34172 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 103 / Friday, May 26, 2000 / Notices

approved 04/1/2000; OMB No. 2040–

0153; expires 04/30/2003.

EPA ICR No. 1500.04; National

Estuary Program; in 40 CFR part 35,

subpart P was approved 04/11/2000;

OMB No. 2040–0138; expires 04/30/

2003.

EPA ICR No. 1727.02; Evaluation of

the Burden of Waterborne Disease

Within Communities in the United

States; was approved 04/20/2000; OMB

No. 2080–0050; expires 04/30/2003.

Extensions of Expiration Dates

EPA ICR No. 0276.08; Application for

Experimental Use Permit (EUP) to Ship

and Use a Pesticide for Experimental

Purposes Only; in 40 CFR part 172;

OMB No. 2070–0040; on 02/29/2000

OMB extended the expiration date

through 05/31/2000.

EPA ICR No. 1780.01; Voluntary

Cover Sheet for TSCA Submissions;

OMB No. 2070–0156; on 03/30/2000

OMB extended the expiration date

through 06/30/2000.

EPA ICR No. 0282.10; Emission Defect

Information and Voluntary Emission

Recall Reports; in 40 CFR part 85,

subpart T, and 40 CFR part 91, subpart

I; OMB No. 2060–0048; on 03/30/2000

OMB extended the expiration date

through 08/31/2000.

EPA ICR No. 1000.06; Polychlorinated

Biphenyls (PCBs) Used in Electrical

Equipment; in 40 CFR part 761; OMB

No. 2070–0003; on 03/30/2000 OMB

extended the expiration date through

09/30/2000.

EPA ICR No. 1796.01; Industrial

Combustion Coordinated Rule-making

(ICCR) Questionnaire; OMB No. 2060–

0355; on 03/30/2000 OMB extended the

expiration date through 09/30/2000.

EPA ICR No. 1504.03; Data Generation

for Registration Activities; in 40 CFR

part 158; OMB No. 2070–0107; on 03/

31/2000 OMB extended the expiration

date through 05/31/2000.

EPA ICR No. 0597.06; Maximum

Residue Limit (MRL) Petitions on Food/

Feed Crops and New Inert Ingredients;

in 40 CFR parts 177 and 180; OMB No.

2070–0024; on 03/31/2000 OMB

extended the expiration date through

06/30/2000.

EPA ICR No. 0922.05; Data Call-in for

Special Review Chemicals; in 40 CFR

part 158; OMB No. 2070–0057; on 03/

31/2000 OMB extended the expiration

date through 06/30/2000.

EPA ICR No. 1774.01; Mobile Air

Conditioner Retrofitting Program; in 40

CFR part 82; OMB No. 2060–0350; on

04/20/2000 OMB extended the

expiration date through 06/30/2000.

Comments Filed

EPA ICR No. 1920.01; Revisions to

Regulatory Provisions Governing Permit

Issuance for the National Pollutant

Discharge Elimination System; on 04/

11/2000 OMB filed comment.

EPA ICR No. 0002.10; Revision of

Information Request for National

Pretreatment Program; in 40 CFR part

403; OMB No. 2040-0009; on 04/10/

2000 OMB filed comment.

EPA ICR No. 0229.14; Standards for

the use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge—

Round 2 Amendments to 40 CFR part

503; OMB No. 2040–0004; on 04/13/

2000 OMB filed comment.

Action Withdrawn

ICR No. 1940.01; Health Effects of

Particulate Matter and Co-Pollutant

Exposures Near the El Paso/Juarez

Border Crossings; on 04/25/2000 OMB

filed comment.

Dated: May 17, 2000.

Oscar Morales,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.

