy Review of

Submissions for Conformity’’). The

website will contain a detailed analysis

of our adequacy finding and our

responses to public comments.

Transportation conformity is required

by section 176 of the Clean Air Act.

EPA’s conformity rule requires that

transportation plans, programs, and

projects conform to SIPs and establishes

the criteria and procedures for

determining whether or not they do so.

Conformity to a SIP means that

transportation activities will not

produce new air quality violations,

worsen existing violations, or delay

timely attainment of the NAAQS. The

criteria by which we determine whether

a SIP’s budgets are adequate for

conformity purposes are outlined in 40

CFR 93.118(e)(4).

Please note that an adequacy finding

of the mobile budgets of a submitted SIP

is separate from EPA’s completeness

determination on that SIP, and separate

from EPA’s final action as to whether or

not the SIP is approvable. Even if we

find budgets adequate, the SIP could

later be disapproved. We describe our

process for determining the adequacy of

submitted SIP budgets in guidance

memorandum dated May 14, 1999 and

titled ‘‘Conformity Guidance on

Implementation of March 2, 1999

Conformity Court Decision.’’ We

followed this guidance in making this

adequacy finding for the budgets

contained in the revised Phase II SIPs

submitted on March 22, 2000, March 31,

2000 and March 31, 2000 by the District,

Maryland, and Virginia, respectively.

You may obtain a copy of this guidance

from EPA’s conformity web site: http:/

/www.epa.gov/oms/traq (once there,

click on the ‘‘Conformity’’ button) or by

calling the contact name listed in ‘‘For

Further Information Contact’’ section of

this notice.

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401–7671q.

Dated: June 23, 2000.

Bradley M. Campbell,

Regional Administrator, Region III.

[FR Doc. 00–16736 Filed 6–30–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[IL202–1; FRL–6728–4]

Adequacy Status of East St. Louis,

Illinois Submitted Ozone Attainment

Demonstration for Transportation

Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is

notifying the public that EPA has found

that the motor vehicle emissions

budgets in the Illinois portion of the St.

Louis ozone attainment demonstration

are adequate for conformity purposes.

On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit

Court ruled that submitted State

Implementation Plans (SIPs) cannot be

used for conformity determinations

until EPA has affirmatively found them

adequate. As a result of our finding, the

St. Louis area can use the motor vehicle

emissions budgets for volatile organic

compounds and oxides of nitrogen from

the submitted ozone attainment

demonstration for future conformity

determinations.

DATES: These budgets are effective July

18, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

finding and the response to comments

will be available at EPA’s conformity

website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq,

(once there, click on the ‘‘Conformity’’

button, then look for ‘‘Adequacy Review

of SIP Submissions for Conformity’’).

Patricia Morris, Environmental

Scientist, Regulation Development

Section (AR–18J), Air Programs Branch,

Air and Radiation Division, United

States Environmental Protection

Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson

Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604,

(312) 353–8656,

morris.patricia@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Throughout this document, whenever

‘‘we’’, ‘‘us’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean

EPA. Today’s notice is simply an

announcement of a finding that we have

already made. EPA Region 5 sent a letter

to the Illinois Environmental Protection

Agency on June 12, 2000, stating that

the motor vehicle emissions budgets for

volatile organic compounds and oxides

of nitrogen in the Illinois portion of the

St. Louis submitted ozone attainment

demonstration for 2003 are adequate.

This finding will also be announced on

EPA’s conformity website: http://

www.epa.gov/oms/traq, (once there,

click on the ‘‘Conformity’’ button, then