[Federal Register: June 28, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 125)]
[Notices]               
[Page 43592-43594]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28jn02-52]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7239-4]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Estimating the Value of Improvements to Coastal Waters

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit the 
following proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB): Estimating the Value of Improvements to 
Coastal Waters [EPA ICR#2083.01]. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for 
review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of 
the proposed information collection as described below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 27, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Nicole Owens, National Center for Environmental 
Economics, US EPA, Mail Code 1809T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20460. Interested parties may obtain a copy of the ICR 
without charge by contacting Dr. Owens at 202-566-2297 or 
owens.nicole@epa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Nathalie Simon at 202-566-2299 or 
simon.nathalie@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Affected entities: Entities potentially 
affected by this action are those individuals who are contacted and 
voluntarily agree to participate in the survey. Individuals are 
contacted from an established panel of respondents who have been 
randomly recruited from the general public by Knowledge Networks, Inc. 
Respondents have agreed to participate in periodic surveys administered 
by Knowledge Networks, Inc.
    Title: Estimating the Value of Improvements to Coastal Waters (EPA 
ICR#2083.01).
    Abstract: The purpose of this study is to estimate willingness to 
pay (WTP) for water quality improvements in coastal waters. The United 
States Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water is responsible 
for regulating and monitoring national water quality. In order to make 
sound policy decisions, policy makers need information on the benefits, 
costs, and other effects of alternative options for addressing 
environmental problems. In the case of policies affecting water 
quality, estimates of the public's WTP for improvements in fresh water 
quality generally begin with estimates provided by Mitchell and Carson 
(1993); however, this study does not address salt water areas.
    The coasts and estuaries comprise a substantial part of our 
national resource base; these coastal areas are depended upon for the 
aesthetic, economic, ecosystem, and recreational services they provide. 
However, coastal areas are also the most highly developed and populated 
areas in the nation. These areas are home to more than 53% of the 
nation's population. As coastal population has increased, the 
environmental quality of some of these areas has declined or is 
threatened. Because serious water pollution problems exist in some of 
these areas, many future water policies will likely focus on coastal 
areas. The lack of estimates of the benefits of improvements to these 
areas makes designing effective policies to remedy these problems 
particularly difficult.
    This study will estimate WTP for water quality improvements in 
coastal waters using a stated preference survey. Currently, States, 
tribes, and other jurisdictions measure water quality by determining if 
water bodies are clean enough to support basic uses, such as swimming, 
fishing, and aquatic life support. In keeping with these definitions of 
water quality, the study will estimate WTP for more fishable and 
swimmable coastal and estuarine waters as well as healthier marine and 
estuarine aquatic environments. Respondents will be asked a series of 
five questions in which they compare two programs with the status quo. 
The programs each affect water quality for the various uses in 
different ways and cost varying amounts to implement. Analysis of the 
resulting data will yield WTP estimates for improvements to each of the 
attributes.
    Further development of the survey cannot be completed without a 
pilot survey. The pilot survey will take place in California using the 
survey instrument described in more detail below. The survey instrument 
is specific to the state of California and will be used to estimate WTP 
for water quality improvements for three specific uses: swimming, 
production of fish and shellfish safe for human consumption, and 
support of diverse aquatic life. Once the pilot survey is complete and 
EPA is confident of the adequacy of the questionnaire, EPA hopes to 
develop parallel versions of the survey instrument for the remaining 20 
coastal states in the contiguous United States as well as a version for 
inland states. The coastal state versions of the survey will elicit 
resident's WTP for coastal water improvements within the state. The 
inland version of the survey will elicit WTP for coastal water 
improvements generally. While these surveys will not be able to gauge 
WTP of coastal state residents for improvements outside of their state 
of residence, it is anticipated that the information gathered from 
these surveys will nevertheless provide potentially useful information 
for benefits analysis.
    The questionnaire for the California coastal survey is comprised of 
four distinct parts: an introductory section, a section focusing 
specifically on California's coastal waters, a section containing the 
choice questions, and finally a section containing standard questions 
about labor market activity.
a. Part 1: Introduction
    The first section of the survey provides respondents with 
background information on coastal waters and their uses. Following a 
welcome statement, the respondent is provided with a concise definition 
of coastal waters and

