[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]
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