[Federal Register: March 20, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 55)]
[Notices]
[Page 14983-14984]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20mr08-41]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2006-0771, FRL-8544-7]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Extension of Comment Period; Coalbed Methane Extraction Sector
Questionnaire (New), EPA ICR Number 2291.01
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Extension of Comment Period.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), EPA announced on January 25, 2008, its plan to submit a
proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) and solicited public comments on this
request for a new collection on the coalbed methane extraction industry
sector. In response to requests from several stakeholders, this action
extends the public comment period for an additional 30 days.
DATES: EPA must receive your comments on or before April 24, 2008.
Submit your comments, data and information for the Coalbed Methane
Extraction Sector Questionnaire, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2006-0771, by one of the following methods:
(1) www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
(2) E-mail: OW-Docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2006-0771.
(3) Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode:
4203M, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2006-0771. Please include a total of 3 copies.
(4) Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC, Attention Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2006-0771. Such deliveries are only accepted during the
Docket's normal hours of operation and special arrangements should be
made.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2006-
0771. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in
the public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information through
regulations.gov or e-mail that you consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected. The federal regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
[[Page 14984]]
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If you send an e-mail comment directly to
EPA without going through regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If EPA
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot
contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your
comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters,
and any form of encryption, and should be free of any defects or
viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the index at
www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index, some information is
not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically at www.regulations.gov or in hard copy
at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The 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 Public Reading
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Water Docket
is (202) 566-2426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Carey A. Johnston at (202) 566-
1014 or johnston.carey@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 25, 2008 (73 FR 4556), EPA
solicited comment on the Agency's proposed Information Collection
Request (ICR) for the coalbed methane (CBM) sector. EPA identified the
CBM sector as a candidate for a detailed study in the final 2006
Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (71 FR 76656; December 21, 2006) and
also identified that it would develop an industry questionnaire to
support this detailed study and would seek Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). EPA is
conducting this review to determine if it would be appropriate to
conduct a rulemaking to revise the effluent guidelines for the Oil and
Gas Extraction Point Source Category (40 CFR part 435) to control
pollutants discharged in CBM-produced water. EPA also noticed it will
conduct an ICR in the preliminary 2008 Plan (72 FR 61343; October 30,
2007). For each industrial sector, EPA's planning process considers
four factors: pollutants discharged, current and potential pollution
prevention and control technology options, growth and economic
affordability, and implementation and efficiency considerations of
revising existing effluent guidelines or publishing new effluent
guidelines. EPA will use this ICR to collect technical and economic
information from a wide range of CBM operations to address these
factors in greater detail (e.g., geographical and geologic differences
in the characteristics of CBM-produced waters, environmental data,
current regulatory controls, availability and affordability of
treatment technology options). See final 2006 Plan (71 FR 76666).
Response to the questionnaire is mandatory for recipients and EPA will
administer the questionnaire using its authority under Section 308 of
the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1318.
The original comment deadline was March 25, 2008. Several
stakeholders have requested an extension to the comment period in order
to adequately understand this new information collection and provide
comments (see EPA-HQ-OW-2006-0771-1074, 1075, www.regulations.gov).
This action extends the comment period for 30 days.
Dated: March 14, 2008.
Ephraim S. King,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. E8-5661 Filed 3-19-08; 8:45 am]
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