[[Page 43593]]

a detailed description of their natural, commercial and recreational 
uses in simple tabular form. This table is followed by a map 
highlighting all of the coastal states in the 48 contiguous states in 
the U.S. The respondent's familiarity with coastal waters is then 
gauged through a series of questions about recent trips to coastal 
waters and water recreation activities. A number of these questions are 
borrowed from the National Survey on Recreation, allowing direct 
comparison of results. Similar information is collected for freshwater 
recreation activities.
b. Part 2: California's Coastal Waters
    This section delves into a respondent's familiarity with pollution 
sources as well as his perception of California's coastal water 
quality. In addition, it defines and describes the three use 
categories: swimming, production of fish and shellfish that are safe 
for human consumption, and support of diverse aquatic life (including 
fish, shellfish, plants, mammals, birds, etc. that live near aquatic 
environments). The water quality rating system used by federal and 
state governments is then described to the respondents and information 
is given on the ratings California's coastal waters have received for 
the three defined uses. Information on California's coastal waters is 
provided in pie charts. The information provided is taken directly from 
The National Water Quality Inventory Report to Congress (305(b) 
report).
    Comparisons of California's water quality by use with that of other 
coastal states is provided in a series of three bar charts--one for 
each use-- showing the ranking of states by reported water quality 
level.
c. Part 3: Choice Questions
    The third part of the questionnaire is comprised of the choice 
questions. Respondents are presented with a series of five questions in 
which they are asked to select between two programs to improve coastal 
water quality. In each choice set, respondents are also able to select 
the status quo, should they find neither of the two programs 
satisfactory. Each of the two programs has an associated household tax 
increase to cover the cost of implementation.
    Information regarding water quality across three use definitions 
(swimming, production of fish and shellfish deemed safe for human 
consumption, and the support of diverse aquatic life) under each 
program, including the status quo, is provided in tabular format 
together with the cost to each household for each program. Color is 
used in the table to help respondents distinguish between the three 
alternatives. The programs differ not only in the level of household 
tax, but also in the degree to which they improve water quality across 
the three use definitions.
    The questions are structured in such a way as to facilitate 
comparison between the programs with at most two water quality 
attributes varying at different levels across the two new programs 
being introduced. In some instances, however, respondents are asked to 
choose between two programs that offer varying magnitudes of uniform 
changes across uses.
d. Part 4: Labor Market Activity and Demographic Information
    The fourth and final section of the survey is comprised not only of 
demographic questions but also a series of questions borrowed from the 
standard ``Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID),'' an ongoing survey 
examining trends in employment and income. Many of these questions ask 
specifically about the respondents' labor market activity as well as 
that of spouses. It is our intention to directly compare the responses 
of the PSID questions from the Knowledge Networks sample to those from 
the original PSID responses to determine if in fact they are similar. 
In so doing, we will be able to confirm the representativeness of our 
survey sample to the population in California.
    The series of demographic questions required in our survey 
instrument is reduced due to the availability of this information from 
Knowledge Networks. As noted above, Knowledge Networks collects and 
routinely updates standard demographic information on each panel member 
and makes this information available to its clients. This reduces the 
burden on the panel members and shortens the length of the survey.
    The pilot study will be conducted using 300 respondents. The survey 
is designed to collect information through an established panel of 
respondents using WebTV as the mode of administration. The data will be 
collected and stored electronically by the survey research firm. Based 
on previous experience and a limited number of cognitive pretest 
interviews, it is estimated that each survey will take approximately 30 
minutes to complete.
    Responses to the survey will be voluntary. Typically, panel members 
are free to choose whether or not to respond to any particular survey 
as long as they meet survey quotas set in their agreement with the 
research firm. The survey will fully conform to federal regulations--
specifically the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Hawkins-
Stafford Amendments of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-297), and the Computer 
Security Act of 1987.
    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.
    The EPA would like to solicit comments to:
    (i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of 
the methodology and assumptions used;
    (iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and
    (iv) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    Burden Statement: The proposed pilot survey will take advantage of 
an existing, pre-recruited panel of respondents. Thus, the only burden 
imposed by the pilot survey on respondents will be the time required to 
complete the survey. Based upon pretest interviews, the survey 
developers estimate that this will involve an average of 30 minutes per 
respondents. With a total of 300 respondents for the pilot survey this 
involves a total of 150 hours. Based on an average hourly rate of 
$22.15 (including employer costs of all employee benefits), the survey 
developers expect that the average per-respondent cost for the pilot 
survey will be $11.08 and the corresponding one-time total cost to all 
respondents will be $3324.00. Since this information collection is 
voluntary and does not involve any special equipment, respondents will 
not incur any capital or operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.
    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

[[Page 43594]]

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.

    Dated: June 12, 2002.
Al McGartland,
Office Director, National Center for Environmental Economics, Office of 
Policy, Economics and Innovation.
[FR Doc. 02-16359 Filed 6-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P