03-4374. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR No. 1569.05 (OMB No. 2040-0153) to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that the following Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Approval of State Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs (CZARA Section 6217). The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before March 27, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Follow the detailed instructions in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stacie Craddock, Assessment and Watershed Protection Division, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (4503-T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-566-1204; fax number: 202-566-1545; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On October 25, 2002 (67 FR 65563), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). On November 20, 2002 (67 FR 70070), EPA extended the comment period 30 days. EPA received one comment and has addressed the comment received.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. OW-2003-0004, which is available for public viewing at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is [phone], and the telephone number for the Water Docket is [phone]. An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/​edocket. Use EDOCKET 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. Once in the system, select “search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above.

Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice, and according to the following detailed instructions: (1) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to [e-mail], or by mail to: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460, and (2) Mail your comments to OMB at: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/​edocket.

Title: Approval of State Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs (OMB Control No. 2040-0153, EPA ICR No. 1569.05). This is a request to renew an existing approved collection that is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2003. Under the OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.

Abstract: Under the provisions of national Program Development and Approval Guidance implementing section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA) which was jointly developed and published by EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 29 coastal States and 5 coastal Territories with Federally approved Coastal Zone Management Programs have developed and submitted to EPA and NOAA Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Programs. EPA and NOAA have approved 9 States and 3 Territories, conditionally approved 19 States and 2 Territories, and one State's initial program submission (Indiana) is currently under review. The conditional approvals will require States and Territories to submit additional information in order to obtain final program approval. Indiana will also need to submit information in order to obtain approval of its coastal nonpoint program. Administrative changes issued on October 16, 1998, and mutually agreed to by States, Territories, EPA and NOAA are expected to expedite the final approval process. CZARA section 6217 requires States and Territories to obtain final approval of their Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Programs in order to retain their full share of funding available to them under section 319 of the Clean Water Act and section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act. The information collected under section 6217 and this ICR will not require States and Territories to collect any confidential 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, and are identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 148 hours 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 includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing 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.

Respondents/Affected Entities: 20 States and 2 Territories with approved coastal zone management programs.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 22.

Frequency of Response: Once.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,250 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $113,738, includes $0 annualized capital or O&M costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 375 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is the result of EPA and NOAA having fully approved 12 of the 34 programs.

Dated: February 10, 2003.

Oscar Morales,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.