Document ID: EPA-HQ-SFUND-2012-0578-0013
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2021-10-13T04:00Z

Supporting Statement for EPA ICR 2470.03
 Identification of the Information Collection 
1(a) Title:
Technical Assistance Needs Assessments (TANAs) at Superfund Remedial or Removal Sites, EPA ICR 2470.03, OMB Control Number 2050-0211.

1(b) Abstract:
ICR 2050-0211 addresses federally conducted community involvement for remedial activities at sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) (Superfund sites) or for removal actions lasting 120 days or longer. This ICR covers specifically the use of TANAs with members of the affected community in order to determine how the community is receiving technical information about a site; whether the community needs additional assistance in order to understand and respond to site-related technical information; and whether there are organizations in the community that are interested or involved in site related issues and capable of acting as an appropriate conduit for technical assistance services to the affected community. The TANA will help ensure the community's needs for technical assistance are defined as early in the remedial/removal process as possible and enable meaningful community involvement in the Superfund decision-making process. Additionally, the TANA process produces a blueprint for designing a coordinated effort to meet the community's needs for additional technical assistance while minimizing the overlap of services provided. 

 Need for and Use of the Information Collection 

2(a) Need/Authority for Collection:

TANAs are not required by statute or regulation; however, they are strongly recommended whenever an impacted community may require additional technical assistance. EPA believes involvement of the members of the community surrounding a Superfund site is critical to ensuring effective site cleanups.  

What information will be collected? 
The TANA will identify unaddressed technical assistance needs relating to the remedial/removal activities occurring at a given site, including non-advocacy information assistance and expertise; community education needs; organizational capacity-building assistance; and mediation or conflict resolution services. 

From whom will the information be collected? 
When the TANA is being conducted concurrently with the Community Involvement Plan (CIP) community interviews, the TANA questions will be asked of all interviewees. TANA interviewees may include state and local government officials, a Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) representative (if applicable), and community members/ leaders who have expressed a specific interest in, or knowledge of, the community's technical assistance needs (including but not limited to those participating in the site's Technical Assistance Grant (TAG), Community Advisory Group (CAG), or Technical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC)). The CIC should make every effort to ensure all affected stakeholder groups are represented in the TANA interviews. 

If the TANA is being conducted after the CIP community interviews have been completed, the CIC may select interviewees from those participating in the original community interviews and include others who may be able to define the community's potential technical assistance needs. Additionally, community members may self-identify as wanting to participate in the TANA interviews. Given the specific nature of the TANA, EPA anticipates about 20 people to be interviewed for each TANA but the number may vary based on community interest. If the TANA is conducted concurrently with the CIP community interviews, this number may be greater. The interviews will be targeted towards those individuals requesting additional support on technical issues (e.g., inquiring about site documents to review) and individuals who request to be included in the interview process.

How will the information be collected?
The interviews associated with the TANA may be one of the first opportunities the EPA has to engage with community members one-on-one. Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) and On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) accompany the CIC to learn firsthand about the community member's concerns. Whenever a contractor conducts the TANA interviews, EPA personnel will generally be present. In situations where interviewees have expressed concern with having EPA personnel participate, the interview may be conducted by the contractor alone. The interviewer will ask each stakeholder a series of questions (Attachment A), with the responses being documented. The stakeholder interview process should incorporate additional questions and/or seek clarification on responses as needed. The TANA interviews may be conducted either in-person or over the phone. 

CICs can use contractor support to prepare for and conduct the TANA. The contractor support is useful for documenting the interviews and summarizing notes from individual interviews. The CIC, with or without contract support, then summarizes the interviews into a final TANA summary.

How frequently will the information be collected?
The TANA can be conducted concurrently with Community Interviews administered for developing an initial CIP or an update, or at a later date if the technical assistance needs of the community cannot be adequately defined by community members at that time. Conducting the TANA concurrently with the CIP community interviews can help minimize EPA staff time, defray costs and reduce the administrative/ time burden placed on community members. A TANA can be conducted at any time during the Superfund remedial process if it becomes evident that the technical assistance needs of the community are not being effectively addressed through existing technical assistance mechanisms. TANAs will most often be conducted at sites where communities have unaddressed technical assistance needs and most frequently once during the remedial/removal process. 

