2022-06269. Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NESHAP for Steel Pickling, HCl Process Facilities and Hydrochloric Acid Regeneration Plants (Renewal)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Steel Pickling, HCl Process Facilities and Hydrochloric Acid Regeneration Plants (EPA ICR Number 1821.11, OMB Control Number 2060-0419) 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 April 30, 2022. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on April 13, 2021 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 April 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0092, to (1) EPA online using https://www.regulations.gov/​ (our preferred method), by email to [e-mail], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460.

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 or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Muntasir Ali, Sector Policies and Program Division (D243-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711; 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 https://www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, 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: The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Steel Pickling, HCl Process Facilities and Hydrochloric Acid Regeneration Plants (40 CFR part 63, subpart CCC) were proposed on September 18, 1997, promulgated on June 22, 1999, and amended on September 19, 2012 and November 19, 2020. This rule applies to all facilities that pickle steel using hydrochloric acid (HCl) or regenerate hydrochloric acid and are either major sources or part of a facility that is a major source. This regulation does not apply to any pickling line that uses an acid other than hydrochloric acid or an acid solution containing either less than 6 percent hydrochloric acid or at a temperature less than 100 °F. New facilities include those that commenced construction or reconstruction after the date of proposal. In general, all NESHAP standards require initial notifications, performance tests, and periodic reports by the owners/operators of the affected facilities. They are also required to maintain records of the occurrence and duration of any startup, shutdown, or malfunction in the operation of an affected facility, or any period during which the monitoring system is inoperative. This information is being collected to assure compliance with 40 CFR part 63, subpart CCC.

Form Numbers: None.

Respondents/affected entities: Steel pickling, HCl process facilities and hydrochloric acid regeneration plants.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 63, subpart CCC).

Estimated number of respondents: 100 (total).

Frequency of response: Initially, occasionally, and semiannually.

Total estimated burden: 35,000 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).

Total estimated cost: $4,140,000 (per year), includes $10,600 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is no change in burden from the most recently approved ICR as currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved Burdens. This is due to two considerations. First, the regulations have not changed over the past three years and are not anticipated to change over the next three years. Second, the growth rate for this industry is very low or non-existent, so there is no significant change in the overall burden. Since there are no changes in the regulatory requirements and there is no significant industry growth, there are also no changes in the capital/startup or operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. This ICR also adjusts the number of responses from the currently approved ICR to account for the submittal of periodic test reports; this corrects the annual average hours per response but the burden to respondents does not change.

Courtney Kerwin,

Director, Regulatory Support Division.