2013-14074. Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; 40 CFR Part 64 Compliance Assurance Monitoring Program

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request, “40 CFR Part 64 Compliance Assurance Monitoring Program” (EPA ICR No. 1663.08, OMB Control No. 2060-0376) to the Office of Management and Budget for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.). Before doing so, the EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the information collection request, which is currently approved through December 31, 2013. 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 Office of Management and Budget control number.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before August 12, 2013.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0152 online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by email to [e-mail] or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.

The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information claimed to be Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Angela Hackel, Office of Air Quality and Planning Standards, Sector Policies and Programs Division (D243-05), Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: [phone]; fax number: [phone]; email address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Supporting documents which explain in detail the information that the EPA will be collecting are available in the public docket for this information collection request (ICR). The docket can be viewed online at www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The telephone number for the Docket Center is [phone]. For additional information about the EPA's public docket, visit: http://www.epa.gov/​dockets.

Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the EPA is soliciting comments and information to enable it to: (i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (ii) evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (iii) enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (iv) minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses. The EPA will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as appropriate. The final ICR package will then be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. At that time, the EPA will issue another Federal Register notice to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to submit additional comments to OMB.

Abstract: The Clean Air Act (CAA) contains several provisions directing the EPA to require source owners to conduct monitoring to support certification as to their status of compliance with applicable requirements. These provisions are set forth in section 504 and section 114 of the CAA. Under CAA section 504(c), each operating permit must “set forth inspection, entry, monitoring, compliance, certification, and reporting requirements to assure compliance with the permit terms and conditions.” See also CAA section 504(a) (each permit shall require reporting of monitoring and such other conditions as are necessary to assure compliance). CAA section 504(b) allows us to prescribe by rule, methods and procedures for determining compliance recognizing that continuous emissions monitoring systems need not be required if other procedures or methods provide sufficiently reliable and timely information for determining compliance. Section 114A(a)(1) of the CAA provides additional authority concerning monitoring, reporting and recordkeeping requirements. This section provides the Administrator with the authority to require any owner or operator of a source to install and operate monitoring systems and to record the resulting monitoring data. We promulgated the Compliance Assurance Monitoring rule, 40 CFR part 64, on October 22, 1997 (62 FR 54900) pursuant to these provisions. In accordance with CAA section 114(c) and CAA section 503(e), the monitoring information source owners must submit must also be available to the public except under circumstances set forth in section 114(c) of the CAA. 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.

We are soliciting comments to:

(i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(iii) Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(iv) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting election submission of responses.

Form Numbers: None.

Respondents/affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are all facilities required to have an operating permit under Title V of the CAA. See section 502(a) of the CAA, which defines the sources required to obtain a Title V permit. See also 40 CFR 70.2 and 71.2.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory under Title V of the CAA. See section 502(a) of the CAA, which defines the sources required to obtain a Title V permit. See also 40 CFR 70.2 and 71.2.

Estimated number of respondents: 3,290 owner and operators and 112 permitting authorities. The total number of respondents is 3,402.

Frequency of response: At least every 6 months per Title V, 70.6(a)(3)(iii)(A) and (B).

Total estimated burden: 343,187 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).

Total estimated cost: $14,168,185 (per year), includes $0 annualized capital or operation and maintenance costs.

Changes in Estimates: There is decrease of 7,110,394 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. This decrease is a result of the fact that most facilities are now using electronic monitoring to conduct their recording, thus, resulting in a decrease in the number of labor hours needed. Additionally, all facilities with existing permits that include approved 40 CFR part 64 monitoring have now submitted the existing monitoring approach in their renewal applications, therefore, significantly reducing the costs for new monitoring development. Furthermore, in order to reflect projected trends for the next 3 years, we updated some of the formulas used to calculate burden. All of these factors have contributed to the decrease in burden.

Dated: June 6, 2013.

Kevin Culligan,

Acting Director, Sector Policies and Programs Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.