2(b) Practical Utility/Users of the Data:

What will the information be used for?
A TANA will aid the CIC and the RPM or OSC in determining the technical assistance needs of a community affected by a specific site. This assessment will provide the Agency with a detailed record of potentially unmet technical assistance needs and provide a working document from which the most appropriate forms of technical assistance can be identified and provided to the community. One of the additional objectives for conducting a TANA is to avoid unnecessary duplication of technical assistance provided to a community through EPA programs and funding vehicles. 

Will the information be shared with any other organizations inside or outside EPA?
The TANA will enhance opportunities for EPA to cooperate with other organizations (e.g., National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program grantees, nonprofits providing capacity building assistance) with the shared goal of addressing a community's technical assistance needs. 

 Non- duplication, consultations, and other ICR criteria 

3 (a) Non- duplication:

There is no duplication as there are no other sources available to collect this information. In addition, the Community Interviews conducted for a CIP have been revised to incorporate questions to address whether a formal TANA should be conducted. The development of the technical assistance needs assessment questions were coordinated with a revision of the Community Interviews tool to ensure questions asked of community members were not duplicative. 

3 (b) Public Notice Required Prior to ICR submission to OMB:

      Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d), in proposing to renew this ICR, EPA will publish a Federal Register Notice providing a 60-day public comment period. Attachment B is reserved for public comments & EPA responses.

3 (c) Consultations:

      Under 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), federal agencies are required to consult with respondents about the information collections before submitting approval requests to OMB. In accordance with this regulation, EPA staff will contact representatives from a cross section of stakeholders to seek feedback on the burden estimates in this ICR, and on the clarity of the information collection process. Attachment C is reserved for responses to consultation questions.

3 (d) TANA and other Community Interview Questions:

The TANA was written to specifically complement interviews conducted to develop or revise a CIP.  Definitive questions (per ICR 2050-0179) have been added to the Community Interviews tool guiding the CIC to only conduct a formalized TANA when an impacted community has unaddressed technical assistance needs and those needs are not anticipated to be effectively addressed through technical assistance provided directly by EPA staff (e.g., fact sheets, workshops, availability sessions, etc.). For the majority of sites, technical assistance provided by EPA staff will be sufficient to meet the needs of the community. Information collection through TANAs will be conducted with the minimal amount of burden necessary to ensure the technical assistance needs of impacted communities are appropriately assessed and addressed.

3 (e) General Guidelines:

The final TANA and resulting summary documents will be included in the official site file in the information repository. The site records will be retained according to the record-keeping requirements for CERCLA sites. Responsibility for these files will continue beyond the three-year ICR period as cleanups typically take more than three years. This information collection contains no special circumstances that would conflict with the general guidelines in 5 CFR § 1320.5.

3 (f) Confidentiality:

The nature of the data being gathered as part of this information collection is not confidential. Lists of participants in community interviews and lists of attendees of public meetings are not confidential. Some data gathered during community interviews may not be releasable, however, due to privacy concerns. 

3 (g) Sensitive Questions:

The information gathering activities discussed in this ICR generally do not involve any sensitive questions. 

 Respondents and Information requested

 4(a) Respondents
Respondents to this ICR are individual community members and State/ local officials who may be impacted by a Superfund site or a removal action lasting 120 days or longer. These community members voluntarily participate in community involvement activities throughout the remedial phase of the Superfund process. 

4(b) Information requested

This ICR voluntarily requests information from community members at sites where the impacted community may have unaddressed technical assistance needs including but not limited to: non-advocacy information assistance and expertise; community education needs; organizational capacity-building assistance; and mediation or conflict resolution services. 

 Data items, including record-keeping requirements

Technical Assistance Needs Assessments

CICs will conduct TANAs when it is determined that a community impacted by a remedial or removal (activity lasting 120 days or longer) site has unaddressed technical assistance needs. TANAs are not required by statute or regulation and for most sites technical assistance provided by EPA staff (e.g., fact sheets, availability sessions, workshops, trainings, etc.) will be sufficient to meet the technical needs of a community and a formal TANA will not be necessary. 

