Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 213 / Friday, November 4, 2005 / Notices 67163 

Any comments related to this ICR 

should be submitted to EPA and OMB 

within 30 days of this notice. EPA’s 

policy is that public comments, whether 

submitted electronically or in paper, 

will be made available for public 

viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives 

them and without change, unless the 

comment contains copyrighted material, 

CBI, or other information whose public 

disclosure is restricted by statute. When 

EPA identifies a comment containing 

copyrighted material, EPA will provide 

a reference to that material in the 

version of the comment that is placed in 

EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, 

including the copyrighted material, will 

be available in the public docket. 

Although identified as an item in the 

official docket, information claimed as 

CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise 

restricted by statute, is not included in 

the official public docket, and will not 

be available for public viewing in 

EDOCKET. For further information 

about the electronic docket, see EPA’s 

Federal Register notice describing the 

electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 

31, 2002), or go to www.epa.gov/ 

edocket. 

ICR Title: Recordkeeping and 

Reporting Requirements for Allegations 

of Significant Adverse Reactions to 

Human Health or the Environment 

(TSCA Section 8(c)). 

ICR Status: This is a request to renew 

an existing approved collection. This 

ICR is scheduled to expire on December 

31, 2005. Under OMB regulations, the 

Agency may continue to conduct or 

sponsor the collection of information 

while this submission is pending at 

OMB. 

Abstract: TSCA section 8(c) requires 

companies that manufacture, process, or 

distribute chemicals to maintain records 

of significant adverse reactions to health 

or the environment alleged to have been 

caused by such chemicals. Since section 

8(c) includes no automatic reporting 

provision, EPA can obtain and use the 

information contained in company files 

only by inspecting those files or 

requiring reporting of records that relate 

to specific substances of concern. 

Therefore, under certain conditions, and 

using the provisions found in 40 CFR 

part 717, EPA may require companies to 

report such allegations to the Agency. 

EPA uses such information on a casespecific basis to corroborate suspected 

adverse health or environmental effects 

of chemicals already under review by 

EPA. The information is also useful to 

identify trends of adverse effects across 

the industry that may not be apparent to 

any one chemical company. 

Responses to the collection of 

information are mandatory (see 40 CFR 

717). Respondents may claim all or part 

of a notice as CBI. EPA will disclose 

information that is covered by a CBI 

claim only to the extent permitted by, 

and in accordance with, the procedures 

in 40 CFR part 2. 

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 in title 40 

of the CFR, after appearing in the 

Federal Register, are listed in 40 CFR 

part 9 and included on the related 

collection instrument or form, if 

applicable. 

Burden Statement: The total annual 

public burden for this collection of 

information is estimated to be about 

24,550 hours, with the burden ranging 

between 15 minutes and 8 hours per 

response depending upon the type(s) of 

activity that a respondent must 

complete. Burden is 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. 

Respondents/Affected Entities: 

Entities potentially affected by this 

action are companies that manufacture, 

process, import, or distribute in 

commerce chemical substances or 

mixtures. 

Frequency of Collection: On occasion. 

Estimated total/average number of 

responses for each respondent: 1. 

Estimated No. of Respondents: 

13,445. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 24,548 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Labor Costs: 

$1,232,417. 

Changes in Burden Estimates: There 

is a decrease of 5,391 hours (from 

29,939 hours to 24,548 hours) in the 

total estimated respondent burden 

compared with that identified in the 

information collection request most 

recently approved by OMB. This 

decrease is an adjustment and is based 

on several factors that are described in 

detail in the ICR. 

Dated: August 9, 2005. 

Oscar Morales, 

Director, Collection Strategies Division. 

[FR Doc. 05–22033 Filed 11–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[OA–2005–0004, FRL–7993–8] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Focus Groups as 

Used by EPA for Economics Projects, 

EPA ICR Number 2205.01 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq.), this document announces 

that EPA is planning to submit a 

proposed Information Collection 

Request (ICR) to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). This is 

a request for a new collection. Before 

submitting the ICR to OMB for review 

and approval, EPA is soliciting 

comments on specific aspects of the 

proposed information collection as 

described below. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before January 3, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

referencing docket ID number OA–

2005–0004, to EPA online using 

EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email oei.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: 

Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 

Docket Center (EPA/DC), Office of 

Environmental Information, Mail Code 

2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nathalie Simon, Office of Policy, 

Economics and Innovation, Mail Code 

1809T, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: 202–566–2347; fax 202–566–

2363; e-mail address: 

simon.nathalie@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has 

established a public docket for this ICR 

under Docket ID number OA–2005–

0004, which is available for public 

viewing at the Office of Environmental 

Information (OEI) Docket in the EPA 

Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, 

Room B102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket 

Center Public Reading Room is open 

from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The telephone number for the 

67164 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 213 / Friday, November 4, 2005 / Notices 

aEmployer costs per hour worked for employee 

compensation and costs as a percent of total 

compensation: Civilian workers, total 

compensation, March 2005 (http://stats.bls.gov/ 

news.release/ecec.t02.htm). 

