[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 72 (Wednesday, April 15, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18399-18401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-9556]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5978-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Best Management Practices for the Bleached Papergrade 
Kraft and Soda Subcategory and the Papergrade Sulfite Subcategory of 
the Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Point Source Category

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this notice announces that EPA is planning to submit the 
following proposed and/or continuing Information Collection Request 
(ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Information 
Collection Request for Best Management Practices, Effluent Limitations 
Guidelines and Standards, Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Manufacturing 
Category (40 CFR Part 430). Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review 
and approval, EPA is soliciting comment on specific aspects of the 
proposed information collection as described below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on this notice in triplicate to Mr. Troy 
Swackhammer, Office of Water, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303), 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20460. In addition to submitting hard copies of the comments, the 
public may also send comments via e-mail to: swackhammer.j-
[email protected]. Copies of the draft information collection 
request are available at http://www.epa.gov/OST/pulppaper/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Troy Swackhammer by voice on (202) 
260-712, by facsimile on 202-260-7185, or by e-mail at swackhammer.j-
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulated entities

    Entities potentially affected by this action are those operations 
that chemically pulp wood fiber using kraft or soda methods to produce 
bleached papergrade pulp, paperboard, coarse paper, tissue paper, fine 
paper, and/or paperboard; and those operations that chemically pulp 
wood fiber using papergrade sulfite methods to produce pulp and/or 
paper.
    Title: Best Management Practices for the Bleached Papergrade Kraft 
and Soda Subcategory and the Papergrade Sulfite Subcategory of the 
Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Point Source Category (EPA ICR No. 
1829.01).
    Abstract: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established 
Best Management Practice provisions as part of final amendments to 40 
CFR Part 430, the Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Point Source Category 
published elsewhere in today's Federal Register. See 40 CFR Part 
430.03. These provisions, promulgated under the authorities of Sections 
304, 307, 308, 402, and 501 of the Clean Water Act, require that owners 
or operators of bleached papergrade kraft, soda and sulfite mills 
implement site-specific BMPs to prevent or otherwise contain leaks and 
spills of spent pulping liquors, soap and turpentine and to control 
intentional diversions of these materials.
    EPA has determined that these BMPs are necessary because the 
materials controlled by these practices, if spilled or otherwise lost, 
can interfere with wastewater treatment operations and lead to 
increased discharges of toxic, nonconventional, and conventional 
pollutants. For further discussion of the need for BMPs, see Section 
VI.B.7 of the preamble to the amendments to 40 CFR Part 430 published 
elsewhere in today's Federal Register.
    The BMP program includes information collection requirements that 
are intended to help accomplish the overall purposes of the program by, 
for example, training personnel, see 40 CFR 430.03(c)(4), analyzing 
spills that occur, see 40 CFR 430.03(c)(5), identifying equipment items 
that might need to be upgraded or repaired, see 40 CFR 430.03(c)(2), 
and performing monitoring--including the operation of monitoring 
systems--to detect leaks, spills and intentional diversion and 
generally to evaluate the effectiveness of the BMPs, see 40 CFR 
430.03(c)(3), (c)(10), (h), and (i). The regulations also require mills 
to develop and, when appropriate, amend plans specifying how the mills 
will implement the specified BMPs, and to certify to the permitting or 
pretreatment authority that they have done so in accordance with good 
engineering practices and the requirements of the regulation. See 40 
CFR 430.03(d), (e) and (f). The purpose of those provisions is, 
respectively, to facilitate the implementation of BMPs on a site-
specific basis and to help the regulating authorities to ensure 
compliance without requiring the submission of actual BMP plans. 
Finally, the recordkeeping provisions are intended to facilitate 
training, to signal the need for different or more vigorously 
implemented BMPs, and to facilitate compliance assessment. See 40 CFR 
430.03(g).
    EPA has structured the regulation to provide maximum flexibility to 
the regulated community and to minimize administrative burdens on 
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and 
pretreatment control authorities that regulate bleached papergrade 
kraft and soda and papergrade sulfite mills. Although EPA does not 
anticipate that mills will be required to submit any confidential 
business information or trade secrets as part of this ICR, all data 
claimed as confidential business information will be handled by EPA 
pursuant to 40 CFR Part 2.
    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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations are listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15.

Solicitation of Comments

    EPA solicits comments that would help the Agency to better:
    (i) evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (ii) evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of 
the methodology and assumptions used;

[[Page 18400]]

    (iii) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and
    (iv) minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology (e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses).

