[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70612-70613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24543]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0354; FRL10016-05-OLEM]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; 
Gathering Data on Results of Newly Required Annual and Triennial 
Testing To Evaluate the Impacts of U.S. E.P.A.'s 2015 Federal 
Underground Storage Tank Regulation

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

[[Page 70613]]


ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an 
information collection request (ICR), ``Gathering Data on Results of 
Newly Required Annual and Triennial Testing to Evaluate the Impacts of 
U.S. E.P.A.'s 2015 Federal Underground Storage Tank Regulation'' (EPA 
ICR No. 2650.01, OMB Control No. 2050-NEW) to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public 
comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as 
described below. This is a request for approval of a new collection. 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 January 4, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-
2020-0354, 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.
    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: Elizabeth McDermott, Prevention 
Division, Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Mail Code 5401R, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-0646; 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 http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 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. 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, 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 information collection request will allow U.S. 
E.P.A. to employ a contractor to compile data from private companies 
providing regular servicing and maintenance to owners of federally 
regulated underground storage tank systems (USTs).
    The contractor will collect and assimilate testing data from 
several UST servicing companies. The contractor's deliverable will be a 
database of the performance results over multiple iterations of newly 
required UST testing procedures in various states across the country. 
These new tests were required by the 2015 UST regulation and are 
performed either annually or triennially. The data gathered will be 
pass/fail results from several testing measures, taken from facilities 
in 17 states where regulations went into effect soonest. These 
facilities were first required to be tested sometime after the 2015 
federal regulation passed, with the second round of triennial required 
testing to be completed by October 2021.
    The completed dataset of test results will allow EPA to evaluate 
the effectiveness of several of the newly required measures to prevent 
fuel releases that was required in the 2015 federal UST regulation. 
Data will be compiled from UST servicing companies about tests 
performed prior to the initial testing deadline, and from tests results 
for regulatory compliance for the second test required either within 
one year or three years after the initial test (depending on the test 
requirements). EPA may use the data to identify if, and by how much, 
testing required by the regulation impacts pass/fail rates over time. 
EPA is interested in quantitatively assessing if pass/fail rates 
improve between initial and subsequent rounds of testing in those 
states where data is collected.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: UST testing and compliance 
companies, UST facility owners and operators.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary.
    Estimated number of respondents: 680 (total).
    Frequency of response: One-time collection.
    Total estimated burden: 9,558 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $605,186.40 (per year), includes no 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in Estimates: There is no change of estimate of hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden. EPA anticipates that the burden 
hour estimates will not change substantially before final submission to 
OMB.

    Dated: October 29, 2020.
Mark Barolo,
Director, Office of Underground Storage Tanks.
[FR Doc. 2020-24543 Filed 11-4-20; 8:45 am]
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