The interviews associated with the TANA may be one of the first opportunities the EPA has to engage with community members one-on-one. RPMs and OSCs are expected to accompany the CIC to learn firsthand about the community member's concerns.  Additionally, a contractor may provide support for TANA interviews. In situations where interviewees have expressed concern with having EPA personnel participate, the interview may be conducted by the contractor alone. When the preliminary questions in the CIP community interviews suggest the need to conduct a TANA, the CIC may conduct the TANA interviews with a smaller number of individuals who can help define the community's specific needs. TANA interviewees may include state and local government officials, a PRP representative (if applicable), and community members who have expressed a specific interest in, or knowledge of, the community's technical assistance needs. The CIC will make every effort to ensure all affected stakeholder groups are represented in the TANA interviews. If the TANA is being conducted after the CIP community interviews have been completed, about 20 persons are expected to be interviewed given the specific nature of the needs assessment. 

The interviewer will ask each stakeholder a series of questions, with the responses being documented. The stakeholder interview process will incorporate additional questions or request supplemental information as needed. The interviews are generally summarized into a succinct summary document detailing the unaddressed technical assistance needs of the community. The CIC, RPM, OSC, and appropriate members of the Site Team will review the content of the summary document. Additionally, interviewees may be provided an opportunity to review the draft document to ensure their information was accurately captured. EPA will distribute the final document to the community. The CIC will explore additional technical assistance options (e.g., Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) grants or TASC contract support) based on the TANA findings. The final TANA summary documents will be available at the site's information repository.

EPA expects approximately five TANAs to be completed at either remedial or removal sites in a given year. This estimate is based upon the average number of TANAs conducted through contractor support at NPL sites from the past three years.

  Respondent Activities

In participating in the remedial phase, community members may disclose information to EPA personnel during interviews. Community members may perform any or all of the following activities:
 Participate in interviews. 
 Review the draft and final TANA summary document.
 Meet with technical assistance providers (i.e., TAG coordinators, TASC contractors, etc.) 

 Information collected: Agency activities, collection methodology, information management

5(a) Agency activities 
At any remedial or removal site where the impacted community may have unaddressed technical assistance needs, the Agency may conduct the following activities: TANA interviews, TANA summary document generation, and coordinating technical assistance between the community and assistance providers. 
5(B) Collection methodology and management  

The information collection methodology depends on the type of activity being conducted. TANAs will not require an extensive number of hours as 20 persons per affected site are expected to be interviewed annually. It is preferable for the interviews to be conducted in person; however,  remote interviews (e.g., phone, ZOOM, Skype, etc.) are advisable when travel funds or time are restrictive. 

The activities reflected in this ICR do not lend themselves to automation because of the decentralized nature of each remedial/removal activity. These activities are site-specific and, therefore, are not conducive to mass data collection efforts. The use of improved information technology is not prohibited in any way.

5(c) Small entity flexibility 

Information collection from small entities (individual community members, community organizations, etc.) is done on a voluntary basis. Since these respondents are providing information voluntarily, the Federal government is not placing any undue burden on small entities and does provide plenty of flexibility. 

5(d) Collection schedule
TANAS CAN BE CONDUCTED CONCURRENTLY WITH Community Interviews administered for the development and update of a CIP, or at a later date if the technical assistance needs of the community cannot be adequately defined by community members at that time. A TANA can be conducted at any time during the Superfund cleanup process if it becomes evident that the technical assistance needs of the community are unknown or not being effectively addressed through existing technical assistance mechanisms. A TANA is most effectively utilized when conducted as early as possible in the community engagement process.   

 Estimating the burden and cost of the Information Collection
6(A) Estimating respondent burden

Respondent burden estimates are calculated from an informal survey of CICs and EPA community involvement managers regarding the potential number of remedial/removal sites where the impacted community has unaddressed technical assistance needs which cannot be effectively addressed through technical assistance provided by the Agency. Additionally, TANAs conducted by EPA contractors were reviewed for estimating the time burden for community members and Agency personnel. The annual hours per activity figure is multiplied by the number of sites expected to be engaging in the activity every year. This calculation gives the total annual hours for all sites by activity. 

The estimated number of respondents reported for this information collection is 100. This number is based upon the average number of TANAs conducted through contractor support at NPL sites from the past three years. The estimated respondent burden is based on an annual average of approximately five remedial/removal sites requiring a TANA in a given year with 20 interviewees per site. 