[FR Doc. 00–13206 Filed 5–25–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6709–9]

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request; Revisions

to the Information Collection Request

(ICR) for the National Water Quality

Inventory Reports (Clean Water Act

Section 305(b)) and Proposed

Revisions to EPA’s Regulations

Implementing Section 303(d)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), this document announces

that an ICR for the proposed revisions

to the Water Quality Planning and

Management Regulation has been

forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and

approval. The ICR describes the nature

of the information collection for the

proposed regulation and its expected

burden and cost. The ICR also revises

the expected burden and costs of the

current Section 303(d) program and for

Section 305(b) reports.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before June 26, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

a copy of EPA ICR Number 1560.06

contact Sandy Farmer at the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

by mail at Collection Strategies

Division; U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (2822); 1200 Pennsylvania Ave.,

NW, Washington, DC 20460, by phone

at (202) 260–2740, by email at

farmer.sandy@epa.gov, or download

from the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/

icr. For technical questions about this

ICR, contact Richard Iovanna by phone

at (202) 260–5194 or by email at

iovanna.rich@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act

requires States, Territories, and

authorized Tribes to identify and rank

waters which do not meet water quality

standards following implementation of

technology-based controls. Under

section 303(d), States, Territories, and

authorized Tribes are also required to

establish total maximum daily loads

(TMDLs) for listed waters not meeting

standards as a result of pollutant

discharges. In developing the section

303(d) lists, States, Territories, and

authorized Tribes are required to

consider various sources of waterquality related data and information,

including the section 305(b) water

quality reports. The section 305(b)

reports contain information on the

extent of water quality degradation, the

pollutants and sources affecting water

quality, and progress in controlling

water pollution.

The Clean Water Act requires EPA to

review and approve or disapprove

section 303(d) lists and TMDLs.

Currently, there are 56 respondents (the

50 States, the District of Columbia, and

the five Territories). Section 303(d)

specifically requires States, Territories,

and authorized Tribes to develop lists

and TMDLs ‘‘from time to time’’ and

EPA to review and approve or

disapprove the lists and the TMDLs.

EPA collects section 305(b) reports from

59 respondents (the 50 States, the

District of Columbia, five Territories,

and 3 River Basin commissions).

The Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) previously approved information

collection authority for the submission

of section 305(b) reports under 40 CFR

130.10(a) of the EPA Water Quality

Management Standards under OMB

Number 2040–0071. In 1992, OMB

approved an addendum to this ICR

clarifying the burden associated with

preparing section 303(d) lists of waters

for inclusion in the section 305(b)

reports. OMB reapproved the ICR for the

period 1993–1995, 1996–1998, and then

again from March 1999–April 2003 (ICR

Number 1560.05, approved April 5,

2000).

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 103 / Friday, May 26, 2000 / Notices 34173

Today’s proposed ICR (ICR Number

1560.06, OMB Number 2040–0071)

proposes revisions to the currently

approved ICR based on changes EPA

proposed to make to the section 303(d)

regulations. These revisions would

increase the burden to States,

Territories, and authorized Tribes for

four section 303(d) activities related to

preparation of the section 303(d) lists:

revising the listing methodology,

establishing schedules for TMDL

development, increased public

participation, and providing the listing

methodology in a new format. EPA’s

currently approved ICR for the period

March 1999 through April 2003 was

based on the burden to respondents of

the current program and did not include

consideration of the impact of the

proposed regulations. The revisions

contained in the revised ICR include the

increased section 303(d) listing burden

to States, Territories, and authorized

Tribes that would result under the

proposed regulations.

As required by OMB’s Terms of

Clearance for the currently approved

ICR, the revised ICR includes the

respondent burden associated with

developing TMDLs. This burden has not

been estimated in previous ICRs, but

can now be included due to recent

advances in EPA’s ability to estimate the

cost of developing TMDLs. In this ICR,

the burden for developing TMDLs is

divided into two parts: the burden

associated with the current TMDL

regulations, and the additional burden

associated with the new requirements

for the final revisions to the TMDL

regulations. The new requirements add

two additional TMDL development

tasks: preparation of an implementation

plan, and written response to public

comments regarding the TMDL.

