05-13169. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; State Program Adequacy Determination: Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (MSWLFs) and Non-Municipal, Non-Hazardous Waste Disposal Units That Receive ...

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, 2005. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before August 4, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number RCRA-2004-0020, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to [e-mail], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 5303T, 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:

Craig Dufficy, Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Division of the Office of Solid Waste (Mail Code 5306W), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: [phone]; fax number: [phone]; e-mail address: dufficy.craig @epa.gov.

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 4, 2005 (70 FR 356), 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. RCRA-2004-0020, which is available for public viewing at the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) 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 OSWER 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. 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: State Program Adequacy Determination: Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (MSWLFs) and Non-Municipal, Non-Hazardous Waste Disposal Units that Receive Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG) Hazardous Waste (Renewal).

Abstract: Section 4010(c) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 requires that EPA revise the landfill criteria promulgated under paragraph (1) of section 4004(a) and section 1008(a)(3). Section 4005(c) of RCRA, as amended by the Hazardous Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984, requires states to develop and implement permit programs to ensure that MSWLFs and non-municipal, non-hazardous waste disposal units that receive household hazardous waste or CESQG hazardous waste are in compliance with the revised criteria for the design and operation of non-municipal, non-hazardous waste disposal units under 40 CFR part 257, and MSWLFs under 40 CFR part 258. (40 CFR part 257, subpart B and 40 CFR part 258 are henceforth referred to as the “revised federal criteria”.) Section 4005(c) of RCRA further mandates the EPA Administrator to determine the adequacy of state permit programs to ensure owner and/or operator compliance with the revised federal criteria. A state program that is deemed adequate to ensure compliance may afford flexibility to owners or operators in the approaches they use to meet federal requirements, significantly reducing the burden associated with compliance.

In response to the statutory requirement in section 4005(c), EPA developed 40 CFR part 239, commonly referred to as the State Implementation Rule (SIR). The SIR describes the state application and EPA review procedures and defines the elements of an adequate state permit program.

The collection of information from the state during the permit program adequacy determination process allows EPA to evaluate whether a program for which approval is requested is appropriate in structure and authority to ensure owner or operator compliance with the revised federal criteria. The SIR does not require the use of a particular application form. Section 239.3 of the SIR, however, requires that all state applications contain the following five components:

(1) A transmittal letter requesting permit program approval.

(2) A narrative description of the state permit program, including a demonstration that the state's standards for non-municipal, non-hazardous waste disposal units that receive CESQG hazardous waste are technically comparable to the part 257, subpart B criteria and/or that its MSWLF standards are technically comparable to the part 258 criteria.

(3) A legal certification demonstrating that the state has the authority to carry out the program.

(4) Copies of state laws, regulations, and guidance that the state believes demonstrate program adequacy.

(5) Copies of relevant state-tribal agreements if the state has negotiated with a tribe for the implementation of a permit program for non-municipal, non-hazardous waste disposal units that receive CESQG hazardous waste and/or MSWLFs on tribal lands.

The EPA Administrator has delegated the authority to make determinations of adequacy, as contained in the statute, to the EPA Regional Administrator. The appropriate EPA Regional Office, therefore, will use the information provided by each state to determine whether the state's permit program satisfies the statutory test reflected in the requirements of 40 CFR part 239. In all cases, the information will be analyzed to determine the adequacy of the state's permit program for ensuring compliance with the federal revised criteria.

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 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 242 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: States and territories that seek approval of new or modified permit programs for MSWLF's and for non-municipal, non-hazardous waste disposal units that receive CESQG waste.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 12.

Frequency of Response: One-time only.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 968.

Estimated Total Annual Costs: $47,249, which includes $0 annualized Capital Expense/Startup, $0 annual O&M costs, and $47,249 in Respondent Labor costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 2,221 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is due to several reasons. For the first ICR renewal all mention of burden estimates for tribes which were contained in the original ICR were removed. In addition, since the last clearance, additional states and territories have been moving through the approval process for their MSWLF permit program adequacy determinations has decreased from 3 to 2. Also EPA estimates the number of states and territories that will submit program approval applications for non-municipal, non-hazardous waste disposal units that receive CESQG hazardous waste will decrease. And lastly, the previous ICR included the Federal Burden which is exempt from the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Dated: June 27, 2005.

Oscar Morales,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.