E8-14417. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Cooling Water Intake Structures New Facility Rule (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 1973.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0241

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 is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2008. 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 CFR, 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.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before July 25, 2008.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0027, 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, Mailcode: 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:

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 March 28, 2008 (73 FR 16,669), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. 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-2004-0027, 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 “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 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 New Facility Rule (Renewal).

ICR numbers: EPA ICR Number: 1973.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0241.

ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2008. 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 CFR, 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 section 316(b) New Facility Rule requires the collection of information from new facilities that use a Cooling Water Intake Structure (CWIS). 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 CWISs at that facility reflect the best technology available (BTA) for minimizing adverse environmental impact. (See 66 FR 65256.) 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 establishes standard requirements applicable to the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures at new facilities. These requirements seek to minimize the adverse environmental impact associated with the use of CWISs.

Burden Statement: The annual average reporting and recordkeeping burden for the collection of information by facilities responding to the section 316(b) New Facility Rule is estimated to be 1,885 hours per respondent (i.e., an annual average of 113,084 hours of burden divided among an anticipated annual average of 60 facilities). The Director reporting and recordkeeping burden for the review, oversight, and administration of the rule is estimated to average 111 hours per respondent (i.e., an annual average of 5,125 hours of burden divided among an anticipated 46 States on average per year). 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, which is only briefly summarized here:

Estimated total number of potential respondents: 60 facilities and 46 States and Territories.

Frequency of response: Annual, every 5 years.

Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 5.3 for facilities and 6.1 for States and Territories.

Estimated total annual burden hours: 118,209 (113,084 for facilities and 5,125 for States and Territories).

Estimated total annual costs: $8.5 million per year. This includes an estimated burden cost of $6.7 million and an estimated cost of approximately $1.8 million for capital investment or maintenance and operational costs.

Changes in the estimates: There is an increase of 41,941 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with that identified in the ICR currently approved by OMB. This increase is due to the addition of the newly built facilities, as well as the continued performance of annual activities by facilities that received their permit during the first ICR approval period. In addition, this ICR includes additional repermitting burdens and costs which were not in the first renewal ICR because not all of the new facilities required repermitting during the first renewal ICR.

Dated: June 19, 2008.

Sara Hisel-McCoy,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.