[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 122 (Friday, June 26, 2026)] [Notices] [Pages 38707-38708] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-12939] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA-HQ-OW-2024-0561; FRL-13479-01-OMS] Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; The 8th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (New) AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an information collection request (ICR), The 8th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (EPA ICR Number 7798.01, OMB Control Number 2040-NEW) to the Office of Management and Budget for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a request for approval of a new collection. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on December 13, 2024, during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before July 27, 2026. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ- OW-2024-0561, to EPA 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. The 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: Tirzah Glebes or John Towe, Drinking Water Infrastructure Development Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, 4606M, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; email address: [email protected]; telephone number: 202-564-2298. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on December 13, 2024, during a 60-day comment period (89 FR 240). This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. 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. Abstract: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water will conduct a survey to estimate the capital improvement needs of drinking water systems eligible to receive Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) funds. The survey is authorized by Sections 1452(h) and 1452(i)(4) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended by America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018. This survey will be the 8th DWINSA; seven DWINSAs preceded the current survey, with the first implemented in 1995. The 8th DWINSA will survey large drinking water Community Water Systems (CWSs) (serving over 100,000 persons) via a census approach, medium CWSs (serving between 3,301 and 100,000 persons) through a statistically based sample, and small CWSs (serving 3,300 or fewer persons) through a re-sample of those that were surveyed in the 7th DWINSA. Consistent with the principles of cooperative federalism, the information collection and quality review for medium and large CWS will be facilitated by the CWSs' respective state SRF programs. The 8th DWINSA will collect information from drinking water systems in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands). These entities are referred to as the ``56 states'' or ``states'' within this ICR. The 8th DWINSA will not directly collect data from non-profit non- CWS (NPNCWSs) or American Indian (AI) or Alaska Native Village (ANV) drinking water systems, except for supplemental questions for Tribal systems about their technical, managerial, and financial capability. To reduce reporting burden, the 8th DWINSA will estimate the capital improvement needs for these water systems by adjusting the needs estimates from the 7th DWINSA. The EPA will also engage with stakeholders (small system representatives, their trade associations, and technical assistance providers) to better understand and collect information on the differential infrastructure costs faced by small community water systems to incorporate into the 8th DWINSA needs estimate. The survey will collect the CWSs' 20-year capital improvement needs through their submission of project information and supporting documentation. In addition, the survey will collect supplemental question responses. Supplemental questions will ask CWSs to identify potential barriers to accessing DWSRF funding. The EPA [[Page 38708]] will ask supplemental questions about the technical, managerial, and financial capability of AI and ANV utilities. The 8th DWINSA will not collect information on lead service lines. The capital improvement needs results of the DWINSA and the information provided through stakeholder engagement will be used by the EPA primarily as a basis for allotting DWSRF funds among states. A national assessment also improves the EPA's ability to gauge long-term (20-year) capital costs of SDWA regulations and the provision of safe drinking water to the public. The AI and ANV question responses will be used to inform the Agency of Tribal water operator certification program usage and needs, and other technical, managerial, and financial capability concerns of Tribal utilities. Respondents/affected entities: The respondents for the 8th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment are community water systems and their primacy agencies and Tribal utilities. Respondent's obligation to respond: Voluntary. Estimated number of respondents: 2,975 (total). Frequency of response: One time. Total estimated burden: 16,114 hours (per year) for respondents. Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b). Total estimated cost: $1,060,526 (per year) for respondents which includes $0 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs. Changes in Estimates: This is a new ICR. There is a decrease of 11,303 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR previously approved by OMB for the 7th DWINSA. This decrease is primarily due to a decreased sampled size. Courtney Kerwin, Deputy Director, Data and Enterprise Programs Division. [FR Doc. 2026-12939 Filed 6-25-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE P