[Federal Register: March 22, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 54)]
[Notices]
[Page 14462-14463]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22mr05-43]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OW-2003-0018, FRL-7887-5]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Continuing Collection;
Comment Request; Water Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal), EPA ICR
Number 0988.09, OMB Control Number 2040-0049
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 for the Water Quality Standards Regulation. This
ICR is scheduled to expire on August 31, 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 May 23, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0018, 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, Office of Water (4101T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW., Washington, DC 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederick D. Leutner, Office of Water
(4305T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0400; fax number:
(202) 566-0409; e-mail address: leutner.fred@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this
ICR under Docket ID number OW-2003-0018, 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
all States and certain authorized Indian tribes that adopt water
quality standards under the Clean Water Act; and water dischargers
subject to certain requirements related to water quality standards in
the Great Lakes system, including dischargers in the following SIC
categories: Mining (SIC codes 10, 14); Food (20); Pulp and Paper (26);
Inorganic Chemical Manufacturing (281); Organic Chemical Manufacturing
(28); Petroleum Refining (29); Metal Manufacturing (33), Metal
Finishing (34-37); Steam Electric (4911), and Publically Owned
Treatment Works (4952). For the purposes of the Regulation, the term
``State'' means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Title: Water Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal).
Abstract: Water quality standards are provisions of State, Tribal,
and Federal law that consist of designated uses for waters of the
United States, water quality criteria to protect the designated uses,
and an antidegradation policy. Section 303(c) of the Clean Water Act
requires States and authorized Tribes to establish water quality
standards, and to review and, if appropriate, revise their water
quality standards once every three years. The Act also requires EPA to
review and either approve or disapprove the new or revised standards,
and to promulgate replacement Federal standards if necessary. Section
118(c)(2) of the Act specifies additional water quality standards
requirements for waters of the Great Lakes system.
The Water Quality Standards Regulation (40 CFR part 131 and
portions of part 132) governs national implementation of the water
quality standards program. The Regulation describes requirements and
procedures for States and authorized Tribes to develop, review, and
revise their water quality standards, and EPA procedures for reviewing
and approving the water quality standards. The regulation requires the
development and submission of information to EPA, including:
--The minimum elements in water quality standards that each State or
Tribe must submit to EPA for review, including any new or revised water
quality standards resulting from the jurisdiction's triennial review
(40 CFR 131.6 and 131.20). The elements include use designations for
specific water bodies; methods used and analyses conducted to support
water quality standards revisions; supporting analysis for use
attainability analyses; water quality criteria sufficient to protect
the designated uses; methodologies for site-specific criteria
development; an antidegradation policy; certification by the
jurisdiction's Attorney General or other appropriate legal authority
that the water quality standards were duly adopted pursuant to State or
Tribal law; information that will aid EPA in determining the adequacy
of the scientific basis for the standards; and information on general
policies that may affect the implementation of the standards.
--Information that an Indian Tribe must submit to EPA in order to
determine whether a Tribe is qualified to
[[Page 14463]]
administer the water quality standards program (40 CFR 131.8).
--Information a State or Tribe must submit if it chooses to exercise a
dispute resolution mechanism for disputes between States and Tribes
over water quality standards on common water bodies (40 CFR 131.7).
--Information related to public participation requirements during State
and Tribal review and revision of water quality standards (40 CFR
131.20). States and Tribes must hold public hearings as part of their
triennial reviews, and make any proposed standards and supporting
analyses available to the public before the hearing.
The Regulation establishes specific additional requirements for
water quality standards and their implementation in the waters of the
Great Lakes system, contained in the Water Quality Guidance for the
Great Lakes System (40 CFR part 132). This portion of the Regulation
includes the following requirements for information collection:
bioassay tests to support the development of water quality criteria;
studies to identify and provide information on antidegradation control
measures that will guard against the reduction of water quality in the
Great Lakes system; and information collection and record keeping
activities associated with analyses and reporting to request regulatory
relief from Guidance requirements. The Guidance includes additional
information collections that are addressed in separate Information
Collection Requests for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System program.
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 collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Burden Statement: The public reporting and recordkeeping burden for
this collection of information is estimated to average 856 hours per
response annually. 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: March 10, 2005.
Mary T. Smith,
Acting Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 05-5613 Filed 3-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P