Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Cooling Water Intake Structures New Facility (Renewal)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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. The ICR, which is abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before January 23, 2012.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by email to ow-docket@epa.gov (Identify Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719 in the subject line), or by mail to: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460 and (2) OMB by mail to: 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:

Amelia Letnes, State and Regional Branch, Water Permits Division, OWM Mail Code: 4203M, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-5627; fax number: (202) 564 9544; email address: letnes.amelia@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 August 25, 2011 (76 FR 53123), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. Any additional comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719, which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov,, or in person viewing at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC 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.

Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at www.regulations.gov,, to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select “docket search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing at www.regulations.gov as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, confidential business information (CBI), or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For further information about the electronic docket, go to www.regulations.gov.

Title: Cooling Water Intake Structures New Facility (Renewal).

ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 1973.05, OMB Control No. 2040-0241.

ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on 12/31/2011. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. 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 title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, are displayed either by publication in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, such as on the related collection instrument or form, if applicable. The display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.

Abstract: The section 316(b) New Facility Rule requires the collection of information from new facilities that use a CWIS and meet the other eligibility requirements. Section 316(b) of the CWA requires that any standard established under section 301 or 306 of the CWA and applicable to a point source must require that the location, design, construction and capacity of CWISs at that facility reflect the best technology available (BTA) for minimizing adverse environmental impact. See 66 FR 65256. Such impact occurs as a result of impingement (where fish and other aquatic life are trapped on technologies at the entrance to cooling water intake structures) and entrainment (where aquatic organisms, eggs, and larvae are taken into the cooling system, passed through the heat exchanger, and then pumped back out with the discharge from the facility). The rule establishes standard requirements applicable to the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures at new facilities. These requirements seek to minimize the adverse environmental impact associated with the use of CWISs.

Burden Statement: The annual average reporting and record keeping burden is estimated to be 1,620 hours per respondent for permitted facilities and 154 hours per respondent for States. 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 which have subsequently changed; 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.

Affected entities: New NPDES-permitted facilities that use a cooling water intake structure (CWIS), mostly power producing facilities and manufacturing facilities.

Estimated total number of potential respondents: 86 facilities and 47 States and Territories.

Frequency of response: Annual, every 5 years.

Estimated total average number of responses for each respondent: 5.8 for facilities (467 annual average responses for 81 average facility respondents) and 8.9 for States and Territories (420 annual average responses for 47 average State respondents).

Estimated total annual burden hours: 138,421 (131,188 for facilities and 7,233 for States and Territories).

Estimated total annual costs: $10.6 million per year. This includes an estimated burden cost of $8.1 and an estimated cost of $2.5 for capital investment or maintenance and operational costs.

Change in Burden: There is an increase of 20,212 hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with that identified in the ICR currently approved by OMB. This increase is due to the addition of the newly built facilities, as well as the continued performance of annual activities by facilities that received their permit during the previous ICR approval periods. In addition, this ICR includes additional repermitting burden and costs because more facilities are entering the renewal phase of their permits.