Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 77 / Tuesday, April 22, 2014 / Notices 22487 

which the filing responds; (3) furnish 

the name, address, and telephone 

number of the person protesting or 

intervening; and (4) otherwise comply 

with the requirements of 18 CFR 

385.2001 through 385.2005. All 

comments, motions to intervene, or 

protests must set forth their evidentiary 

basis and otherwise comply with the 

requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). All 

comments, motions to intervene, or 

protests should relate to project works 

which are the subject of the license 

surrender. Agencies may obtain copies 

of the application directly from the 

applicant. A copy of any protest or 

motion to intervene must be served 

upon each representative of the 

applicant specified in the particular 

application. If an intervener files 

comments or documents with the 

Commission relating to the merits of an 

issue that may affect the responsibilities 

of a particular resource agency, they 

must also serve a copy of the document 

on that resource agency. A copy of all 

other filings in reference to this 

application must be accompanied by 

proof of service on all persons listed in 

the service list prepared by the 

Commission in this proceeding, in 

accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 

385.2010. 

Dated: April 15, 2014. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–09070 Filed 4–21–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–UST–2010–0625; FRL–9909–85– 

OSWER] 

Proposed Information Collection 

Request; Comment Request; 

Underground Storage Tanks: 

Technical and Financial Requirements, 

and State Program Approval 

Procedures (Renewal) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an 

information collection request (ICR), 

‘‘Underground Storage Tanks: Technical 

and Financial Requirements, and State 

Program Approval Procedures 

(Renewal)’’ (EPA ICR No. 1360.13, OMB 

Control No. 2050–0068) to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and approval in accordance with 

the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 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 September 30, 2014. 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 June 23, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

referencing Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

UST–2010–0625 online using 

www.regulations.gov (our preferred 

method), by email to 

mcdermott.elizabeth@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 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elizabeth McDermott, Office of 

Underground Storage Tanks, Mail Code 

5401P, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: (703) 603–7175; fax number: 

(703) 603–0175; email address: 

mcdermott.elizabeth@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 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 enable it 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: Subtitle I of the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 

as amended, requires that EPA develop 

standards for Underground Storage 

Tank (UST) systems, as may be 

necessary, to protect human health and 

the environment, and procedures for 

approving state programs in lieu of the 

federal program. EPA promulgated 

technical and financial requirements for 

owners and operators of USTs at 40 CFR 

part 280, and state program approval 

procedures at 40 CFR part 281. This ICR 

is a comprehensive presentation of all 

information collection requirements 

contained at 40 CFR parts 280 and 281. 

The data collected for new and 

existing UST system operations and 

financial requirements are used by 

owners and operators and/or EPA or the 

implementing agency to monitor results 

of testing, inspections, and operation of 

UST systems, as well as to demonstrate 

compliance with regulations. EPA 

believes strongly that if the minimum 

requirements specified under the 

regulations are not met, neither the 

facilities nor EPA can ensure that UST 

systems are being managed in a manner 

protective of human health and the 

environment. 

EPA uses state program applications 

to determine whether to approve a state 

program. Before granting approval, EPA 

must determine that programs will be 

no less stringent than the federal 

program and contain adequate 

enforcement mechanisms. 

This collection also includes the 

authority for Region IX to request 

documents or other information from 

UST owners and operators within the 

Region. The information request letter 

authority was codified in 40 CFR 280.34 

of the UST regulations and this 

regulation and other provisions of the 

UST regulations also contain specific 

ongoing facility reporting and record 

keeping obligations. 

Form Numbers: None. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
22488 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 77 / Tuesday, April 22, 2014 / Notices 

Respondents/affected entities: 

Facilities that own and operate 

underground storage tanks (USTs), 

states that implement the UST 

programs, and tribes. 

Respondent’s obligation to respond: 

Mandatory (40 CFR part 280). 

Estimated number of respondents: 

211,540. 

Frequency of response: Once, on 

occasion, annual. 

Total estimated burden: 6,753,558 

hours (per year). Burden is defined at 5 

CFR 1320.03(b). 

Total estimated cost: $479,519,291 

(per year), includes $279,652,536 

annualized capital or operation & 

maintenance costs. 

Changes in Estimates: There is an 

increase of 1,500 hours in the total 

estimated respondent burden compared 

with the ICR currently approved by 

OMB. For Region 9, this represents an 

increase of 1,500 hours which is due to 

a readjustment of estimates after the first 

collection. Therefore this ICR’s burden 

hours are increasing by 1,500 hours due 

to the consolidation of adding in the 

estimates from the Region 9 UST 

program. For the general UST program, 

EPA expects the estimates to remain 

substantially the same for the renewal 

ICR since estimates of the universe of 

tanks and facilities has not changed 

significantly over the past three years. 

Dated: April 9, 2014. 

Carolyn Hoskinson, 

Director, Office of Underground Storage 

Tanks. 

[FR Doc. 2014–09138 Filed 4–21–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2013–0262; FRL–9909–87– 

OW] 

Re-Issuance of a General Permit to the 

National Science Foundation for the 

Ocean Disposal of Man-Made Ice Piers 

From Its Base at McMurdo Sound in 

Antarctica 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice; final permit. 

