[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14779-14780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6007]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0443; FRL 9513-3]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Public Water System Supervision
Program (Renewal)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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. The ICR, which is abstracted below,
describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated
burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before April 12,
2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2011-0443, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred
method), by email to ow-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket
Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 28221T, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB by mail to:
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: Matthew Reed, Drinking Water
Protection Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water,
(4606M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-4719; email address:
reed.matthew@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 July 5, 2011 (76 FR 39092), EPA sought comments on this ICR
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments during the
comment period. Any 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-2011-0443, which is available for online viewing at
www.regulations.gov, or in person
[[Page 14780]]
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
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 ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number
identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made
available for public viewing at 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 www.regulations.gov.
Title: Public Water System Supervision Program (Renewal)
ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 0270.45, OMB Control No. 2040-0090
ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2012.
Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor
the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.
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 Code of Federal Regulations, after appearing in the
Federal Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, are
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 Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program
Renewal ICR examines public water system, primacy agency, EPA, and
tribal operator certification provider burden and costs for ``cross-
cutting'' recordkeeping and reporting requirements (i.e., the burden
and costs for complying with drinking water information requirements
that are not associated with contaminant-specific rulemakings). These
activities which have record keeping and reporting requirements that
are mandatory for compliance with 40 CFR parts 141 and 142 include the
following: Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs), Primacy Regulation
Activities, Variance and Exemption Rule (V/E Rule), General State
Primacy Activities, Public Notification (PN) and Proficiency Testing
(PT) Studies for Drinking Water Laboratories. The information
collection activities for both the Operator Certification/Expense
Reimbursement Grant Program and the Capacity Development Program are
driven by the grant withholding and reporting provisions under Sec.
1419 and Sec. 1420, respectively, of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Although the Tribal Operator Certification Program is voluntary, the
information collection is driven by grant eligibility requirements
outlined in the Drinking Water Infrastructure Grant Tribal Set-Aside
Program Final Guidelines and the Tribal Drinking Water Operator
Certification Program Guidelines.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 4.06
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 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.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Owners/operators of public water
systems who must report to the primacy agency. Primacy agencies, which
include States, Tribes (if they have been authorized to act as primacy
agencies), and EPA Regions that act as primacy agencies in Indian
country and States that do not have primacy. Laboratories conducting PT
to achieve state certification, which permits them to analyze samples
for compliance with National Primary Drinking Water Regulations
(NPDWRs). (PT vendors are not considered respondents because they are
paid for their incurred burden and costs via the prices that
laboratories pay for the PT standards.)
Estimated Number of Respondents: 154,938.
Frequency of Response: Varies by requirement (i.e., on occasion,
monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, biennially, and every 3,
6, and 9 years).
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 4,113,408.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $187,647,000, which includes
$40,019,000 in capital and operating & maintenance (O&M) costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 199,864 hours in
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase is due primarily to consultations
with respondents which yielded more accurate estimates of the burden
for various activities. These were partially offset by burden decreases
from a smaller respondent universe and reduced reporting due to a new
enforcement tracking system and the discontinuation of a grant program.
John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2012-6007 Filed 3-12-12; 8:45 am]
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