Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEI-2011-0096-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule
Posted Date: 2011-06-29T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38150-38151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16372]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OEI-2011-0096; FRL-9426-5]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Cross-Media Electronic Reporting 
Rule (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an 
existing approved collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, 
describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated 
burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before July 29, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEI-
2011-0096, to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by e-mail to oei-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to EPA 
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental 
Information (OEI) Docket, Mailcode 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: 
Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Evi Huffer, Information Exchange and 
Services Division, Office of Environmental Information (Mailcode 
2823T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-566-1697; fax number: 202-
566-1685; e-mail address: huffer.evi@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. On February 2, 2011 (76 FR 5802), EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. Any 
additional comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OEI-2011-0096, which is available for online viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the OEI Docket in 
the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room is open from 
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. 
The telephone number for the Reading Room is 202-566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the OEI Docket is 202-566-1752.
    Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at http://www.regulations.gov, to submit or view public comments, access the 
index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those 
documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the 
system, select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number 
identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public 
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made 
available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov 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. For 
further information about the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule.
    ICR Numbers: EPA ICR No. 2002.05, OMB Control No. 2025-0003.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2011. Under 
OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the 
collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. 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

[[Page 38151]]

appearing in the Federal Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR 
Part 9, are displayed either by publication in the Federal Register or 
by other appropriate means, such as on the related collection 
instrument or form, if applicable. The display of OMB control numbers 
in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR Part 9.
    Abstract: The scope of this ICR is the electronic reporting 
components of the Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR), 
which is designed to: allow EPA to comply with the Government Paperwork 
Elimination Act of 1998; provide a uniform, technology-neutral 
framework for electronic reporting across all EPA programs; allow EPA 
programs to offer electronic reporting as they become ready for 
CROMERR; and provide states with a streamlined process--together with 
uniform set of standards--for approval of their electronic reporting 
provisions for all their EPA-authorized programs. Use of electronic 
reporting is voluntary. In order to accommodate CBI, the information 
collected must be in accordance with the confidentiality regulations 
set forth in 40 CFR Part 2, subpart B. Additionally, EPA will ensure 
that the information collection procedures comply with the Privacy Act 
of 1974 and the OMB Circular 108.
    Burden Statement: The overall recordkeeping and reporting burden 
for this ICR is estimated to be about 12 minutes per response. However, 
the actual burden varies between 5 minutes and 331 hours depending on 
the specific activity. Please see the supporting statement for the 
details.
    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 
which have subsequently changed; 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: Facilities reporting electronically 
to EPA and state, tribal, or local government authorized programs; and 
state, tribal, and local government authorized programs implementing 
electronic reporting.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: EPA estimates that, on average, 
87,080 facility employees will register and comply with identity 
proofing requirements of EPA or state, tribal, or local government 
authorized program electronic document receiving systems each year. EPA 
estimates that 24 state, tribal, or local government authorized 
programs will submit documentation to EPA associated with the approval 
of their electronic document receiving systems each year.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 39,763 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: The estimated total annual cost is 
$2,167,446. This includes an estimated labor cost of $1,396,120, 
capital cost of $632,137, and operation and maintenance (O&M) cost of 
$139,189.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 38,272 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease occurred for two primary reasons. 
First, there was a decrease in the annualized number of respondents. 
The total number of employees registering with EPA's electronic 
document receiving system and/or complying with CROMERR's identity 
proofing requirements decreased from 93,325 in the currently approved 
ICR to 87,080 in this ICR. In addition, the total number of state, 
tribal, and local government authorized programs upgrading their 
existing electronic document receiving systems or developing new 
electronic document receiving systems, and submitting documentation 
associated with the approval of CROMERR applications decreased from 61 
in the currently approved ICR to 24 in this ICR. EPA conducted a 
thorough examination of available information (e.g., number of 
application received over the past three years) in estimating the 
number of respondents subject to the requirements of this ICR. EPA 
thinks that the number of respondents included in this ICR is a 
reasonable approximation of the actual respondent universe.
    Second, in developing this ICR, EPA carefully reviewed the 
respondent activities associated with compliance with identify proofing 
requirements. EPA made a few changes to the assumptions associated with 
subscriber agreement and LRA alternatives to be consistent with actual 
compliance of respondents with these requirements. For example, EPA 
reduced the proportion of respondents that use the LRA alternative 
while increasing the proportion of respondents that comply with 
subscriber agreement requirements. This resulted in a burden decrease 
because the burden associated with subscriber agreements is less than 
the LRA burden. EPA notes that few, if any, respondents opted to use 
the LRA alternative over the past three years.

    Dated: June 23, 2011.
John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2011-16372 Filed 6-28-11; 8:45 am]
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