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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 93575-93576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27729]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OEI-2006-0037; FRL-12444-01-OMS]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Exchange Network Grants Progress Reports (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Exchange Network Grants Program 
(EPA ICR Number 2207.09, OMB Control Number 2025-0006) 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 November 30, 2024. Public comments 
were previously requested via the Federal Register on September 19, 
2024 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 December 27, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA ICR 
Number 2207.09, OMB Control Number 2025-0006 to EPA online using 
www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), 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: Erin McGown, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; email address: 
[email protected].

[[Page 93576]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a proposed extension of the ICR, 
which is currently approved through November 30, 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 September 19, 2024 (89 FR 76826) during a 60-day comment period. 
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 Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of 
Mission Support provides funding via grants to EPA's Exchange Network 
partners (states, territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes) 
to support the development of the Exchange Network (EN). The EN 
facilitates the sharing of environmental data, especially through 
shared and reusable services; streamlines data collection and exchanges 
to improve timeliness for decision making; increases the quality and 
access to environmental data; reduces burden and costs for co-
regulators and the regulated community; supports better decisions on 
environmental and health issues; and increases capacity for 
environmental data management for tribes and U.S. territories. As part 
of the terms and conditions of the EN grant program, recipients are 
required to submit the following forms: (i) Semi-Annual Progress 
Reports (EPA Form 5300-26) twice annually throughout the lifetime of 
the project, Final Progress Report (EPA Form 5300-26) within 120 
calendar days after the period of performance end date, and the IT 
Component and Project Registration Form, at the time of grant close-
out. The information gathered on items (i) and (ii) help EPA to ensure 
that projects are on schedule to meet identified project goals and 
produce high quality environmental outputs. The registration form (item 
iii) provides a detailed summary of the completed project and any 
developed/reused IT components; this information is made available to 
future applicants to inform the development of their proposed projects, 
promote the reuse of technologies, and connect to potential project 
partners and mentors.
    Form Numbers: 5300-26.
    Respondents/affected entities: Employees of state, tribal, or 
territorial environmental government offices.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Required to obtain or retain a 
benefit (2 CFR part 200, ``Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost 
Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards).
    Estimated number of respondents: 223 (149 semi-annually for the 
semi-annual progress report form; 38 annually for the IT Component and 
Project Registration Form, and 38 annually for the Final Progress 
Report Form).
    Frequency of response: EPA assumes that each grant recipient will 
submit two Semi-Annual Progress Report Forms each year the grant is 
active. In addition, the grantees will submit the Final Progress Report 
to RENC no later than 120 days after the grant performance period end 
date. At this time, the IT Component and Project Registration Form will 
likewise be submitted.
    Total estimated burden: 493 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 
5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $29,530 (per year), includes $0 annualized 
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a slight decrease of 15 (493 
hours in 2024 vs 508 hours in 2021) hours in the total estimated 
respondent burden as compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. 
The number of open active grants each year was estimated at 149, which 
matches the 2021 estimate, as the number of new assistance agreements 
has remained consistent since 2021. Estimates for the Final Progress 
Reporting Form is also very similar to the 2021 estimate, with only a 
slight increase in the number of expected closed-out grants (from 36 in 
2021 to 38 in 2024). This slight increase reflects an expectation for 
more EN assistance agreements to close out in the upcoming years, as 
projects which were initially delayed due to workplace changes 
associated with COVID-19 are now being completed. The slight decrease 
in burden hours for respondents can be attributed primarily to the 
retiring of the Quality Assurance Reporting Form, which was previously 
required within 90 days of each new assistance agreement. There was a 
new form added for this ICR, which was not present in the 2021 version. 
The IT Component and Project Registration Form is a fillable PDF form, 
that is submitted by the grantee to their Regional Exchange Network 
Coordinator (RENC) at the time of grant close-out. As this form is due 
at the time of grant close-out, the estimated number matches the 
estimated number of Final Progress Reports (38). This new form is 
estimated to take 2 hours to complete, which is a decrease of 0.6 
compared to the retired Quality Assurance Reporting Form.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-27729 Filed 11-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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