Document ID: EPA-HQ-OA-2019-0296-0003
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Environmental Effects Abroad of EPA Actions (Renewal)
Posted Date: 2020-01-29T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 5203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01540]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OA-2019-0296; FRL-10003-09-OMS]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Procedures for Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Environmental Effects Abroad 
of EPA Actions (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), Procedures for Implementing the 
National Environmental Policy Act and Assessing the Environmental 
Effects Abroad of EPA Actions (EPA ICR Number 2243.09, OMB Control 
Number 2020-0033) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. 
This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved 
through January 31, 2020. Public comments were previously requested via 
the Federal Register on September 24, 2019 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 February 28, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OA-2019-0296, to (1) EPA 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, and (2) OMB via email to 
oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer for 
EPA.
    The 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: Candi Schaedle, NEPA Compliance 
Division, Office of Federal Activities, Mail Code 2203A, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: 202-564-6121; fax number: 202-564-0070; email 
address: schaedle.candi@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 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 
U.S.C. 4321-4347 establishes a national policy for the environment. The 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) oversees the NEPA 
implementation. CEQ's Regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508 set 
the standard for NEPA compliance. They also require agencies to 
establish their own NEPA implementing procedures. The EPA's procedures 
for implementing NEPA are found in 40 CFR part 6. Through this part, 
the EPA adopted the CEQ Regulations and supplemented those regulations 
for actions proposed by the EPA that are subject to NEPA requirements. 
The EPA actions subject to NEPA include the award of wastewater 
treatment construction grants under Title II of the Clean Water Act, 
the EPA's issuance of new source National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) permits under section 402 of the Clean Water 
Act, certain research and development projects, development and 
issuance of regulations, the EPA actions involving renovations or new 
construction of EPA facilities, and certain grants awarded for projects 
authorized by Congress through the Agency's annual appropriations act. 
The EPA is collecting information from certain applicants as part of 
the process of complying with either NEPA or Executive Order 12114 
(``Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions''). The EPA's 
NEPA regulations apply to actions of the EPA that are subject to NEPA 
in order to ensure that environmental information is available to the 
Agency's decision-makers and the public before decisions are made and 
before actions are taken. When the EPA conducts an environmental 
assessment pursuant to its Executive Order 12114 procedures, the Agency 
generally follows its NEPA procedures. Compliance with the procedures 
is the responsibility of the EPA's Responsible Officials, and for 
applicant proposed actions applicants may be required to provide 
environmental information to the EPA as part of the environmental 
review process. For this ICR, applicant-proposed projects subject to 
either NEPA or Executive Order 12114 (and that are not addressed in 
other EPA programs' ICRs) are addressed through the NEPA process.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Certain grant or permit applicants 
who must submit environmental information documentation to the EPA for 
their projects to comply with NEPA or Executive Order 12114, including 
Wastewater Treatment Construction Grants Program facilities, State and 
Tribal Assistance Grant recipients, and new source National Pollutant 
Discharge Elimination System permittees.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary.
    Estimated number of respondents: 27 (total).
    Frequency of response: On occasion.
    Total estimated burden: 7,560 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $631,800 (per year), includes $0 annualized 
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 6,117 hours in the 
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. This decrease is due to an adjustment change in the 
size of the respondent universe.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-01540 Filed 1-28-20; 8:45 am]
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