[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 8 (Monday, January 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1810-1811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00274]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0015; FRL-10003-62-OW]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Clean 
Water Act State Revolving Fund Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to 
submit a request to renew an existing information collection request 
(ICR), ``Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program'' (EPA ICR No. 
1391.11, OMB Control No. 2040-0118) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA). Before doing so, the EPA is soliciting public 
comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as 
described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is 
currently approved through September 30, 2020. 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: Comments must be submitted on or before March 13, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2004-0015, 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: Mark Mylin, Water Infrastructure 
Division, Office of Wastewater Management, 4204M, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: 202-564-0607; 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 EPA's public docket, visit https://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: (1) 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; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of 
the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (4) 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 document to announce 
the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to submit 
additional comments to OMB.
    Abstract: The Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF) were 
established by the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act (CWA) as a 
financial assistance program for a wide-range of wastewater 
infrastructure and other water quality projects. The 1987 amendments 
added Title VI to the CWA, enabling EPA to provide grants to all 50 
states and Puerto Rico to capitalize CWSRFs. The CWSRFs can provide 
loans and other forms of assistance for a wide array of projects, 
including construction of wastewater treatments facilities, green 
infrastructure projects, agricultural best management practices, and 
water and energy efficiency improvements. Eligible borrowers of CWSRF 
funding range from municipalities to nonprofit organizations and other 
private entities. In 2014, Title VI of the CWA was amended by the Water 
Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA). Additional information 
about the CWSRFs is available at https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf/learn-about-clean-water-state-revolving-fund-cwsrf.
    This ICR renews the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Number 
2040-0118 CWSRF ICR and provides updated estimates of the reporting 
burden associated with the information collection activities.
    The individual information collections covered under this ICR are 
briefly described as follows:

Capitalization Grant Agreement/Intended Use Plan

    The Capitalization Grant Agreement is the principal instrument by 
which a CWSRF commits to manage its revolving fund program in 
conformity with the requirements of the CWA. The grant agreement 
contains or incorporates by reference the intended use plan, 
application materials, required certifications, and other documentation 
required by the EPA. The intended use plan describes how a CWSRF 
program intends to use its funds for the upcoming year to meet the 
objectives of the CWA.

Annual Report

    The annual report indicates how the CWSRF has met its goals and 
objectives of the previous state fiscal year as stated in the grant 
agreement and, more specifically, in the intended use plan. The report 
provides information on loan recipients, loan amounts, loan terms, 
project categories of eligible costs, and

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similar data on other forms of assistance.

Annual Audit

    The CWA requires a CWSRF to undergo an annual audit. Though an 
audit conducted under the Single Audit Act meets this requirement, the 
EPA still recommends that a CWSRF also undergo a separate independent 
audit as a best management practice. The audit must contain an opinion 
on the financial condition of the CWSRF program, a report on its 
internal controls, and a report on compliance with applicable laws and 
the CWA.

Clean Water National Information Management System (CWNIMS) and CWSRF 
Benefits Reporting (CBR)

    To meet the CWA objective of ``promoting the efficient use of fund 
resources,'' states must enter financial data, including project 
disbursements, into the CWNIMS database on an annual basis. This 
publicly available information is used by the EPA to assess compliance 
with the CWSRFs' mandate to use all funds in an ``expeditious and 
timely'' manner and achieve the objectives of the CWA. Project level 
data is collected on a quarterly basis using the CBR System to record 
projected environmental results from CWSRF projects.

CWSRF Applications

    The application is developed and used by the CWSRFs to determine 
the project's eligibility, to evaluate the borrower's financial 
capability to repay the CWSRF, and to ensure that the borrower will 
comply with all applicable program requirements. The information 
collected by the CWSRF applications is consistent with requirements set 
forth by the CWA.

Public Awareness Policy

    Per EPA Grants Policy Issuance (GPI) 14-02: Enhancing Public 
Awareness of EPA Assistance Agreements, CWSRF borrowers must publicize 
the EPA's involvement in project funding only up to the funding amount 
in each year's capitalization grant. The CWSRFs have various options to 
meet this requirement.
    Except for the public awareness policy and CWSRF applications, the 
respondents for the information collection activities are the state 
environmental departments and/or finance agencies responsible for 
operating the CWSRFs. The CWSRFs have procedures in place to assist 
borrowers in completing the applications. The public awareness policy 
directly impacts CWSRF borrowers that are designated as recipients of 
federal funds. The burden associated with the public awareness policy 
should not have an impact on small entities since the CWSRFs have 
flexibility in determining which borrowers must comply with this 
requirement.
    Form numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Entities affected by this action are 
state environmental departments and/or finance agencies responsible for 
operating the CWSRFs and eligible CWSRF borrowers.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Required to obtain or retain a 
benefit per Title VI of CWA as amended by WRRDA.
    Estimated number of respondents: 51 state environmental departments 
and/or finance agencies (per year); 1,544 eligible CWSRF borrowers (per 
year).
    Frequency of response: Varies by requirement (i.e., quarterly and 
annually).
    Total estimated burden: 659,390 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $33,199,314 (per year).
    Changes in estimates: There is an increase of 72,004 hours (per 
year) in the total estimated reporting burden compared with the ICR 
currently approved by OMB. This increase is from an upward adjustment 
of the annual number of CWSRF applications expected to occur during 
this collection period. Specifically, the estimated annual number of 
CWSRF applications has been increased from 1,359 to 1,544 in response 
to recent activity.

    Dated: December 20, 2019.
Andrew D. Sawyers,
Director, Office of Wastewater Management.
[FR Doc. 2020-00274 Filed 1-10-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P