Burden Statement

    The following discussion describes the information collection 
requirements of the BMP regulations and estimates the burden associated 
with each one.
    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 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 previously applicable instructions and requirements; train 
personnel to be able to respond to the collection of information; 
search data sources; complete and review the collection of information 
and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
    The BMP regulations at 40 CFR 430.03 include the following major 
components: (1) Development, review and certification of a BMP plan, 
which should include programs to identify and repair leaking equipment, 
to track equipment repairs, to train personnel, to report and evaluate 
spills, to review planned mill modifications, and to establish 
wastewater treatment system influent action levels (including an 
initial six-month monitoring program) in addition to a detailed 
engineering review of the pulping and chemical recovery areas; (2) 
amendment and periodic review of the BMP plan; (3) reporting of spills; 
(4) additional monitoring and reporting; and (5) additional 
recordkeeping. See 40 CFR 430.03 (c) through (h) and the ``Technical 
Support Document for Best Management Practices for Spent Pulping Liquor 
Management, Spill Prevention, and Control,'' October 1997, DCN 14489, 
EPA-821-R-97-015 (also referred to below as the BMP TSD) for more 
detailed information on the requirements. The BMP requirements apply to 
approximately 95 papergrade kraft, soda, and sulfite mills.

a. Development, Review and Certification of a BMP Plan

    Development of a site-specific BMP plan is a one-time initial 
burden. Plan preparation costs will vary based upon mill complexity. 
EPA anticipates that mills will use outside consultants under direction 
of mill personnel to prepare the site-specific BMP plan, including the 
detailed engineering review. Costs for preparing the BMP Plan, which 
range from $150,000 to $250,000, are included in the compliance cost 
estimates developed for the regulation (see Table 9.2 of the BMP TSD, 
DCN 14489). EPA anticipates mill labor burden of 40, 60, and 80 hours 
(at $30 per hour) for direction and oversight of the consultant effort 
for simple, moderately complex, and complex mills, respectively. Review 
of the initial plan by the senior technical manager and certification 
by the mill manager is expected to take less than one day of effort (at 
$40 per hour). These one-time burden estimates associated with the BMP 
plan are summarized in Table 1 of this notice.
    As part of the BMP plan development, mills must establish a 
training program for technical personnel. This training program must 
include both an initial training effort and an annual refresher 
training. The burden for initial training is included in the compliance 
costs referenced above (see Table 9.2 of the BMP TSD, DCN 14489). 
Burden for annual refresher training is included in the annual 
estimates presented in Table 2 of this notice.

b. Amendment and Periodic Review of a BMP Plan

    Owners or operators must amend their BMP Plans whenever there is a 
change in mill design, construction, operation or maintenance that 
materially affects the potential for leaks or spills of spent pulping 
liquor, soap or turpentine from the immediate process areas. See 40 CFR 
430.03(e)(1). In addition, owners or operators must complete a review 
and evaluation of their BMP plans at least once every five years, and 
amend the plan within three months if warranted. See 40 CFR 
430.03(e)(2). Any BMP plan amendments also require review by the senior 
technical manager and certification by the mill manager. See 40 CFR 
430.03(f).
    EPA anticipates less than 50 hours of mill labor per amendment, and 
based the ICR burden on an assumption that each mill would need to 
amend its BMP plan twice every five years, for an annual burden of 20 
hours ($620), which is included in the annual estimates presented in 
Table 2.

c. Reporting of Spills

    Reports of spills of spent pulping liquor, soap or turpentine not 
contained in the immediate process area must list the equipment 
involved, the circumstances leading to the incident, the effectiveness 
of corrective actions taken and plans to implement future changes. 
These reports must be maintained by the owner or operator, and they 
need only be submitted to the NPDES permit or pretreatment control 
authority upon request. EPA anticipates that the burden of preparing a 
spill report is approximately four hours and can be conducted by a mill 
engineer at $30 per hour. ICR burden is calculated on an annual basis 
using an assumption of 1 spill per mill per month and is included in 
the annual estimates presented in Table 2.

d. Additional Monitoring and Reporting

    Mills are required to operate continuous, automatic monitoring 
systems that the mill determine are necessary to detect and control 
leaks, spills, and intentional diversions of spent pulping liquor, 
soap, and turpentine. See 40 CFR 430.03(c)(3). The burden for 
designing, testing, and operating the monitoring system, expressed in 
the form of costs, is included in the compliance cost estimates 
developed for the regulation (see Table 9.2 of the BMP TSD, DCN 14489).
    In addition, all mills with the exception of new sources are 
required to perform two six-month monitoring programs in order to 
determine the characteristics (or action levels) of their wastewater 
treatment system effluent. See 40 CFR 430.03(h). (New sources are 
required to perform only one six-month monitoring program for this 
purpose. See 40 CFR 430.03(h)(5).) All mills are also required to 
perform additional monitoring to revise those action levels after any 
change in mill design, construction, operation, or maintenance that 
materially affects the potential for leaks or spills or spent pulping 
liquor, soap, or turpentine from the immediate process area. See 40 CFR 
430.03(h)(6). The effort required to implement the initial monitoring 
program and perform the associated statistical analysis to establish 
the action levels is included in the compliance cost estimates 
developed for the regulation, and the burden to perform monitoring to 
revise those action levels is included in the incremental monitoring 
burden discussed below.

