[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40575-40576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16117]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2006-0771, FRL-8692-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Coalbed Methane Extraction Sector 
Survey (New), EPA ICR Number 2291.01, OMB Control No. 2040-NEW

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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 for a new 
collection. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of 
the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before August 14, 
2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2006-0771 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, Mail Code 
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: Mr. Carey A. Johnston, Office of 
Science and Technology, Mail Code 4303T, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: (202) 566-1014; fax number: (202) 566-1053; 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 January 25, 2008 (73 FR 4556), EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received comments during the 
comment period from 35 individuals or organizations including industry 
representatives; Federal, State, and Tribal representatives; public 
interest groups and landowners; and water treatment experts. These 
comments are summarized in this notice and addressed in the supporting 
statement for this ICR (see DCN 05763). 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-2006-0771, 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 information about the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Coalbed Methane Extraction Sector Questionnaire (New).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2291.01, OMB Control No. 2040-NEW.
    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 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 Clean Water Act (CWA) directs EPA to develop 
regulations, called effluent guidelines, to limit the amount of 
pollutants that are discharged to surface waters or to sewage treatment 
plants. Coalbed methane (CBM) extraction activities accounted for about 
9.4 percent of the total U.S. natural gas production in 2006 and are 
expanding in multiple basins across the United States. EPA's effluent 
guidelines do not currently regulate pollutant discharges from CBM 
extraction operations.
    CBM extraction requires removal of large amounts of water from 
underground coal seams before CBM can be released. CBM wells have a 
distinctive production cycle characterized by an early stage when large 
amounts of water are produced to reduce reservoir pressure which in 
turn encourages release of gas; a stable stage when quantities of 
produced gas increase as the quantities of produced water decrease; and 
a late stage when the amount of gas produced declines and water 
production remains low. Pollutants often found in these wastewaters 
include chloride, sodium, sulfate, bicarbonate, fluoride, iron, barium, 
magnesium, ammonia, and arsenic.

[[Page 40576]]

    EPA identified the CBM sector as a candidate for a detailed study 
in the final 2006 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (71 FR 76656; 
December 21, 2006) and also identified that it would develop an 
industry questionnaire to support this detailed study and would seek 
OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). EPA is conducting 
this review to determine if it would be appropriate to conduct a 
rulemaking to revise the effluent guidelines for the Oil and Gas 
Extraction Point Source Category (40 CFR part 435) to control 
pollutants discharged in CBM produced water. EPA again announced it 
will conduct an ICR in the preliminary 2008 Plan (72 FR 61343; October 
30, 2007) and sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d) 
(73 FR 4556; January 25, 2008). For each industrial sector, EPA's 
planning process considers four factors: pollutants discharged, current 
and potential pollution prevention and control technology options, 
growth and economic affordability, and implementation and efficiency 
considerations of revising existing effluent guidelines or publishing 
new effluent guidelines. EPA will use this ICR to collect technical and 
economic information from a wide range of CBM operations to address 
these factors. EPA plans to collect information on geographical and 
geologic differences in the characteristics of CBM produced waters, 
environmental data, current regulatory controls, and availability and 
affordability of treatment technology options. See final 2006 Plan (71 
FR 76666). Response to the questionnaire will be mandatory for 
recipients. EPA will administer the questionnaire using its authority 
under Section 308 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1318.
    EPA received 35 public comments from industry, landowners, public 
interest groups, water treatment experts, and Federal agencies in 
response to its notice on January 25, 2008 (73 FR 4556). Industry 
commenters noted that CBM well circumstances (e.g., produced water 
quantity and quality, available and applicable produced waste 
management and control technologies, etc.) are diverse and complex 
geographically and geologically, and that the initial questionnaire did 
not address this complexity and variation. These commenters also 
expressed concerns about the survey burden and about how the Agency 
would use the data. Several industry comments also indicated that there 
is a general lack of availability and documentation of common 
technologies that can be used for CBM produced water. Finally, industry 
representatives asserted that EPA does not need detailed financial data 
and technical information requested in the draft questionnaire to 
determine whether regulations should be developed. Federal agencies 
requested that EPA develop different groupings for survey respondents 
to ensure that the survey adequately captures the heterogeneity of 
different CBM produced waters and industry practices. They also 
suggested additional questions to the survey to better inform EPA's 
decision-making (e.g., specifically collect data to assess the amount 
of open water in acres that could attract migratory aquatic birds). 
Public interest groups indicated that produced water discharges from 
CBM production have had both quality and quantity impacts on surface 
water. They also requested that EPA include questions in the survey to 
assess the costs to communities of not limiting these discharges. EPA 
has a summary of the ICR modifications and comment responses in the 
supporting statement to address these comments (see DCN 05763).
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 
hours for the screener survey response and approximately 80 hours for 
the detailed survey 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: Companies operating wells that 
produce coalbed methane.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 484.
    Frequency of Response: Once For Screener Survey, Once for 
Respondents Selected for Detailed Survey.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 40,017.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $2,140,796, includes $28,415 
annualized capital and O&M costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 40,017 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase is due to the fact that this is a 
new ICR which identifies this industry for a detailed study for EPA's 
effluent guidelines planning program.

    Dated: July 9, 2008.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E8-16117 Filed 7-14-08; 8:45 am]
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