View Information Collection Request (ICR) Package

OMB Control No: 2080-0084	ICR Reference No: 201807-2080-001
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201702-2080-001
Agency/Subagency: EPA/ORD	Agency Tracking No: 2558.02
Title: Willingness to Pay Survey to Evaluate Recreational Benefits of Nutrient Reductions in Coastal New England Waters (Revision)
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 07/25/2018
	Date Received in OIRA: 07/13/2018
Terms of Clearance: This ICR is approved in accordance with 5 CFR 1320. OMB concurs with EPA that this collection is to inform the agency about the user valuation of water quality. This study is not intended to inform or evaluate any particular policy. OMB notes that the study must fulfill other quality criteria including generalizability if the study results are to be transferred outside the study sample. In addition, OMB reminds the EPA to discontinue this collection after it has completed the study.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	07/31/2021	36 Months From Approved	04/30/2021
Responses	2,253	0	2,455
Time Burden (Hours)	188	0	205
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: New England’s coastal social-ecological systems are subject to chronic environmental problems, including water quality degradation that results in important social and ecological impacts. Researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are piloting an effort to better understand how reduced water quality due to nutrient enrichment affects the economic prosperity, social capacity, and ecological integrity of coastal New England communities. EPA is conducting a survey that will allow us to estimate changes in recreation demand and values due to changes in nutrients in northeastern U.S. coastal waters. The initial geographic focus for these efforts will be Cape Cod, Massachusetts (“the Cape”; Barnstable County), and New England residents within 100 miles of the Cape. One of the key water quality concerns on Cape Cod, and throughout New England, is nonpoint sources of nitrogen, which lead to ecological impairments in estuaries with resultant socio-economic impacts. The towns on the Cape are currently in the process of creating plans to address their total maximum daily load (TMDL) thresholds for nitrogen-impaired coastal embayments. There are over 40 coastal embayments and subembayments on the Cape. To date, the EPA has approved 12 TMDLs for embayments on Cape Cod with others pending review. Because Cape Cod’s wastewater is primarily handled by onsite septic systems (85% of total Cape wastewater flows), the main sources are spread across the Cape and are affected by individual household-level decisions as well as community-level decisions. Coordinated through the Cape Cod Commission and based on the Cape’s Clean Water Act Section 208 Plan, communities across the Cape have been tasked with developing a watershed-based approach for addressing water quality to improve valued socio-economic and ecological conditions. The decisions needed to meet water quality standards are highly complex and involve significant cross-disciplinary challenges in identifying, implementing, and monitoring social and ecological management ecosystem services on the Cape (including beachgoing, swimming, fishing, shellfishing, and boating). As part of these efforts, EPA will conduct a revealed preference survey to collect data on people’s saltwater recreational activities; how recreational values are related to water quality; how perceptions of water quality relate to objective measures; the connections between perceptions of water quality, recreational choices and values, and sense of place; and demographic information. The survey will be administered using a mixed-mode approach that includes a mailed invitation to a web survey with an optional paper survey for people who are unable or unwilling to answer the web survey. EPA will use the survey responses to estimate willingness to pay for changes related to reductions in nutrient and pathogen loadings to coastal New England waters.

Authorizing Statute(s): None

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	81 FR 78809	11/09/2016
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	82 FR 52297	11/13/2017
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
ORD/AED Recreational Valuation Survey

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	2,253	2,455	-202
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	188	205	-17
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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

Burden Increase Due to:

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

Burden Reduction Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Short Statement: Per OMB's Terms of Clearance on the previous ICR, now that the pre-test is complete, EPA is submitting the results of the pre-test, demonstrating that the study objectives can be achieved, in order to begin the remainder of the survey.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $366,173

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Marisa Mazzotta 401 782-3026 mazzotta.marisa@epa.gov

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion