Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0091-0029
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Ambient Air Quality Surveillance
Posted Date: 2023-08-01T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50148-50149]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16215]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0091; FRL-11252-01-OMS]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Ambient Air Quality Surveillance (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), ``Ambient Air Quality 
Surveillance (EPA ICR Number 0940.30, OMB Control Number 2060-0084) 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 July 31, 
2023. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal 
Register on February 17, 2023, during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before August 31, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2002-0091, to EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method), by email to [email protected], 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 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: Kevin Cavender, Air Quality Assessment 
Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, C304-06, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; 
telephone number: 919-541-2364; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a proposed extension of the ICR, 
which is currently approved through July 31, 2023. 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.
    Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register 
on February 17, 2023, during a 60-day comment period (88 FR 10315). 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. 
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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Abstract: This ICR includes ambient air monitoring data and other 
supporting measurements reporting and recordkeeping activities 
associated with the 40 CFR part 58 Ambient Air Quality Surveillance 
rule. These data and information are collected by various state and 
local air quality management agencies and reported to the EPA's Office 
of Air Quality Planning and Standards within the Office of Air and 
Radiation.
    The data collected through this information collection consist of 
ambient air concentration measurements for the seven air pollutants 
with national ambient air quality standards (i.e., ozone, sulfur 
dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead, carbon monoxide, PM2.5 and 
PM10), ozone precursors, air toxics, meteorological 
variables at a select number of sites, and other supporting 
measurements. Accompanying the pollutant concentration data are quality 
assurance/quality control data and air monitoring network design 
information.
    The EPA and others (e.g., state and local air quality management 
agencies, tribal entities, environmental groups, academic institutions, 
industrial groups) use the ambient air quality data for many purposes 
including informing the public and other interested parties of an 
area's air quality, judging an area's air quality in comparison with 
the established health or welfare standards, evaluating an air quality 
management agency's progress in achieving or maintaining air pollutant 
levels below the national and local standards, developing and revising 
State Implementation Plans (SIPs), evaluating air pollutant control 
strategies, developing or revising national control policies, providing 
data for air quality model development and validation, supporting 
enforcement actions, documenting episodes and initiating episode 
controls, air quality trends assessment, and air pollution research.
    The state and local agencies and tribal entities with 
responsibility for reporting ambient air quality data and information 
as requested in this ICR submit these data electronically to the EPA's 
Air Quality System (AQS) database. Quality assurance/quality control 
records and

[[Page 50149]]

monitoring network documentation are also maintained by each state and 
local agency, in AQS electronic format where possible.
    Although the state and local air pollution control agencies and 
tribal entities are responsible for the operation of the air monitoring 
networks, the EPA funds a portion of the total costs through federal 
grants. The costs shown in this renewal are the total costs incurred 
for the monitoring program regardless of the source of the funding. 
This practice of using the total cost is consistent with prior ICR 
submittals and renewals.
    Form numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: State, Local, and Tribal Air 
Pollution Control Agencies.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 58).
    Estimated number of respondents: 168 (total).
    Frequency of response: Quarterly.
    Total estimated burden: 1,449,968 hours (per year). Burden is 
defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b)
    Total estimated cost: $181,278,444 (per year), includes $70,147,486 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the estimates: This is a decrease of 321,694 hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden compared with that identified in 
the ICR currently approved by OMB. This decrease is due to the 
consolidation of monitors into fewer sites, consolidation of PAMS 
network burden estimates to avoid double counting, termination of 
unnecessary monitors, and more efficient automated procedures (e.g., 
moving from manual samplers to automated continuous samplers) for 
measuring and reporting data. The decrease is offset somewhat by the 
additional burden and cost estimates included for asset management and 
sensors.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-16215 Filed 7-31-23; 8:45 am]
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