11292 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 24, 2021 / Notices 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2016–0404; FRL–10020–61– 

OW] 

Proposed Information Collection 

Request for the National Study of 

Nutrient Removal and Secondary 

Technologies: Publicly Owned 

Treatment Works (POTW) Screener 

Questionnaire 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) plans to submit an 

information collection request (ICR), 

‘‘Information Collection Request for the 

National Study of Nutrient Removal and 

Secondary Technologies: Publicly 

Owned Treatment Works (POTW) 

Screener Questionnaire (Renewal)’’ 

(EPA ICR No. 2553.01, OMB Control No. 

2040 0294) to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for review and 

approval in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Before 

doing so, EPA is soliciting public 

comments on specific aspects of the 

proposed information collection as 

described below. This is a proposed 

extension of the ICR, which is currently 

approved through July 31, 2021. 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. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before April 26, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

referencing Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2016–0404 online using 

www.regulations.gov (our preferred 

method), by email to OW-Docket@

epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPA– 

HQ–OW–2016–0404, 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Paul Shriner, Engineering and Analysis 

Division (4303T), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone number: 202–566–1076; 

email address: nutrient-removal-study@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Supporting documents are available in 

the public docket for this ICR that 

explain in detail the information that 

the EPA will be collecting. 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. 

Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 

the PRA, EPA is soliciting comments 

and information to: (i) Evaluate whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the Agency, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; (ii) evaluate the 

accuracy of the Agency’s estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(iii) enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (iv) minimize the burden 

of the collection of information on those 

who are to respond, including through 

the use of appropriate automated 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

e.g., permitting electronic submission of 

responses. EPA will consider the 

comments received and amend the ICR 

as appropriate. The final ICR package 

will then be submitted to OMB for 

review and approval. At that time, EPA 

will issue another Federal Register 

notice to announce the submission of 

the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to 

submit additional comments to OMB. 

Abstract: 

Nutrient pollution remains the single 

greatest challenge to our Nation’s water 

quality and presents a growing threat to 

public health and local economies— 

contributing to toxic harmful algal 

blooms, contamination of drinking 

water sources, and costly impacts on 

recreation, tourism and fisheries. The 

multi-phase study described here, when 

completed, will provide a rich database 

of nutrient removal performance at 

secondary treatment POTWs 

nationwide, and will help POTWs 

understand the range of nutrient 

removal performance and identify 

opportunities to optimize nutrient 

removals based on data from their peers. 

It will also serve as a major new 

resource for POTWs, states and other 

stakeholders to evaluate the most costeffective approaches to nutrient 

reduction at the watershed scale. With 

these objectives in mind, EPA’s Office of 

Water is collecting data to evaluate the 

nutrient removals and related 

technology performance of POTWs with 

conventional secondary treatment. For 

the purposes of this study 

‘‘conventional secondary treatment’’ are 

those processes used by industry to 

meet the regulatory requirements for 

secondary treatment. 

The goals of this study are to establish 

a baseline of nutrient performance 

nationally for secondary treatment 

facilities and to document the capability 

of POTWs to reduce nutrient discharges 

by implementing changes to operations 

and maintenance, without making 

extensive capital investments. The full 

study would be conducted in multiple 

phases, allowing for interactions with 

stakeholders and experts in each phase. 

The first phase of the study is a screener 

questionnaire, the renewal of which is 

the focus of this ICR. 

Due to multiple delays, most notably 

postponements in fielding the screener 

questionnaire due to circumstances 

associated with the coronavirus 

(COVID–19) pandemic, EPA is 

proposing to renew the ICR for the 

screener questionnaire. EPA seeks to 

continue to update existing information 

on the universe of POTWs in the U.S., 

including tribally owned facilities, and 

collect basic information on the 

characteristics of these POTWs. The 

conventional secondary plants would be 

the focus of the second phase of study 

to determine how efficiently these 

plants remove nutrients and how 

enhancements to operation and 

maintenance have improved their 

performance. EPA expects to conduct 

future surveys of a statistically 

representative sample of the population 

of secondary treatment plants, but the 

exact format of these collections will be 

informed by the data received from this 

screener questionnaire. 

There are no currently available 

datasets that identify every POTW in the 

country, or that identify which POTWs 

are conventional secondary treatment 

plants. Presently there are multiple, 

disparate databases that contain 

information concerning various subsets 

of treatment facilities; however, each of 

these databases is incomplete with 

respect to identifying all facilities. In 

addition, each database has missing or 

incomplete data fields. EPA intends to 

create a database of the full population 

of POTWs in the U.S. and use that 

database for further statistical study of 

nutrient removal performance. EPA 

plans to make this database publicly 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 24, 2021 / Notices 11293 

available, subject to confidentiality 

concerns that may arise. 

