Document ID: EPA-HQ-OARM-2006-0835-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request: Applicant Background Questionnaire: Race, National Origin, Gender, and Disability Demographics (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 2248.03, OMB Control No. 2030-0045
Posted Date: 2007-10-23T04:00Z

[Federal Register: October 23, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 204)]
[Notices]               
[Page 60015-60016]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23oc07-38]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OARM-2006-0835; FRL-8485-6]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request: Applicant Background 
Questionnaire: Race, National Origin, Gender, and Disability 
Demographics (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 2248.03, OMB Control No. 2030-0045

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 November 23, 
2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OARM-
2006-0835 to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov., 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: Rosyletta Simms, Office of Human 
Resources, Mail Code 3600A, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-
564-7897; fax number: 202-564-4613; e-mail address: 
simms.rosyletta@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 July 11, 2007 (72 FR 37760) 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-OARM-2006-0835, which is available for online viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Office of 

Environmental Information (OEI) Docket and Information Center at 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 Office of Environmental Information 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,

[[Page 60016]]

unless the comment contains copyrighted material, 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: Applicant Background Questionnaire: Race, National Origin, 
Gender, and Disability Demographics (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2248.03, OMB Control No. 2030-0045.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2007. 
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 appearing in the Federal Register when 
approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, and 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 purpose of this information collection request is to 
seek approval to use the Environmental Protection Agency's EZhire, 
vacancy announcement and job application system, to collect gender, 
race, national origin, and disability information from employees within 
the agency and outside job applicants. All job applicants, whether 
internal or external, are asked to complete, on a voluntary basis, an 
``Applicant Background Questionnaire: Race, National Origin, Gender, 
and Disability Demographics.'' This data is required for compliance 
with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission's (EEOC) MD 715 and 
29 CFR 1614.601. Agencies are required to: (1) Maintain a system that 
collects and maintains accurate information on the race, national 
origin, gender and disability of agency employees; (2) maintain a 
system that tracks applicant flow data, which identifies applicants by 
race, national origin, sex, and disability status and disposition of 
all applications; and (3) maintain a tracking system of recruitment 
activities to permit analyses of these efforts in any examination of 
potential barriers to equality of opportunity. MD 715 requires agencies 
to ``conduct an internal review and analysis of the effects of all 
current and proposed policies, practices, procedures and conditions 
that are directly or indirectly, related to the employment of 
individuals with disabilities.'' EPA must collect and analyze 
information and data necessary to make an informed assessment about the 
extent to which the agency is meeting its responsibility to provide 
employment opportunities for qualified applicants and employees with 
disabilities, especially those with targeted disabilities. The data 
supplied by job applicants is strictly confidential and encrypted 
within the software. The data is reported in the aggregate for 
affirmative employment analyses, planning and reporting required by the 
EEOC and the Office of Personnel Management.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average of 28 
minutes or .46 hours per response. 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: all applicants applying for jobs at 
EPA.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 32,590.
    Frequency of Response: Once per applicant.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 15,208.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $0, includes $0 annualized Capital 
Startup costs, $0 annualized Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs, and 
$0 annualized Labor costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is no increase/decrease of hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens.

    Dated: October 16, 2007.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
 [FR Doc. E7-20835 Filed 10-22-07; 8:45 am]

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