[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 113 (Thursday, June 12, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35209-35210]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-14875]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OECA-2003-0048; FRL-7512-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR 
No. 1060.12 (OMB No. 2060-0038) to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

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 the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: NSPS for Steel Plants: 
Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon-Oxygen Decarburization Vessels 
(Renewal). This ICR describes the nature of the information collection 
and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before July 14, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Follow the detailed instructions under SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mar[iacute]a Malav[eacute], Compliance 
Assessment and Media Programs Division, Mail Code 2223A, Office of 
Compliance, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-7027; fax 
number: (202) 564-0050; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. On September 26, 2002 (67 FR 60672), EPA sought comments on 
this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
Number OECA-2003-0048, which is available for public viewing at the 
Enforcement and Compliance Docket and Information Center in the EPA 
Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 
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 Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, 
and the telephone number for the Enforcement and Compliance Docket and 
Information Center is (202) 566-1514. An electronic version of the 
public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, 
access the index listing of the contents of the 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 
docket ID number identified above.
    Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to OMB and EPA 
within 30 days of this notice, and according to the following detailed 
instructions: (1) Mail your comments to OMB at: Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 
20503, and (2) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our 
preferred method), by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA 
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and 
Compliance Docket and Information Center, Mail Code 2201T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
    EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted 
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing 
in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment 
contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public 
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 EDOCKET. The 
entire printed comment, including copyrighted material, will be 
available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the 
official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is 
otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public 
docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For 
further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal 
Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 
31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
    Title: NSPS for Steel Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon-
Oxygen Decarburization Vessels (40 CFR part 60, subparts AA and AAa) 
(Renewal) (OMB Control Number 2060-0038, EPA ICR Number 1060.12). This 
is a request to renew an existing approved collection that is scheduled 
to expire on June 30, 2003. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may 
continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this 
submission is pending at OMB.
    Abstract: The New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for electric 
arc furnaces were proposed on October 21, 1974 (39 FR 37466) and 
promulgated on September 23, 1975 (40 CFR 43850). These standards apply 
to the following affected facilities in steel plants that produce 
carbon, alloy, or specialty steels: Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 
dust handling systems commencing construction, modification or 
reconstruction after the date of proposal and on or before August 17, 
1983. A review of subpart AA in 1980 resulted in the promulgation of a 
new standard (NSPS, subpart AAa). The review of NSPS subpart AA found 
that fugitive emissions capture technology had improved since 
promulgation of NSPS subpart AA, and that argon-oxygen decarburization 
(AOD) vessels are a significant source of particulates in specialty 
steel shops. NSPS, subpart AAa was proposed on August 17, 1983 and 
promulgated on October 31, 1984. The new standard established new 
standards applicable to EAFs, AOD vessels, and dust handling systems 
constructed, modified, or reconstructed after August 17, 1983. On March 
2, 1999, the Agency promulgated a direct final rule to amend subparts 
AA and AAa in response to a petition made by the Common Sense 
Initiative Council, established under a charter approved pursuant to 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which approved daily visible 
emissions observations as an alternative to static pressure monitoring 
at an EAF with a

[[Page 35210]]

direct shell evacuation system, and clarified some definitions.
    In general, all NSPS standards require initial notifications, 
performance tests, and periodic reports. Owners or operators are also 
required to maintain records of the occurrence and duration of any 
startup, shutdown, or malfunction in the operation of an affected 
facility, or any period during which the monitoring system is 
inoperative. These notifications, reports, and records are essential in 
determining compliance, and are required of all sources subject to 
NSPS. Any owner or operator subject to the provisions of this part 
shall maintain a file of these measurements, and retain the file for at 
least two years following the date of such measurements, maintenance 
reports, and records.
    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, and are 
identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 303 
(rounded) hours per response. 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.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Plants with electric arc furnaces, 
AOD vessels, and dust handling systems that produce carbon, alloy, or 
specialty steels.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 95.
    Frequency of Response: Initial and semiannual.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 58,195 hours (rounded).
    Estimated Total Capital and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Annual 
Costs: $289,890 which includes $4,140 annualized capital/startup costs 
and $285,750 annual O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 9,782 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase is due to an increase on the number 
of sources and revisions to the assumptions made to determine the 
industry burden. A net increase of 5 sources (90 to 95) was determined 
due to the inclusion of 10 steel forging facilities that use electric 
arc furnaces to develop intermediate products as affected facilities 
which offset the decreased (90 to 85) number of minimills. In addition, 
the increase is due to corrections made to the percentages used to 
evaluate the burden associated with the different types of activities 
sources are conducting to comply with the monitoring of stack emissions 
and the fugitive emissions monitoring requirements.

    Dated: June 5, 2003.
Doreen Sterling,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-14875 Filed 6-11-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P