[Federal Register: June 16, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 115)]
[Notices]
[Page 35082-35084]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16jn05-38]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OW-2003-0033, FRL-7924-8]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Modification of Secondary Treatment Requirements for
Discharges Into Marine Waters, EPA ICR Number 0138.08, OMB Control
Number 2040-0088
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 a
continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on September 30,
2005. 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 15, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0033, to 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, Water Docket, Mail Code: 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Virginia Fox-Norse, Office of
Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds: Oceans and Coastal Protection Division
(Mail Code 4504T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number (202) 566-1266; fax
number: (202) 566-1337; e-mail address: fox-norse.virginia@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this
ICR under Docket ID number OW-2003-0033, 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 obtain a copy of the draft
collection of information, 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 within
60 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
[[Page 35083]]
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 http://www.epa.gov./edocket.
Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are
those municipalities that currently have section 301(h) waivers from
secondary treatment, have applied for a renewal of a section 301(h)
waiver, or those with a pending section 301(h) waiver application, and
the states within which these municipalities are located.
Title: Modification of Secondary Treatment Requirements for
Discharges Into Marine Waters
Abstract: Regulations implementing section 301(h) of the Clean
Water Act (CWA) are found at 40 CFR part 125, subpart G. The section
301(h) program involves collecting information from two sources: (1)
The municipal wastewater treatment facility, commonly called a publicly
owned treatment works (POTW), and (2) the state in which the POTW is
located. Municipalities had the opportunity to apply for a waiver from
secondary treatment requirements, but that opportunity closed in
December, 1982. A POTW that seeks a section 301(h) waiver does so
voluntarily to obtain or retain a benefit. A section 301(h) waiver
modifies secondary treatment requirements of CWA section 301(b)(1)(B).
Secondary treatment requirements establish technology-based effluent
limitations for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (SS),
and pH (a measure of acidity or alkalinity) (40 CFR part 133). A POTW
seeking to obtain a section 301(h) waiver, holding a current waiver or
reapplying for a waiver, provides application, monitoring, and toxic
control program information. The state provides information on its
determination whether the discharge under the proposed conditions of
the waiver ensures the protection of water quality, biological
habitats, and beneficial uses of receiving waters and whether the
discharge will result in additional treatment, pollution control, or
any other requirement for any other point or nonpoint sources. The
state also provides information to certify that the discharge will meet
all applicable state laws and that the state accepts all permit
conditions.
There are 4 situations where information will be required under the
section 301(h) program:
(1) A POTW continuing the application process for a section 301(h)
waiver, or reapplying for a waiver: As the permits with section 301(h)
waivers reach their expiration dates, EPA must have updated information
on the discharge to determine whether the section 301(h) criteria are
still being met and whether the section 301(h) waiver should be
reissued. Under 40 CFR 125.59(f), each section 301(h) permittee is
required to submit an application for a new section 301(h) modified
permit within 180 days of the existing permit's expiration date. 40 CFR
125.59(c) lists the information required for a modified permit. The
information that EPA needs to determine whether the POTW's
reapplication meets the section 301(h) criteria is outlined in the
questionnaire attached to 40 CFR part 125, subpart G.
(2) Monitoring and toxic control program information: Once a waiver
has been granted, EPA must continue to assess whether the discharge is
meeting section 301(h) criteria, and that the receiving water quality,
biological habitats, and beneficial uses of the receiving waters are
protected. To do this, EPA needs monitoring information furnished by
the permittee. According to 40 CFR 125.68(d), any permit issued with a
section 301(h) waiver must contain the monitoring requirements of 40
CFR 125.63(b), (c), and (d) for biomonitoring, water quality criteria
and standards monitoring, and effluent monitoring, respectively.
Section 125.68(d) also requires reporting at the frequency specified in
the monitoring program. In addition to monitoring information, EPA
needs information on the toxics control program required by section
125.66 to ensure that the permittee is effectively minimizing
industrial and nonindustrial toxic pollutant and pesticide discharges
into the treatment works.
(3) Application revision information: Section 125.59(d) of 40 CFR
allows a POTW to revise its application one time only, following a
tentative decision by EPA to deny the waiver request. In its
application revision, the POTW usually corrects deficiencies and
changes proposed treatment levels as well as outfall and diffuser
locations. The application revision is a voluntary submission for the
applicant, and a letter of intent to revise the application must be
submitted within 45 days of EPA's tentative decision (40 CFR
125.59(f)). EPA needs this information to evaluate revised applications
to determine whether the modified discharge will ensure protection of
water quality, biological habitats, and beneficial uses of receiving
waters.
(4) State determination and state certification information: For
revised or renewal applications for section 301(h) waivers, EPA needs a
state determination. The state determines whether all state laws
(including water quality standards) are satisfied. This helps ensure
that water quality, biological habitats, and beneficial uses of
receiving waters are protected. Additionally, the state must determine
if the applicant's discharge will result in additional treatment,
pollution control, or any other requirement for any other point or
nonpoint sources. This process allows the state's views to be taken
into account when EPA reviews the section 301(h) application and
develops permit conditions. For revised and renewed section 301(h)
waiver applications, EPA also needs the CWA section 401(a)(1)
certification information to ensure that all state water quality laws
are met by any permit it issues with a section 301(h) modification, and
the state accepts all the permit conditions. This information is the
means by which the state can exercise its authority to concur with or
deny a section 301(h) decision made by the EPA Regional Office.
The information covered by this information collection request
involves treatment plant operating data, effects of POTWs' discharges
on marine environments, and States' viewpoints on issues concerning
effects of POTWs' discharges on marine environments. None of this
information is confidential; thus confidentiality is not an issue. 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.
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
[[Page 35084]]
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of responses.
Burden Statement: The estimated annual average burden for the 51
respondents totals 65,037 hours for this information collection. The
average annual reporting burden varies depending on the size of the
respondent and the category of the information collection. The
frequency of response varies from once every five years, to case-by-
case, depending on the category. The annual reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 667
hours per response for POTWs and 86 hours per response for States.
There are no applicable projected cost burdens for respondents or
record keepers resulting from the collection of information, for a
total capital and startup cost component annualized over its expected
useful life, a total operation and maintenance component, or a purchase
of services component. 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.
Dated: June 6, 2005.
Diane Regas,
Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds.
[FR Doc. 05-11916 Filed 6-15-05; 8:45 am]
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