[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56289-56291]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24781]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2003-0013; FRL-7565-9]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request: Title IV of the Public Health 
Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002: 
Drinking Water Security and Safety, EPA ICR Number 2103.02, OMB Control 
Number 2040-0253

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 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 September 30, 
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 30, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0013 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, Water Docket Mail Code 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: Susan Dolgin, Water Protection Task 
Force, Mail Code 4606, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460: telephone number: 202-
564-9895; fax number: 202-564-8513; 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 20, 2003 (68 FR 27555), EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received two comments.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. OW-2003-0013, 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: Title IV of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism 
Preparedness and Response Act of 2002: Drinking Water Security and 
Safety.
    Abstract: Title IV of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism 
Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-188) amends the Safe 
Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Act requires each community water system 
(CWS) serving a population of more than 3,300 people to conduct a 
vulnerability assessment of its water system and to prepare or revise 
an emergency response plan that incorporates the results of the 
vulnerability assessment. EPA will use the data collected under this 
ICR to evaluate the steps taken by CWSs to ensure the security of the 
nation's drinking water supply. EPA will use the information collected 
under this ICR to determine whether CWSs have completed vulnerability 
assessments and prepare or revise updated emergency response plans.
    Primary users of the information collected under this ICR include 
the EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW), EPA Regional 
Administrators, and CWSs.
    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: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 
approximately 130 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: Community Water Systems.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 8,487.
    Frequency of Response: 3 responses per system during the ICR 
period.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 2,913,929.
    Estimated Total Annualized Cost: $156,458,154, includes $82,211 O&M 
costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 261,537 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase is a result of adding burden hours 
to the respondent inventory. In the previous ICR, when EPA off-set 
respondent costs by the amount of grant funding that was

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provided to systems, it inadvertently off-set a corresponding number of 
hours. However, although system costs were off-set by grant funding, 
the amount of labor hours required to complete all requirements of the 
Act remains the same. Therefore, EPA has added these previously 
unaccounted for hours into the official inventory.

    Dated: September 22, 2003.
Sara Hisel McCoy,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-24781 Filed 9-29-03; 8:45 am]
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