[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14462-14463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5613]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2003-0018, FRL-7887-5]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Continuing Collection; 
Comment Request; Water Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal), EPA ICR 
Number 0988.09, OMB Control Number 2040-0049

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 EPA is planning to submit a 
continuing Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request to renew an existing 
approved collection for the Water Quality Standards Regulation. This 
ICR is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2005. Before submitting the 
ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on 
specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described 
below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 23, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0018, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to 
[email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Office of Water (4101T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederick D. Leutner, Office of Water 
(4305T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0400; fax number: 
(202) 566-0409; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this 
ICR under Docket ID number OW-2003-0018, 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 obtain a copy of the draft 
collection of information, 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 within 
60 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 http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
all States and certain authorized Indian tribes that adopt water 
quality standards under the Clean Water Act; and water dischargers 
subject to certain requirements related to water quality standards in 
the Great Lakes system, including dischargers in the following SIC 
categories: Mining (SIC codes 10, 14); Food (20); Pulp and Paper (26); 
Inorganic Chemical Manufacturing (281); Organic Chemical Manufacturing 
(28); Petroleum Refining (29); Metal Manufacturing (33), Metal 
Finishing (34-37); Steam Electric (4911), and Publically Owned 
Treatment Works (4952). For the purposes of the Regulation, the term 
``State'' means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
    Title: Water Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal).
    Abstract: Water quality standards are provisions of State, Tribal, 
and Federal law that consist of designated uses for waters of the 
United States, water quality criteria to protect the designated uses, 
and an antidegradation policy. Section 303(c) of the Clean Water Act 
requires States and authorized Tribes to establish water quality 
standards, and to review and, if appropriate, revise their water 
quality standards once every three years. The Act also requires EPA to 
review and either approve or disapprove the new or revised standards, 
and to promulgate replacement Federal standards if necessary. Section 
118(c)(2) of the Act specifies additional water quality standards 
requirements for waters of the Great Lakes system.
    The Water Quality Standards Regulation (40 CFR part 131 and 
portions of part 132) governs national implementation of the water 
quality standards program. The Regulation describes requirements and 
procedures for States and authorized Tribes to develop, review, and 
revise their water quality standards, and EPA procedures for reviewing 
and approving the water quality standards. The regulation requires the 
development and submission of information to EPA, including:

--The minimum elements in water quality standards that each State or 
Tribe must submit to EPA for review, including any new or revised water 
quality standards resulting from the jurisdiction's triennial review 
(40 CFR 131.6 and 131.20). The elements include use designations for 
specific water bodies; methods used and analyses conducted to support 
water quality standards revisions; supporting analysis for use 
attainability analyses; water quality criteria sufficient to protect 
the designated uses; methodologies for site-specific criteria 
development; an antidegradation policy; certification by the 
jurisdiction's Attorney General or other appropriate legal authority 
that the water quality standards were duly adopted pursuant to State or 
Tribal law; information that will aid EPA in determining the adequacy 
of the scientific basis for the standards; and information on general 
policies that may affect the implementation of the standards.
--Information that an Indian Tribe must submit to EPA in order to 
determine whether a Tribe is qualified to

[[Page 14463]]

administer the water quality standards program (40 CFR 131.8).
--Information a State or Tribe must submit if it chooses to exercise a 
dispute resolution mechanism for disputes between States and Tribes 
over water quality standards on common water bodies (40 CFR 131.7).
--Information related to public participation requirements during State 
and Tribal review and revision of water quality standards (40 CFR 
131.20). States and Tribes must hold public hearings as part of their 
triennial reviews, and make any proposed standards and supporting 
analyses available to the public before the hearing.

    The Regulation establishes specific additional requirements for 
water quality standards and their implementation in the waters of the 
Great Lakes system, contained in the Water Quality Guidance for the 
Great Lakes System (40 CFR part 132). This portion of the Regulation 
includes the following requirements for information collection: 
bioassay tests to support the development of water quality criteria; 
studies to identify and provide information on antidegradation control 
measures that will guard against the reduction of water quality in the 
Great Lakes system; and information collection and record keeping 
activities associated with analyses and reporting to request regulatory 
relief from Guidance requirements. The Guidance includes additional 
information collections that are addressed in separate Information 
Collection Requests for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination 
System program.
    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.
    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, including through 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.
    Burden Statement: The public reporting and recordkeeping burden for 
this collection of information is estimated to average 856 hours per 
response annually. 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 10, 2005.
Mary T. Smith,
Acting Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 05-5613 Filed 3-21-05; 8:45 am]
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