[Federal Register: September 5, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 172)]
[Notices]
[Page 52763-52764]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05se03-52]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OW-2003-0026-; FRL-7553-5]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; National Water Quality Inventory
Reports (Clean Water Act Sections 305(b), 303(d), 314(a), and 106(e)),
EPA ICR Number 1560.07, OMB Control Number 2040-0071
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 an Information Collection
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31,
2003. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or
sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending
at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and
its estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before October 6,
2003.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0026, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail
to OW-Docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental
Protection Agency, 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA,
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Wilson, Assessment and Watershed
Protection Division, Office of Water, Mail Code 4503T, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: 202-566-1158; fax number: 202-566-1331; e-mail
address: wilson.john@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR
1320.12. On May 21, 2003 (68 FR 27793), EPA sought comments on this ICR
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. OW-2003-0026 , which is available for public viewing at the Water
Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Water Docket
is (202) 566-2426. An electronic version of the public docket is
available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing
of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in
the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the
system, select ``search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified
above.
Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments,
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available
for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change,
unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other
information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA
identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide
a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is
placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the
copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although
identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as
CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not
included in the official public docket, and will not be available for
public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic
docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic
docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to www.epa.gov/edocket.
Title: National Water Quality Inventory Reports (Clean Water Act
Sections 305(b), 303(d), 314(a), and 106(e)).
Abstract: Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires States to
identify and rank waters which cannot meet water quality standards
(WQS) following the implementation of technology-based controls. Under
section 303(d), States are also required to establish total maximum
daily loads (TMDLs) for listed waters not meeting standards as a result
of pollutant discharges. In developing the section 303(d) lists, States
are required to consider various sources of water quality related data
and information, including the section 305(b) State water quality
reports. The section 305(b) reports contain information on the extent
of water quality degradation, the pollutants and sources affecting
water quality, and State progress in controlling water pollution. EPA's
Assessment and Watershed Protection Division (AWPD) works with its
Regional counterparts to review and approve or disapprove State section
303(d) lists and TMDLs.
This announcement includes the reapproval of current, ongoing
activities related to sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting and TMDL
development for
[[Page 52764]]
the period of August 1, 2003 through July 31, 2006. During the period
covered by this ICR renewal, respondents will: Complete their 2004
section 305(b) reports and 2004 section 303(d) lists; complete their
2006 section 305(b) reports and 2006 section 303(d) lists; transmit
annual electronic updates of their section 305(b) databases in 2003
through 2006; and continue to develop TMDLs according to their
established schedules. EPA will prepare two biennial Reports to
Congress: one in 2003, one in 2005, and EPA will review TMDL
submissions from respondents.
The respondent community for section 305(b) reporting consists of
50 States, the District of Columbia, 5 Territories (Puerto Rico, the
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana
Islands), and 3 River Basin Commissions. The Ohio River Valley
Sanitation Commission, the Delaware River Basin Commission, and the
Interstate Sanitation Commission have jurisdiction over basins that lie
in multiple States. Indian Tribes are exempt from the section 305(b)
reporting requirement, but some Tribes choose to participate as a way
of presenting assessments and water quality issues to the public and
Congress. One Tribe or Tribal Group prepared section 305(b) reports in
1996 and 1997. However, since Tribal section 305(b) reporting is a
voluntary effort, it is not included in the burden estimates for this
ICR.
The respondent community for section 303(d) activities consists of
50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories (Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana
Islands). Although Indian Tribes can be authorized to meet section
303(d) requirements, none are currently authorized nor have applied for
authorization. Further, very few Tribes have established water quality
standards, and EPA is currently in the process of preparing standards
where they are needed. Therefore, we assume that there would be no
burden to Indian Tribes over the period covered by this ICR for section
303(d) activities.
The burden of specific activities that States undertake as part of
their sections 305(b) and 303(d) programs are derived from an ongoing
project among EPA, States and other interested stakeholders to develop
a tool for estimating the States' resource needs for State water
quality management programs. This project has developed the State Water
Quality Management Workload Model (SWQMWM), which estimates and sums
the workload involved in more than one hundred activities or tasks
comprising a State water quality management program. Over twenty States
have contributed information about their activities that became the
basis for the model. According to the SWQMWM, the States will carry out
the following activities or tasks to meet the sections 305(b) and
303(d) reporting requirements: Watershed characterization; modeling and
analysis; development of a TMDL document for public review; public
outreach; formal public participation; tracking; planning; legal
support; etc. In general, respondents have conducted each of these
reporting and record keeping activities for past sections 305(b) and
303(d) reporting cycles and thus have staff and procedures in place to
continue their sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting programs. The
burden associated with these tasks is estimated in this ICR to include
the total number of TMDLs that may be submitted during the period
covered by this ICR.
The biennial frequency of the collection is mandated by section
305(b)(1) of the CWA. Section 305(b) originally required respondents to
submit water quality reports on an annual basis. In 1977, the annual
requirement was amended to a biennial requirement in the CWA. EPA has
determined that abbreviated reporting for hard-copy section 305(b)
reports, combined with annual electronic reporting using respondent
databases, will meet the CWA reporting requirements while reducing
burden to respondents. The biennial period with annual electronic
reporting ensures that information needed for analysis and water
program decisions is reasonably current, yet abbreviated reporting
requirements provides respondents with sufficient time to prepare the
reports.
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 in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on
the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
Burden Statement: For the 3 respondents that have section 305(b)
responsibility only the annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3,659
hours. For the 56 other respondents with both sections 305(b) and
303(d) responsibilities the annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average
66,590 hours. 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 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.
Respondents/Affected Entities: States, District of Columbia,
Territories, River Basin commissions, and Indian Tribes.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 59.
Frequency of Response: Biannually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,740,017.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $155,322,906, includes $0 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 749,130 hours in
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is due to: Adjustment Changes in
Burden for sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting. The total annual
respondent burden for sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting has
increased from ICR 1560.05 and 1560.06 due to improved estimates of
respondent activity.
Dated: August 27, 2003.
Doreen Sterling,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-22641 Filed 9-4-03; 8:45 am]
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