[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 154 (Thursday, August 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49590-49592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-17267]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0711; FRL-10102-01-OAR]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Data 
Requirements Rule for the 1-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Primary National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) Information Request (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to 
submit a renewal of an information collection request (ICR), ``Data 
Requirements Rule for the 1-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Primary National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) Information Request (Renewal)'' 
(EPA ICR No. 2495.05), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control 
No. 2060-0696) to the 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 renewal 
of the existing ICR for the Data Requirements Rule for the 1-Hour 
Sulfur Dioxide Primary NAAQS (SO2 Data Requirements Rule), 
which is currently approved through December 31, 2022. 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 October 11, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2013-0711, at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 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 the disclosure of which is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered to be 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sydney Lawrence, Office of Air Quality 
Planning and Standards, Air Quality Policy Division, C504-05, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC; telephone 
number: (919) 541-4768; 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. Out of an abundance of caution for members of the 
public and our staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room are open 
to the public by appointment only to reduce the risk of transmitting 
COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff also continues to provide remote 
customer service via email, phone, and webform. Hand deliveries and 
couriers may be received by scheduled appointment only. For further 
information on EPA Docket Center services and the current status, 
please visit us online at https://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

[[Page 49591]]

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., electronic submission of responses. EPA will consider 
the comments received and amend the proposed ICR renewal 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.

Background

    The SO2 Data Requirements Rule (``DRR'' or ``Rule'') 
directed state, local, and tribal air quality management agencies to 
provide data to initially characterize current air quality in areas 
that contain large sources of SO2 emissions, information 
that was used in the NAAQS designations and other processes.\1\ The 
rule also requires states to continue to provide monitoring, modeling, 
and emissions data for a subset of sources that meet certain 
requirements under the rule, which may serve to verify whether these 
areas continue to meet the 2010 SO2 NAAQS.
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    \1\ See 80 FR 51052 (August 21, 2015).
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    Through the SO2 Data Requirements Rule and the initial 
ICR, the EPA required that states characterize ambient air quality 
around sources with emissions that are greater than 2,000 tons per year 
(tpy) or that were otherwise included as a listed source in accordance 
with the Rule.\2\ Based upon 2011 emissions data, the ICR initially 
identified approximately 412 sources of SO2 in 43 states 
that may potentially be listed under the DRR. Currently, there are 137 
sources in 36 states that are still subject to ongoing reporting 
requirements under the SO2 Data Requirements Rule.
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    \2\ Pursuant to section 51.1203(a) of the SO2 Data 
Requirements Rule, air management agencies were required to submit a 
list of applicable sources of SO2 emissions in their 
jurisdiction with emissions of 2,000 tpy or greater by no later than 
January 15, 2016. See 80 FR 51087, August 21, 2015.
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    The DRR described the criteria for identifying the source areas 
where air agencies needed to characterize SO2 air quality. 
It also described the process and timetables by which air quality 
management agencies were required to characterize air quality in areas 
around sources through ambient monitoring and/or air quality modeling 
techniques and submit this data to EPA. The air quality data developed 
by the states in accordance with the Rule were used by EPA to assist in 
the remaining rounds of area designations for the 2010 SO2 
NAAQS, as well as in other areas, and is intended to provide 
information to verify whether areas are meeting the standard.
    For those air quality management agencies that elected to conduct 
ambient air monitoring for areas with listed DRR sources to provide the 
necessary air quality data to EPA, the state and local air quality 
management agencies are responsible for reporting ambient air quality 
data and will continue to submit these data electronically to EPA's Air 
Quality System (AQS) and voluntary databases. Quality assurance/quality 
control records and monitoring network documentation are also 
maintained by each state and local agency, in AQS electronic format 
where possible. Although the state and local air quality management 
agencies are responsible for the operation of this air monitoring 
network, they may have opportunities to work with industry to help 
support modeling exercises and/or monitoring network installation, 
operations, and maintenance. As explained above, while information 
collections associated with initial ambient air quality monitoring 
required under the DRR (40 CFR part 51) were included in the prior 
version of the DRR ICR, any collections associated with ongoing 
monitoring are now covered by the part 58 ICR. Ongoing collections have 
been removed from the DRR ICR to avoid duplicative burden calculations. 
Future renewals of the Part 58 ICR will continue to cover any 
collections of ongoing ambient air monitoring data that were initiated 
under subpart BB of part 51, as long as any of those monitors continues 
to operate.
    For those air quality management agencies that elected to conduct 
air quality modeling of the areas containing listed DRR sources to 
provide the necessary air quality data to EPA and which were designated 
either unclassifiable/attainment or attainment/unclassifiable based on 
modeling of actual emissions of the area, state and local air quality 
management agencies are responsible for submitting on-going data 
reports. In accordance with the SO2 Data Requirements Rule, 
these reports must be submitted annually as either a stand-alone 
document made available for public inspection or as an appendix to the 
air agency's Annual Monitoring Network Plan, and are required to 
include the annual SO2 emissions of each applicable source 
in each such area, provide an assessment of the cause of any emissions 
increase from the previous year, and include a recommendation from the 
air agency regarding whether additional modeling is needed to 
characterize air quality in any area to determine whether the area 
meets or does not meet the 2010 SO2 NAAQS. If the EPA 
requires that the air agency conduct updated air quality modeling for 
the area, the air agency has 12 months to submit it to the EPA.

