[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67348-67349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19637]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2002-0064; FRL-8244-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) Modification and Variance Requests. EPA ICR 
Number: 0029.09. OMB Control Number: 2040-0068

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 November 30, 
2006. 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 December 21, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OW-2002-0064, to (1) EPA online using FDMS (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: Lynn Stabenfeldt, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: 202.564.0602; fax number: 202.501.2399; 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 March 7, 2006 (71 FR 11407-11411), EPA sought comments on 
this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments on the 
draft ICR.

[[Page 67349]]

    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2002-0064, which is available for public viewing at the 
Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 
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 the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at http://www.regulations.gov. Use FDMS 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 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 FDMS 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 FDMS. 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 
FDMS.
    Title: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 
Modification and Variance Requests.
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 0029.09, OMB Control No. 2040-0068.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30th, 2006. 
Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor 
the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. 
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, 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: This ICR calculates the burden and costs associated with 
modifications and variances made to NPDES permits and to the National 
Sewage Sludge Management Program permit requirements. The regulations 
specified at 40 CFR 122.62 and 122.63 specify information a facility 
must report in order for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
to determine whether a permit modification is warranted. A NPDES permit 
applicant may request a variance from the conditions that would 
normally be imposed on the applicant's discharge. An applicant must 
submit information so the permitting authority can assess whether the 
facility is eligible for a variance, and what deviation from Clean 
Water Act (CWA) provisions is necessary. In general, EPA and authorized 
States use the information to determine whether: (1) The conditions or 
requirements that would warrant a modification or variance exist, and 
2) the progress toward achieving the goals of the (CWA) will continue 
if the modification or variance is granted. Other uses for the 
information provided include: Updating records on permitted facilities, 
supporting enforcement actions, and overall program management, 
including policy and budget development and responding to Congressional 
inquiries.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 11.9 
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 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: NPDES permit applicants that request 
a variance or modification of the NPDES or sewage sludge management 
conditions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 11,785.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 280,224 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $10,423,930, which includes $0 capital 
or O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: The estimated decrease in burden is 
23,773 hours compared to the total estimated burden hours currently 
identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This change is 
primarily the result of (1) Changes and adjustments in the number and 
types of permits administered by the states and EPA under the NPDES 
program. Non-NPDES authorized states continue to apply for NPDES 
program authorization. (2) EPA's continuous effort to improve the 
quality of data in its PCS database. This change may reflect more 
accurate data rather than a significant change in the number of permits 
actually administered. (3) EPA does not anticipate Variance Requests 
for Fundamentally Different Factors.

    Dated: November 9, 2006.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E6-19637 Filed 11-20-06; 8:45 am]
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