[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 240 (Thursday, December 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65389-65391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31559]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[AD-FRL-5663-8]


Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review; 
Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking Information Collection 
Request

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 
3507(a)(1)(D)), 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; and, it includes the actual data collection instrument 
(questionnaire).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 13, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY CALL: Sandy Farmer at EPA, (202) 260-
2740, and refer to EPA ICR No. 1796.01. The ICR supporting statement 
and other relevant materials are also available electronically on the 
Technology Transfer Network (TTN). Choose the ``ICCR-Industrial 
Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking Process'' selection from the 
Technical Information Areas menu. To download the ICR from the main 
menu, select `` Download Forms for Replies''. The TTN is one of 
EPA's electronic bulletin boards. The TTN provides information and 
technology exchange in various areas of air pollution control. The 
service is free except for the cost of a phone call. Dial (919) 541-
5742 for up to a 14,400 bits-per-second (bps) modem. The TTN is also 
accessible through the Internet via TELNET at ``TELNET 
ttnbbs.rtpnc.epa.gov'', or at the Internet World Wide Web site 
``http:\\ttnwww.rtpnc.epa.gov''. If more information on the TTN is 
needed, call the help desk at (919) 541-5384. The help desk is staffed 
from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern time. A voice menu system is 
available at other times.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking (ICCR) 
Questionnaire (EPA ICR No. 1796.01). This is a new collection.
    Abstract: An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information that is sent to ten 
or more persons unless it displays a currently valid OMB control 
number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's approved information 
collection requests are listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR 15. The 
Federal Register Notice required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting 
comments on this collection of information, was published on July 29, 
1996 (61 FR 39450). Seven comments were received. A brief summary of 
the ICR is provided below; however, for more detail, refer to the 
previous Federal Register Notice and to the ICR supporting statement.
    Sections 112 and 129 of the Clean Air Act (the Act) require EPA to 
develop regulations to limit emissions of toxic or hazardous air 
pollutants, and in some cases, emissions of certain criteria air 
pollutants as well, from several categories of combustion sources, 
including industrial boilers, commercial/institutional boilers, process 
heaters, industrial/commercial waste incinerators, other solid waste 
combustors, stationary combustion turbines, and stationary internal 
combustion engines. These combustion sources are used pervasively for 
energy generation and waste disposal in a wide variety of industries 
and commercial and institutional establishments. They combust fuels 
including oil, coal, natural gas, wood, and non-hazardous wastes. Both 
hazardous air pollutants and criteria pollutants are emitted.
    These regulations could affect hundreds of thousands of combustion

[[Page 65390]]