Abstract

    This ICR includes estimates for the submission and processing of 
emissions and emissions-related information and ambient air dispersion 
modeling reporting and activities, associated with the 40 CFR part 51 
Requirements for Preparation, Adoption and Submittal of Implementation 
Plans, as they apply to the 2010 1-Hour SO2 Primary NAAQS. 
These data and information are collected by various state and local air 
quality management agencies and reported to the EPA. State and local 
air management agencies chose to submit either monitoring or modeling 
information in order to meet the initial and on-going requirements, as 
applicable, to characterize air quality concentrations in areas with 
specific emissions sources identified under the final SO2 
DRR. This proposed ICR Renewal adopts (with some revisions) the 
estimates contained in the original ICR, and it includes burden 
estimates for the development, submittal, and processing of the 
information described above to meet ongoing requirements under the DRR 
during the period January 1, 2023-December 31, 2025. For those state 
and local air management agencies that chose ambient monitoring rather 
than modeling to characterize air quality around specific emissions 
sources during the initial phase of DRR implementation (2016), such 
monitoring is required by subpart BB of part 51, and information 
collections associated with initial ambient air quality monitoring 
required under Part 51 were initially included in the prior versions of 
the DRR ICR. Currently, the DRR requires that ongoing monitoring 
continue to meet the operational constraints and requirements in 40 CFR 
part 58, and any collections associated with ongoing monitoring under 
the DRR are now covered by the Part 58 ICR (EPA ICR No. 0940.29; OMB 
No. 2060-0084). Therefore, ongoing collections of ambient monitoring 
data have been removed from coverage by the DRR ICR to avoid 
duplicative burden

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calculations. Future renewals of the part 58 ICR will continue to cover 
any collections of ongoing ambient air monitoring data that were 
initiated under Subpart BB of Part 51, so long as any of those monitors 
continues to operate.
    In accordance with the requirements of the DRR, where an air agency 
finds in the annual emissions report for a source subject to the DRR 
that emissions have increased in an area, the state or the EPA may 
determine that the state must submit updated air quality modeling data 
for the area to determine whether or not the area is meeting the 2010 
1-Hour SO2 Primary NAAQS.
    The information requirements included within this ICR are necessary 
to provide EPA with ambient air quality data, which includes emissions 
data and/or modeling data, to determine the air quality status of 
specific areas around the country, to make attainment decisions for 
those areas with respect to the NAAQS, to assist in developing 
necessary control strategies in order to ensure attainment of the NAAQS 
in those areas, to assess national trends in air pollution, to inform 
the public of air quality, and to determine the population's exposure 
to various ambient air pollutants. EPA's ability to achieve its goal of 
attaining the 2010 SO2 1-hour NAAQS in all areas of the 
United States is directly dependent upon the availability of ambient 
air quality data (emissions and/or modeling data) requested in this 
information collection. Additionally, EPA, state and local air quality 
management agencies, environmental groups, industrial groups, and 
academic organizations use these data to study atmospheric chemistry, 
e.g., the formation and fate of SO2 to determine the most 
appropriate and effective control strategies necessary to reduce air 
pollution.
    The principal legal authority for this information collection is 
the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. 7403, 7410, 7414(a), and 7511a, from 
which the 40 CFR part 51 regulations were promulgated. Under section 
7403(c), the Administrator is required to conduct a program of 
research, testing, and development of methods for sampling, 
measurement, monitoring, analysis, and modeling of air pollutants, 
specifically including a requirement to establish a national network to 
monitor, collect, and compile data with quantification of certainty in 
the status and trends of air emissions and air quality.
    CAA sections 110(a) and (k) (42 U.S.C. 7410(a) and (k)) contain the 
state implementation plan (SIP) requirements, which include a 
requirement that each State submit a SIP that: (1) provides for the 
establishment and operation of appropriate devices, methods, systems, 
and procedures necessary to monitor, compile, analyze, and make 
available to the Administrator data on ambient air quality and (2) 
provides for the performance of such air quality modeling as the 
Administrator may prescribe for the purpose of predicting the effect on 
ambient air quality of any emissions of any air pollutant for which the 
Administrator has established a NAAQS, and the submission, upon 
request, of data related to such air quality modeling to the designee 
as stipulated in the rule.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: State, local and tribal air 
pollution management control agencies.
    Respondents' obligation to respond: mandatory (see CAA 42 U.S.C. 
7403, 7410, and 7511a, from which the 40 CFR part 51 regulations were 
promulgated).
    Estimated number of respondents: 36 states, providing emissions and 
in some cases air quality modeling for 137 sources.
    Frequency of response: Annually for ongoing modeling annual report.
    Total estimated burden: On the high end, the modeling burden per 
source is estimated to be $22,000 annually. On the low end, labor costs 
are estimated to be 5% of the overall turnkey estimate, or $1,100 per 
report annually. Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: Range of $150,700 to $3,014,000 (per year).
    Changes in Estimates: The prior renewal of this ICR estimated a 
maximum possible burden of $5,100,000 annually for modeling sources. 
This ICR renewal, estimating a range of $150,700 to $3,014,000 
annually, reflects a decrease in the maximum possible burden of 
$2,086,000 annually for modeling sources. This decrease is due to the 
reduced number of listed sources for which states chose air quality 
modeling to meet their DRR requirements.

Scott Mathias,
Director, Air Quality Policy Division.
[FR Doc. 2022-17267 Filed 8-10-22; 8:45 am]
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