2019-11350. Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Brownfields Program-Accomplishment Reporting (Renewal)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Brownfields Program—Accomplishment Reporting (EPA ICR Number 2104.07, OMB Control Number 2050-0192), 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, 2019. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on February 8, 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 July 1, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-SFUND-2012-0104, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by email to [e-mail] 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 [e-mail]. 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:

Kelly Gorini, Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, (5105T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: [phone]; fax number: [phone]; email address: [e-mail].

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: This ICR covers the collection of information from those organizations that receive cooperative agreements from EPA under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) as amended by the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act (Pub. L. 115-141). CERCLA, as amended, authorizes EPA to award grants or cooperative agreements to states, tribes, local governments, and other eligible entities to support the assessment and cleanup of brownfields sites. Under the Brownfields Amendments, a brownfields site means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. For funding purposes, EPA uses the term “brownfields property(ies)” synonymously with the term “brownfields sites.” The Brownfields Amendments authorize EPA to award several types of cooperative agreements to eligible entities on a competitive basis.

Under subtitle A of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, states, tribes, local governments, and other eligible entities can receive assessment cooperative agreements to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfields properties; cleanup cooperative agreements to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields properties; multipurpose cooperative agreements to conduct activities allowed under both assessment and cleanup cooperative agreements; cooperative agreements to capitalize revolving loan funds and provide subgrants for cleanup activities; area-wide planning cooperative agreements to develop revitalization plans for brownfields; and environmental workforce and development job training and placement programs. Under subtitle C of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, states and tribes can receive cooperative agreements to establish and enhance their response programs through the four elements and meet the public record requirements under the statute. Cooperative agreement recipients (“recipients”) have general reporting and record keeping requirements as a condition of their cooperative agreement that result in burden. A portion of this reporting and record keeping burden is authorized under 2 CFR part 1500 and identified in the EPA's general grants ICR (OMB Control Number 2030-0020). EPA requires Brownfields program recipients to maintain and report additional information to EPA on the uses and accomplishments associated with funded brownfields activities. EPA uses several forms to assist recipients in reporting the information and to ensure consistency of the information collected. EPA uses this information to meet Federal stewardship responsibilities to manage and track how program funds are being spent, to evaluate the performance of the Brownfields Cleanup and Land Revitalization Program, to meet the Agency's reporting requirements under the Government Performance Results Act, and to report to Congress and other program stakeholders on the status and accomplishments of the program.

Form Numbers: 6200-03, 6200-04, 6200-14, 6200-17.

Respondents/affected entities: State/local/tribal governments; Non-Profits.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Required to obtain or Retain Benefits (2 CFR part 1500).

Estimated number of respondents: 5,438 (total).

Frequency of response: Bi-annual for subtitle C recipients; quarterly for subtitle A recipients.

Total estimated burden: 5,765 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).

Total estimated cost: $667,181 (per year), includes $0 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 1,888 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. This increase is partially the result of adding the new Program Activity Levels Form for 128(a) recipients to fill out annually. The remainder of the burden increase is the result of an overall increase in wages and the large increase in the number of responses submitted to ACRES annually due to more grants being awarded. Even with this increase, respondents indicated that improvements in the ACRES reporting system and increased familiarity with the program lead to a lower burden per individual entry.

Courtney Kerwin,

Director, Regulatory Support Division.