03-10167. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR No. 0226.17 (OMB No. 2040-0086) 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: Applications for NPDES Discharge Permits and the Sewage Sludge Management Permits. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before May 27, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Follow the detailed instructions in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jack Faulk, Water Permits Division, Office of Wastewater Management, Mail Code 4203M, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-0768; fax number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

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 January 10, 2003 (68 FR 1454), 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. OW-2003-0065, 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 [phone], and the telephone number for the Water Docket 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, Water Docket, Mail Code: 4101T, 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 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.

Title: Applications for NPDES Discharge Permits and the Sewage Sludge Management Permit (OMB Control Number 2040-0086, EPA ICR Number 0226.17). This is a request to renew an existing approved collection that is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2003. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.

Abstract: This ICR calculates the burden and costs associated with permit applications for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) discharges and sewage sludge management activities. EPA and States use the data contained in applications and supplemental information requests to set appropriate permit conditions, issue permits, and assess permit compliance. EPA maintains national applications information in databases, which assist permit writers in determining permit conditions. Depending on the application form they are using, applicants may be required to supply information about their facilities, discharges, treatment systems, sewage sludge use and disposal practices, pollutant sampling data, or other relevant information. In its burden and cost calculations, this ICR includes requests for information supplemental to permit applications. Application information is necessary to obtain an NPDES or sewage sludge permit. This ICR also includes the development of a storm water pollution prevent plan as part of the requirements for the multi-sector general permit, for industrial activities.

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.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 4.8 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 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: Publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), privately owned treatment works, new and existing industrial manufacturing and commercial discharger, storm water dischargers, treatment works treating domestic sewage (TWTDS), and States and territories.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 291,898.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1,398,737 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $53,546,024, includes $0 annualized capital or O&M costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 639,957 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease in the applicant respondent and NPDES-authorized state burden is due to a reduction in the burden associated with existing storm water permittees updating rather than developing Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans.

Dated: April 10, 2003.

Oscar Morales,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.