23922 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 91 / Thursday, May 10, 2001 / Notices

2010–0020; EPA ICR No. 1487.06)

expiring 09/30/01.

Abstract: This ICR authorizes the

collection of information under 40 CFR

part 35, subpart O, which establishes

the administrative requirements for

cooperative agreements funded under

the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act (CERCLA) for State, political

subdivisions, and Federally recognized

Indian tribal government response

actions. This regulation also codifies the

administrative requirements for

Superfund State Contracts for non-State

lead remedial responses. This regulation

includes only those provisions

mandated by CERCLA, required by

OMB Circulars, or added by EPA to

ensure sound and effective financial

assistance management. The

information is collected from applicants

and/or recipients of EPA assistance and

is used to make awards, pay recipients,

and collect information on how Federal

funds are being spent. EPA requires this

information to meet its Federal

stewardship responsibilities. Recipient

responses are required to obtain a

benefit (federal funds) under 40 CFR

part 31, ‘‘Uniform Administrative

Requirements for Grants and

Cooperative Agreements to State and

Local Governments’ and under 40 CFR

part 35, ‘‘State and Local Assistance.’’

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.

The EPA would like to solicit

comments 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).

Burden Statement: The current

annual reporting and record keeping

burden for this collection is estimated to

average 11.58 hours per response. The

current estimated number of annual

respondents is 361 and the estimated

total annual hour burden is 4,182 hours.

The frequency of response is as

required. 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.

Send comments regarding these

matters, or any other aspect of this

information collection, including

suggestions for reducing the burden to

the address listed above.

Dated: May 4, 2001.

Steve Caldwell,

Acting Director, State, Tribal and Site

Identification Center, Office of Emergency

and Remedial Response, Office of Solid Waste

and Remedial Response.

[FR Doc. 01–11833 Filed 5–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[IL–202; FRL–6976–9]

Adequacy Status of the Metro East St.

Louis, IL, Submitted Ozone Attainment

State Implementation Plan for

Transportation Conformity Purposes;

Notice of Withdrawal of Adequacy

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal of

adequacy.

SUMMARY: EPA has decided to withdraw

our finding of adequacy and find

inadequate the motor vehicle emissions

budgets in the Metro East St. Louis,

Illinois, ozone attainment

demonstration State Implementation

Plan (SIP) submitted on November 15,

1999, and supplemented on February

10, 2000. We are withdrawing our

adequacy finding due to a recent court

decision. The United States Court of

Appeals for the District of Columbia

Circuit decided on August 30, 2000, that

the implementation of the Nitrogen

Oxides ( NOX) SIP Call rule could not

be required before May 31, 2004. The

emission levels in the St. Louis

attainment demonstration SIP were

based on the assumption that transport

of ozone precursors into St. Louis from

upwind states would be addressed by

May 2003 pursuant to EPA’s NOX SIP

Call. Without these regional NOX SIP

Call controls in place in 2003, the Metro

East St. Louis area will not be able to

demonstrate attainment as described in

the submitted SIP. For this reason, the

motor vehicle emissions budgets for

2003 can no longer be considered

adequate and are inadequate. The notice

of the adequacy determination that is

being withdrawn was made on June 12,

2000, in a letter to the State and was

published in the Federal Register on

July 3, 2000.

DATES: The notice of adequacy is

withdrawn as of May 10, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia Morris (312–353–8656)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On June 12, 2000, EPA Region 5 sent

a letter to the Illinois Environmental

Protection Agency stating that the motor

vehicle emissions budgets for NOX and

volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in

the November 15, 1999, and

supplemented on February 10, 2000,

Metro East St. Louis ozone attainment

demonstration SIP for 2003 were

adequate for the purpose of

transportation conformity. EPA

published a notice in the Federal

Register on July 3, 2000, [65 FR 41068]

announcing that we had made an

adequacy determination for the motor

vehicle emissions budgets in the Metro

East St. Louis attainment demonstration

SIP. This finding was also announced

on EPA’s conformity website, http://

www.epa.gov/oms/traq.

Transportation conformity is required

by section 176(c) 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

conform. Conformity to a SIP means that

transportation activities will not

produce new air quality violations,

worsen existing violations, or delay

timely attainment of the national

ambient air quality standards.

EPA described the process for

determining the adequacy of submitted

SIP budgets in guidance (May 14, 1999,

memo titled ‘‘Conformity Guidance on

Implementation of March 2, 1999,

Conformity Court Decision’’). This

guidance was used in making the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 91 / Thursday, May 10, 2001 / Notices 23923

adequacy determination on the motor

vehicle emissions budgets contained in

the ozone attainment demonstration for

St. Louis. The criteria by which EPA

determines whether a SIP’s motor

vehicle emission budgets are adequate

for conformity purposes are outlined in

40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). An adequacy

review is separate from EPA’s SIP

completeness review, and it also should

not be used to prejudge EPA’s ultimate

action to approve or disapprove the SIP.

The SIP could later be disapproved for

reasons unrelated to transportation

conformity even though the budgets had

been deemed adequate.

