[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 33 (Monday, February 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10566-10567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03480]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OECA-2020-0438; FRL -10015-40-OECA]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Annual 
Public Water Systems Compliance Report

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an 
information collection request (ICR), ``Annual Public Water System 
Compliance Report'' (EPA ICR No. 1812.07, OMB Control No. 2020-0020) 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 proposed extension 
of the ICR, which is currently approved through June 30, 2021. 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 April 23, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-
2020-0438 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: Raquel Taveras, Monitoring, Assistance 
and Media Programs Division, Office of Compliance, MC-2227A, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-9651; 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

[[Page 10567]]

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: Section 1414(c)(3)(A) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 
(SDWA) requires that each state (a term that includes states, 
commonwealths, tribes and territories) that has primary enforcement 
authority under the SDWA shall prepare, make readily available to the 
public, and submit to the Administrator of EPA, an annual report of 
violations of national primary drinking water regulations in the state. 
These Annual State Public Water System Compliance Reports are to 
include violations of maximum contaminant levels, treatment 
requirements, variances and exemptions, and monitoring requirements 
determined to be significant by the Administrator after consultation 
with the states. To minimize a state's burden in preparing its annual 
statutorily required report, EPA issued guidance that explains what 
Section 1414(c)(3)(A) requires and provides model language and 
reporting templates. EPA also annually makes available to the states a 
computer query that generates for each state (from information states 
are already separately required to submit to EPA's national database on 
a quarterly basis) the required violations information in a table 
consistent with the reporting template in EPA's guidance.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Entities that are potentially 
affected by this action are States that have primacy enforcement 
authority and meet the definition of ``state'' under the SDWA.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory under Section 1414 
(c)(3)(A) of SDWA.
    Estimated number of respondents: 55 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annually.
    Total estimated burden: 4,400 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $530,000(per year), includes $0 annualized 
capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in Estimates: There is no change in burden from the most 
recently approved ICR as currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved Burdens. This is due to two considerations. First, the 
regulations have not changed over the past three years and are not 
anticipated to change over the next three years. Second, the growth 
rate for this industry is very low or non-existent, so there is no 
significant change in the overall burden. Since there are no changes in 
the regulatory requirements and there is no significant industry 
growth, there are also no changes in the capital/startup or operation 
and maintenance (O&M) costs. There is a slight increase in costs, which 
is wholly due to the use of updated labor rates. This ICR uses labor 
rates from the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report (September 
2020) to calculate respondent burden costs.

John Dombrowski,
Deputy Director, Office of Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2021-03480 Filed 2-19-21; 8:45 am]
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