03-4372. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission of EPA ICR No. 1541.07 (OMB No. 2060-0183) to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request

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 the following Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: NESHAP: Benzene Waste Operations (40 CFR part 61, subpart FF), OMB Control Number 2060-0183, EPA ICR Number 1541.07, expiration date

2/28/2003. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments must be submitted on or before March 27, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Follow the detailed instructions in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rafael Sanchez, Compliance Assurance and Media Programs Division, Office of Compliance, Mail Code 2223A, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number [phone]; fax number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail]. Refer to EPA ICR Number 1541.07.

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 June 20, 2002 (67 FR 41981), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. OECA-2002-0012, which is available for public viewing at the Enforcement and Compliance Docket and Information Center (ECDIC) in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 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 [phone], and the telephone number for the ECDIC is [phone]. 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, and according to the following detailed instructions: (1) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to [e-mail], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2201T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) Mail your comments to 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.

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 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: NESHAP: Benzene Waste Operations (40 CFR part 61, subpart FF) (OMB Control Number 2060-0183, EPA ICR Number 1541.07). This is a request to renew an existing approved collection that is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2003. Under the OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.

Abstract: Any facility which manages a waste containing benzene must maintain records and submit reports to the Agency. There is a tiered threshold for burden. Facilities managing waste containing less than 1 megagram per year (Mg/yr) of benzene must certify to that effect and maintain documentation to support their finding. Facilities managing more than 1 Mg/yr and less than 10 Mg/yr of benzene-containing waste must prepare an initial certification, test annually to verify that their waste stream still falls within this range, and maintain documentation to support these findings. Facilities managing more than 10 Mg/yr of waste must submit quarterly and annual reports documenting the results of continuous monitoring. The Agency uses this information to determine compliance and to select plants or processes for inspection.

The required notifications are used to inform the Agency or delegated authority when a source becomes subject to the standard. Performance test reports are needed as these are the Agency's record of a source's initial capability to comply with the emission standard, and serve as a record of the operating conditions under which compliance was achieved. The monitoring and excess emissions reports are used for problem identification, as a check on source operation and maintenance, and for compliance determinations. The information collected from record keeping and reporting requirements is used for targeting inspections, and for other uses in compliance and enforcement programs.

Responses to this information collection are deemed to be mandatory, per section 114(a) of the Clean Air Act. The required information consists of emissions data and other information that have been determined not to be private. However, any information submitted to the Agency for which a claim of confidentiality is made will be safeguarded according to the Agency policies set forth in Title 40, chapter 1, part 2, subpart B—Confidentiality of Business Information (see 40 CFR part 2; 41 FR 36902, September 1, 1976; amended by 43 FR 40000, September 8, 1978; 43 FR 42251, September 20, 1978; 44 FR 17674, March 23, 1979).

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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15, and are identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 71 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; train personnel 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 and Operators of Benzene Waste Operations subject to Subpart FF.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 234.

Frequency of Response: Quarterly, Semi-annually.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 16,626.

Estimated Total Non-labor Annual Cost: $0.

There is a decrease of 402 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens due to a decrease in the number of regulated sources.

Dated: February 10, 2003.

Oscar Morales,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.