[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 146 (Monday, July 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39449-39453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-19195]
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[[Page 39450]]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[AD-FRL-5543-8]
Request for Comments: Industrial Combustion Coordinated
Rulemaking Information Collection Request
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this notice announces that EPA is planning to submit the
following proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB). Before submitting the ICR to OMB for
review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of
the proposed information collection as described below.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 27, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments. Comments should be submitted (in duplicate, if
possible) to: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation
Docket and Information Center (6102), Attention: Docket Number A-96-17,
Room M-1500, 401 M Street SW., Washington, DC 20460. The EPA requests
that a separate copy also be sent to Mr. Jim Eddinger, Combustion Group
(MD-13), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711. Copies of ICR. The draft ICR and other relevant
materials, including the draft supporting statement, are available
electronically on the Technology Transfer Network (TTN). Choose the
``ICCR-Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking Process'' selection
from the Technical Information Areas menu. To download the draft ICR
from the main menu, select `` Download Forms for Replies''. The TTN
is one of the EPA's electronic bulletin boards. The TTN provides
information and technology exchange in various areas of air pollution
control. The service is free except for the cost of a phone call. Dial
(919) 541-5472 for up to a 14,400 bits-per-second (bps) modem. The TTN
is also accessible through the Internet at ``TELNET
ttnbbs.rtpnc.epa.gov''. If more information on the TTN is needed, call
the help desk at (919) 541-5384. The help desk is staffed from 11 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Eastern time. A voice menu system is available at other
times.
Copies of the ICR may also be obtained from the docket at the above
address in Room M-1500, Waterside Mall (ground floor), phone number
(202) 260-7548. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying. The docket
is open for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays. Copies of the draft
ICR may also be obtained free of charge by contacting one of the people
listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jim Eddinger, Combustion Group
(MD-13), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711, phone number (919) 541-5426, facsimile number
(919) 541-0072; or, at the same address and facsimile number, Mr. Fred
Porter, phone number (919) 541-5251; Mr. Sims Roy, phone number (919)
541-5263; Ms. Amanda Agnew, phone number (919) 541-5268; Mr. Walt
Stevenson, phone number (919) 541-5264; or Mr. Bill Maxwell, phone
number (919) 541-5430.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Affected entities: Entities affected by this
action are those which own or operate the following combustion sources:
Industrial/institutional/commercial boilers, process heaters,
industrial/commercial and other solid waste incinerators (not including
hazardous waste incinerators, medical waste incinerators, or municipal
waste incinerators burning more than 40 tons/day of municipal solid
waste), stationary gas turbines, or stationary internal combustion
engines.
These combustion sources are operated in a wide variety of settings
by many businesses and industries, including but not limited to the
following: Petroleum refining; oil and natural gas extraction and
transmission; asphalt and other petroleum-based products manufacturing;
chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing; lumber processing; furniture
manufacturing; durable and consumer goods manufacturing; paper/pulp
mills; agricultural products manufacturing; metal products production;
machine/equipment manufacturing; electronic equipment industry;
automobile and transportation equipment industry; secondary metals
processing industry; mining; military bases; food production plants;
meat processing plants; municipal water services; public utilities;
independent power producers; telephone companies; small municipalities;
construction businesses; commercial establishments; hotels; apartment
complexes; laundries; hospitals; research companies; veterinary
services; funeral services; medical centers; research centers; schools;
colleges; and other institutions.
Title: Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking Information
Collection Request.
Abstract: Sections 112 and 129 of the Clean Air Act (the Act)
require EPA to develop regulations to limit emissions of toxic or
hazardous air pollutants, and in some cases, emissions of certain
criteria air pollutants as well, from several categories of combustion
sources, including industrial boilers, commercial/institutional
boilers, process heaters, industrial/commercial waste incinerators,
other solid waste combustors, stationary gas turbines, and stationary
internal combustion engines. These combustion sources are used
pervasively for energy generation and waste disposal in a wide variety
of industries and commercial and institutional establishments. They
combust fuels including oil, coal, natural gas, wood, and non-hazardous
wastes. Both hazardous air pollutants and criteria pollutants are
emitted.