 Community Burden Hours

All community burden hours are due to voluntary participation in the TANA interviews. The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requires the inclusion of information gathering activities in which the community participates. These activities are those for which information is expressly collected from community members. The PRA (5 CFR part 1320, "Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public, FRN 8/29/1995, Sect. 1320.3 (h) (8)) excludes the following activities from the definition of information for the purpose of Information Collection Requests: attendance at public informational meetings or briefings, response to comments on EPA documents, participation in community groups for which EPA is not a sponsor, reading fact sheets, and making use of EPA open office hours. This ICR records estimated burden hours for community members to participate in TANA interviews.

EPA estimates that 20 people will be interviewed for one hour each at five remedial or removal (action lasting 120 days or longer) sites each year in the process of conducting TANAs. The total annual estimated burden for TANA interviews is 100 hours. As noted earlier, these hours include state/local government staff and possibly a responsible party if they wish to participate in the survey.

6(b) Estimating respondent costs

Respondent costs are divided into labor costs and other costs, which includes all operation and maintenance, non-labor, and capital costs. The methodology for calculating these costs for the three-year ICR period is addressed in detail below.

 Estimating labor costs

The hourly rate for community members who participate in Superfund remedial activities on a voluntary, and non-paid, basis is $25.87. The value is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) March 2021 data, which reports an average hourly wage of $25.27 for "production, non-supervisory on private non-farm payrolls, seasonally-adjusted" employees. The recent trend in this category of BLS data is for the rate to increase approximately $0.60 per year. Therefore, $25.87 is the average rate over the three-year period of this ICR for all activities in which the community may participate. Labor costs for community activities represent hypothetical costs only. 

  Estimating capital, operations and maintenance, and other costs

Community members have no O&M, non-labor or capital costs. 

 Annualizing capital costs

No capital costs are incurred during the activities described in this ICR.
TABLE 1: ESTIMATED COSTS TO COMMUNITIES (Voluntary Activities, not actually expended costs)
                                   Activity
                        Total Activities at Sites/ Year
                          Hours per Activity per year
                               Hourly Labor Rate
                        Annual Labor Costs per Activity
            Capital, O&M, Non-labor Costs per Activity per Year
                        Total Annual Costs per Activity
                    Total Annual Labor Costs for all Sites*
         Total Annual Capital, O&M, Non-labor Costs for all Sites
                       Total Annual Costs for all Sites
                                TANA Interviews
                                      100
                                       1
                                    $25.87 
                                    $25.87 
                                      $0
                                    $25.87 
                                    $2,587
                                       
                                      $0
                                    $2,587
                                       

6(c) Estimating Agency burden and cost
Burden on EPA covered in the ICR includes those hours and costs incurred in the implementation of Community Involvement activities. These activities include preparing for and conducting TANAs with community members impacted by a remedial or removal site. Total number of activities and the Federal hours required to complete them are estimated by a group of Headquarters and Regional Community Involvement EPA employees. The total estimated annual burden hours placed on EPA for the TANA process is 425 (Table 2).

Table 2: Estimated Burden Hours for Federal TANA process
                                   Activity
                                  # of Sites
                         # of Activities at each Site
                            Hrs. per Activity/ yr.
                      Annual Hrs. for Activity at a Site
                        Total Annual Hrs. for all Sites
                         Preparing for TANA Interviews
                                       5
                                       1
                                      10
                                      10
                                      50
                          Conducting TANA interviews
                                       5
                                      20
                                       1
                                      20
                                      100
                        Creating TANA Summary Document
                                       5
                                       1
                                      25
                                      25
                                      125
                Coordinating Technical Assistance to Community
                                       5
                                       1
                                      30
                                      30
                                      150
                                       

                                       

