[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9822]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 22, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-4876-8]

 

Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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 Information Collection Request 
(ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature 
of the information collection and its expected cost and burden; where 
appropriate, it includes the actual data collection instrument.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 23, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, or to obtain 
a copy of this ICR, contact Sandy Farmer at EPA, (202) 260-2740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Office of Water

    Title: National Survey of the Financial and Operating 
Characteristics of Community Water Suppliers. (EPA ICR No:1691.01) This 
ICR requests approval of a new information collection activity.
    Abstract: This survey is designed to collect information about the 
operating and financial characteristics of ``community'' water 
suppliers-those that serve at least 15 connections or at least 25 year-
round residents. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code for 
investor-owned water systems is 4941, and for publicly-owned water 
systems is 9511. In addition, some community water suppliers that do 
not provide water as their primary business, such as mobile home parks 
(SIC 6515), apartment buildings (SIC 6513), condominium and homeowner 
associations (SIC 8641), and nursing homes (SIC 805) sometimes meet the 
definition of a community water system and thus may also be sampled.
    The survey will be administered in two phases: first, a telephone 
screening questionnaire used to provide a sampling frame, and second, 
the actual mail-out instrument. The screening phase will select 
approximately 5,000 water systems to determine their eligibility, 
stratification category and accurate contact information. The mail 
survey in the second stage will select 2,500 respondents from the pool 
of validated systems established in the screening effort. The survey 
domains of interest are size of population served, type of system 
ownership, and primary source of non-purchased water.
    The mail survey consists of 40 questions divided into two parts: 
operating and financial characteristics. Questions under the operating 
characteristics part will examine production and storage capacity, 
composition and length of the distribution system, water sources and 
treatment, and source water protection. Data gathered under the 
financial characteristics part concerns revenues and expenses, assets, 
liabilities and debt, and capital investment expenditures.
    This information will be used by the Agency to fulfill statutory 
requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act, as well as requirements of Executive Order 
12866. Because of the diversity in the water supply industry, 
information on system operating characteristics will provide EPA with a 
basis for developing more accurate assessments of the effect of Federal 
regulatory actions on water suppliers and performing comparisons across 
water systems. The information will also be used in developing and 
targeting technical assistance programs, assisting EPA in identifying 
the types of systems that would benefit from special Best Available 
Technology programs, and as a source for improving technical training 
and guidance. Data gathered under the financial characteristics part 
will be used to formulate recommendations for the SDWA reauthorization 
concerning the financial viability of water systems and their need for 
Federal or State assistance. These data are important to the Agency in 
order to establish policies based on the current status of water 
systems, rather than relying on incomplete and dated information 
collected in the 1986 Community Water Supply Survey.
    Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection of 
information is estimated to average approximately 4 minutes per 
response for the initial telephone screen, and 45 minutes per response 
for the mail survey questionnaire, including time for reviewing 
instructions, reporting the requested data and reviewing the 
questionnaire. The information respondents are asked to provide is 
generally maintained and reported as a function of the management and 
operation of the water system. There are no recordkeeping requirements.
    Respondents: Selected community water systems.
    Estimated No. of Respondents: 5,039 for telephone screen, 2,524 for 
mail survey.
    Estimated No. of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,239 hours.
    Frequency of Collection: One-time survey.
    Send comments regarding the burden estimate, or any other aspect of 
this information collection, including suggestions for reducing the 
burden, to:

Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Information Policy 
Branch (2136), 401 M Street, SW.,Washington, DC 20460.

and
Matt Mitchell, Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: April 15, 1994.
Paul Lapsley,
Director, Regulatory Management Division.
[FR Doc. 94-9822 Filed 4-21-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F