EPA believes that a consequence of

the D.C. Circuit’s order delaying the

implementation date of the NOX SIP

Call rule is that the budgets submitted

by Illinois can no longer be considered

adequate for purposes of transportation

conformity and that these budgets are

now inadequate. This belief is based on

the fact that the attainment

demonstration relied on the expected

reductions from the NOX SIP call in

2003, whereas those reductions can not

now be assumed prior to 2004.

On November 8, 2000, EPA sent a

letter to Illinois advising Illinois of the

need to revise the Metro East St. Louis

ozone attainment demonstration and to

submit revised budgets. The revised

budgets are expected to be based on

controls that will be in place by the year

2004.

Consequently, EPA has decided to

withdraw the June 12, 2000, adequacy

determination and is instead finding

that the budgets are inadequate. EPA is

taking this action without prior notice

and comment because adequacy

determinations are not considered

rulemaking subject to the procedural

requirements of the Administrative

Procedures Act. In addition, EPA does

not believe further notice through EPA’s

conformity website is necessary in

advance because of the delay in the NOX

SIP Call implementation date, it is clear

that the budgets can no longer be

considered adequate. Consequently,

further public comment would be

unnecessary and not in the public

interest. In this action, EPA is also

withdrawing all statements and

comments previously made in relation

to its earlier determination of the

adequacy of the budgets for

transportation conformity purposes. The

substance of the budgets and any

revisions to them will be further

reviewed by EPA as part of its final

decision to on the 1-hour ozone

attainment demonstration SIP for the St.

Louis nonattainment area. This SIP was

initially submitted to EPA on November

15, 1999 and supplemented on February

10, 2000.

EPA will announce the withdrawal of

the adequacy determination and

inadequacy finding on its conformity

website, (go to http://www.epa.gov/otaq/

traq and then click on ‘‘conformity’’).

Dated: April 30, 2001.

Jerri-Anne Garl,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

[FR Doc. 01–11836 Filed 5–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6976–2]

Meeting of the Local Government

Advisory Committee and the Small

Community Advisory Subcommittee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Local Government

Advisory Committee (LGAC) and its

Small Community Advisory

Subcommittee (SCAS) will meet jointly

on June 7–8, 2001, in Washington, D.C.

The Committee will hear remarks from

the EPA Administrator, Governor

Christine Todd Whitman, and the

Associate Administrator for the Office of

Congressional and Intergovernmental

Relations, Edward D. Krenik, on

Thursday, June 7th. The LGAC

Subcommittees will provide updates on

activities since the last Committee

meeting. Other agenda topics will

include Federalism and Environmental

Management Systems. The Committee

also will discuss proposed operating

principles and revisions to its bylaws

resulting from the merger of the SCAS

with the LGAC.

The Issues Subcommittee will discuss

water infrastructure funding, land use

credits under State Implementation

plans, and sustainability. The Process

Subcommittee will discuss the Agency’s

draft Public Involvement Policy and

accountability measures for Federalism

implementation.

The Small Community Advisory

Subcommittee will meet in a separate

session on Wednesday, June 6th from 9

a.m.–5 p.m. The Subcommittee will

update activities since its meeting in

Seattle, Washington, on March 1–2,

2001. Topics will include Small

Community Funding, a

recommendation for Small Community

Advocate, Federalism, TMDL

Implementation, Sustainability, and

Enforcement Flexibility.

The SCAS will hear comments from

the public from 1:30–1:45 p.m. at its

separate meeting June 6th. The LGAC

and SCAS will hear comments from the

public between 12:30–12:45 p.m. at

their joint session on June 7. Each

individual or organization wishing to

address the combined Committee or

Subcommittee meetings will be allowed

a minimum of three minutes. Please

contact the Designated Federal Officers

(DFO) at the numbers listed below to

schedule agenda time. Time will be

allotted on a first come, first served

basis.

These are open meetings and all

interested persons are invited to attend.

Meeting minutes will be available after

the meeting and can be obtained by

written request from the DFO. Members

of the public are requested to call the

DFO at the number listed below if

planning to attend so that arrangements

can be made to comfortably

accommodate attendees as much as

possible. Seating will be on a first come,

first served basis.

DATES: The Small Community Advisory

Subcommittee meeting is scheduled

from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on

Wednesday, June 6th. The Local

Government Advisory Committee and

Small Community Advisory

Subcommittee joint meeting will begin

at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 7th and

conclude at 4:00 p.m. on June 8th.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held

in Washington, D.C. at the EPA’s

Headquarters, located at 1200

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW—the Ariel

Rios North Building. The SCAS meeting

on Wednesday will be held in

conference room 3530. The joint LGAC/

SCAS meeting on Thursday and Friday

will be held in the Green Room on the

3rd floor.

Additional information can be

obtained by writing the DFOs at 1200

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (1306A),

Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

DFO for the Local Government Advisory

Committee (LGAC) is Denise Zabinski

Ney (202) 564–3684 and the DFO for the

Small Community Advisory

Subcommittee (SCAS) is Anne

Randolph (202) 564–3679.

Dated: May 1, 2001.

Denise Zabinski Ney,

Designated Federal Officer, Local Government

Advisory Committee.

Dated: May 1, 2001.

Anne Randolph,

Designated Federal Officer, Small Community

Advisory Subcommittee.

[FR Doc. 01–11832 Filed 5–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U