[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 84 (Thursday, April 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23959-23960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09220]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2020-0193; FRL-10008-67-OW]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; 
Effluent Limitation Guidelines Dental Category (Renewal)

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 Effluent Limitation Guidelines for the Dental 
Category (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 2514.03, OMB Control No. 2040-0287) 
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. This is a proposed extension of the ICR which 
is currently approved through November 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 June 29, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2020-0193, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2020-0193 in the subject line of the message.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the ``How do I submit 
written comments?'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 
this document. Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public 
and our staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room was closed to 
public visitors on March 31, 2020, to reduce the risk of transmitting 
COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote 
customer service via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public 
to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov or email, as there 
is a temporary suspension of mail delivery to the EPA, and no hand 
deliveries are currently accepted. For further information on the EPA 
Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us online 
at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marvin Tubbs, National Program Branch, 
Water Permits Division, OWM Mail Code: 4203M, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: (202) 564-2996; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. How do I submit written comments?

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2020-
0193, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the 
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The EPA may 
publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be

[[Page 23960]]

accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the 
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish 
to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment 
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, 
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission 
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Reading 
Room for public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. 
Written comments submitted by mail are temporarily suspended and no 
hand deliveries will be accepted. Our Docket Center staff will continue 
to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. We 
encourage the public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov. For further information and updates on the EPA 
Docket Center services, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information 
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area 
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond 
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.

II. Executive Summary

    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 https://www.regulations.gov. 
The telephone number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For 
additional information about the 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: (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 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: This ICR calculates the burden and costs associated with 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements of the Effluent Limitations 
Guidelines (ELG) Dental Category. For purposes of this estimate, the 
EPA assumed all existing dentists affected by the original rulemaking 
would have complied with the One-Time Compliance Reporting by the time 
of this ICR renewal. This estimate includes the effort for One-Time 
Compliance Reporting for new dental offices which open during the ICR 
period and those which transfer ownership and conduct annual 
recordkeeping. This estimate is based on average total compensation 
labor rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the dental office 
personnel involved in collecting and reporting the information 
required. This estimate also includes the effort for control 
authorities to review the information submitted by dentists that 
certify they meet the requirements of the final rule. The EPA estimates 
that there would be no start-up or capital costs associated with the 
information described above. Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320(b). This 
ICR is a revision of the ``Information Collection Request for Effluent 
Limitation Guidelines for the Dental Category (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 
2514.03, OMB Control No. 2040-0287) that estimated the burden and costs 
associated with reporting and record-keeping activities associated with 
the Final ELG and Standards for the Dental Category. Respondent reports 
may contain confidential business information. If a respondent does 
consider this information to be of a confidential nature, the 
respondent may request that such information be treated as 
confidential. All confidential data will be handled in accordance with 
40 CFR 122.7, 40 CFR part 2, and the EPA's Security Manual part III, 
chapter 9, dated August 9, 1976.
    Form numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Dentists, Control Authorities.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory. Sections 403 and 441 
of the CWA.
    Estimated number of respondents: 124,378 annual average (122,741 
permittees and 1,637 States/Tribes/Territories).
    Frequency of response: One time.
    Total estimated burden: 392,646 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $11,065,942 (per year), includes $6,655 in 
non-labor costs (i.e., postage and file storage).
    Changes in estimates: The labor hours decreased since the last OMB 
approved ICR. However, the number of respondents and the labor rates 
increased; therefore, the overall burden increased. The EPA presumed a 
one percent growth rate in dental offices and that the EPA is presuming 
only new dental offices and dental offices transferring ownership will 
be doing the One-Time Compliance Reporting. However, the EPA revised 
labor rates to 2018 dollars and included total compensation rather than 
just wages.

    Dated: April 24, 2020.
Andrew D. Sawyers,
Director, Office of Wastewater Management.
[FR Doc. 2020-09220 Filed 4-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P