[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 2, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21926-21927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-10995]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6972-4]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Public Water Systems Supervision Program

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 document announces that EPA is planning to submit the 
following continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB): Public Water Systems Supervision 
Program (PWSSP), EPA ICR No. 0270.40; OMB No. 2040-0090. The current 
ICR approval expires on 9/30/01. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for 
review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of 
the proposed information collection as described below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: People interested in getting information or making comments 
about the draft PWSSP ICR should direct inquiries or comments to the 
Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Drinking Water Protection 
Branch, Mail Code 4606, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Naylor, (202) 260-5135, fax 
(202) 401-2345, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Affected entities: Entities potentially 
affected by this action are public water systems, primacy agents 
including regulators in the States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Trust 
Territories; Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages, and in some 
instances, U.S. EPA Regional Administrators and staff.
    Title: Information Collection Request for Public Water Systems 
Supervision Program, OMB Control No. 2040-0090; EPA ICR No. 0270.40; 
expires 09/30/2001.
    Abstract: This ICR contains record keeping and reporting 
requirements that are mandatory for compliance with 40 CFR parts 141 
and 142. Sections 1401 and 1412 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 
as amended, require EPA to establish National Primary Drinking Water 
Regulations (NPDWRs) that ensure the safety of drinking water. These 
regulations, contained in 40 CFR parts 141 and 142, are designed to 
reduce any exposure to contaminants--microbial, organic and inorganic 
chemicals, and radionuclides in finished drinking water to safe levels. 
The Act further requires EPA to ensure compliance with and enforce 
these regulations. Section 1445 of SDWA stipulates that every supplier 
of water shall conduct monitoring, maintain records, and provide such 
information as is needed for the Agency to carry out its compliance and 
enforcement responsibilities with respect to SDWA. Ensuring 
implementation of these requirements by public water systems is 
principally a responsibility of the States, particularly the 49 States 
that have assumed primary enforcement responsibility (primacy) for 
public water systems under SDWA section 1413. As part of the Public 
Water Systems Supervision Program, the Office of Ground Water and 
Drinking Water's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) 
collects data from the States on public water systems regulated by EPA. 
Without comprehensive, up-to-date information on drinking water 
contamination, States and EPA would not be able to ensure ``a supply of 
drinking water which dependably complies with such maximum contaminant 
levels'' (SDWA section 1401 (1) (d)).
    An Agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information if it does not display 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 EPA would like to solicit comments to: (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; (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 OMB currently approved burden associated with 
this ICR is: 9,531,172 burden hours per year; and $180,567 burden 
costs. Since the publication of the ICR for the Public Water Systems 
Supervision Program in December 1993, EPA has developed rule specific 
ICRs for each new or revised drinking water rule. Most of the rules 
addressed in the 1993 PWSSP ICR (e.g., Radionuclides Rule, Public 
Notification Rule, Lead and Copper Rule, Total Trihalomethanes Rule, 
Surface Water Treatment Rule and the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring 
Rule) have been revised to varying degrees. Accordingly, in the 
revision of the PWSSP ICR, EPA will ensure that there is no double 
counting of burden with the individual ICRs for the revised rules.
    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons

[[Page 21927]]

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. Any recommendations from the 
drinking water community and the general public on this issue will be 
given consideration by the Agency.

    Dated: April 25, 2001.
Phil Oshida,
Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 01-10995 Filed 5-1-01; 8:45 am]
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