These regulations could affect hundreds of thousands of combustion
sources nationwide and will have significant environmental, health, and
cost impacts. The EPA has decided to coordinate the development of
these regulations in a single effort termed the ``Industrial Combustion
Coordinated Rulemaking'' (ICCR).
The overall goal of the ICCR is to develop a unified set of Federal
air emissions regulations that will maximize environmental and public
health benefits in a flexible framework at a reasonable cost of
compliance, avoiding duplicative and overlapping regulatory
requirements, within the constraints of the Act. A Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA) advisory committee and a series of work groups,
composed of stakeholders and EPA, are being established to develop
recommendations that will assist EPA in implementing the ICCR. This
will permit active stakeholder participation in all aspects of
regulatory development.
Additional information about the ICCR, as well as information on
how to participate in the ICCR, is available in the document
``Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking--Proposed Organizational
Structure and Process.'' This document may be downloaded from the TTN
or may be obtained by contacting one of the individuals mentioned above
under For Further Information Contact.
The organizational structure and process of the ICCR permits the
Federal Advisory Committee (referred to as the Coordinating Committee)
and the Source Work Groups (one for each of the various combustion
sources) to identify, collect, and compile information necessary for
regulatory development; undertake and perform various analyses of this
information; identify and
[[Page 39451]]
develop a number of regulatory alternatives (i.e., possible
regulations) for each combustion source; and undertake and perform
assessments or analyses of the environmental and public health benefit,
as well as the cost and economic impacts associated with each of the
regulatory alternatives. The structure and process of the ICCR also
permits each Source Work Group to develop recommendations regarding
which regulatory alternative should serve as the basis for a
regulation, as well as recommendation on all other aspects of the
regulation, and present these recommendations to the Coordinating
Committee. Finally, the structure and process of the ICCR permits the
Coordinating Committee to review and consider these recommendations and
then present recommendations to EPA. The EPA will retain its full and
independent decision making authority and responsibility, but will give
great weight and consideration to these recommendations.
The Clean Air Act requires development of six of the seven
regulations by November 2000, which in turn necessitates proposal by
November 1999--only three years from now. To ensure that the 1999 and
2000 dates are met, the necessary information to develop these
regulations must be collected in 1996 and in early 1997, analyses of
the information must be completed in 1997, regulatory alternatives must
be identified and various analyses of the impacts associated with these
alternatives must be completed in 1998, and the proposed rule(s) must
be developed and proposed in 1999.
It should be noted that the EPA is under Court Order to develop
regulations under section 129 of the Act for industrial and commercial
waste incinerators, which is one of the source categories included in
the ICCR. The litigants have agreed to an interim extension of the
court-ordered proposal date for these regulations from May 30, 1996 to
January 1997. As a condition associated with this extension, EPA must
develop a formal ICR under section 114 of the Act by January 1997 to
collect all the information the EPA feels is necessary to develop
regulations for industrial and commercial solid waste incinerators. The
EPA will meet with the litigants in January 1997 to discuss whether
sufficient information to develop regulations for industrial and
commercial solid waste incinerators is likely to be obtained more
quickly and effectively by sending out the ICR questionnaire or by
other means, such as through the ICCR.
It is the EPA's hope that through the efforts of the stakeholders
participating in the ICCR, there will be no need--or only a limited
need--for EPA to use the authority of section 114 of the Act (which
requires mandatory response) to send the formal ICR to thousands of
combustion sources. It should be the goal and the task of the Source
Work Groups working under the ICCR FACA Advisory Committee to devise
and implement a means for gathering the information necessary to
develop regulations from all sources--including industry--in a
voluntary and cooperative manner.
While initial response to the ICCR has been positive from all
stakeholders, including industry, State/local agencies, environmental
groups, etc., and EPA is committed to doing everything it can to ensure
the success of the ICCR, EPA must be prepared and in a position to meet
the statutory dates in the Act for adoption of the regulations.
Consequently, EPA must proceed with development of an ICR for all the
combustion sources included in the ICCR, and must proceed along this
path in parallel with the Source Work Group activities under the ICCR.
This will permit EPA to send out the ICR questionnaire to gather the
necessary information and do the necessary analyses in time to meet the
statutory and court-ordered deadlines if the ICCR Work Group
information collection efforts do not succeed.
If the judgment in January 1997 is that the information collection
efforts through the ICCR have failed or proven to be inadequate, then
the EPA will implement the formal information collection effort by mid-
January 1997. However, if it appears that the ICCR will be successful
in collecting the needed information voluntarily, the ICR questionnaire
will not be sent out, or a scaled back version could be used to collect
only the information that has not been obtained by other means. Whether
EPA will be required to send out the ICR questionnaire for the
industrial and commercial waste incinerator category will depend on
whether EPA can demonstrate to the litigant's satisfaction that the ICR
is unnecessary because EPA is likely to obtain the information faster
using some other process, such as voluntary collection efforts under
the ICCR.
Request for Comments: The EPA would like to solicit comments on
this ICR 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 techniques, or other
forms of information technology, (e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses).
The EPA also would like to solicit comments that will assist the
EPA in demonstrating to the plaintiff in the Industrial and Commercial
Waste Incinerators rulemaking litigation that sending out the ICR will
be unnecessary because EPA is likely to obtain the information faster
under another process, such as the ICCR. For example, commenters who
plan to participate in the ICCR voluntary collection efforts could
submit copies of any collection plans they are developing for their own
use or an outline of the type of data they plan to submit voluntarily
to EPA under the ICCR process along with the schedule for such
submission.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information that is sent to ten or more
persons unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The
OMB control numbers for EPA's approved information collection requests
are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Ch. 15. This notice is the first
step in obtaining approval for the ICR described below.
ICR Description: To develop regulations, the EPA will need
information to determine the maximum achievable control technology
(MACT) floor; identify regulatory alternatives (i.e., possible
regulations) more stringent than the MACT floor; and analyze the
environmental and public health benefit, as well as the cost and
economic impacts of the alternatives. These analyses of impacts are the
basis for decisions about which regulatory alternative(s) to propose as
the regulation.
The proposed ICR has five parts: General facility information;
combustor information; control device information; emissions
information; and capital and annual costs. Part I, general facility
information, would be completed once for each facility to determine the
facility name, facility size, and location. This
[[Page 39452]]
information will be used to determine regional economic impacts and
small business impacts. Location information is also an input to the
environmental and public health benefits analyses, and is often a
critical factor in determining the MACT floor.
Part II, combustor information, would be completed separately for
each combustor at a facility to determine combustor size, design and
operating data, usage patterns, types of fuels and wastes combusted,
control devices, and pollution prevention methods in use. This
information will be used to determine in which source category or
subcategory the combustor belongs, to determine the MACT floor, and to
identify various regulatory alternatives. The combustor design, fuel,
and control device information can also be used to estimate emissions.
Part III, control device information, would be completed separately
for each control device associated with each combustor. Information
such as control efficiencies and operating temperatures will be used to
estimate emissions, determine the MACT floor, and identify regulatory
alternatives.
Part IV, emissions information, would be completed separately for
each combustor to provide permit limits and emissions test data for
sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrogen chloride, particulate matter,
mercury, lead, cadmium, dioxins/furans, hazardous air pollutants,
opacity, and visible emissions. This information will be used to
determine the MACT floor and regulatory alternatives above the MACT
floor, and to estimate emission impacts of the regulatory alternatives
and assess the public health benefits of the regulations.
Part V, capital and annual costs, would also be completed
separately for each combustor to provide information on combustion and
control equipment installation costs, retrofit costs, and annual
operating costs and revenues. This information will be used to estimate
the costs of the regulatory alternatives and to determine the economic
impacts of the regulations.
