[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36071-36072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-14417]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0027, FRL-8685-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Cooling Water Intake Structures New Facility Rule 
(Renewal); EPA ICR No. 1973.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0241

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 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 June 30, 2008. 
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.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before July 25, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2004-0027, to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA 
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Docket, Mailcode: 
28221T, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amelia Letnes, State and Regional 
Branch, Water Permits Division, OWM Mail Code: 4203M, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (202) 564-5627; 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 28, 2008 (73 FR 16,669), EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. 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-2004-0027, 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), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC 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.
    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 (CBI), or other 
information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For 
further

[[Page 36072]]

information about the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Cooling Water Intake Structures New Facility Rule (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR Number: 1973.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0241.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2008. 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: The section 316(b) New Facility Rule requires the 
collection of information from new facilities that use a Cooling Water 
Intake Structure (CWIS). Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) 
requires that any standard established under section 301 or 306 of the 
CWA and applicable to a point source must require that the location, 
design, construction and capacity of CWISs at that facility reflect the 
best technology available (BTA) for minimizing adverse environmental 
impact. (See 66 FR 65256.) Such impact occurs as a result of 
impingement (where fish and other aquatic life are trapped on 
technologies at the entrance to cooling water intake structures) and 
entrainment (where aquatic organisms, eggs, and larvae are taken into 
the cooling system, passed through the heat exchanger, and then pumped 
back out with the discharge from the facility). The rule establishes 
standard requirements applicable to the location, design, construction, 
and capacity of cooling water intake structures at new facilities. 
These requirements seek to minimize the adverse environmental impact 
associated with the use of CWISs.
    Burden Statement: The annual average reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for the collection of information by facilities responding to 
the section 316(b) New Facility Rule is estimated to be 1,885 hours per 
respondent (i.e., an annual average of 113,084 hours of burden divided 
among an anticipated annual average of 60 facilities). The Director 
reporting and recordkeeping burden for the review, oversight, and 
administration of the rule is estimated to average 111 hours per 
respondent (i.e., an annual average of 5,125 hours of burden divided 
among an anticipated 46 States on average per year). 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.
    The ICR provides a detailed explanation of the Agency's estimate, 
which is only briefly summarized here:
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 60 facilities and 
46 States and Territories.
    Frequency of response: Annual, every 5 years.
    Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 
5.3 for facilities and 6.1 for States and Territories.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 118,209 (113,084 for 
facilities and 5,125 for States and Territories).
    Estimated total annual costs: $8.5 million per year. This includes 
an estimated burden cost of $6.7 million and an estimated cost of 
approximately $1.8 million for capital investment or maintenance and 
operational costs.
    Changes in the estimates: There is an increase of 41,941 hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden compared with that identified in 
the ICR currently approved by OMB. This increase is due to the addition 
of the newly built facilities, as well as the continued performance of 
annual activities by facilities that received their permit during the 
first ICR approval period. In addition, this ICR includes additional 
repermitting burdens and costs which were not in the first renewal ICR 
because not all of the new facilities required repermitting during the 
first renewal ICR.

    Dated: June 19, 2008.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
 [FR Doc. E8-14417 Filed 6-24-08; 8:45 am]
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