[[Page 18401]]

    The regulation also requires all mills to conduct daily monitoring 
of wastewater treatment system influent for the purpose of detecting 
leaks and spills, tracking the effectiveness of the BMPs, and detecting 
trends in spent pulping liquor losses. See 40 CFR 430.03(i). EPA 
estimates the burden associated with this monitoring to be increment of 
1 additional hour per day (at $20/hour) as included in annual estimates 
shown in Table 2 of this notice. Costs for monitoring equipment were 
included in the compliance cost estimates developed for the regulation 
(see Table 9.2 of the BMP TSD, DCN 14489).
    Mill operators are required to provide their NPDES permit or 
pretreatment control authorities reports of the monitoring required by 
the BMP regulation. The reports must include a summary of the 
monitoring results, the number and dates of exceedances of the 
applicable action levels, and brief descriptions of any corrective 
actions taken to respond to such exceedances. Submission of such 
reports shall be at the frequency established by the NPDES permit or 
pretreatment control authority, but in no case less than once per year. 
EPA has based the burden estimates on a semi-annual reporting frequency 
and estimates that each report will take 16 hours to complete, 
including both engineer and senior technical manager effort (also 
included in Table 2 estimates).

e. Recordkeeping Requirements

    The regulation requires that certain equipment repair records, 
records of employee training, reports of spills outside the immediate 
process area, and records of monitoring conducted as part of the BMP 
program be maintained for three years. See 40 CFR 430.03(g). EPA 
expects that the level of effort will depend upon mill complexity. 
Burden estimates for recordkeeping are based on an incremental level of 
effort to comply with BMP requirements consisting of 2 to 4 hours per 
month for the operators/shift supervisors over current shift log 
recordkeeping (at $20 per hour), 2 to 4 hours per months for 
engineering technicians (at $30 per hour), and two hours per month for 
clerical support (at $15 per hour). These burden estimates are also 
included in the annual estimates presented in Table 2 below.

f. Total Industry Burden Estimates

    Based on the assumptions listed above, EPA estimates the following 
one-time burden associated with mill labor for the BMP requirements:

  Table 1.--Burden Estimates for Preparing and Certifying the BMP Plan  
                            [One-time burden]                           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Hours     Dollars ($)
       Process (complexity)         Number of    (industry-   (industry-
                                      mills        wide)        wide)   
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kraft (simple)...................           41        1,969       62,320
Kraft (moderately complex).......           30        2,040       63,600
Kraft (complex)..................           13        1,144       35,360
Sulfite (simple).................           11          528       16,720
                                  --------------------------------------
      Total......................           95        5,680      178,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Note: BMP plan development costs that are contracted out are 
considered compliance costs and are not included here; they are 
presented in Table 9-2 of the BMP TSD, DCN 14489.

    Based on the assumptions listed above, EPA estimates the following 
recurring burden associated with mill labor for the BMP requirements:

   Table 2.--Burden Estimate for Maintaining BMP Plan, Spill Records,   
                        Personnel Training, etc.                        
                           [Recurring burden]                           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Annual       Annual  
                                    Number of      hours     dollars ($)
       Process (complexity)           mills      (industry-   (industry-
                                                   wide)        wide)   
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kraft (simple)...................           41       22,017      487,080
Kraft (moderately complex).......           30       16,830      374,400
Kraft (complex)..................           13        7,605      170,040
Sulfite (simple).................           11        5,907      130,680
                                  --------------------------------------
      Total......................           95       52,359    1,162,200
------------------------------------------------------------------------

g. Government Burden Estimates

    EPA estimates the initial burden to state NPDES permitting 
authorities and state and local pretreatment control authorities will 
be 950 hours based on ten hours per facility for the preparation of new 
NPDES permit or pretreatment control mechanism conditions implementing 
the BMP regulation. EPA estimates the recurring incremental burden to 
these state and local authorities will be 950 hours per year based on 
ten hours per year per facility for administrative work associated with 
reviewing periodic (e.g., annual or semi-annual) reports of monitoring 
and conducting compliance reviews. State and local labor costs are 
estimated at $19,000 per year, based on labor rates of $20 per hour. 
EPA estimates that its incremental labor burden will be 100 hours 
annually for the BMP regulation and will incur costs of $3,000 per 
year, based on labor rates of $30 per hour.

    Dated: April 3, 1998.
Tudor T. Davies,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 98-9556 Filed 4-14-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P