Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Microbial Rules (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1895.03, OMB Control Number 2040-0205

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2004. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before December 27, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OW-2004-0008, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to OW-Docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Water Docket, Mail Code 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard P. Naylor, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, (4606M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202.564.3847; fax number: 202.564.3755; e-mail address: naylor.richard@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23741), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. OW-2004-0008, which is available for public viewing at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426. An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select “search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above.

Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/edocket.

Title: Microbial Rules (Renewal).

Abstract: This ICR examines public water system (PWS), primacy agency, and EPA burden and costs for recordkeeping and reporting required in support of microbial contaminant-associated rulemakings. These rules that have recordkeeping and reporting requirements that are mandatory for compliance with 40 CFR parts 141 and 142 include the following: (1) Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR); (2) Total Coliform Rule (TCR); (3) Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (IESWTR); (4) Filter Backwash Recycling Rule (FBRR); and (5) Long Term 1 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT1ESWTR). This Microbial Rules ICR includes all SWTR components except disinfectant residual monitoring and associated activities, which are included in the Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts, Chemical, and Radionuclides Rules ICR. Burden for future rules that address microbial contaminants (Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR), and the Ground Water Rule (GWR) will be added to this ICR when the regulations are finalized and the original stand-alone ICRs for each rule expires.

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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average .77 hours per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Respondents/Affected Entities: (1) Owners/operators of PWSs, who must report to the primacy agency; (2) primacy agencies that must report to EPA Headquarters; and (3) regional EPA administrators, who must send reports and notices to PWS owners and States.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 161,274.

Frequency of Response: As necessary, monthly, quarterly, annually.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 8,624,865.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $340,480,000, includes $96,939,000 annualized capital or O&M costs and $243,541,000 annual labor costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 431,665 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This increase is primarily due to restructuring adjustments (i.e., incorporation of previously stand-alone ICRs for the LT1ESWTR and the FBRR).