[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 247 (Friday, December 23, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80363-80364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32953]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719, FRL 9508-8]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Cooling Water Intake Structures 
New Facility (Renewal)

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 January 23, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2008-0719, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method), by email to [email protected] (Identify Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2008-0719 in the subject line), or by mail to: Water Docket, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 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; fax number: (202) 564 9544; email 
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 August 25, 2011 (76 FR 53123), 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-2008-0719, which is available for online viewing at

[[Page 80364]]

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 
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 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 www.regulations.gov.
    Title: Cooling Water Intake Structures New Facility (Renewal).
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1973.05, OMB Control No. 2040-0241.
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on 12/31/2011. 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 CWIS and meet 
the other eligibility requirements. Section 316(b) of the 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 record keeping 
burden is estimated to be 1,620 hours per respondent for permitted 
facilities and 154 hours per respondent for States. 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.
    Affected entities: New NPDES-permitted facilities that use a 
cooling water intake structure (CWIS), mostly power producing 
facilities and manufacturing facilities.
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 86 facilities and 
47 States and Territories.
    Frequency of response: Annual, every 5 years.
    Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 
5.8 for facilities (467 annual average responses for 81 average 
facility respondents) and 8.9 for States and Territories (420 annual 
average responses for 47 average State respondents).
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 138,421 (131,188 for 
facilities and 7,233 for States and Territories).
    Estimated total annual costs: $10.6 million per year. This includes 
an estimated burden cost of $8.1 and an estimated cost of $2.5 for 
capital investment or maintenance and operational costs.
    Change in Burden: There is an increase of 20,212 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 previous 
ICR approval periods. In addition, this ICR includes additional 
repermitting burden and costs because more facilities are entering the 
renewal phase of their permits.

    Dated: December 16, 2011.
John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2011-32953 Filed 12-22-11; 8:45 am]
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