SUMMARY: EPA is re-issuing a permit 

authorizing the National Science 

Foundation (NSF) to dispose of ice piers 

in ocean waters. Permit re-issuance is 

necessary because the current permit 

has expired. Today, this renewed permit 

retains the conditions established in the 

previous general permit issuance. 

DATES: This general permit is effective 

May 22, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: This permit is identified as 

Docket No. EPA–HQ–OW–2013–0262. 

The record is closed but available for 

inspection from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays, at the Water Docket, 1301 

Constitution Avenue NW., Room B–135, 

Washington, DC 20460. For access to 

docket materials, call (202) 566–2426, to 

schedule an appointment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ryan Gross, Environmental Engineer, 

Marine Pollution Control Branch, 

Oceans and Coastal Protection Division 

(4504T), U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

(202) 566–1810. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

February 14, 2003, EPA issued a general 

permit to the NSF for ocean disposal of 

man-made ice piers from its base at 

McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. The 

Marine Protection, Research, and 

Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA) section 104(a) 

provides that permits shall be issued for 

a period not to exceed seven years, 33 

U.S.C. 1414(a). This general permit has 

expired, but remains in effect under the 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

558(c) because NSF filed a timely and 

sufficient application for renewal prior 

to expiration. EPA published a notice 

proposing renewal of the permit on May 

9, 2011 (76 FR 26721). Therefore, 

today’s action by the EPA finalizes the 

provisions of the general permit and 

extends the terms of the 2003 permit for 

another seven-year period. 

EPA re-issues the general permit 

under sections 102(a) and 104(c) of the 

MPRSA to authorize the NSF to dispose 

of man-made ice piers in ocean waters 

from its base at McMurdo Sound in 

Antarctica. The NSF is the agency of the 

United States Government responsible 

for oversight of the United States 

Antarctic Program. The NSF currently 

operates three major bases in Antarctica: 

McMurdo Station on Ross Island, 

adjacent to McMurdo Sound; Palmer 

Station, near the western terminus of 

the Antarctic Peninsula; and 

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, at 

the geographic South Pole. McMurdo 

Station is the largest of the three stations 

and serves as the primary logistics base 

for the Antarctica operations of NSF. 

The great majority of personnel and 

supplies destined for the three stations 

are unloaded from ships docked at the 

McMurdo Station ice pier. This manmade pier has a normal life span of 

three to five years. NSF constructed the 

current ice pier in 2012. 

When an ice pier is at the end of its 

effective life, all transportable 

equipment, materials, and debris are 

removed. The pier is then cast loose 

from its moorings at the base and is 

towed out to McMurdo Sound for 

disposal, where it melts naturally. 

Issuance of this general permit is 

necessary because the pier must be 

towed out to sea for disposal at the end 

of its effective life. In accordance with 

Section 104(c) of the MPRSA, 33 U.S.C. 

1414(c) and implementing regulations at 

40 CFR 220.3, the terms and conditions 

of this general permit are designed to 

protect the marine environment, 

including through specification of 

operating conditions applicable over the 

life of the pier, as well as required 

clean-up actions, with which the NSF 

must comply before the disposal of any 

ice pier. 

A. Background on McMurdo Station Ice 

Pier 

The construction of the ice pier at 

McMurdo Sound Station was explained 

in the Federal Register notice of January 

7, 2003 (68 FR 775), and remains largely 

similar today. The current pier, 

however, contains fewer materials and 

is about half the size of the 2003 ice 

pier, and measures 354 feet long, 200 

feet wide, and 15 feet thick. The current 

pier contains the following types and 

approximate quantities of materials: (a) 

11,500 feet of one-inch steel cable 

embedded 5 feet from the bottom; (b) a 

6 inch by 6 inch steel mesh embedded 

10 feet from the bottom; (c) 650 feet of 

two-inch steel pipe; (d) eight steel 

bollards; and (e) 1,750 cubic yards of 

local gravel, 2 cm or smaller in size. 

When the pier has deteriorated to the 

point that it is not capable of being used 

the following season, the gravel is 

scraped off for use in the following 

season; all transportable equipment, 

materials, and debris are removed; and 

the pier is physically separated from its 

attachment to McMurdo Base at the end 

of the austral summer. The defunct pier 

is then towed by a U.S. Coast Guard 

cutter into McMurdo Sound past the 

distal end of the open channel in the 

ice, as near to the Ross Sea currents as 

possible. The pier is released in a 

direction that allows it to flow with the 

Ross Sea currents, away from the open 

channel in the ice. The pier then floats 

free within the ice pack, where it mixes 

with the annual sea ice and eventually 

disintegrates. The materials dumped 

under this general permit (other than 

ice, which melts naturally) include 

those materials used in construction of 

the ice pier that cannot be removed 

prior to disposal. 

For background information on the 

McMurdo Station ice pier, the reader is 

referred to the Federal Register notice of 

January 7, 2003 (68 FR 775), which is 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES