[Federal Register: January 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 6)]
[Notices]
[Page 1697-1699]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10ja05-26]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OW-2003-0081; FRL-7859-7]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Survey Questionnaire To Determine
the Effectiveness, Costs, and Impacts of Sewage and Graywater Treatment
Devices for Large Cruise Ships Operating in Alaska, EPA ICR Number
2133.01, OMB Control Number 2040-NEW
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
[[Page 1698]]
(ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review and approval. This is a request for a new collection. This
ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its
estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before February 9,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0081, to (1) 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, EPA West, 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: Elizabeth Kim, Oceans and Coastal
Protection Division, Office of Water, Mail Code 4504T, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: (202) 566-1270; fax number: (202) 566-1546; email
address: kim.elizabeth@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 February 3, 2004 (69 FR 5145), EPA sought comments on this
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA has addressed the comments
received in the supporting statement of this ICR. Please note that the
first Federal Register notice submitted included an incorrect ICR
number (OW-2003-0014). The correct EPA ICR Number is 2133.01.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. OW-2003-0081, 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 http://www.epa.gov/edocket
.
Title: Survey Questionnaire to Determine the Effectiveness, Costs,
and Impacts of Sewage and Graywater Treatment Devices for Large Cruise
Ships Operating in Alaska.
Abstract: On December 12, 2000, Congress passed HR 4577 (Public Law
106-554), ``Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.'' This act included
a section entitled ``Title XIV: Certain Alaskan Cruise Ship
Operations'' (33 U.S.C. 1901 Note). Title XIV set requirements for the
discharge of sewage and graywater from cruise ships authorized to carry
for hire 500 or more passengers while operating in the waters of the
Alexander Archipelago and the navigable waters of the United States
within the State of Alaska and within the Kachemak Bay National
Estuarine Research Reserve (hereafter referred to as waters in and near
Alaska). Title XIV also authorized that:
the Administrator [of EPA] may promulgate effluent standards for
treated sewage (human body waste and the wastes from toilets and
other receptacles intended to receive or retain human body waste)
and graywater (galley, dishwasher, bath, and laundry waste water)
from cruise vessels operating in the waters of the Alexander
Archipelago or the navigable waters of the United States within the
State of Alaska or within the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine
Research Reserve. Regulations implementing such standards shall take
into account the best available scientific information on the
environmental effects of the regulated discharges and the
availability of new technologies for wastewater treatment.
EPA has begun an effort to develop and promulgate regulations, as
necessary and appropriate, for controlling the discharge of sewage and
graywater from cruise ships covered by Title XIV. Title XIV provides
that the authority of sections 308(a) and 308(b) of the Clean Water
Act, regarding records, reports, and inspections, shall be available to
carry out the provisions of the Act (section 1413). EPA has prepared an
ICR for OMB approval for gathering data in support of this rulemaking.
The ICR requests approval to collect information from cruise lines and
cruise ships covered by Title XIV.
The information to be gathered with a survey questionnaire would
include: general information regarding the cruise line and each of the
cruise vessels authorized to carry for hire 500 or more passengers in
waters in and near Alaska (e.g., size, capacity, ports of call);
description of sources of graywater; ship-board plumbing systems; data
describing the effectiveness of sewage and graywater treatment systems
and marine sanitation devices (MSDs) operating on these large vessels
at removing pollutants of concern; costs of these systems; pollution
prevention programs and management practices; information pertinent to
environmental assessment; and financial information and data necessary
for economic impact analysis. When possible, EPA will use available
information to complete answers to some questions. In these cases, the
respondent will be asked to verify the information and update it if
necessary. The survey questionnaire will provide instructions on the
procedures for making CBI claims, if necessary, and the respondents
will be informed of the rules governing protection of CBI, for
information that warrants such claims.
EPA also intends to continue to supplement this information
collection by gathering additional publicly available information and
data from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC)
and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the cruise ship industry, and other
stakeholders.
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.
[[Page 1699]]
Burden Statement: EPA estimates that 12 cruise line operators would
respond to the survey for a total of 30 vessels operating in Alaska.
The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this
collection of information is estimated to average across all vessels
42.3 hours per response. That is 54 hours per response to complete and
review responses to the survey questionnaire and associated data
submissions for each of the 16 cruise ships that are certified by the
U.S. Coast Guard to discharge continuously in the waters in and near
Alaska under 33 CFR 159.309. This estimate includes the burden for
verifying and updating ``draft'' responses provided by EPA to a portion
of the questions. For the remaining 14 ships that do not have
wastewater treatment systems authorized to discharge continuously, EPA
estimates it would take an average of approximately 29 hours per
response to complete and review responses to the survey questionnaire.
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: Operators of cruise lines and
individual cruise ships authorized to carry for hire 500 or more
passengers, operating in waters in and near Alaska.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 12 cruise line operators.
Frequency of Response: One time response.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1,270 hours for all ships.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $50,981, includes $0 annualized
capital expenditure, $890 Respondent O&M costs, and $50,091 Respondent
Labor costs.
Dated: December 20, 2004.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-419 Filed 1-7-05; 8:45 am]
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