The Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), created by EPA as part of the Climate Change Action Plan, is a voluntary program designed to encourage and facilitate the development of environmentally and economically sound landfill gas (LFG) energy projects across the United States in order to reduce methane emissions from landfills. LMOP does this by educating local governments and communities about the benefits of LFG recovery and use; building partnerships between state agencies, industry, energy service providers, local communities, and other stakeholders interested in developing this valuable resource in their community; and providing tools to evaluate LFG energy (LFGE) potential. The LMOP information collection is expected to involve an average of 832 existing Partners and an additional 114 new Partners per year. Additionally there is a planned one-time information collection for 1,000 other landfill owners and operators. The average annual burden (rounded to one decimal place) and cost per respondent is estimated to be 4.6 hours and $270. The total annual reporting and recordkeeping burden averaged over three years is 5,887 hours and $344,827 ($1,342 in O&M Costs).
This ICR was discontinued on July 31, 2007, and is now being reinstated. The increase in burden requested in this ICR reflects the reinstatement of this ICR. Since the last ICR, LMOP no longer collects information annually from Energy, State, and non-developer Industry Partners and the information forms for other Partner types have been simplified into pre-populated spreadsheets. An increase in burden from the last ICR within LMOP Partners is due to an increase in the number of Partners. The remainder of the increase in total hourly burden from the last ICR comes from a planned initiative to collect critical landfill data from other landfill owners and operators. These data are necessary in order to evaluate the future potential of LFGE and this type of data collection has not occurred during LMOP's history.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Landfill Methane Outreach Program - Existing State