Please note that the OMB number and expiration date may not have been determined when this Information Collection Request and associated Information Collection forms were submitted to OMB. The approved OMB number and expiration date may be found by clicking on the Notice of Action link below.

View Generic ICR - OIRA Conclusion

OMB Control No: 2080-0083	ICR Reference No: 201604-2080-002
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No:
Agency/Subagency: EPA/ORD	Agency Tracking No: 2521.02
Title: Generic Clearance for Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Projects (New)
Type of Information Collection: New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 04/22/2016
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 04/19/2016
Terms of Clearance: Approved consistent with OMB's understanding that the ICs under this OMB number are designed to contribute to research and science, and thus will not be used to inform Agency regulations or policies. Each IC submission must include a mini supporting statement that includes a specific description of the goal, uses of resulting data, data collection methods, instrument, participant universe, statistical analysis, and data quality assessment procedures.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	04/30/2019	36 Months From Approved
Responses	1,603,500	0	0
Time Burden (Hours)	1,167,250	0	0
Cost Burden (Dollars)	1,575,000	0	0

Abstract: EPA relies on scientific information. Citizen science and crowdsourcing techniques will allow the Agency to collect qualitative and quantitative data that might help inform scientific research, assessments, or environmental screening; validate environmental models or tools; or enhance the quantity and quality of data collected across the country’s diverse communities and ecosystems to support the Agency’s mission. Information gathered under this generic clearance will be used by the Agency to support the activities listed above and might provide unprecedented avenues for conducting breakthrough research. Collections under this generic ICR will be from participants who actively seek to participate on their own initiative through an open and transparent process (the Agency does not select participants or require participation); the collections will be low-burden for participants; collections will be low-cost for both the participants and the Federal Government; and data will be available to support the scientific research (including assessments, environmental screening, tools, models, etc.) of the Agency, states, tribal or local entities where data collection occurs. EPA may, by virtue of collaborating with non-federal entities, sponsor the collection of this type of information in connection with citizen science projects. When applicable, all such collections will accord with Agency policies and regulations related to human subjects research and will follow the established approval paths through EPA’s Human Subjects Research Review Official. Finally, personally identifiable information (PII) will only be collected when necessary and in accordance with applicable federal procedures and policies. If a new collection is not within the parameters of this generic ICR, the Agency will submit a separate information collection request to OMB for approval.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 33 USC 1254 Name of Law: Clean Water Act
   US Code: 42 USC 6981 Name of Law: Solid Waste Disposal Act
   US Code: 42 USC 7403 Name of Law: Clean Air Act
   US Code: 33 USC 1443 Name of Law: Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act
   US Code: 42 USC 300j-1 Name of Law: Safe Drinking Water Act
   US Code: 20 USC 5503 Name of Law: National Environmental Education Act
   US Code: 42 USC 9660 Name of Law: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	1,603,500	1,603,500
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	1,167,250	1,167,250
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	1,575,000	1,575,000

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: This is a recreation of ICR Reference Number 201512-2080-001 that was submitted to OMB on December 16, 2015. The reason for creating this new package is that 201512-2080-001 was categorized as a regular ICR. It needed to be categorized as a generic ICR. As there is currently no way to change this categorization in ROCIS, a new Generic ICR package needed to be created. The 201512-2080-001 package will be withdrawn and this Generic ICR shall take its place.