Reading Room is (202) 566–1744, and 

the telephone number for the Office of 

Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 

is (202) 566–1752. An electronic version 

of the public docket is available through 

EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http:// 

www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to 

obtain a copy of the draft collection of 

information, submit or view public 

comments, access the index listing of 

the contents of the public docket, and to 

access those documents in the public 

docket that are available electronically. 

Once in the system, select ‘‘search,’’

then key in the docket ID number 

identified above. 

Any comments related to this ICR 

should be submitted to EPA within 60 

days of this notice. EPA’s policy is that 

public comments, whether submitted 

electronically or in paper, will be made 

available for public viewing in 

EDOCKET as EPA receives them and 

without change, unless the comment 

contains copyrighted material, 

confidential business information (CBI), 

or other information whose public 

disclosure is restricted by statute. When 

EPA identifies a comment containing 

copyrighted material, EPA will provide 

a reference to that material in the 

version of the comment that is placed in 

EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, 

including the copyrighted material, will 

be available in the public docket. 

Although identified as an item in the 

official docket, information claimed as 

CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise 

restricted by statute, is not included in 

the official public docket, and will not 

be available for public viewing in 

EDOCKET. For further information 

about the electronic docket, see EPA’s 

Federal Register notice describing the 

electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 

31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov./ 

edocket. 

Title: Focus Groups as used by EPA 

for Economics Projects. 

Abstract: The Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking 

approval for a generic information 

collection request (ICR) for the conduct 

of focus groups and protocol interview 

(hereafter jointly referred to as focus 

groups) related to economics projects. 

Over the next three years, the Agency 

anticipates embarking on a number of 

survey development efforts associated 

with a variety of economics projects 

including those related to valuation of 

ecosystems, children’s health risks, 

improvements to coastal waters, and 

invasive species to name a few. Focus 

groups are an important part of any 

survey development process, allowing 

for researchers to directly gauge what 

specific issues are important to the 

public and providing a means for 

explicitly testing draft survey materials. 

Through these focus groups, the Agency 

will be able to gain a more in-depth 

understanding of the public’s attitudes, 

beliefs, motivations and feelings 

regarding specific issues and will 

provide valuable information regarding 

the quality of draft survey instruments. 

The information collected in the focus 

groups will be used to develop and 

improve economics-related surveys. To 

the extent that these surveys are 

ultimately successfully administered, 

they will serve to expand the Agencies 

understanding of benefits and costs of a 

variety of actions and could provide the 

means to quantitatively assess the 

effects of others. Participation in the 

focus groups will be voluntary and the 

identity of the participants will be kept 

confidential. 

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 in 40 

CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9. 

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 only burden 

imposed by the focus group interviews 

on respondents will be the time 

required to participate in the focus 

groups and answer the associated 

questions. The Agency estimates that for 

economics projects anticipated over the 

next three years, 1758 participants will 

be needed to participate in 188 focus 

groups. In most cases, the anticipated 

length of the focus groups is 2.0 hours 

per participant, with the average length 

per focus group equal to 2.4 hours. 

Based on an average hourly rate of 

$25.87 a (including employer costs of all 

employee benefits), the Agency expects 

that the average per-respondent cost for 

the focus groups will be $62.09 and the 

corresponding one-time total cost to all 

respondents will be $109,151 (see table 

below). Since this information 

collection is voluntary and does not 

involve any special equipment, 

respondents will not incur any capital 

or operation and maintenance (O&M) 

costs. 

TABLE.—ESTIMATED BURDEN TO PARTICIPANTS

Office Topics to include Number of 

focus groups 

Number of 

participants 

per focus 

group 

Average length 

of focus group 

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 

Office of Policy Economics and Innovation ... Valuation of Improvements to Coastal 

Water; Valuation of Children’s Health 

Risk, Ecological Valuation, etc.

48 9 2 

Office of Research and Development ........... Valuation of environmental improvements; 

ecosystem services, etc.

70 9 2 .1 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 213 / Friday, November 4, 2005 / Notices 67165 

TABLE.—ESTIMATED BURDEN TO PARTICIPANTS—Continued 

Office Topics to include Number of 

focus groups 

Number of 

participants 

per focus 

group 

Average length 

of focus group 

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 

Office of Air and Radiation.

