[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 172 (Friday, September 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52763-52764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22641]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2003-0026-; FRL-7553-5]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; National Water Quality Inventory 
Reports (Clean Water Act Sections 305(b), 303(d), 314(a), and 106(e)), 
EPA ICR Number 1560.07, OMB Control Number 2040-0071

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 an Information Collection 
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing 
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 31, 
2003. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or 
sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending 
at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and 
its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before October 6, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0026, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail 
to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460, and (2) 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Wilson, Assessment and Watershed 
Protection Division, Office of Water, Mail Code 4503T, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: 202-566-1158; fax number: 202-566-1331; 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 May 21, 2003 (68 FR 27793), 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 
No. OW-2003-0026 , which 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 Reading 
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Water Docket 
is (202) 566-2426. 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 EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice. 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 the 
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 www.epa.gov/edocket.
    Title: National Water Quality Inventory Reports (Clean Water Act 
Sections 305(b), 303(d), 314(a), and 106(e)).
    Abstract: Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires States to 
identify and rank waters which cannot meet water quality standards 
(WQS) following the implementation of technology-based controls. Under 
section 303(d), States are also required to establish total maximum 
daily loads (TMDLs) for listed waters not meeting standards as a result 
of pollutant discharges. In developing the section 303(d) lists, States 
are required to consider various sources of water quality related data 
and information, including the section 305(b) State water quality 
reports. The section 305(b) reports contain information on the extent 
of water quality degradation, the pollutants and sources affecting 
water quality, and State progress in controlling water pollution. EPA's 
Assessment and Watershed Protection Division (AWPD) works with its 
Regional counterparts to review and approve or disapprove State section 
303(d) lists and TMDLs.
    This announcement includes the reapproval of current, ongoing 
activities related to sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting and TMDL 
development for

[[Page 52764]]

the period of August 1, 2003 through July 31, 2006. During the period 
covered by this ICR renewal, respondents will: Complete their 2004 
section 305(b) reports and 2004 section 303(d) lists; complete their 
2006 section 305(b) reports and 2006 section 303(d) lists; transmit 
annual electronic updates of their section 305(b) databases in 2003 
through 2006; and continue to develop TMDLs according to their 
established schedules. EPA will prepare two biennial Reports to 
Congress: one in 2003, one in 2005, and EPA will review TMDL 
submissions from respondents.
    The respondent community for section 305(b) reporting consists of 
50 States, the District of Columbia, 5 Territories (Puerto Rico, the 
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana 
Islands), and 3 River Basin Commissions. The Ohio River Valley 
Sanitation Commission, the Delaware River Basin Commission, and the 
Interstate Sanitation Commission have jurisdiction over basins that lie 
in multiple States. Indian Tribes are exempt from the section 305(b) 
reporting requirement, but some Tribes choose to participate as a way 
of presenting assessments and water quality issues to the public and 
Congress. One Tribe or Tribal Group prepared section 305(b) reports in 
1996 and 1997. However, since Tribal section 305(b) reporting is a 
voluntary effort, it is not included in the burden estimates for this 
ICR.
    The respondent community for section 303(d) activities consists of 
50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories (Puerto Rico, 
the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana 
Islands). Although Indian Tribes can be authorized to meet section 
303(d) requirements, none are currently authorized nor have applied for 
authorization. Further, very few Tribes have established water quality 
standards, and EPA is currently in the process of preparing standards 
where they are needed. Therefore, we assume that there would be no 
burden to Indian Tribes over the period covered by this ICR for section 
303(d) activities.
    The burden of specific activities that States undertake as part of 
their sections 305(b) and 303(d) programs are derived from an ongoing 
project among EPA, States and other interested stakeholders to develop 
a tool for estimating the States' resource needs for State water 
quality management programs. This project has developed the State Water 
Quality Management Workload Model (SWQMWM), which estimates and sums 
the workload involved in more than one hundred activities or tasks 
comprising a State water quality management program. Over twenty States 
have contributed information about their activities that became the 
basis for the model. According to the SWQMWM, the States will carry out 
the following activities or tasks to meet the sections 305(b) and 
303(d) reporting requirements: Watershed characterization; modeling and 
analysis; development of a TMDL document for public review; public 
outreach; formal public participation; tracking; planning; legal 
support; etc. In general, respondents have conducted each of these 
reporting and record keeping activities for past sections 305(b) and 
303(d) reporting cycles and thus have staff and procedures in place to 
continue their sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting programs. The 
burden associated with these tasks is estimated in this ICR to include 
the total number of TMDLs that may be submitted during the period 
covered by this ICR.
    The biennial frequency of the collection is mandated by section 
305(b)(1) of the CWA. Section 305(b) originally required respondents to 
submit water quality reports on an annual basis. In 1977, the annual 
requirement was amended to a biennial requirement in the CWA. EPA has 
determined that abbreviated reporting for hard-copy section 305(b) 
reports, combined with annual electronic reporting using respondent 
databases, will meet the CWA reporting requirements while reducing 
burden to respondents. The biennial period with annual electronic 
reporting ensures that information needed for analysis and water 
program decisions is reasonably current, yet abbreviated reporting 
requirements provides respondents with sufficient time to prepare the 
reports.
    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 in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on 
the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: For the 3 respondents that have section 305(b) 
responsibility only the annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3,659 
hours. For the 56 other respondents with both sections 305(b) and 
303(d) responsibilities the annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 
66,590 hours. 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: States, District of Columbia, 
Territories, River Basin commissions, and Indian Tribes.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 59.
    Frequency of Response: Biannually.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,740,017.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $155,322,906, includes $0 annualized 
capital or O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 749,130 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is due to: Adjustment Changes in 
Burden for sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting. The total annual 
respondent burden for sections 305(b) and 303(d) reporting has 
increased from ICR 1560.05 and 1560.06 due to improved estimates of 
respondent activity.

    Dated: August 27, 2003.
Doreen Sterling,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-22641 Filed 9-4-03; 8:45 am]
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