[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 156 (Monday, August 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41786-41787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20464]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5551-4]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; ``1996 Metal Products and Machinery Industry
Phase II Survey''
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
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 the following Information
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: ``1996 Metal Products and
Machinery (MP&M) Industry Phase II Survey'' (EPA ICR No. 1787.01). The
ICR describes the nature of the information collection, the anticipated
burden the data collection will create on recipient facilities, and the
statistical sampling plan EPA will use to distribute the data
collection instruments. The ICR also includes representative copies of
the specific data collection instruments that will be distributed to
the public.
DATES: Comments and requests for information must be received by EPA no
later than September 11, 1996.
ADDRESSES: The public may contact Sandy Farmer at the EPA for a copy of
ICR 1787.01. Ms. Farmer may be reached by mail at: U.S. EPA, OPPE
Regulatory Information Division (Mail Code 2137), 401 M Street S.W.,
Washington, DC 20460; or by telephone at (202) 260-2740. The ICR will
be available either as hard-copy or as electronic media (e.g., 1.44MB
disks).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Information Collection Request for the 1996 Metal Products
and Machinery Industry Phase II Survey (EPA ICR No. 1787.01). This is a
new collection.
Abstract: The Metal Products and Machinery (MP&M) Phase II survey
is intended to collect, from industry and other affected entities, the
type of technical and economic information required by EPA to develop
effluent limitations guidelines for MP&M Phase II activities. The MP&M
Phase II activities include those operations performed at sites that
manufacture, maintain, or repair metal products and machinery included
in the following industry categories: motor vehicles (i.e., automotive
industry activities--excluding automotive filling stations), bus &
truck, railroad, office machines, household equipment, instruments
(i.e., measurement and control instruments), precious metals, ships &
boats, and other metal products (i.e., previously described as ``non-
precious'' metals). Such entities may be privately owned or may be
owned by the federal government or by state/local governments. In
addition to the directly affected entities listed above, the EPA also
plans to collect information related to the regulatory burden that
would be created by implementation of a final MP&M Phase II rule on the
state/local governmental authorities responsible for operating the
affected publicly owned
[[Page 41787]]
treatment works (POTWs) and issuing permits.
EPA is required under Section 304(m) of the Clean Water Act (CWA)
of 1987 (Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. 1314[m]) to
promulgate new effluent limitations guidelines. As the result of a
lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC) and
Public Citizen, Inc. (NRDC et al v. Reilly, Civ. No. 89-2980), a
Consent Decree was entered by the Court on January 31, 1992 that
established the schedule for promulgating numerous effluent limitations
guidelines including the MP&M Phase II rule. Thus, EPA is required
under a court order stemming from the CWA to promulgate the MP&M Phase
II rule. Because this survey will be issued under authority of Section
308 of the CWA of 1987 (Federal Water Pollution Control Act, U.S.C.
Section 1318), responses from the data collection survey instrument
recipients are mandatory. The data collected from this survey will
provide EPA with the technical and economic information required to
effectively evaluate pollution control technologies and the economic
achievability of the final rule. EPA will consider both technical
performance and economic achievability (including cost effectiveness
analyses of alternative pollution control technologies) when developing
the final regulations.
An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations
are listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. The Federal Register
notice announcing the impending submission of the MP&M Phase II Survey
ICR to OMB, as required under the Paperwork Reduction Act's regulations
at 5 CFR 1320.8(d), was published on December 12, 1995. Comments from
the public regarding the December 12, 1995 announcement were received
by the Agency. These comments, and EPA's responses, are presented as
Appendix 6 in the MP&M Phase II Survey ICR.
Burden Statement: The one-time public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to range from
1.7 to 208 hours per response, depending on the survey completed.
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.
The total nationwide public reporting and recordkeeping burden for
this information collection is estimated to be 77,372 hours or
$3,481,740. The nationwide burden will be distributed among the 5,735
survey respondents in accordance with the type of survey (or surveys)
sent to each of the recipient sites. The majority of the sites will
receive only the Industrial Screener Survey. Each of these sites will
only have an estimated burden of 1.7 hours or $77. The sites that will
experience the highest level of burden will receive the Industrial
Screener Survey and the ``Long'' Comprehensive Industrial Survey. Only
275 sites will receive this combination of surveys. Each of these sites
will have the burden of the screener survey and an estimated additional
burden of 208 hours or $9,360 to complete the ``Long'' Comprehensive
Industrial Survey.
EPA made every effort possible to reduce the national reporting
burden associated with this data collection. EPA measured the
reductions in burden by comparing the MP&M Phase I data collection
(conducted from 1990 to 1992) burden with the burden estimated for the
current data collection. EPA also examined the results from the already
completed MP&M Phase I data collection and used these results to
improve the MP&M Phase II survey documents. The following are examples
of how EPA reduced the burden associated with the current data
collection relative to the already completed MP&M Phase I effort:
1. EPA reduced the total number of Industrial Screener Surveys that
will be mailed by 22% even though there are estimated to be 150% more
MP&M Phase II sites than MP&M Phase I sites.
2. EPA developed a ``Short'' Comprehensive Industrial Survey
instrument that will be sent to facilities discharging less than
1,000,000 gallons per year of processed wastewater. EPA anticipates
that many of these low-flow sites will be small businesses. Based on a
pretest, EPA found that the ``short'' industrial survey will require
only 7.9 hours to complete, while the ``Long'' Comprehensive Industrial
Survey will require 208 hours to complete. Thus, EPA is significantly
reducing the burden on the recipients of the ``short'' industrial
survey.
3. EPA estimates the total number of pages the public will have to
complete to respond to the MP&M Phase II data collection will be 73%
fewer than the total number of pages that were completed to respond to
the MP&M Phase I survey effort.
Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods
for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of
automated collection techniques to the following addresses. Please
refer to EPA ICR No. 1787.01 in any inquiry.
Ms. Sandy Farmer (Mail Code 2137), U.S. EPA, OPPE Regulatory
Information Division, 401 M Street S.W., Washington, DC 20460.
and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the EPA, 725 17th Street N.W.,
Washington, DC 20503.
Dated: August 2, 1996.
Joseph Retzer,
Director, Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 96-20464 Filed 8-9-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
