Document ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0259-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Wasted Food to Support EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Program and Sustainable Management of Food Efforts (Revision)
Posted Date: 2020-06-05T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 109 (Friday, June 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34627-34628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12154]

[[Page 34627]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0259; FRL-10010-24-OLEM]

Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; 
Collection of Information on Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing 
Wasted Food To Support EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Program 
and Sustainable Management of Food Efforts (Revision)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is 
planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), 
``Collection of Information on Anaerobic Digestion Facilities 
Processing Wasted Food to Support EPA's Sustainable Materials 
Management Program and Sustainable Management of Food Efforts 
(Revision)'' (EPA ICR No. 2533.04, OMB Control No. 2050-0217) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is 
soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed 
information collection as described below. This is a proposed renewal 
of a previous ICR, which is currently approved through September 30, 
2020. 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: Comments must be submitted on or before August 4, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-
2020-0259, online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by 
email to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Carusiello, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mail Code 5306P, Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 
(703) 308-8757; fax number: (703) 308-0522; email address: 
Carusiello.Chris@epa.gov.

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 
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.
    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(PRA), EPA is soliciting comments and information to enable it 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. EPA 
will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as appropriate. 
The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for review and 
approval. At that time, EPA will issue another Federal Register notice 
to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to 
submit additional comments to OMB.
    Abstract: Sustainable Management of Food (SMF) is a systematic 
approach that seeks to reduce wasted food and its associated impacts 
over the entire lifecycle of food. The lifecycle of food includes use 
of natural resources, manufacturing, sales, and consumption and ends 
with decisions on recovery or final disposal. Diversion of food waste 
from landfills is a critical component of this effort. To effectively 
divert food waste from landfills, sufficient capacity to process the 
diverted materials is required, much of which is provided by anaerobic 
digestion facilities. Knowledge of organics recycling capacity is 
needed to facilitate food waste diversion.
    EPA's food recovery hierarchy prioritizes potential actions to 
prevent and divert wasted food. According to the hierarchy, processing 
wasted food via anaerobic digestion is a more desirable option than 
landfilling or incineration because it creates more benefits for the 
environment, society, and the economy. Anaerobic digestion of food 
waste and other organic materials generates renewable energy, reduces 
methane emissions to the atmosphere, and provides opportunities to 
improve soil health through the production of soil amendments. The SMF 
work supports these efforts by educating state and local governments 
and communities about the benefits of wasted food diversion. The SMF 
work also builds partnerships with state agencies and other strategic 
partners interested in developing organics recycling capacity and 
provides tools to assist organizations in developing anaerobic 
digestion (AD) projects.
    The nationwide collection of data about AD facilities processing 
food waste began in 2017 with a survey of all known AD facilities under 
the currently approved ICR. EPA published the first annual report of 
findings based on these data in July 2018, and second in September 
2019. EPA is renewing this ICR in order to continue to monitor growth 
and evaluate trends in the capacity for processing of food waste and 
the amount of food waste being processed via AD in the United States.
    Data will be collected using electronic surveys that will be 
distributed to respondents by email and will be available on EPA's AD 
website. Participation in this data collection effort is voluntary. 
Respondents are not required to reveal confidential business 
information.
    Form Numbers: EPA Form 6700-03, EPA Form 6700-04, EPA Form 6700-05.
    Respondents/affected entities: Project Developers, Project Owners 
or Plant Operators, and Livestock Farmers.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary.
    Estimated number of respondents: 254 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annually.
    Total estimated burden: 127 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 
5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $7,615 (per year), includes $0 annualized 
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in Estimates: The overall burden has slightly decreased 
from the original ICR. For this renewal, some questions have been 
revised for clarity and some have been streamlined. There

[[Page 34628]]

is no change in hours from the total estimated respondent burden 
compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB.

    Dated: May 29, 2020.
Donna Salyer,
Acting Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery.
[FR Doc. 2020-12154 Filed 6-4-20; 8:45 am]
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