[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12988-12990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6723]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7160-6]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Hazardous Remediation Waste Management Requirements 
(HWIR-Media)

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): ``Hazardous Remediation Waste 
Management Requirements (HWIR-Media),'' EPA ICR Number 1775.03; OMB 
Control Number 2050-0161; Expiration Date 06/30/2002. 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 May 20, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Commenters must send an original and two copies of their 
comments referencing Docket Number F-2002-MH2P-FFFFF to RCRA Docket 
Information Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305W) United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20460. Hand deliveries of comments should 
be made to the Arlington, VA address listed below. Comments may also be 
submitted electronically by sending electronic mail through the 
Internet to: [email protected]. Comments in electronic format 
should also be identified by the Docket Number F-2002-MH2P-FFFFF. All 
electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use 
of special characters and any form of encryption.

[[Page 12989]]

    The official record for this action will be kept in paper form. 
Accordingly, EPA will transfer all comments received electronically 
into paper form and place them in the official record, which will also 
include all comments submitted directly in writing. The official record 
is the paper record maintained in the RCRA Information Center (the RIC 
address is listed above in this section).
    Commenters should not submit any confidential business information 
(CBI) electronically. An original and two copies of CBI must be 
submitted under separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document Control Officer, 
Office of Solid Waste (5303W), United States Environmental Protection 
Agency, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Mailcode 
5303W, Washington, DC, 20460.
    Public comments and supporting materials are available for viewing 
in the RCRA Information Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway, First 
Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia. The RIC is 
open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding federal 
holidays. To review docket materials, it is recommended that the public 
make an appointment by calling (703) 603-9230. The public may copy a 
maximum of 100 pages from any regulatory docket at no charge. 
Additional copies are $0.15/page.
    This notice and the supporting documents that detail the Reporting 
and Record keeping Requirements for the Hazardous Remediation Waste 
Management Requirements (HWIR-Media) Final Rule ICR are also available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the 
RCRA Hotline at 800 424-9346 or TDD 800 553-7672 (hearing impaired). In 
the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, call 703 412-9810 or TDD 703 
412-3323.
    For more detailed information on specific aspects of this 
rulemaking contact Mike Fitzpatrick by phone at (703) 308-8411, by 
facsimile at (703) 308-8609, by mail at the Office of Solid Waste 
(5303W), United States Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios 
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Mailcode 5303W, Washington, DC, 
20460 or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
those owners or operators of facilities that wish to voluntarily clean 
up contamination of their site.
    Title: ``Hazardous Remediation Waste Management Requirements (HWIR-
Media)'' OMB Control No. 2050-0161; EPA ICR No. 1775.03 expiring 06/30/
02.
    Abstract: All information collection activities required by this 
rule are authorized by sections 3004 and 3005 of the Solid Waste 
Disposal Act of 1970, as amended by the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), as amended by the Hazardous and Solid 
Waste Amendments of 1984 (SHWA), 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6921, 6924, 6925, 
6926, and 6927. EPA believes the information collection for this rule 
is necessary to balance streamlined regulations of remediation wastes 
with the Agency's responsibility to protect human health and the 
environment. The respondents are primarily owners or operators of 
facilities that wish to voluntarily clean up contamination of their 
site.
    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.
    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: EPA believes that the previous ICR (ICR Number 
1775.02) overestimated the number of respondents reading the 
regulations, since ICRs need only burden respondents for reading the 
regulations in association with the collection of information. Given 
this, the current ICR assumes that 176 respondents will perform the 
paperwork requirements and hence will read the regulations. This is 
consistent with all other ICRs in the Office of Solid Waste. For 
hazardous remediation waste management sites that wish to utilize the 
flexibility provided by the optional requirements of the HWIR-media 
Rule, the estimated total annual hour burden for this information 
collection is 4,959 hours, which is about 29,000 hours lower than the 
previous ICR's burden estimate. The estimated total annual cost burden 
for this information collection is $334,886, which includes labor, 
capital, operations and maintenance, and purchased service costs. The 
total burden over the three year period of this ICR is estimated to be 
14,877 hours and $1,004,658.
    EPA estimates that, on average, 30 sites will be subject to the 
requirements in 40 CFR 264.1(j) and part 270, subpart H (i.e., the 
requirements for sites with RAPs) over the three-year period of this 
ICR. Note that this ICR addresses only non-permitted sites under 40 CFR 
264.1(j) and part 270, subpart H. A site may conduct cleanup through a 
RAP, permit, or other specified mechanism. Permitted facilities would 
obtain a RAP by modifying their permit. These activities are already 
addressed in ``Part B Permit Application, Permit Modifications, and 
Special Permits,'' ICR Number 1573. Therefore, this ICR addresses only 
non-permitted sites under the RAP requirements.
    EPA also estimated the number of owners/operators of hazardous 
remediation waste management sites subject to the 40 CFR 264.554 
requirements for staging piles. Based on the Biennial Reporting System 
(BRS) data, EPA estimates that, currently, there are 87 existing 
hazardous remediation waste management sites with staging piles. 
Additionally, EPA estimates that, each year, 59 owners/operators of 
non-permitted hazardous remediation waste management sites will seek a 
new staging pile designation.
    EPA estimates that 176 owners/operators of hazardous remediation 
waste management sites (i.e., 30 + 87 + 59 = 176) will be subject to 
the requirements in this ICR and will, therefore, read the regulations 
each year.
    For owners/operators of hazardous remediation waste management 
sites subject to the 40 CFR 264.1(j) and part 270, subpart H 
requirements, the reporting burden is estimated to be 27.33 hours per 
respondent per year. This hourly burden includes time for preparing and 
submitting a RAP application, information to modify a RAP, and 
information to transfer a RAP. The recordkeeping burden is estimated to 
be 42.13 hours per respondent per year. This hourly burden includes 
time for reading the regulations and maintaining documentation (e.g., 
waste analyses results, contingency and emergency plan, file of RAP 
documents) on site.

[[Page 12990]]

    For owners/operators of hazardous remediation waste management 
sites subject to the 40 CFR 264.554 requirements for staging piles, the 
reporting burden is estimated to be 7.08 hours per year per respondent. 
This hourly burden includes time for preparing and submitting 
information for a staging pile designation and documentation supporting 
a staging pile extension. The recordkeeping burden is estimated to be 
12.61 hours per respondent per year. This hourly burden includes time 
for reading the regulations and complying with the recordkeeping 
requirements in section 264.554(d)(1)(iii).
    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.

    Dated: March 11, 2002.
Elizabeth Cotsworth,
Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 02-6723 Filed 3-19-02; 8:45 am]
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