                                     TOTAL
                                      425

Labor costs to EPA were calculated using the assumption that 100 percent of the labor of these activities would be conducted through technical staff. To determine the hourly wage, 50 percent of the value of a Step 5, GS-12 $36.29 (and Step 1, GS-13 $43.15 are summed ($79.44), halved, and then adjusted for locality pay using a factor of 1.20, which results in $47.66. To further adjust for overhead, $47.66 is multiplied by 1.6, which results in $76.26. The annual labor cost for each activity that involves use of Federal hours is calculated using this labor rate. The total estimated annual costs EPA incurs for the TANA process is $32,390 (Table 3).
Table 3: Estimated Costs to the Federal Government for the TANA Process
                                   Activity
                           Total Activities at Sites
                          Hours per Activity per Year
                               Hourly Labor Rate
                       Annual Labor Costs per Activity*
                       Annual Capital Costs per Activity
                      Annual Non-Labor Cost per Activity
                       Annual O&M Costs per Activity
                        Total Annual Costs per Activity
                    Total Annual Labor Costs for all Sites*
                   Total Annual Capital Costs for all Sites
                  Total Annual Non-Labor Costs for all Sites
                   Total Annual O&M Costs for all Sites
                       Total Annual Costs for all Sites
                         Preparing for TANA Interviews
                                       5
                                      10
                                    $76.26 
                                     $763
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                     $763
                                    $3,815
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                    $3,815
                          Conducting TANA interviews
                                      100
                                       1
                                    $76.26 
                                      $76
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $76
                                    $7,600
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                    $7,600
                        Creating TANA Summary Document
                                       5
                                      25
                                    $76.26 
                                     $1907
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                    $1,907
                                    $9,535
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                    $9,535
                Coordinating Technical Assistance to Community
                                       5
                                      30
                                    $76.26 
                                    $2,288
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                    $2,288
                                    $11,440
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                      $0
                                    $11,440

                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                     TOTAL
                                    $32,390
     *Rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
     
     
6(d) Estimating the respondent universe and total burden and cost
The number of sites where a TANA may be conducted over the three-year period of the ICR is based upon the number of TANAs conducted through contractor support at NPL sites over the past three years. The number of community members involved at each site is expected to be about 20 individuals. The total burden and cost to each respondent is a summation of all activities described in detail in previous sections of this document. 

6(e) Bottom-line burden hours and cost tables
 Respondent tally
The total burden hours and costs displayed in the table below reflect the community members participating voluntarily at Superfund sites. Community costs of $5,812 (Table 1) are all hypothetical and do not represent the actual expenditure of dollars because participation is voluntary. 
Table 4: Total respondent Burden Hours and Costs
                                  Respondent
                                 Annual Burden
                                  Annual Cost
                              Total 3 yr. Burden
                               Total 3 yr. Cost
                                  Communities
                                      100
                                    $2,587
                                      300
                                       
                                     Total
                                      100
                                    $2,587
                                      300
                                    $5,174

(ii) Agency tally
The total burden and costs represented in the following table is the amount EPA expects to spend directly in preparing for and conducting TANAs with communities at Superfund sites. 
Table 5: Total Federal Agency Burden Hours and Costs
                                  Respondent
                                 Annual Burden
                                  Annual Cost
                              Total 3 yr. Burden
                               Total 3 yr. Cost
                         Federal- Community Activities
                                      425
                                    $32,390
                                     1,275
                                       
                                       
                                     Total
                                      425
                                    $32,390
                                     1,275
                                    $97,170

(iii) Variations in the annual bottom line 
Variations to the annual bottom-line numbers may occur as TANA activities depend almost exclusively on the community needs at the site. EPA expects the relative number of annual activities to be similar in each year of the ICR period.  

6(f) Reasons for change in burden
There is a 450-hour decrease in the total respondent burden hours over the three-year period. The number of individual TANAs sharply declined, from 25 to five per year thus decreasing the overall number of respondents voluntarily participating in this information request. There is a decrease of 825 burden hours over a three-year period for EPA due to a decrease in the number of TANAs conducted each year. There is a decrease of $55,605 in EPA burden costs.

6(g) Burden statement 
The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average one hour 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 estimate includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; 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. 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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.
 To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including the use of automated collection techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID Number which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov. Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room are closed to the public with limited exceptions. The telephone number for the Superfund Docket is (202) 566-0276. An electronic version of the public docket is available at www.regulations.gov. This site can be used to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. When in the system, select "search," then key in the Docket ID Number identified above. Also, you can send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-SFUND-2021- [TBD] and OMB Control Number 2050-0211 in any correspondence.
 Attachments
Attachments to the supporting statement are available in the public docket established for this Information Collection Request (ICR) under the docket identification number EPA-HQ-SFUND-2021-[TBD]. These attachments are available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov or otherwise accessed as described in the sections below. 

Attachment A
TANA Questionnaire
Attachment B
Reserved for Public Comments & EPA Responses
Attachment C
Reserved for Consultation Questions and Respondent Answers