[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 26, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61809-61810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21370]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OW-2002-0011, FRL-7988-7]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Laboratory Quality Assurance 
Evaluation Program for Analysis of Cryptosporidium Under the Safe 
Drinking Water Act, EPA ICR Number 2067.03, OMB Control Number 2040-
0246

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 on October 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 November 25, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2002-
0012, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Conley, Office of Groundwater and 
Drinking Water, (Mail Code 4607M), Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 
202-564-1781; fax number: 202-564-3767; e-mail address: 
[email protected]. For technical inquiries, contact Carrie Moulton, 
EPA, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Technical Support 
Center, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive (MS-140), Cincinnati, Ohio 
45268; fax number: (513) 569-7191; 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 June 3, 2005 (70 FR 32607), EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA has addressed the comments received.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. OW-2002-0012, 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

[[Page 61810]]

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: Laboratory Quality Assurance Evaluation Program for Analysis 
of Cryptosporidium under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
    Abstract: Under the Laboratory Quality Assurance Evaluation 
Program, EPA evaluates labs on a case-by-case basis through evaluating 
their capacity and competency to reliably measure for the occurrence of 
Cryptosporidium in surface water using EPA Method 1622 or EPA Method 
1623. To obtain approval under the program, the laboratory must submit 
an application package and provide: a demonstration of availability of 
qualified personnel and appropriate instrumentation, equipment and 
supplies; a detailed laboratory standard operating procedure for each 
version of the method that the laboratory will use to conduct the 
Cryptosporidium analyses; a current copy of the table of contents of 
their laboratory's quality assurance plan for protozoa analyses; and an 
initial demonstration of capability data for EPA Method 1622 or EPA 
Method 1623, which include precision and recovery test results and 
matrix spike/matrix spike duplicate test results for Cryptosporidium.
    After the laboratory submits to EPA an application package 
including supporting documentation, EPA and the laboratory conduct the 
following steps to complete the process:
    1. EPA contacts the laboratory for follow-up information and to 
schedule participation in the performance testing program.
    2. EPA sends initial proficiency testing samples to the laboratory 
(unless the laboratory has already successfully analyzed such samples 
under EPA's Protozoan PE program). These sample packets consist of 
eight spiked samples shipped to the laboratory within a standard 
matrix.
    3. The laboratory analyzes initial proficiency testing samples and 
submits data to EPA.
    4. EPA conducts an on-site evaluation and data audit.
    5. The laboratory analyzes ongoing proficiency testing samples 
three times per year and submits the data to EPA. These sample packets 
consist of three spiked samples shipped to the laboratory within a 
standard matrix.
    6. EPA contacts laboratories by letter within 60 days of their 
laboratory on-site evaluation to confirm whether the laboratory has 
demonstrated its capacity and competency for participation in the 
program.
    The procedure for obtaining an application package, the criteria 
for demonstrating capacity and competency, and other guidance to 
laboratories that are interested in participating in the program, are 
provided at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lt2/cla_final.html.
    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 19 
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: Public and private water testing 
laboratories.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 22.
    Frequency of Response: Three times per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 3,980.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $275,000, includes $109,000 annualized 
capital or O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 367 hours in the 
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is just an adjustment to the 
estimate.

    Dated: October 18, 2005.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Acting Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-21370 Filed 10-25-05; 8:45 am]
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