Office of Radiation and Indoor Air ................. Environmental management of asthma; Indoor air quality management in schools 

and large buildings, etc.

6 20 4 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality ........ Encouraging fuel efficiency through labeling 

(Smartway brand), etc.

4 9 2 

Office of Water ............................................... Invasive species prevention; Great Lakes, 

etc.

60 9 3 

Total ................................................. ........................................................................ 188 *1758 **2 .4 

*Total needed for all focus groups [sum[col (3)*(4)]]. 

**Average time for all focus groups [cols. (3)*(5)/188]. 

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. 

Dated: September 26, 2005. 

Al McGartland, 

Office Director, National Center for 

Environmental Economics, Office of Policy, 

Economics and Innovation. 

[FR Doc. 05–22035 Filed 11–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[ER–FRL–6669–1] 

Environmental Impact Statements and 

Regulations; Availability of EPA 

Comments 

Availability of EPA comments 

prepared pursuant to the Environmental 

Review Process (ERP), under section 

309 of the Clean Air Act and section 

102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 

Policy Act as amended. Requests for 

copies of EPA comments can be directed 

to the Office of Federal Activities at 

202–564–7167. 

An explanation of the ratings assigned 

to draft environmental impact 

statements (EISs) was published in FR 

dated April 1, 2005 (70 FR 16815). 

Draft EISs 

EIS No. 20050220, ERP No. D–FHW–

L40227–WA, Interstate 90 Snoqualmie 

Pass East Project, Proposes to Improve 

a 15-mile Portion of I–90 from 

Milepost 55.10 in Hyak to Milepost 

70.3 New Easton, Funding, U.S. Army 

COE Section 404 Permit and NPDES 

Permit, Kittitas County, WA. 

Summary: EPA has environmental 

objections about the proposed project 

primarily related to the adequacy of the 

ecological connectivity options 

presented. EPA notes that no preferred 

alternative was selected and the most 

substantial environmental issues relate 

to the No Action Alternative and 

Ecological Connectivity Improvement 

Package C. 

Rating EO2. 

EIS No. 20050354, ERP No. D–UAF–

E11057–00, Shaw Air Base Airspace 

Training Initiative (ATI), 20th Fighter 

Wing Proposal to Modify the Training 

Airspace Overlying Parts, South 

Carolina and Georgia 

Summary: EPA expressed concern 

about airspace management/ 

configuration/access around existing 

civilian airports in Georgia and ongoing 

coordination with the public regarding 

noise issues. Mitigation of some of the 

specific impacts can be accomplished 

via structuring the various training 

scenarios and modifying the proposed 

airspace to further avoid/minimize 

impacts around civilian airports. 

Rating EC1. 

EIS No. 20050368, ERP No. D–IBR–

G28013–NM, Carlsbad Project Water 

Operations and Water Supply 

Conservation, Changes in Carlsbad 

Project Operations and 

Implementation of Water Acquisition 

Program, U.S. COE Section 404 

Permit, NPDES, Eddy, De Baca, 

Chaves, and Guadelupe Counties, 

NM. 

Summary: EPA had no objection to 

the selection of the preferred action. 

Rating LO. 

Final EISs 

EIS No. 20050344, ERP No. F–NRC–

F06025–WI, Generic—License 

Renewal for Point Beach Nuclear 

Plant, Units 1 and 2, Supplement 23 

to NUREG–1437 (TAC Nos. MC2049 

and MC2050), Lake Michigan, 

Manitowoc County, WI. 

Summary: EPA continues to express 

concerns about the adequacy and clarity 

of the radiological impact assessments 

and risk estimates. 

EIS No. 20050373, ERP No. F–COE–

H39012–MO, Howard Bend 

Floodplain Area Study, Improvements 

for Future Land, Future Road, and 

Stormwater Management, Missouri 

River Flood Developments, U.S. Army 

COE Section 10 and 404 Permits, St. 

Louis County, MO. 

Summary: EPA continued to express 

concerns about the cumulative effects 

analysis, including uncertainty over the 

potential for development within the 

levee-protected area and the reliance on 

potentially outdated FEMA profiles that 

may underestimate impacts. 

EIS No. 20050376, ERP No. F–COE–

G32057–TX, CedarBayou Navigation 

Chanel (CBNC) Improvement Project, 

Implementation, Near Baytown in 

Harris and Chambers Counties, TX. 

Summary: No comment letter was 

sent to the preparing agency. 

EIS No. 20050419, ERP No. F–AFS–

J65441–MT, Middle East Fork 

Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project, 

Implementation of Three Alternatives, 

Bitterroot National Forest, Sula 

Ranger District, Ravalli County, MT.