Document ID: EPA-HQ-OECA-2007-0468-0020
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica
Posted Date: 2017-02-23T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 35 (Thursday, February 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 11450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03483]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OECA-2007-0468; FRL--9959-49-OEI]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Environmental Impact Assessment of 
Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), ``Environmental Impact Assessment 
of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 
1808.08, OMB Control No. 2020-0007) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This is a proposed extension of 
the ICR, which is currently approved through March 31, 2017. Public 
comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (81 FR 
68412) on October 4, 2016 during a 60-day comment period. This notice 
allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller 
description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden 
and cost to the public. 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 March 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OECA-2007-0468, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by email to docket.oeca@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA 
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB via email to 
oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer for 
EPA.
    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: Julie Roemele, Office of Federal 
Activities, Mail Code 2252A, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 
564-5632; fax number: (202) 564-0072; email address: 
roemele.julie@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.
    Abstract: The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulations 
at 40 CFR part 8, Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental 
Activities in Antarctica (Rule), were promulgated pursuant to the 
Antarctic Science, Tourism, and Conservation Act of 1996 (Act), 16 
U.S.C. 2401 et seq., as amended, 16 U.S.C. 2403a, which implements the 
Protocol on Environmental Protection (Protocol) to the Antarctic Treaty 
of 1959 (Treaty). The Rule provides for assessment of the environmental 
impacts of nongovernmental activities in Antarctica, including tourism, 
for which the United States is required to give advance notice under 
Paragraph 5 of Article VII of the Treaty, and for coordination of the 
review of information regarding environmental impact assessments 
received from other Parties under the Protocol. The requirements of the 
Rule apply to operators of nongovernmental expeditions organized or 
proceeding from the territory of the United States to Antarctica and 
include commercial and non-commercial expeditions. The rule provides 
nongovernmental operators with the specific requirements they need to 
meet in order to comply with the requirements of Article 8 and Annex I 
to the Protocol. The provisions of the Rule are intended to ensure that 
potential environmental effects of nongovernmental activities 
undertaken in Antarctica are appropriately identified and considered by 
the operator during the planning process and that to the extent 
practicable appropriate environmental safeguards which would mitigate 
or prevent adverse impacts on the Antarctic environment are identified 
by the operator.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Nongovernmental operators with 
activities in Antarctica.
    Respondent's Obligation to Respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 8).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 19 (total).
    Frequency of Response: Annual.
    Total Estimated Burden: 1,217 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total Estimated Cost: $93,444 (per year), includes $0 annualized 
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in Estimates: There is a decrease of 37 hours in the total 
estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by 
OMB. This decrease is the result of a change to the level of 
environmental documentation EPA anticipates the operators will submit.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2017-03483 Filed 2-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P