[Federal Register: May 22, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 98)]
[Notices]
[Page 24005-24006]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22my09-54]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719, FRL-8909-2]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Cooling Water Intake Structures at Phase III
Facilities (Renewal), EPA ICR No. 2169.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0268
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 (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 describes the nature of the information
collection and its estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before June 22, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2008-0719 to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our
preferred method), by e-mail to ow-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Docket, Mail Code
28221T, 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: Amelia Letnes, State and Regional
Branch, Water Permits Division, OWM Mail Code: 4203M, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: (202) 564-5627; e-mail address:
letnes.amelia@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 25, 2009 (74 FR 8527), EPA sought comments on this
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA did not receive any comments
during the comment period. Any additional comments on this ICR should
be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719, which is available for online viewing at
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Water Docket in
the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC 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.
Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at http://
www.regulations.gov to submit or view public comments, access the index
listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those documents in
the docket that are available electronically. Once in the system,
select ``search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified in this
document. Please note that EPA's policy is that public comments,
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available
for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov as EPA receives them
and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material,
confidential business information (CBI), or other information whose
public disclosure is restricted by statute. For further information
about the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Title: Cooling Water Intake Structures at Phase III Facilities
(Renewal).
ICR Number: EPA ICR No. 2169.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0268.
ICR Status: This ICR is currently scheduled to expire on May 31,
2009. 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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal
Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, and displayed
either by publication in the Federal Register or by other appropriate
means, such as on the related collection instrument or form, if
applicable. The display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA
regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
Abstract: The Section 316(b) regulation for Phase III facilities
requires the collection of information from new offshore oil and gas
extraction facilities which use a cooling water intake structure(s)
that uses at least 25 percent of the water it withdraws for cooling
purposes, and have design intake flows greater than 2 MGD. Section
316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that any standard
established under section 301 or 306 of the CWA and applicable to a
point source must require that the location, design, construction and
capacity of cooling water intake structure(s) at that facility reflect
the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental
impact. Such impact occurs as a result of impingement (where fish and
other aquatic life are trapped on technologies at the entrance to
cooling water intake structures) and entrainment (where aquatic
organisms, eggs, and larvae are taken into the cooling system, passed
through the heat exchanger, and then pumped back out with the discharge
from the facility). The rule contains requirements applicable to the
location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake
structures at new offshore oil and gas extraction facilities. These
requirements seek to establish the best technology available for
minimizing adverse environmental
[[Page 24006]]
impact associated with the use of cooling water intake structure(s).
Burden Statement: The annual average reporting and recordkeeping
burden for the existing collection of information by facilities
responding to the Section 316(b) Phase III rule is estimated to be 921
hours per facility respondent (i.e., an annual average of 34,080 hours
of burden divided among an annual average of 37 facilities). 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
which have subsequently changed; 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 ICR provides a detailed explanation of the Agency's estimate
for the existing ICR, which is only briefly summarized here:
Estimated total number of potential respondents: 37 facilities.
Frequency of response: Every five years, ongoing.
Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent:
4.2.
Estimated total annual burden hours: 34,080 hours.
Estimated total annual costs: $2,433,612. This includes an
estimated labor burden cost of $1,836,559 and an estimated cost of
$597,053 for capital investment or operations and maintenance.
Change in the Estimates: This ICR estimates an annual average
respondent burden of 34,080 hours, which represents a 3-fold increase
(22,842 hours) in burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burdens. The change in burden results mainly from the
shift from the approval period to the permit implementation and renewal
period of the Section 316(b) Phase III rule. Because NPDES permits are
issued every five years, this ICR covers the last two years of the
initial permit approval period (i.e., years four and five after
promulgation) and the first year of the renewal period (i.e., year six
after promulgation). In this first year of the renewal period
facilities will be applying for a permit for the first time or re-
applying for permit coverage that was obtained during the three years
covered by the previous ICR. The activities to renew an NPDES permit
are assumed to be less burdensome than those for issuing a permit for
the first time.
Dated: May 18, 2009.
John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E9-12008 Filed 5-21-09; 8:45 am]
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