sources nationwide and will have significant environmental, health, and 
cost impacts. The EPA has decided to coordinate the development of 
these regulations in a single effort termed the ``Industrial Combustion 
Coordinated Rulemaking'' (ICCR).
    The overall goal of the ICCR is to develop a unified set of Federal 
air emissions regulations that will maximize environmental and public 
health benefits in a flexible framework at a reasonable cost of 
compliance, avoiding duplicative and overlapping regulatory 
requirements, within the constraints of the Act. A Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (FACA) advisory committee and a series of work groups, 
composed of stakeholders and EPA, have been established to develop 
recommendations that will assist EPA in implementing the ICCR. This 
will permit active stakeholder participation in all aspects of 
regulatory development.
    Additional information about the ICCR, as well as information on 
how to participate in the ICCR, is available in the document 
``Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking--Proposed Organizational 
Structure and Process.'' This document may be downloaded from the TTN, 
described above under ``For Further Information Contact:''.
    The Clean Air Act requires development of six of the seven 
regulations by November 2000, which in turn necessitates proposal by 
November 1999--only three years from now. To ensure that the 1999 and 
2000 dates are met, the necessary information to develop these 
regulations must be collected by early 1997, analyses of the 
information must be completed in 1997, regulatory alternatives must be 
identified and various analyses of the impacts associated with these 
alternatives must be completed in 1998, and the proposed rule(s) must 
be developed and proposed in 1999.
    It should be noted that EPA is under Court Order to develop 
regulations under section 129 of the Act for industrial and commercial 
waste incinerators, which is one of the source categories included in 
the ICCR. The litigants have agreed to an interim extension of the 
court-ordered proposal date for these regulations from May 30, 1996 to 
January 15, 1997. As a condition associated with this extension, EPA 
must develop a formal questionnaire under section 114 of the Act by 
January 1997 to collect all the information EPA feels is necessary to 
develop regulations for industrial and commercial solid waste 
incinerators. The EPA will meet with the litigants in January 1997 to 
discuss whether sufficient information to develop regulations for 
industrial and commercial solid waste incinerators is likely to be 
obtained more quickly and effectively by sending out the questionnaire 
or by other means, such as through the ICCR.
    It is EPA's hope that through the efforts of the stakeholders 
participating in the ICCR, there will be no need--or only a limited 
need--for EPA to use the authority of section 114 of the Act (which 
requires mandatory response) to send the formal questionnaire to 
thousands of combustion sources. It is the goal and the task of the 
Source Work Groups working under the ICCR FACA Advisory Committee to 
devise and implement a means for gathering the information necessary to 
develop regulations from all sources--including industry--in a 
voluntary and cooperative manner.
    While initial response to the ICCR has been positive from all 
stakeholders, including industry, State/local agencies, environmental 
groups, etc., and EPA is committed to doing everything it can to ensure 
the success of the ICCR, EPA must be prepared and in a position to meet 
the statutory dates in the Act for adoption of the regulations. 
Consequently, EPA must proceed with development of an ICR for all the 
combustion sources included in the ICCR, and must proceed along this 
path in parallel with the Source Work Group activities under the ICCR. 
This will permit EPA to send out the questionnaire to gather the 
necessary information and do the necessary analyses in time to meet the 
statutory and court-ordered deadlines if the ICCR Work Group 
information collection efforts do not succeed.
    If the judgment in January 1997 is that the information collection 
efforts through the ICCR have failed or proven to be inadequate, then 
EPA will implement the formal questionnaire by mid-January 1997. 
However, if it appears that the ICCR will be successful in collecting 
the needed information voluntarily, the questionnaire will not be sent 
out, or a scaled back version could be used to collect only the 
information that can not be obtained by other means.
    Questionnaire Description: To develop regulations, EPA will need 
information to determine the maximum achievable control technology 
(MACT) floor; identify regulatory alternatives (i.e., possible 
regulations) more stringent than the MACT floor; and analyze the 
environmental and public health benefit, as well as the cost and 
economic impacts of the alternatives. These analyses of impacts are the 
basis for decisions about which regulatory alternative(s) to propose as 
the regulation.
    The proposed questionnaire has five parts: general facility 
information; combustor information; control device information; 
emissions information; and capital and annual costs. As discussed 
above, the questionnaire would be mailed--either in total or in part, 
as appropriate--in hardcopy form to the intended recipients. An 
electronic version of the questionnaire is being planned to allow for 
electronic completion and submittal.
    Because of their pervasive use, these combustion devices are 
located in establishments in nearly every, if not all, 2-digit standard 
industrial classification (SIC) codes. The questionnaire would be sent 
to a statistical sampling of over 8 million establishments that are 
classified by SIC codes.
    Recipients of this questionnaire would be required to respond under 
the authority of section 114 of the Act. If a respondent believes the 
disclosure of certain information requested would compromise a trade 
secret, it would need to be clearly identified as such and will be 
treated as confidential until a determination is made. Any information 
subsequently determined to constitute a trade secret will be protected 
under 18 U.S.C. 1905. If no claim of confidentiality accompanies the 
information when it is received by EPA, it may be made available to the 
public without further notice (40 CFR 2.203, September 1, 1976).
    Burden Statement: The one-time public burden for this collection of 
information is estimated to range from 50 to 400 hours per response for 
owners or operators of one or more combustion device, with an average 
of 200 hours for respondents with 5 combustion devices. Burden means 
the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to 
generate, maintain, retain, 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 
purpose 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: owners or operators of industrial

[[Page 65391]]

boilers, institutional/commercial boilers, process heaters, industrial/
commercial solid waste incinerators or other solid waste incinerators 
(not including hazardous waste incinerators, medical waste 
incinerators, or municipal waste incinerators burning more than 40 
tons/day of municipal solid waste), stationary gas turbines, or 
stationary internal combustion engines.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 35,000
    Frequency of Response: One-time
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 2.34 million
    Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden: $90.8 million
    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. 1796.01 in any correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2137), 401 M 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.

      and

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: December 6, 1996.
Richard T, Westlund,
Acting Director, Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 96-31559 Filed 12-11-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P