Currently only case studies are 

available documenting how secondary 

treatment plants can reduce nutrient 

discharges through enhanced operation 

and maintenance procedures. This 

study would provide statistically 

representative data on improved 

nutrient removal by secondary 

treatment plants resulting from changes 

in operation and maintenance. This 

study would help States and POTWs 

agree to and set well-informed and 

realistic nutrient load reduction targets 

for wastewater treatment facilities, 

where appropriate, and provide 

information on the time and costs 

needed to make enhancements in 

operation and maintenance procedures. 

EPA’s Office of Water is administering 

the screener questionnaire, which 

solicits basic facility identification, 

characterization, and technical 

information necessary to develop the 

future detailed questionnaire, to select 

the sample of secondary treatment 

plants planned for subsequent phases of 

the study, and to select POTWs where 

future influent and effluent sampling 

could be conducted to document 

performance. The screener 

questionnaire is a one-time data 

collection. EPA would prepare a 

separate ICR for the subsequent phases 

of the study after the screener 

questionnaire data collection is 

completed and the sample frame for the 

subsequent phases is developed. 

EPA is limiting the information 

requested by the screener questionnaire 

to that which is necessary to identify the 

complete population of POTWs and to 

identify basic information about that 

population. Questions include those 

necessary to identify and stratify the 

universe of POTWs and, within that 

population, the secondary treatment 

POTWs not designed specifically to 

remove nitrogen and phosphorus. The 

screener is user-friendly and makes use 

of multiple choice, yes/no questions, 

drop down menus, and checkboxes from 

which respondents will choose the best 

answer. EPA did not include openended questions to minimize burden on 

respondents and to assist in compiling 

the data. A copy of the screener 

questionnaire is available at Docket ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OW–2016–0404 as part of 

this request for comments (see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document for further information). 

EPA designed the screener 

questionnaire as a web-based survey 

that POTWs can fill out and submit 

online. Accordingly, a separate signed 

certification form is not required. A 

hard copy of the screener questionnaire 

was mailed to POTWs upon request. A 

hard copy was also provided to POTWs 

in small communities where they 

cannot readily access the internet. 

In this renewal EPA proposes three 

revisions to the currently approved 

screener questionnaire ICR and 

supporting statement. First, EPA has 

reduced the maximum number of 

respondents from 16,500 to 15,000. This 

reflects the 1,500 survey responses 

already received as of October 30, 2020. 

Second, EPA has made minor clarifying 

edits to the survey questions such as 

providing additional examples of 

certain technology classifications. 

Third, EPA is revising the respondent 

burden estimates. The original average 

burden estimate assumed it would take 

one hour to complete the registration 

process and three hours to complete the 

full questionnaire. EPA reviewed start 

and end dates and times associated with 

questionnaires submitted online and 

found that the average time to complete 

the long version of the online 

questionnaire was 1.1 hours and the 

time to complete the short version was 

26 minutes. EPA revised the average 

burden to 2.25 hours for the 

questionnaire and 15 minutes for 

registration (Questionnaire Section A) 

based on this information. EPA solicits 

comment on these proposed changes. 

EPA is also soliciting comments on 

EPA’s approach to refining the mailing 

list of POTWs, and has made a draft list 

available in the Docket (see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document for further information). 

Form Numbers: None. 

Respondents/affected entities: Entities 

potentially affected by this action are 

approximately 15,000 POTWs that meet 

the definition under 40 CFR 403.3(q), 50 

POTWs for site visits, and 100 state and/ 

or small municipal association contacts. 

Respondent’s obligation to respond: 

Voluntary. 

Estimated number of respondents: 

12,000 (total). 

Frequency of response: One-time data 

collection. 

Total estimated burden: 29,980 hours 

(over 3 years). Burden is defined at 5 

CFR 1320.03(b). 

Total estimated cost: $1,496,981 (over 

3 years), includes zero annualized 

capital or operation & maintenance 

costs. 

Changes in Estimates: There is 

decrease of 37,180 hours in the total 

estimated respondent burden compared 

with the ICR currently approved by 

OMB. This decrease is due to screener 

questionnaire responses already 

received, reduced number of total 

respondents, and replacement of EPA’s 

estimated respondent burdens with the 

actual time respondents took to 

complete the screener questionnaire. 

Deborah Nagle, 

Director, Office of Science and Technology, 

Office of Water. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03757 Filed 2–23–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OECA–2013–0347; FRL–10020– 

74–OMS] 

Information Collection Request 

Submitted to OMB for Review and 

Approval; Comment Request; NESHAP 

for Epoxy Resin and Non-Nylon 

Polyamide Production (Renewal) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) has submitted an 

information collection request (ICR), 

NESHAP for Epoxy Resin and NonNylon Polyamide Production (EPA ICR 

Number 1681.10, OMB Control Number 

2060–0290), 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 April 30, 

2021. Public comments were previously 

requested, via the Federal Register, on 

May 12, 2020 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 March 26, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

referencing Docket ID Number EPA– 

HQ–OECA–2013–0347, to EPA online 

using www.regulations.gov (our 

preferred method), or by email to 

docket.oeca@epa.gov, 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 


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