Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NESHAP for Primary Lead Smelting (Renewal)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Primary Lead Smelting (EPA ICR Number 1856.12, OMB Control Number 2060-0414), 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 ICR, which is currently approved through December 31, 2021. Public comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register , on February 8, 2021 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. An agency may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before November 15, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0636, 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:

Muntasir Ali, Sector Policies and Program Division (D243-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-0833; email address: ali.muntasir@epa.gov.

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 https://www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, 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 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Primary Lead Smelting apply to existing and new facilities engaged in producing lead metal from ore concentrates. The category includes, but is not limited to, the following smelting processes: Sintering, reduction, preliminary treatment, refining and casting operations, process fugitive sources, and fugitive dust sources. Owners and operators of primary lead smelting facilities are required to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements for the general provisions of 40 CFR part 63, subpart A, as well as the applicable specific standards in 40 CFR part 63 subpart TTT. In general, all NESHAP standards require initial notifications, performance tests, and periodic reports by the owners/operators of the affected facilities. They are also required to maintain records of the occurrence and duration of any startup, shutdown, or malfunction in the operation of an affected facility, or any period during which the monitoring system is inoperative. These notifications, reports, and records are essential in determining compliance with 40 CFR part 63, subpart TTT.

Form Numbers: None.

Respondents/affected entities: Primary lead smelters.

Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 63, subpart TTT).

Estimated number of respondents: 1 (total).

Frequency of response: Quarterly and semiannually.

Total estimated burden: 6,270 hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).

Total estimated cost: $912,000 (per year), which includes $169,000 in annualized capital/startup and/or operation & maintenance costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is no change in burden from the most-recently approved ICR as currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved Burdens. This situation is due to two considerations: (1) The regulations have not changed significantly over the past three years and are not anticipated to change significantly over the next three years; and (2) the growth rate for this industry is very low or non-existent, so there is no significant change in the overall burden. While there are not currently any primary lead smelters operating in the U.S. and no new facilities are being planned, this ICR continues to assume an average of one existing respondent for the purpose of estimating burden. Since there are no significant 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.