[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14779-14780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6007]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0443; FRL 9513-3]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Comment Request; Public Water System Supervision 
Program (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 April 12, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2011-0443, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method), by email to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket 
Center, Environmental Protection Agency, 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: Matthew Reed, Drinking Water 
Protection Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, 
(4606M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-4719; 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 July 5, 2011 (76 FR 39092), EPA sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments during the 
comment period. Any 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-2011-0443, which is available for online viewing at 
www.regulations.gov, or in person

[[Page 14780]]

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: Public Water System Supervision Program (Renewal)
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 0270.45, OMB Control No. 2040-0090
    ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2012. 
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 Code of Federal Regulations, 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 Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program 
Renewal ICR examines public water system, primacy agency, EPA, and 
tribal operator certification provider burden and costs for ``cross-
cutting'' recordkeeping and reporting requirements (i.e., the burden 
and costs for complying with drinking water information requirements 
that are not associated with contaminant-specific rulemakings). These 
activities which have record keeping and reporting requirements that 
are mandatory for compliance with 40 CFR parts 141 and 142 include the 
following: Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs), Primacy Regulation 
Activities, Variance and Exemption Rule (V/E Rule), General State 
Primacy Activities, Public Notification (PN) and Proficiency Testing 
(PT) Studies for Drinking Water Laboratories. The information 
collection activities for both the Operator Certification/Expense 
Reimbursement Grant Program and the Capacity Development Program are 
driven by the grant withholding and reporting provisions under Sec.  
1419 and Sec.  1420, respectively, of the Safe Drinking Water Act. 
Although the Tribal Operator Certification Program is voluntary, the 
information collection is driven by grant eligibility requirements 
outlined in the Drinking Water Infrastructure Grant Tribal Set-Aside 
Program Final Guidelines and the Tribal Drinking Water Operator 
Certification Program Guidelines.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 4.06 
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: Owners/operators of public water 
systems who must report to the primacy agency. Primacy agencies, which 
include States, Tribes (if they have been authorized to act as primacy 
agencies), and EPA Regions that act as primacy agencies in Indian 
country and States that do not have primacy. Laboratories conducting PT 
to achieve state certification, which permits them to analyze samples 
for compliance with National Primary Drinking Water Regulations 
(NPDWRs). (PT vendors are not considered respondents because they are 
paid for their incurred burden and costs via the prices that 
laboratories pay for the PT standards.)
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 154,938.
    Frequency of Response: Varies by requirement (i.e., on occasion, 
monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, biennially, and every 3, 
6, and 9 years).
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 4,113,408.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $187,647,000, which includes 
$40,019,000 in capital and operating & maintenance (O&M) costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 199,864 hours in 
the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burdens. This increase is due primarily to consultations 
with respondents which yielded more accurate estimates of the burden 
for various activities. These were partially offset by burden decreases 
from a smaller respondent universe and reduced reporting due to a new 
enforcement tracking system and the discontinuation of a grant program.

John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2012-6007 Filed 3-12-12; 8:45 am]
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