[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 212 (Thursday, November 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64519-64520]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18494]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2005-0019; FRL-8238-8]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Contaminant Occurrence Data in 
Support of EPA's Second Six-Year Review of National Primary Drinking 
Water Regulations; EPA ICR Number 2231.01

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 the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request for a new 
collection. The ICR, abstracted in this action, describes the nature of 
the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before December 4, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2005-0019, to: (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method); 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 by mail to: Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.


    Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding 
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing 
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary 
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of 
operation for people who wish to make hand deliveries or visit the 
Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal 
Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current 
information on docket operations, locations and telephone numbers. 
The Docket Center's mailing address for U.S. mail and the procedure 
for submitting comments to http://www.regulations.gov are not 
affected by the flooding and will remain the same.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Lassovszky, Office of Ground 
Water and Drinking Water, Standards and Risk Management Division, Mail 
Code 4607M, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-4882; fax 
number: (202) 564-3760; 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 5, 2006 (71 FR 32340), EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received one public comment during the 
comment period, which is addressed in the ICR. Any additional comments 
on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this 
notice.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2005-0019, which is available for online viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov or in person viewing at the Water Docket in 
the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC); see ``Note'' for Docket Center access, 
highlighted in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at http://www.regulations.gov to submit or view public comments, access the index 
listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those documents in 
the docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, 
select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified 
above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public comments, whether 
submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public 
viewing at http://www.regulations.gov as EPA receives them and without 
change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, Confidential 
Business Information, or other information whose public disclosure is 
restricted by statute. For further information about the electronic 
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Contaminant Occurrence Data in Support of EPA's Second Six-
Year Review of National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2231.01.
    ICR Status: This ICR is for a new information collection activity. 
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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when 
approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are displayed either by 
publication in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, such 
as on the related collection instrument or form, if applicable. The 
display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA regulations is 
consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
    Abstract: The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), as amended in 1996, 
requires that the U.S. EPA review existing national primary drinking 
water regulations (NPDWRs) no less often than every six years. This 
cyclical evaluation is referred to as the ``Six-Year Review of National 
Primary Drinking Water Regulations'' or, simply, the ``Six-Year 
Review.'' Through the Six-Year Review process, EPA reviews and assesses 
risks to human health posed by regulated drinking water contaminants. 
For the first Six-Year Review cycle (1996-2002), EPA reviewed 68 
chemical NPDWRs and the Total Coliform Rule (TCR), which were 
promulgated prior to the 1996 Amendments. The occurrence assessments 
conducted for the first Six-Year Review were based on compliance 
monitoring data from 1993 to 1997, which were provided by States. EPA 
published the results of this review in the July 18, 2003, edition of 
the Federal Register (68 FR 42907).
    To support future Six-Year Reviews, EPA's Office of Water is 
requesting that States submit, on a voluntary basis, historical 
compliance monitoring (contaminant occurrence) data for community water 
systems (CWSs) and non-transient non-community water systems (NTNCWSs). 
EPA is requesting contaminant occurrence data from 1998 to 2005 for all 
regulated chemical and radiological contaminants, as well as data from 
the TCR. EPA anticipates that the compliance monitoring records from 
this information collection (including all results for analytical 
detections and non-detections) will provide the data needed to conduct 
statistical estimates of national occurrence for each regulated 
contaminant. These national

[[Page 64520]]

occurrence estimates will be used to support EPA's review of existing 
regulations, and the Agency's decision on whether any revisions are 
needed. In addition, the 1996 SDWA section 1445(g) requires the Agency 
to maintain a national drinking water contaminant occurrence database 
(i.e., the National Contaminant Occurrence Data (NCOD)) using 
occurrence data for both regulated and unregulated contaminants in 
public water systems (PWSs). This data collection will provide new 
occurrence data on regulated contaminants to maintain the NCOD.
    Following the first public notice of this proposed data collection 
rule on June 5, 2006 (71 FR 32340), EPA received one public comment. 
The commenter expressed concerns that EPA should (1) make every effort 
to minimize the effort it takes States to share these data; (2) not use 
the data in an enforcement context; and (3) not make future collections 
mandatory. EPA agrees with the commenter that the Agency should aim to 
minimize burden on the States and plans to do so by allowing submission 
of data in virtually any electronic format, and providing States that 
use the Safe Drinking Water Information System State Version (SDWIS/
State) with extraction scripts if States agree with this method of data 
transfer. In addition, EPA plans not to use the data for occurrence 
assessments for enforcement actions. Finally, EPA plans to conduct this 
data collection as a voluntary effort. Any possible future changes 
regarding the collection of drinking water contaminant occurrence data 
will be handled through a separate public comment process. The 
commenter did not suggest that EPA make changes to the data collection 
format or to the cost and burden estimates.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 12.2 
hours per State. 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 which have subsequently changed; 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 drinking water primacy 
agencies.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 56.
    Frequency of Response: One time only.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 681.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $30,608, which includes $0 annualized 
capital or O&M costs.

    Dated: October 26, 2006.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E6-18494 Filed 11-1-06; 8:45 am]
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