E9-12008. 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.

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 [e-mail], 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: [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 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 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.