[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 100 (Monday, May 24, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29533-29535]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-11670]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2003-0073; FRL-7666-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) Compliance Assessment/Certification 
Information (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1427.07, OMB Control Number 2040-
0110

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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

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 5/31/2004. 
Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor 
the collection of

[[Page 29534]]

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 June 23, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0073, 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: Jack Faulk, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail Code 4203M, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460; telephone number: 202-564-0768; fax number: 202-564-6431; 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 December 9, 2003 (68 FR 68618), 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-2003-0073, 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 Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 
Compliance Assessment/Certification Information (Renewal).
    Abstract: This ICR updates the burden and costs associated with the 
data requirements necessary for a permitting authority to determine 
whether an existing NPDES or sewage sludge permittee is in compliance 
with the conditions of its permit for the discharge of pollutants to 
waters of the United States or for the use or disposal of sewage 
sludge. Most compliance assessment data is generated by permittees and 
submitted to the appropriate permitting authority. The permitting 
authority uses the information to determine compliance with permit 
conditions and if any noncompliance poses a threat to human health or 
the environment. If noncompliance is detected, the permitting authority 
will take the appropriate enforcement action based on the frequency and 
the degree of seriousness of the violation.
    This ICR calculates the burden associated with compliance 
assessment information (other than discharge monitoring reports) 
required by parts 122 and 501 and certification or alternative 
requirements contained in the effluent limitations guidelines and 
standards regulations for various point source categories. This ICR 
adds burden and costs previously collected under OMB ICR No. 2040-0230, 
Best Management Practices, Alternatives, Effluent Limitations 
Guidelines and Standards, Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category 
(40 CFR part 435). These requirements include routine submittals, such 
as annual certifications and reports submitted when a compliance 
schedule milestone is reached; non-routine submittals, such as an 
unanticipated bypass; and certifications for exemptions of monitoring 
requirements for certain industrial categories.
    Where information submitted contains trade secrets or similar 
confidential business information, the respondent has the authority to 
request that this information be treated as confidential business 
information. All data so designated will be handled pursuant to 40 CFR 
part 2. Pursuant to section 308(b) of the Clean Water Act, effluent 
data may not be treated as confidential.
    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 4 
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: State and local governments, tribes, 
private industry, and public and private entities covered under an 
NPDES discharge permit (or required to oversee NPDES permit 
implementation).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 416,964.
    Frequency of Response: Varies.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1,809,580.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $69,446,000, includes $0 annualized 
capital, $0 annual O&M and $69,446,000 annual labor costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 434,168 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase in burden is due

[[Page 29535]]

to the incorporation of ICR 2040-0230 into ICR 2040-0110, and is the 
result of an increase in the universe of permittees covered by storm 
water general permits and their applicable burden for recordkeeping and 
reporting compliance activities. Other aspects of this ICR are 
essentially unchanged (or changed minimally) from the previous ICR.

    Dated: May 12, 2004.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 04-11670 Filed 5-21-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P