2019-18734. Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Underground Storage Tanks: Technical and Financial Requirements, and State Program Approval Procedures (Renewal)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Underground Storage Tanks: Technical and Financial Requirements, and State Program Approval Procedures (EPA ICR Number 1360.17 and OMB Control Number 2050-0068) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through August 31, 2019. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on July 26, 2018 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 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.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 30, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2018-0368 to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method) or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB via email to [e-mail]. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer for EPA.

EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elizabeth McDermott, Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Mail Code 5401R, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: [phone]; email address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Supporting documents, which explain in detail the information that the EPA will be collecting, are available in the public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For additional information about EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/​dockets.

Abstract: Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended, requires that EPA develop standards for Underground Storage Tank (UST) systems, as may be necessary, to protect human health and the environment, and procedures for approving state programs in lieu of the federal program. EPA promulgated technical and financial requirements for owners and operators of USTs at 40 CFR part 280, and state program approval procedures at 40 CFR part 281. This ICR is a comprehensive presentation of all information collection requirements contained at 40 CFR parts 280 and 281.

The data collected for new and existing UST system operations and financial requirements are used by owners and operators and/or EPA or the implementing agency to monitor results of testing, inspections, and operation of UST systems, as well as to demonstrate compliance with regulations. EPA believes strongly that if the minimum requirements specified under the regulations are not met, neither the facilities nor EPA can ensure that UST systems are being managed in a manner protective of human health and the environment.

EPA uses state program applications to determine whether to approve a state program. Before granting approval, EPA must determine that programs will be no less stringent than the federal program and contain adequate enforcement mechanisms.

Form Numbers: None.

Respondents/affected entities: Facilities that own and operate underground storage tanks (USTs), states that implement the UST programs, and tribes.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 280).

Estimated number of respondents: 202,830.

Frequency of response: Once, on occasion, annual.

Total estimated burden: 8,722,192 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).

Total estimated cost: $679,800,866 (per year), includes $424,720,745 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.

Changes in Estimates: There is an increase of 3,309,061 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. In renewing this ICR, EPA has updated its respondent universe and burden estimates based on updated data from the Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) and the regulated community. Several new requirements not previously included became effective as of October 2018, which has resulted in a burden increase for this ICR renewal (e.g., annual release detection operability testing and recordkeeping, periodic testing and inspection of spill, overfill equipment and containment sumps, operator training, walk through inspections, notification of ownership changes, and maintaining records for compatibility). In addition, EPA expects most states to submit state program re-approval applications during the three-year period of this ICR.

Courtney Kerwin,

Director, Regulatory Support Division.