[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 106 (Friday, June 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32604-32606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-11101]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2004-0026; FRL-7920-8]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Baseline Standards and Best 
Management Practices for the Coal Mining Point Source Category--Coal 
Remining Subcategory and Western Alkaline Coal Mining Subcategory 
(Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1944.03, OMB Control Number 2040-0239

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

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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 May 31, 2005. 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 July 5, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2004-
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, 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, Mail Code 4203M, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 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 August 30, 2004 (69 FR 52883), 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-2004-0026, 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 http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
    Title: Baseline Standards and Best Management Practices for the 
Coal Mining Point Source Category--Coal Remining Subcategory and 
Western Alkaline Coal Mining Subcategory (Renewal)
    Abstract: This ICR presents estimates of the burden and costs to 
the regulated community (i.e., coal remining sites and western alkaline 
surface coal mining sites) and NPDES permit control authorities for 
data collection and record keeping associated with modeling, Best 
Management Practice (BMP) implementation, baseline monitoring, and 
performance monitoring requirements of the Coal Mining Point Source--
Coal Remining Subcategory and Western Alkaline Coal Mining Subcategory 
Effluent Limitations Guidelines (40 CFR 434.70 and 434.80).
    Coal remining is the mining of surface mine lands, underground mine 
lands, and coal refuse piles that have been previously mined and 
abandoned. Acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines is a 
significant problem in Appalachia, with approximately 1.1 million acres 
of abandoned coal mine lands and over 9,700 miles of streams polluted 
by acid mine drainage.
    During the remining process, acid forming materials are removed 
with the extraction of the coal, pollution abatement BMPs are 
implemented under applicable regulatory requirements, and the abandoned 
mine land is reclaimed. During remining, many of the problems 
associated with abandoned mine land, such as dangerous highwalls, 
vertical openings, and abandoned coal refuse piles can be corrected 
without using public funds.
    The remining regulations include a requirement that the operator 
implement BMPs to demonstrate the potential to improve water quality. 
The site-specific BMPs will be incorporated into a pollution abatement 
plan. Data collection and record keeping requirements under this 
Subcategory will include baseline determination, annual monitoring and 
reporting for pre-existing discharges and a description of site-
specific BMPs. In most cases, EPA believes that the BMP requirements 
for the pollution abatement plan will be satisfied by an approved SMCRA 
plan.
    Western alkaline coal mines include surface and underground mining 
operations located in the interior western United States. EPA estimates 
that 46 mine sites will be affected by this subcategory, representing 
2% of the total number of U.S. coal mines, but accounting for 1/3 of 
U.S. coal production.
    The subcategory establishes nonnumeric limitations on the amount of 
sediment that can be discharged from coal mine reclamation areas. In 
lieu of numeric standards, the mine operator must develop a site-
specific sediment control plan for surface reclamation areas 
identifying BMP design, construction, and maintenance specifications 
and expected effectiveness. The operator will be required to 
demonstrate, using models accepted by the regulatory authority, that 
implementation of the BMPs will ensure that average annual sediment 
levels in drainage from reclamation areas would not exceed predicted 
natural background levels of sediment discharges at that site. Data 
collection and record keeping requirements under this Subcategory will 
include a description of site-specific sediment control BMPs and 
watershed model results. EPA believes that plans developed to comply 
with SMCRA requirements will usually fulfill the EPA requirements for 
sediment control plans.
    EPA does not expect that any confidential business information or 
trade secrets will be required from coal mining operators as part of 
this ICR. If information submitted in conjunction with this ICR were to 
contain confidential business information, the respondent has the 
authority to request that the information be treated as confidential 
business information. All data so designated will be handled by

[[Page 32606]]

EPA pursuant to 40 CFR part 2. This information will be maintained 
according to procedures outlined in EPA's Security Manual Part III, 
Chapter 9, dated August 9, 1976. Pursuant to section 308(b) of the CWA, 
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 21 
hours per response for the coal remining sites and 405 hours annually 
for the ten state NPDES permitting authorities. No additional burden is 
projected for the 46 western alkaline coal mining sites. 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: Entities potentially affected by 
this action are coal remining sites with pre-existing discharges; 
western alkaline coal mining sites with sediment control; and NPDES 
permit control authorities.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 88.
    Frequency of Response: varies (generally ranging between monthly 
and annually).
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 5,685.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $340,000, includes $0 annualized 
capital or O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is decrease in burden hours and 
responses currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR 
Burdens due to an adjustment. The previous ICR had mistakenly used 3-
year burden hours to calculate associated costs, this renewal ICR 
corrects this error and reports the annual burden estimates.

    Dated: May 18, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-11101 Filed 6-2-05; 8:45 am]
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