As discussed above, if necessary, the ICR would be mailed--either
in total or in part, as appropriate--in hardcopy form to the intended
recipients. An electronic version of the questionnaire is being
considered to allow for electronic completion and submittal. Recipients
of this ICR would be required to respond under the authority of section
114 of the Act. If a respondent believes the disclosure of certain
information requested would compromise a trade secret, it would need to
be clearly identified as such and will be treated as confidential until
a determination is made. Any information subsequently determined to
constitute a trade secret will be protected under 18 U.S.C. 1905. If no
claim of confidentiality accompanies the information when it is
received by EPA, it may be made available to the public without further
notice (40 CFR 2.203, September 1, 1976).
Burden Statement: Burden means the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 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 purpose 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.
The purpose of this ICR is to collect and evaluate existing
information. The generation of new data (e.g., conducting an emission
test) is not required to complete this questionnaire. This is a one-
time data collection effort.
The time to complete this ICR will vary for each respondent
depending on the number of combustion sources at the facility. Many
respondents may have only one combustion source (a crematorium, for
example), while other respondents may have 30 or more sources (a
petroleum refinery or military base, for example). The ICR is expected
to require 39 hours per combustion source to complete. The respondents
are expected to have an overall average of 10 combustion sources per
facility, and would require 390 hours to complete and submit the ICR.
This cost has been estimated to be $12,500 per average facility.
The total number of respondents will be a sample of the total
population which will be determined based on the information available
from EPA data bases, State agencies, and other available references
being gathered now and through the ICCR. Preliminary efforts have
estimated the total number of sources to be over 500,000. The EPA plans
to request that this ICR be considered for 20,000 recipients. If the
average recipient has 10 combustion sources, the total respondent
burden would be 7.78 million hours at a total cost of approximately
$247 million. This equates to an average of $35.3 million per
regulation to be developed.
While 20,000 recipients may seem like a large sample, this is not
the case because of the large number of sources, the numerous and
varied uses of these sources, the complexity of some of the sites--
particularly the industrial sites--at which these sources are used, and
the number of regulations that EPA is concurrently developing under the
ICCR--seven at minimum. The estimate of 20,000 questionnaire recipients
is less than 5 percent of the total number of sources. The population
includes seven source categories, encompassing many types of
industries, many geographic locations, multiple combustor designs and
sizes, and a range of fuels and control levels. In order to adequately
represent these parameters, a sample size of 20,000 may be needed, as
further explained in the supporting statement for the ICR. Recipients
will be selected from lists of sources obtained from EPA databases,
State files, and other published directories.
The advantage of this ICR is that it will gather information for
multiple source categories (industrial boilers, commercial/
institutional boilers, process heaters, industrial/commercial waste
incinerators, other solid waste combustors, stationary gas turbines,
and internal combustion engines) in one combined effort, which will be
much less burdensome for the respondents than if separate ICR's were
required for each source category.
It is very possible that the per combustor and total respondent
burdens may be greatly reduced if the ICCR Coordinating Committee and
Source Work Groups are successful in collecting information through the
ICCR. The ICR may be used only for a portion of the source categories
included in the ICCR, or the ICR may be reduced in scope to focus only
on areas of information that the Coordinating Committee and Source Work
Groups were unable to obtain by other means. Again, the EPA is
committed to the process of the ICCR, but must necessarily be prepared
to use a formal ICR if the ICCR, or the information collect efforts of
the Coordinating Committee and the Source work Groups under the ICCR,
are not successful. The ICR must be developed in parallel with other
information gathering efforts under the ICCR so that the EPA will be
able to send out the ICR in time to meet the statutory and court-
ordered deadlines if these other efforts are not successful.
[[Page 39453]]
Dated: July 23, 1996.
Bruce C. Jordan,
Director, Emissions Standards Division.
[FR Doc. 96-19195 Filed 7-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
