[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 225 (Tuesday, November 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61347-61348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-28145]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0089; FRL-8984-4]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Unregulated Contaminant 
Monitoring in Public Water Systems (Renewal); EPA ICR No. 2192.03, OMB 
Control No. 2040-0270

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 to renew an 
existing approved 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 December 24, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2009-0089 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, United 
States Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0089, 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: Brenda D. Parris, Technical Support 
Center, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, 26 West Martin Luther 
King Drive (MS 140), Cincinnati, OH 45268, telephone (513) 569-7961; e-
mail address [email protected]. For general information, contact 
the Safe Drinking Water Hotline. Callers within the United States may 
reach the Hotline at (800) 426-4791. The Hotline is open Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time.

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 9, 2009, (74 FR 27312) EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no 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-2009-0089, which is available for online viewing at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Water Docket, 
EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The 
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.
    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: Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring in Public Water Systems 
(Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2192.03, OMB Control No. 2040-0270.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2009. 
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 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), as amended in 1996, 
directs EPA to establish criteria for a program to monitor not more 
than 30 unregulated contaminants every five years. EPA published the 
first group of contaminants in the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring 
Regulation (i.e., UCMR 1), which established a revised approach for 
UCMR implementation, in the Federal Register dated September 17, 1999, 
(64 FR 50556). EPA published the second group of contaminants in UCMR 
2, in the Federal Register dated January 4, 2007, (72 FR 367). This 
regulation met the SDWA requirement by identifying 25 new priority 
contaminants to be monitored during the UCMR 2 cycle of 2007-2011.
    Under UCMR 2, Assessment Monitoring uses more common analytical 
method technologies used by drinking water laboratories. All public

[[Page 61348]]

water systems (PWSs) serving more than 10,000 people, and 800 
representative PWSs serving fewer than 10,001 people are required to 
monitor for the 10 ``List 1'' contaminants during a 12-month period 
between January 2008-December 2010. Screening Survey monitoring uses 
more specialized analytical method technologies not as widely used by 
drinking water laboratories. All PWSs serving more than 100,000 people, 
320 representative PWSs serving 10,001-100,000 people, and 480 
representative PWSs serving fewer than 10,001 people are required to 
monitor for the 15 ``List 2'' contaminants during a 12-month period 
between January 2008-December 2010.
    This notice proposes renewal of the currently approved UCMR 2 ICR 
(OMB Control No. 2040-0270), which covers the period of 2007-2009. This 
ICR renewal accounts for activities over a three-year period (2010-
2012), as is customary. Note that the complete five-year UCMR 2 cycle 
of 2007-2011 overlaps with the applicable ICR renewal period only 
during 2010 and 2011. Public water systems will only be involved in 
active monitoring during 2010 (i.e., one-third of this ICR period), 
with reporting continuing into 2011 for some.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5.8 
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: Public water systems.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,694 (1,638 PWSs and 56 State 
primacy agencies).
    Frequency of Response: On Occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 9,761.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $3,250,616 includes an estimated labor 
cost of $387,096 and $2,863,520 for capital and operation & maintenance 
costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is decrease of 30,625 hours in the 
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is due to the fact that the 
complete five-year UCMR 2 cycle of 2007-2011 overlaps with the 
applicable ICR renewal period only during 2010 and 2011. In this time, 
there will be fewer PWSs participating and the schedule of activities 
will have changed.

    Dated: November 16, 2009.
John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E9-28145 Filed 11-23-09; 8:45 am]
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