[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 194 (Friday, October 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50361-50362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21751]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0241; FRL-9985-18-OW]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; 
Information Collection Request for Contaminant Occurrence Data in 
Support of EPA's Fourth Six-Year Review of National Primary Drinking 
Water Regulations; EPA ICR No. 2574.01, OMB Control No. 2040-NEW

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to 
submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Information 
Collection Request for Contaminant Occurrence Data in Support of the 
EPA's Fourth Six-Year Review of National Primary Drinking Water 
Regulations'' (EPA ICR No. 2574.01, OMB Control No. 2040-NEW), to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA; 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.). Before doing so, the EPA is soliciting public comments on 
specific aspects of the proposed, voluntary information collection as 
described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. This is a request 
for approval of a new collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 4, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2018-0421, 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.
    The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public docket without change, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information 
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kesha Forrest, (202) 564-3632, or 
Nicole Tucker, (202) 564-1946, Office of Ground Water and Drinking 
Water, Standards and Risk Management Division (4607M), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
email address: [email protected] or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents that explain in detail 
the information that the EPA will be collecting are available in the 
public docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at 
www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone 
number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For additional 
information about the EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the EPA is soliciting 
comments and information to enable it to: (i) Evaluate whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (ii) evaluate the accuracy of 
the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of

[[Page 50362]]

the methodology and assumptions used; (iii) enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (iv) 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses. The EPA will consider the comments received 
and amend the ICR as appropriate. The final ICR package will then be 
submitted to OMB for review and approval. At that time, the EPA will 
issue another Federal Register notice to announce the submission of the 
ICR to OMB and the opportunity to submit additional comments to OMB.
    Abstract: The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), as amended in 1996, 
requires that the EPA review existing National Primary Drinking Water 
Regulations (NPDWRs) no less often than every six years. This routine 
evaluation is referred to as the ``Six-Year Review of National Primary 
Drinking Water Regulations'' or simply, the ``Six-Year Review.'' 
Throughout the Six-Year Review process, the EPA reviews and assesses 
new data to determine risks to human health posed by regulated drinking 
water contaminants and identifies NPDWRs which may be appropriate for 
revision.
    The EPA completed and published review results for the first Six-
Year Review cycle (1996-2002) on July 18, 2003 (68 FR 42908). The 
occurrence assessments for the first Six-Year Review were based on 
compliance monitoring from a cross-section of 16 states, collected from 
1993 to 1997, which were voluntarily provided by the states.
    The EPA completed and published review results for the second Six-
Year Review cycle (2003-2009) on March 29, 2010 (75 FR 15500). The 
occurrence assessments conducted for the second Six-Year Review are 
based on data collected between 1998 and 2005, voluntarily submitted by 
states and other drinking water primary enforcement (primacy) agencies 
(i.e., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or an 
eligible Indian tribe).
    The EPA completed and published review results for the third Six-
Year Review cycle (2010-2016) on January 11, 2017 (82 FR 3518). The 
occurrence assessments conducted for the third Six-Year Review are 
based on contaminant occurrence and treatment techniques data collected 
between 2006 and 2011, voluntarily submitted by states and other 
drinking water primacy agencies.
    The EPA created this new ICR to continue to engage states and other 
drinking water primacy agencies in data collection efforts. For this 
ICR, the EPA is soliciting states and other primacy agencies to 
(voluntarily) provide historical compliance monitoring (contaminant 
occurrence) data for community water systems (CWSs) and non-transient 
non-community water systems (NTNCWSs) to the Agency in support of the 
fourth Six-Year Review. The EPA is requesting contaminant occurrence 
and treatment techniques data collected from 2012 to 2018 for all 
regulated chemical, radiological, and microbial contaminants, including 
data collected for the Revised Total Coliform Rule, newly promulgated 
since the third Six-Year Review information collection.
    The compliance monitoring records for this information collection 
(including all results for analytical detections and non-detections) 
provide the data needed to conduct statistical estimates of national 
occurrence for regulated contaminants and evaluate treatment technique 
information associated with the control of pathogens, disinfectants, 
and disinfection byproducts. The national occurrence estimates and 
information on treatment techniques will support the SDWA section 
1412(b)(9) mandate that requires the EPA to review the existing NPDWRs 
and determine whether revisions are appropriate. In addition, SDWA 
section 1445(g) requires the EPA to maintain a national drinking water 
contaminant occurrence database (i.e., the National Contaminant 
Occurrence Database (NCOD)), using occurrence data for both regulated 
and unregulated contaminants in public water systems (PWSs). This data 
collection will provide new occurrence data on regulated contaminants 
to maintain the NCOD.
    It is in the interest of the EPA to minimize the burden on states 
(and other drinking water primacy agencies) by allowing submission of 
data in virtually any electronic format, and to provide states that use 
the Safe Drinking Water Information System State Versions (SDWIS/State) 
with extraction scripts if requested.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: States and other drinking water 
primacy agencies.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: The EPA is issuing this ICR as 
a one-time request for states and other drinking water primacy agencies 
to voluntarily submit historical, compliance monitoring data for the 
fourth Six-Year Review, to meet the SDWA statutory requirements. In 
addition, this data collection will provide new occurrence data on 
regulated contaminants to maintain the NCOD required by the SDWA.
    Estimated number of respondents: 56 (total).
    Frequency of response: One time only.
    Total estimated burden: 765 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 
5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this 
collection of information is estimated to average 13.7 hours per state 
(or other water drinking water primacy agency).
    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, 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.
    Total estimated cost: $43,000 (per year), includes $0 annualized 
capital or operation and maintenance costs.

    Dated: September 28, 2018.
Peter Grevatt,
Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 2018-21751 Filed 10-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P