[Federal Register: October 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 206)]
[Notices]
[Page 61809-61810]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26oc05-79]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OW-2002-0011, FRL-7988-7]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Laboratory Quality Assurance
Evaluation Program for Analysis of Cryptosporidium Under the Safe
Drinking Water Act, EPA ICR Number 2067.03, OMB Control Number 2040-
0246
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
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,
2005. 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 November 25,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2002-
0012, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail
to ow-docket@epamail.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: Sean Conley, Office of Groundwater and
Drinking Water, (Mail Code 4607M), Environmental Protection Agency,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number:
202-564-1781; fax number: 202-564-3767; e-mail address:
conley.sean@epa.gov. For technical inquiries, contact Carrie Moulton,
EPA, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Technical Support
Center, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive (MS-140), Cincinnati, Ohio
45268; fax number: (513) 569-7191; e-mail address:
moulton.carrie@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 June 3, 2005 (70 FR 32607), EPA sought comments on this ICR
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA has addressed the comments received.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. OW-2002-0012, 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
[[Page 61810]]
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 http://www.epa.gov/edocket
.
Title: Laboratory Quality Assurance Evaluation Program for Analysis
of Cryptosporidium under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Abstract: Under the Laboratory Quality Assurance Evaluation
Program, EPA evaluates labs on a case-by-case basis through evaluating
their capacity and competency to reliably measure for the occurrence of
Cryptosporidium in surface water using EPA Method 1622 or EPA Method
1623. To obtain approval under the program, the laboratory must submit
an application package and provide: a demonstration of availability of
qualified personnel and appropriate instrumentation, equipment and
supplies; a detailed laboratory standard operating procedure for each
version of the method that the laboratory will use to conduct the
Cryptosporidium analyses; a current copy of the table of contents of
their laboratory's quality assurance plan for protozoa analyses; and an
initial demonstration of capability data for EPA Method 1622 or EPA
Method 1623, which include precision and recovery test results and
matrix spike/matrix spike duplicate test results for Cryptosporidium.
After the laboratory submits to EPA an application package
including supporting documentation, EPA and the laboratory conduct the
following steps to complete the process:
1. EPA contacts the laboratory for follow-up information and to
schedule participation in the performance testing program.
2. EPA sends initial proficiency testing samples to the laboratory
(unless the laboratory has already successfully analyzed such samples
under EPA's Protozoan PE program). These sample packets consist of
eight spiked samples shipped to the laboratory within a standard
matrix.
3. The laboratory analyzes initial proficiency testing samples and
submits data to EPA.
4. EPA conducts an on-site evaluation and data audit.
5. The laboratory analyzes ongoing proficiency testing samples
three times per year and submits the data to EPA. These sample packets
consist of three spiked samples shipped to the laboratory within a
standard matrix.
6. EPA contacts laboratories by letter within 60 days of their
laboratory on-site evaluation to confirm whether the laboratory has
demonstrated its capacity and competency for participation in the
program.
The procedure for obtaining an application package, the criteria
for demonstrating capacity and competency, and other guidance to
laboratories that are interested in participating in the program, are
provided at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lt2/cla_final.html.
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: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 19
hours per response. 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: Public and private water testing
laboratories.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 22.
Frequency of Response: Three times per year.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,980.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $275,000, includes $109,000 annualized
capital or O&M costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 367 hours in the
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is just an adjustment to the
estimate.
Dated: October 18, 2005.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-21370 Filed 10-25-05; 8:45 am]
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