Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0091-0023
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Ambient Air Quality Surveillance
Posted Date: 2019-02-22T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5669-5670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03062]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0091: FRL-9988-30-OEI]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB 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 0940.29, 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 March 31, 2019. Public comments 
were previously requested via the Federal Register on September 4, 2018 
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 March 25, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2002-0091, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by email to A-and-R-docket@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: Laurie Trinca, Air Quality Assessment 
Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, C304-06, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; 
telephone number: 919-541-0520; fax number: 919-541-1903: email 
address: trinca.laurie@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.

[[Page 5670]]

    Abstract: 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, 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 U.S. 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. Some of the more prominent uses include informing the 
public and other interested parties of an area's air quality, judging 
an area's (e.g., county, city, neighborhood) air quality in comparison 
with the established health or welfare standards (including both 
national and local 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) in accordance with 40 CFR 51, 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 U.S. 
EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) database. Quality assurance/quality 
control records and 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. These grants generally require an appropriate level of 
contribution, or ``match,'' from the state/local agencies or tribal 
entities. 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: 1,771,662 hours (per year). Burden is 
defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $215,352,864 (per year), includes $81,263,356 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 18,359 hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. This decrease is due to a change in program 
requirements as well as adjustments to the estimates (e.g. to account 
for inflation, network growth/shrinkage, etc.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-03062 Filed 2-21-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P