[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 98 (Friday, May 22, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24005-24006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-12008]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719, FRL-8909-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Cooling Water Intake Structures at Phase III 
Facilities (Renewal), EPA ICR No. 2169.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0268

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 describes the nature of the information 
collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before June 22, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2008-0719 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 
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: 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 February 25, 2009 (74 FR 8527), EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA did not receive any comments 
during the comment period. 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-2008-0719, 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 ``search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified in this 
document. 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: Cooling Water Intake Structures at Phase III Facilities 
(Renewal).
    ICR Number: EPA ICR No. 2169.04, OMB Control No. 2040-0268.
    ICR Status: This ICR is currently scheduled to expire on May 31, 
2009. 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 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) regulation for Phase III facilities 
requires the collection of information from new offshore oil and gas 
extraction facilities which use a cooling water intake structure(s) 
that uses at least 25 percent of the water it withdraws for cooling 
purposes, and have design intake flows greater than 2 MGD. 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 cooling water intake structure(s) at that facility reflect 
the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental 
impact. 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 contains requirements applicable to the 
location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake 
structures at new offshore oil and gas extraction facilities. These 
requirements seek to establish the best technology available for 
minimizing adverse environmental

[[Page 24006]]

impact associated with the use of cooling water intake structure(s).
    Burden Statement: The annual average reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for the existing collection of information by facilities 
responding to the Section 316(b) Phase III rule is estimated to be 921 
hours per facility respondent (i.e., an annual average of 34,080 hours 
of burden divided among an annual average of 37 facilities). 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 
for the existing ICR, which is only briefly summarized here:
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 37 facilities.
    Frequency of response: Every five years, ongoing.
    Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 
4.2.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 34,080 hours.
    Estimated total annual costs: $2,433,612. This includes an 
estimated labor burden cost of $1,836,559 and an estimated cost of 
$597,053 for capital investment or operations and maintenance.
    Change in the Estimates: This ICR estimates an annual average 
respondent burden of 34,080 hours, which represents a 3-fold increase 
(22,842 hours) in burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. The change in burden results mainly from the 
shift from the approval period to the permit implementation and renewal 
period of the Section 316(b) Phase III rule. Because NPDES permits are 
issued every five years, this ICR covers the last two years of the 
initial permit approval period (i.e., years four and five after 
promulgation) and the first year of the renewal period (i.e., year six 
after promulgation). In this first year of the renewal period 
facilities will be applying for a permit for the first time or re-
applying for permit coverage that was obtained during the three years 
covered by the previous ICR. The activities to renew an NPDES permit 
are assumed to be less burdensome than those for issuing a permit for 
the first time.

    Dated: May 18, 2009.
John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
 [FR Doc. E9-12008 Filed 5-21-09; 8:45 am]
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