[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44628-44629]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15327]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2003-0018; FRL-7947-6]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Continuing Collection; 
Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Water 
Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 0988.09, OMB 
Control Number 2040-0049

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 for the Water Quality Standards Regulation. This 
ICR is scheduled to expire on August 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.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before September 2, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2003-
0018, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email 
to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Water Docket (4301T), 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: Fred Leutner, Standards and Health 
Protection Division, Office of Science and Technology, Mail Code 4305T, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0400; fax number: 
(202) 566-0409; email 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 March 22, 2005 (70 FR 14462), 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-2003-0018, 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 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

[[Page 44629]]

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: Water Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal).
    Abstract: 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 governs national 
implementation of the water quality standards program. The Regulation 
consists of 40 CFR part 131, and portions of part 132 related to water 
quality standards, including 40 CFR 132.3, Appendix A, Appendix E, and 
Procedures 1 and 2 of Appendix F. 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:

--Results of each jurisdiction's triennial review of its water quality 
standards (40 CFR 131.6 and 131.20), including any new or revised water 
quality standards that are adopted, and required supporting 
information. Water quality standards include use designations for 
specific water bodies; water quality criteria sufficient to protect the 
designated uses; and an antidegradation policy. The regulation requires 
that certain information be made available for public review as well.
--Information that an Indian Tribe must submit to EPA in order to 
determine whether a Tribe is qualified to 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 required by 40 CFR part 132 from dischargers to waters of 
the Great Lakes system, including bioassay tests initiated by 
dischargers to support development of water quality criteria; studies 
and demonstrations required by the antidegradation policy for the Great 
Lakes System; and analyses to request variances from water quality 
standards. 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 are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 988 
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 certain Tribal 
governments, and water dischargers subject to certain requirements 
related to water quality standards in the Great Lakes system.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,796 (56 States and Territories, 
30 Tribes, 516 major industrial and POTW dischargers, and 2,194 minor 
dischargers).
    Frequency of Response: At least once every three years for water 
quality standards reviews and submissions. Once per occasion for Tribal 
applications to administer water quality standards; dispute resolution 
requests; and Great Lakes bioassay testing, variance requests, and 
antidegradation demonstrations.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 260,714.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $12,063,453 , including $0 for Capital 
Expense, $0 for O&M, and $12,063,453 for Respondent Labor costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 21,938 hours over 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase is due to adjustments in the number 
of tribes receiving approval to administer water programs, even though 
there was a small reduction in some of the Great Lakes activities.

    Dated: July 25, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-15327 Filed 8-2-05; 8:45 am]
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