Document ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0259-0007
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
Posted Date: 2020-09-29T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60991-60992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21525]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0259; FRL-10015-37-OMS]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing 
Wasted Food To Support EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Program 
and Sustainable Management of Food Efforts (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Anaerobic Digestion Facilities 
Processing Wasted Food to Support EPA's Sustainable Materials 
Management Program and Sustainable Management of Food Efforts (EPA ICR 
Number 2533.04, OMB Control Number 2050-0217) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed renewal of a previous 
ICR, which is currently approved through September 30, 2020. Public 
comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on June 5, 
2020 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: Additional comments may be submitted on or before October 29, 
2020.

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

[[Page 60992]]

provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information 
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
    Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

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.
    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 the estimates: This renewal request contains no change 
in burden compared to the ICR currently approved by OMB.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-21525 Filed 9-28-20; 8:45 am]
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