[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 197 (Thursday, October 11, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51457-51458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22095]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0465; FRL-9984-51-OEI]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Water Quality Standards Regulation (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Water Quality Standards 
Regulation (EPA ICR Number 0988.13, OMB Control Number 2040-0049), to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This extension of the 
Water Quality Standards Regulation ICR (approved through June 30, 2019) 
also consolidates the burden and costs from two related ICRs: The Water 
Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions ICR (OMB Control Number 2040-
0286, currently approved through December 31, 2018), and the Revised 
Interpretation of Clean Water Act Tribal Provision ICR (OMB Control 
Number 2040-0289, currently approved through July 31, 2019). Public 
comments on this ICR renewal and consolidation were requested via the 
Federal Register on June 15, 2018 during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller 
description of this ICR is given below, including its estimated burden 
and cost to the public. 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.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before November 13, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OW-2011-0465, 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 via email to 
[email protected]. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer for 
EPA.
    The EPA 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: Tanyan Bailey, Office of Water, Office 
of Science and Technology, Standards and Health Protection Division, 
(4305T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-3133; fax number: 202-
566-0409; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents, which 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 public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Abstract: Water quality standards (WQS) are provisions of state, 
tribal, or federal law which consist of designated uses for waters of 
the United States, water quality criteria to protect those uses, and 
antidegradation requirements. WQS are established to protect public 
health or welfare, protect and enhance the quality of water, and serve 
the purposes of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Such standards serve the 
dual purposes of establishing the water quality goals for water bodies 
and serving as a regulatory basis for establishing water quality-based 
treatment controls and strategies beyond technology-based treatment 
required by CWA sections 301 and 306. The WQS regulation establishes 
the framework for states and authorized tribes to adopt standards, and 
for the EPA to review and approve or disapprove them. For the purposes 
of this ICR, the WQS regulation (or ``regulation'') consists of 40 CFR 
part 131 (Water Quality Standards), and the portions of 40 CFR part 132 
(Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System) that are related to 
WQS. This ICR is for information collections needed to implement the 
WQS regulation, required to obtain or retain benefits (e.g., relaxed 
regulatory requirements) under the regulation, and to collect voluntary 
program information useful in administering WQS programs effectively 
and efficiently.
    This ICR renews the WQS Regulation ICR, OMB Control Number 2040-
0049, and consolidates the burden and costs associated with activities 
previously reported in the following two related ICRs: the WQS 
Regulatory Revisions ICR (OMB Control Number 2040-0286) and the Revised 
Interpretation of Clean Water Act Tribal Provision ICR (OMB Control 
Number 2040-0289) so that all WQS-related burden is covered by one ICR. 
Upon OMB approval, the remaining ICRs will be discontinued.
    This ICR renewal and consolidation describes the estimated burden 
for states, authorized tribes and certain Great Lakes dischargers 
associated with the information collections related to: Implementation 
of the requirements of 40 CFR part 131 (WQS); implementation of the WQS 
portions of the 40 CFR part 132 (Water Quality Guidance for the Great 
Lakes System); tribal applications to be treated in a similar manner as 
a state (TAS) under CWA section 518(e);

[[Page 51458]]

and state or tribal requests for dispute resolution under CWA section 
518(e). This ICR also covers periodic requests to states and tribes for 
voluntary WQS information, and for voluntary participation in 
workgroups, to ensure efficient and effective administration of the WQS 
program and further cooperative federalism.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: States, the District of Columbia, 
territories, authorized tribes with EPA approved Water Quality 
Standards, tribal estimated to apply for TAS to administer the WQS 
program; and dischargers located in the Great Lakes watershed.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory, required to obtain 
or retain benefits pursuant to the WQS regulation or voluntary.
    Estimated number of respondents: 376.
    Frequency of response: Once every three years; on occasion; once.
    Total estimated burden: 505,387 hours per year. Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $23,017,849 per year, including $22,754,329 
of labor costs and $263,520 of annualized operation and maintenance 
costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 235,640 hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden compared with the total burden 
currently approved by OMB for all three ICRs. This is due to 
adjustments made to the EPA burden estimates based on experience gained 
since the previous ICRs were approved (e.g., using more realistic 
estimates of the number of WQS variance actions to be submitted 
annually).

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2018-22095 Filed 10-10-18; 8:45 am]
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