[Federal Register: July 5, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 127)]
[Notices]
[Page 38675-38676]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05jy05-52]
[[Page 38675]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OW-2004-0035, FRL-7932-5]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Technical Survey: Drinking Water Treatment Facilities,
EPA ICR Number 2176.01
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
proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request for a new collection.
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 September 6, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2004-
0035, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email 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: Mr. M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: (202) 566-1044; fax number: (202) 566-1053; email
address: siddiqui.ahmar@epa.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this
ICR under Docket ID number OW-2004-0035, 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 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
drinking water treatment facilities that serve populations of 10,000 or
greater.
Title: Technical Survey: Drinking Water Treatment Facilities (Year
2004).
Abstract: The Clean Water Act (CWA) directs EPA to develop national
industrial technology-based regulations to limit the amount of
pollutants that are discharged to surface waters (usually called
``effluent guidelines'') or to sewage treatment plants (called
``pretreatment standards''). Pretreatment standards ensure that
pollutants do not pass through or interfere with the safe and effective
operations of these treatment plants. The CWA also directs EPA to
develop national industrial technology-based regulations, called ``new
source performance standards,'' for new facilities. Finally, the CWA
requires the EPA to identify currently unregulated industries which may
be discharging more than trivial amounts of toxic or
``nonconventional'' pollutants, such as nutrients. For these newly
identified industries, EPA must complete effluent guidelines within
three years.
EPA is collecting information from drinking water treatment
facilities to determine if effluent guidelines or pretreatment
standards are required to control the discharge of toxic and non-
conventional pollutants into surface waters of the United States and to
publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). EPA recently published the 2004
Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (September 2, 2004; 69 FR 53705) in
accordance with the provisions of section 304(m) of the CWA and
identified the ``drinking water treatment point source category'' as a
candidate for rulemaking on the three-year schedule referred to
earlier.
In preparation for publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking,
planned for August 2006 and to be followed by final rulemaking in
August 2007, EPA is conducting several data collection activities. The
draft technical survey announced in this Federal Register notice will
provide EPA with preliminary, technical, and environmental data needed
to quantify any adverse environmental impacts of the discharges of
residuals and metals from drinking water treatment facilities, evaluate
the effectiveness of treatment technologies, and determine the
incremental pollutant removals and compliance costs for various
residual management options that EPA might consider for the proposed
rule. The collected data will include information about finished water
production, current residuals generation and management techniques, and
characterization information for source waters and wastewaters.
The technical survey is composed of two phases: a screener
questionnaire and a detailed questionnaire. EPA is distributing the
screener questionnaire in order to collect basic information from
facilities that serve populations greater than 10,000. EPA will use
data from the initial screener to better identify and define the target
population that generates residuals as a result of water treatment.
This information will then be used to select the facilities to receive
a detailed questionnaire in the second phase. The detailed
questionnaire will be distributed to a sample of the respondents to the
screener questionnaire and will collect substantially more detailed
information about the industry. The screener questionnaire will be
mailed after OMB approves the ICR, with the detailed questionnaire
being mailed after an analysis of the responses to the screener.
The survey will be administered under authority of section 308 of
the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1318. As a result, all recipients of either
questionnaire will be required to complete and return the questionnaire
to EPA. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection
[[Page 38676]]
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 ICR that EPA intends to submit to OMB will include a
discussion of the comments on the proposed survey that EPA has received
as a result of today's announcement.
The EPA would like to solicit comments on all aspects of the survey
and 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 collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Burden Statement: 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.
The EPA burden estimate is based on the number of facilities
receiving each of the two questionnaires. The Agency intends to
distribute the screener to all facilities serving more than 50,000
people, plus a sample of those serving between 10,000 and 50,000
people. The EPA burden estimate is presented in Table 1.
Table 1.--Estimated Burden for Drinking Water Treatment Facilities To Complete Technical Survey
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Estimated
Survey type Number of burden hours Total burden
recipients per recipient
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Screener Questionnaire.......................................... 1,253 7 8,771
Detailed Questionaire........................................... 225 48 10,800
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Total Burden................................................ .............. .............. 19,571
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Dated: June 13, 2005.
Ephraim S. King,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 05-13167 Filed 7-1-05; 8:45 am]
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