As required by OMB’s Terms of

Clearance for the currently approved

ICR, the revised ICR also estimates the

burden to respondents of providing

information as required by section

305(b) on the costs and benefits of

attaining water quality standards, and

the burden to the Agency of providing

guidance to respondents for preparing

this information. Although this is not a

new requirement, the burden of

providing this information has not been

estimated in previous ICRs, whether

based on the effort associated with the

current practices of respondents in

providing this information or the

availability of better guidance for

developing this information.

The revised ICR does not include the

reduction in respondent burden

resulting from the anticipated final

regulations’ adoption of a 4-year section

303(d) listing cycle instead of the

current 2-year section 303(d) listing

cycle because the savings (although

substantial over time) would likely not

be realized for the period covered by

this ICR. It also does not include the

reduction in respondent burden

resulting from EPA’s March 27, 2000

rule removing the federal requirement

for States to submit their section 303(d)

lists in 2000 (skipping this listing cycle)

because the timing of the rule’s issuance

makes it difficult to estimate the extent

to which savings occurred.

EPA has concluded that no

government information collection

activity duplicates the information

requested by this revised ICR and,

therefore, it has no other way to obtain

the information. Therefore, these

responses are mandatory. In addition to

EPA, environmental groups will most

likely use the information collected to

assess the actions of States, Territories,

and authorized Tribes. Information

collected through the proposed

activities is not confidential because all

respondents are State agencies,

Territorial agencies, and Tribes working

entirely in a public forum. The

proposed information collection

activities do not request information of

a sensitive nature from the State,

Territorial, or Tribal respondents.

The projected average additional cost

associated with the revised section

303(d) rule requirements is estimated to

be $218,663 per respondent, and the

total annual cost for all 56 respondents

is estimated to be $12,245,100 . This

estimate does not include any of the

savings that will accrue to respondents

in future years resulting from the

Agency’s anticipated adoption of a 4-

year section 303(d) listing cycle instead

of the current 2-year section 303(d)

listing cycle. The average current cost

associated with developing TMDLs

under the current section 303(d)

program is estimated to be $7,653,941

per respondent, and the total annual

cost for all 56 respondents is estimated

to be $128,620,703. The average current

cost associated with developing benefit

cost information for the section 305(b)

biennial reports is estimated to be

$1,750, and the total annual cost for all

59 respondents is estimated to be

$103,253. The average potential

additional cost associated with

developing improved benefit cost

information for the section 305(b)

biennial reports is estimated to be

$25,901 per respondent (depending on

the level of detail and sophistication of

the analyses), and the total annual

potential additional cost for all 59

respondents is estimated to be

$1,424,891. Overall, the burden

associated with the new requirements

amounts to a total of 351,504 hours at

a cost of $13,669,991 and the burden

associated with the current program

requirements amounts to a total of

3,309,950 hours at a cost of

$128,723,955. 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. An Agency

may not conduct or sponsor, and a

person is not required to respond to

collection of information unless it

displays a currently valid OMB control

number. The OMB control numbers for

EPA’s regulations are listed in 40 CFR

part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15.

Comments are requested on the

Agency’s need for this information, the

accuracy of the provided burden

estimates, and any suggested methods

for minimizing respondent burden,

including through the use of automated

collection techniques. Send comments

on the ICR to the Director, Collection

Strategies Division; U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (2822); 1200

Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington,

DC 20460; and to the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget, 725

17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20503,

marked ‘‘Attention: Desk Officer for

EPA.’’ Include the ICR number in any

correspondence. Since OMB is required

to make a decision concerning the ICR

between 30 and 60 days after May 26,

2000, a comment to OMB is best assured

of having its full effect if OMB receives

it by June 26, 2000. The final rule will

respond to any OMB or public

comments on the information collection

requirements contained in this proposal.

Dated: May 19, 2000

Robert H. Wayland III,

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and

Watersheds.

[FR Doc. 00–13441 Filed 5–25–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P