[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 248 (Thursday, December 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89689-89690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28641]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300; FRL-11639-01-OMS]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted 
an information collection request (ICR), Lead and Copper Rule Revisions 
(LCRR)'' (EPA ICR Number 2606.03, OMB Control Number 2040-0297) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed 
extension of the LCRR ICR, which is currently approved through December 
31, 2023. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal 
Register on July 24, 2023, during a 60-day comment period. This notice 
allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before January 29, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OW-2017-0300, to EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method) 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.
    Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amina Grant, Office of Water, Mail 
Code 4607M, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-7683; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a proposed extension of the LCRR 
ICR, which is currently approved through December 31, 2023. 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.
    Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register 
on July 24, 2023, during a 60-day comment period (88 FR 47496). This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. Supporting 
documents, which explain in detail the information that 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.
    Abstract: This ICR renewal characterizes the incremental impacts of 
the LCRR regarding burden and costs for the three-year period of 
January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2026. In addition to renewing the 
LCRR ICR, this request includes information on potential burden that 
may result if respondents follow recommendations included in EPA's SL 
Inventory Guidance when seeking to comply with LCRR inventory 
requirements over the same three-year period.
    EPA intends to revise the LCRR prior to its compliance date. The 
proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) was published on 
December 6, 2023 (88 FR 84878), and EPA intends to promulgate the final 
LCRI by October 16, 2024, revising many rule areas of the LCRR. 
Additional information on the potential burden established in the 
proposal preamble may result from respondents following EPA's 
recommendations in the ``Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a 
Service Line Inventory'' (August 2022, EPA 816-B-22-001) (referred to 
as SL Inventory Guidance) when seeking to comply with the requirements 
of the LCRR. If the LCRI is promulgated as planned, there would be no 
need for water systems to implement the LCRR except for the initial 
inventory requirements, public education requirements for consumers 
served by a lead, galvanized requiring replacement, or unknown service 
line, and the 24-hour public notice requirement. Similarly, states are 
not expected to apply for or obtain primacy for the LCRR. Currently, 
most states have sought, or intend to seek, an extension until December 
18, 2025, to obtain primacy for the LCRR. If the LCRI is promulgated as 
planned in 2024, that primacy deadline would no longer be applicable. 
For the purposes of this ICR, however, this notice includes the 
estimated burden and costs associated with this ICR renewal for the 
LCRR as well as describes what would happen without promulgation of the 
LCRI. It is provided for the reader to understand the information that 
would be collected if the LCRI is not promulgated. When EPA promulgates 
the LCRI, the Agency intends to issue a new ICR that would describe and 
assess the revised burden and costs to reflect the changed regulatory 
requirements of the LCRI.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Respondents include owners/operators 
of PWSs and primacy agencies (and the EPA Regions with primary agency 
responsibility).
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Both mandatory (LCRR 
requirements) and voluntary (SL Inventory Guidance) components.
    Estimated number of respondents: The number of respondents is 
67,712.
    Frequency of response: Once and annually, varies by activity.
    Total estimated burden: 9,660,286 hours (per year). Burden is 
defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $641,162,423(per year), which includes 
$225,456,799 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 8,530,946 hours 
in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR 
currently approved by OMB. This increase is primarily due to the 
differing ICR burden estimation windows. The previous ICR covered the 
first three years after the promulgation of the LCRR when PWSs and 
primacy agencies could have been engaged in the regulatory startup/
implementation activities identified in the currently approved ICR. 
This ICR renewal covers these same activities from the current ICR for 
only the first year of the renewal period (2024). In the next two years 
covered by the ICR renewal (2025 and 2026), if the LCRI is not 
promulgated as planned in 2024, both systems and primacy agencies would 
work to

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implement several ongoing, additional LCRR requirements.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Information Engagement Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-28641 Filed 12-27-23; 8:45 am]
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