[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 71 (Monday, April 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17937-17939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9046]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7482-9]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Drinking Water Regulations Compliance and Cost 
Retrospective Survey

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this notice announces that the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) is planning to submit the following proposed Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): 
Drinking Water Regulations Compliance and Cost Retrospective Survey 
(EPA ICR No. 2101.01). Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and 
approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the 
proposed information collection as described as follows.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 13, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail, or 
through hand delivery/courier. Send comments to Water Docket, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460, Attention Docket ID No. OW-2002-0051. 
Follow the detailed instructions as provided in section I.C. of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Bennett of the EPA Office of 
Ground Water and Drinking Water at (202) 564-4690, or by facsimile: 
(202) 564-3760, or e-mail: [email protected]. For general 
information, contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline, (800) 426-4791. 
The Safe Drinking Water Hotline is open Monday through Friday, 
excluding Federal Holidays, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does This Action Apply to Me?

    You may be potentially affected by this action if you are a public 
water system. Public water systems are those systems that provide piped 
water for human consumption to at least 15 service connections or serve 
an average of at least 25 people for at least 60 days each year. 
Therefore, respondents will be both traditional water systems as well 
as water suppliers that do not supply water as their primary business. 
Potentially affected categories and entities may include, but are not 
limited to:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  NAICS
                        Type of business                           code
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Investor-Owned Water Systems...................................    22131
Publicly Owned Water Systems...................................    92411
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This table lists the types of entities that EPA is now aware of 
that could potentially be affected. Other types of entities not listed 
in this table could also be affected. If you have questions regarding 
the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult one of 
the persons listed in the preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section.

B. How Can I Get Copies of the ICR Supporting Statement and Other 
Related Information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this 
ICR under Docket ID No. OW-2002-0051. The official public docket 
consists of the documents specifically referenced in the ICR, any 
public comments received, and other information related to this ICR. 
Although a part of the official docket, the public docket does not 
include Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. The official public docket 
is the collection of materials that is available for public viewing at 
the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket 
Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the 
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the 
Office of Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
    2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the Federal Register 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may 
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to submit or view public 
comments, access the index listing of the contents of the official 
public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that 
are available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' 
then key in the appropriate docket identification number.
    Certain types of information will not be placed in the EPA Dockets. 
Information claimed as CBI and other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute, which is not included in the official public 
docket, will not be available for public viewing in EPA's electronic 
public docket. EPA's policy is that copyrighted material will not be 
placed in EPA's electronic public docket but will be available only in 
printed, paper form in the official public docket. Although not all 
docket materials may be available electronically, you may still access 
any of the publicly available docket materials through the docket 
facility identified in section I.B.
    For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's policy is 
that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, 
will be made available for public viewing in EPA's electronic public 
docket as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment 
contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment 
containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that 
material in the version of the comment that is placed in EPA's 
electronic public docket. The entire printed comment, including the

[[Page 17938]]

copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket.
    Public comments submitted on computer disks that are mailed or 
delivered to the docket will be transferred to EPA's electronic public 
docket. Public comments that are mailed or delivered to the Docket will 
be scanned and placed in EPA's electronic public docket. Where 
practical, physical objects will be photographed, and the photograph 
will be placed in EPA's electronic public docket along with a brief 
description written by the docket staff.

C. How and to Whom Do I Submit Comments?

    You may submit comments electronically, by mail, or through hand 
delivery/courier. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the 
appropriate docket identification number in the subject line on the 
first page of your comment. Please ensure that your comments are 
submitted within the specified comment period. Comments received after 
the close of the comment period will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not 
required to consider these late comments.
    1. Electronically. If you submit an electronic comment as 
prescribed below. EPA recommends that you include your name, mailing 
address, and an e-mail address or other contact information in the body 
of your comment. Also include this contact information on the outside 
of any disk or CD ROM you submit, and in any cover letter accompanying 
the disk or CD ROM. This ensures that you can be identified as the 
submitter of the comment and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties or needs further 
information on the substance of your comment. EPA's policy is that EPA 
will not edit your comment, and any identifying or contact information 
provided in the body of a comment will be included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the official public docket, and made 
available in EPA's electronic public docket. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
    i. EPA Dockets. Your use of EPA's electronic public docket to 
submit comments to EPA electronically is EPA's preferred method for 
receiving comments. Go directly to EPA Docket at http://www.epa.gov/edocket, and follow the online instructions for submitting comments. 
Once in the system, select ``search,'' and then key in Docket ID No. 
OW-2002-0051. The system is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means 
EPA will not know your identity, e-mail address, or other contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
    ii. E-mail. Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to [email protected], Attention Docket ID No. OW-2002-0051. In contrast to 
EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail system is not an 
``anonymous access'' system. If you send an e-mail comment directly to 
the Docket without going through EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's 
e-mail system automatically captures your e-mail address. E-mail 
addresses that are automatically captured by EPA's e-mail system are 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the official public 
docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.
    iii. Disk or CD ROM. You may submit comments on a disk or CD ROM 
that you mail to the mailing address identified in section I.C.2. These 
electronic submissions will be accepted in WordPerfect or ASCII file 
format. Avoid the use of special characters and any form of encryption.
    2. By Mail. Send an original and three copies of your comments to: 
Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 4101T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460, Attention Docket ID No. 
OW-2002-0051.
    3. By Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Water 
Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC, Attention Docket ID No. OW-
2002-0051. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal 
hours of operation as identified in Section I.B.1.

D. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing your 
comments:
    1. Explain your views as clearly as possible.
    2. Describe any assumptions that you used.
    3. Provide any technical information and/or data you used that 
support your views.
    4. If you estimate potential burden or costs, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate.
    5. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns.
    6. Offer alternatives.
    7. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline 
identified.
    8. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate docket 
identification number in the subject line on the first page of your 
response. It would also be helpful if you provided the name, date, and 
Federal Register citation related to your comments.

II. What Information Collection Activity or ICR Does This Action Apply 
to?

    EPA is seeking comments on the following ICR:
    Title: Drinking Water Regulations Compliance and Cost Retrospective 
Survey (EPA ICR No. 2101.01).
    Abstract: The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) (1412(b)) requires EPA 
to analyze the costs related to the promulgation of drinking water 
regulations. Since the reauthorization of SDWA in 1996, EPA has 
proposed and promulgated national primary drinking water regulations 
for several contaminants. Each of these final and proposed rules has a 
supporting ``Economic Analysis,'' which includes an analysis of 
compliance costs. The cost analysis includes capital and operations and 
maintenance (O&M) costs for treatment and other compliance measures 
taken by systems with Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) violations or 
from systems that are subject to treatment technique requirements, as 
well as costs related to start-up, training and monitoring for all 
regulated systems.
    Key to the accurate estimation of costs is an understanding of the 
compliance decision process of Public Water Systems (PWS). In this 
survey, EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW) plans 
to collect information from PWSs on their compliance decisions and 
associated costs for a set of rulemakings. A compliance decision is a 
decision made in direct response to the implementation of a drinking 
water regulation to come into compliance with the regulation. Examples 
of compliance decisions include installing a new treatment technology; 
modifying an existing treatment technology; using a non-treatment 
approach; and, finding a new water source. EPA plans to collect 
information on which compliance alternatives were considered, and which 
were chosen from that set of alternatives, along with information on 
associated capital, operating and maintenance, and add-on costs. 
Responses are voluntary and will not be considered confidential. EPA 
plans to use the results of the survey to update its cost estimation 
process for future rulemakings.

[[Page 17939]]

    The survey will target systems in two categories: systems which 
have had violations of one or more chosen rulemakings and systems which 
have not had violations (but have made compliance decisions to prevent 
a violation). An initial short survey will be used to identify a sample 
of systems that have made compliance decisions in response to the 
representative rulemakings without actually having been out of 
compliance. The full survey (including a pilot study phase) will be 
sent to these systems, as well as to a sample of systems that have 
recorded violations. We estimate that the initial survey (known as a 
screener survey, since it will identify respondents appropriate for the 
full survey) will provide data from 1,875 respondents indicating 
whether or not they made some type of compliance decision associated 
with the representative rulemakings. We estimate that the full survey 
(including a pilot study phase), sent to systems with and without 
recorded violations, will provide data from 718 respondents.
    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, via 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.

III. What Are EPA's Burden and Cost Estimates for This ICR?

    The following is a summary of the burden and cost estimates 
associated with this proposed information collection effort. Burden and 
cost estimates are taken from the ICR, which provides a detailed 
explanation of the burden estimates summarized in this notice. EPA 
anticipates that the only entities affected by this information request 
will be public water systems. The total number of estimated potential 
respondents is 1,875 for the screener survey and 718 for the full 
survey. Respondents to the screener survey will only have to respond to 
that survey once. Respondents to the full survey will only have to 
respond to the full survey once. Some respondents, however, will have 
to respond to both the screener survey and the full survey. EPA 
estimates that 1,567 respondents will respond once to the screener 
survey, 410 respondents will respond once to the full survey, and 308 
respondents will respond once to both the screener survey and the full 
survey.
    The annual public burden for this collection of information is 
estimated to average 0.25 hours per screener survey response; 1 hour 
per full survey response for small public water systems; 2 hours per 
full survey response for medium public water systems; and 3 hours per 
full survey response for large public water systems. The estimated 
total annual respondent burden for screener survey respondents is 469 
hours with a current annual cost of $10,742; the estimated total annual 
respondent burden for full survey respondents is 1,304 hours with a 
current annual cost of $34,204. Total estimated annual respondent 
burden associated with the complete information collection effort is 
1,773 hours with a current annual cost of $44,946.
    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 21, 2003.
Cynthia C. Dougherty,
Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 03-9046 Filed 4-11-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P