03-22640. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; National Pretreatment Program, EPA ICR Number 0002.11, OMB Control Number 2040-0009

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 September 30, 2003. 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 October 6, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-0009, 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, Office of Water, Mail code: 4101T, 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:

Tracy Hudak, Office of Water, Mail code: 4203M, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: [phone]; fax 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 April 3, 2003 (68 FR 16282), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA has addressed the comments received.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. OW-2003-0009, which is available for public viewing at the Water 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 Water 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 www.epa.gov/​edocket.

Title: National Pretreatment Program.

Abstract: This Information Collection Request (ICR) calculates the burden and costs associated with managing the National Pretreatment Program, mandated by sections 402(a) and (b) and 307(b) of the Clean Water Act.

EPA's Office of Wastewater Management (OWM) in the Office of Water (OW) is responsible for the management of the pretreatment program. The Clean Water Act requires EPA to develop national pretreatment standards to control discharges from Industrial Users (IUs) into Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs). These standards limit the level of certain pollutants allowed in non-domestic wastewater that is discharged to a POTW. EPA administers the pretreatment program through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. Under the NPDES permit program, EPA may approve State or individual POTW implementation of the pretreatment standards at their respective levels. Data collected from IUs during implementation of the pretreatment program include the mass, frequency, and content of IU discharges and IU schedules for installing pretreatment equipment. Data also include actual or anticipated IU discharges of wastes that violate pretreatment standards, have the potential to cause problems at the POTW, or are considered hazardous under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). OWM uses the data collected under the pretreatment program to monitor and enforce compliance with the pretreatment regulations, as well as to authorize program administration at the State or local (POTW) level. States and POTWs applying for approval of their pretreatment programs submit data concerning their legal, procedural, and administrative bases for establishing such programs. This information may include surveys of IUs, local limits for pollutant concentrations, and schedules for completion of major project requirements. IUs and POTWs submit written reports to the approved state or EPA. These data may then be entered into the NPDES databases by the approved state or by EPA.

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 approximately 10 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: Various industrial categories, local, State and Federal governments.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 28,285.

Frequency of Response: On occasion, semi-annually, annually, and as needed.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 2,161,679.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $85,949,203, includes $0 annualized capital or O&M costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 685,488 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of approved ICR burdens. This decrease is due mainly to an adjustment in the estimate of the number of Industrial Users and a change in the number of effluent guidelines for which the pretreatment program assumes reporting and recordkeeping burden.

Dated: August 25, 2003.

Doreen Sterling,

Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.