63710 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 238 / Tuesday, December 12, 1995 / Notices

and 385.214. Pursuant to Section

154.210 of the Commission’s

regulations, all such motion or protests

must be filed not later than 12 days after

the date of filing noted above. Protests

will be considered by the Commission

in determining the appropriate action to

be taken, but will not serve to make the

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–30180 Filed 12–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5341–5]

Request for Comments: Information

Collection Request for the 1996 Metal

Products and Machinery—Phase II

Survey; Agency Information Collection

Activities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), this notice announces that

the United States Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to

request approval from the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) to

conduct a survey of industries included

in the Metal Products and Machinery

(MP&M) Phase II industrial categories.

These categories are motor vehicles (i.e.,

automotive industry activities—

excluding automotive filling stations),

bus & truck, railroad, office machines,

household equipment, instruments (i.e.,

measurement and control instruments),

precious metals, and ships & boats.

Before submitting the proposed

Information Collection Request (ICR) to

OMB for review and approval, EPA is

soliciting comments from the public on

specific aspects of the proposed

information collection as described

below.

DATES: Comments and requests for

information must be received by EPA no

later than February 12, 1996.

ADDRESSES: The public may contact Mr.

Mark Ingle at the EPA for a copy of the

proposed survey instruments. Mr. Ingle

may be reached by mail at U.S. EPA,

Engineering and Analysis Division, Mail

Code 4303, Office of Science and

Technology, 401 M Street SW.,

Washington, DC 20460; or by telephone

at (202) 260–7191. The survey

instruments will be available as draft

documents that include all pertinent

instructions, information request

questions, and definitions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Affected

Entities: Entities affected by the

proposed survey include industrial

activities that manufacture, maintain, or

repair metal products and machinery

included in the following industry

categories: motor vehicles (i.e.,

automotive industry activities—

excluding automotive filling stations),

bus & truck, railroad, office machines,

household equipment, instruments (i.e.,

measurement and control instruments),

precious metals, and ships & boats.

Such entities may be privately owned,

or may be owned by the federal

government and/or state/local

governments. The survey instruments

will be sent to entities in these

categories, regardless of the ownership

status of the parts they are

manufacturing, maintaining, or

repairing. The survey is intended to

identify and collect data from MP&M

Phase II industrial sites that generate

and discharge process wastewater from

unit operations associated with

potential water-using industrial

activities (selected examples of waterusing industrial activities are

electroplating, painting, machining,

grinding, conversion coating).

In addition to the directly affected

entities listed above, the EPA also plans

to collect information related to

regulatory burden that would be created

by implementation of a final MP&M

Phase II rule on other federal agencies

(e.g., Department of Defense,

Department of Energy, etc.), and the

state/local governmental authorities

responsible for operating the affected

publicly owned treatment works.

Impacts on these other government

entities could include either increased

costs to issue additional permits or cost

savings realized from using the

proposed national standards instead of

local pollutant limits.

Title: 1996 Metal Products and

Machinery Industry—Phase II Survey.

Abstract: The survey is intended to

collect, from industry and other affected

parties, the type of technical and

economic information required by EPA

to develop effluent limitations

guidelines for the Metal Products and

Machinery, Phase II industry categories

described above. EPA is required under

Section 304(m) of the Clean Water Act

of 1987 (Federal Water Pollution

Control Act, 33 U.S.C. 1314[m]) to

promulgate new effluent limitations

guidelines. As the result of a lawsuit by

the Natural Resources Defense Council,

Inc. (NRDC) and Public Citizen, Inc.

(NRDC et al. v. Reilly, Civ. No. 89–

2980), a Consent Decree was entered by

the Court on January 31, 1992 that

established the schedule for

promulgating numerous effluent

limitations guidelines including the

MP&M Phase II rule. Thus, EPA is

required under a court order stemming

from the CWA to promulgate the MP&M

Phase II rule. Because this survey will

be issued under authority of Section 308

of the Clean Water Act of 1987 (Federal

Water Pollution Control Act, U.S.C.

Section 1318), responses from data

collection survey instrument recipients

are mandatory. The survey instruments

will be mailed after OMB approves the

ICR. The ICR that will be submitted by

EPA to OMB will include discussion of

the comments EPA has already received

to date and the comments received as

the result of today’s announcement. The

proposed survey instruments are a

necessary part of the data collection

portion of the effluent limitations

guidelines development process. The

proposed survey instruments will

provide EPA with the technical and

economic data required to effectively

evaluate pollution control technologies

and the economic achievability of the

final rule. EPA will consider both

technical performance and economic

achievability (including cost

effectiveness analyses of alternative

pollution control technologies) when

developing the final regulations.

Burden Statement: The proposed

survey instruments were developed by

improving upon the MP&M Phase I

survey in such a manner as to reduce

burden and improve clarity. EPA has

already conducted an outreach program

to industry and other government

entities with the objective of minimizing

reporting burden. The outreach program

included distribution of draft survey

instruments to industry and

governmental associations, outreach to

community groups, and direct

presentations at meetings. The following

are the industry/government

associations already contacted as part of

the EPA outreach program: Air

Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute,

American Ambulance Association,

American Automotive Manufacturers

Association, American Bus Association,

American Electronics Association,

American Electroplaters and Surface

Finishers Society, American Furniture

Manufacturing Association, American

Public Transit Association, American

Short Line Railroad Association,

American Trucking Association,
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 238 / Tuesday, December 12, 1995 / Notices 63711

American Watch Association,

Association Council of the National

Association of Manufacturers,

Association for the Advancement of

Medical Instruments, Association of

American Railroads, Association of

International Automotive

Manufacturers, Association of Home

Appliance Manufacturers, Association

of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies,

Automotive Service Association,

Citizens for a Better Environment, Clock

Manufacturers and Marketing

Association, Community Transportation

Association of America, Computer and

Communication Industry Association,

Dental Manufacturers of America,

Electronic Industries Association,

Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of

the Earth, Gold & Silver Institute, Health

Industry Manufacturers Association,

Information Technology Industry

Council, International Precious Metals

Institute, Manufacturing Jewelers &

Silversmiths of America, Motor &

Equipment Manufacturers Association,

National Coalition of Advanced

Manufacturing, National Association of

Metal Finishers, National Shipbuilding

Research Program, Natural Resources

Defense Council, Railway Progress

Institute, Scientific Apparatus

Manufacturers Association, Silver

Coalition, Silver Users Association,

Sierra Club, Sporting Goods

Manufacturers Association, The Jewelry

Manufacturers Guild, Truck Renting and

Leasing Association, United Bus

Owners of America, United Auto

Workers Union—Health and Safety

Department. Based on comments

already received as the result of these

outreach activities, the proposed MP&M

Phase II industry survey instruments

will be made up of a brief screener and

a more detailed questionnaire. This twophase survey will allow burden on

industrial facilities to be related to

process wastewater flow and pollutant

discharges such that facilities

discharging less than 1,000,000 gallons

per year of process wastewater will have

less reporting burden than facilities

discharging larger volumes of process

wastewater. Finally, EPA will maintain

a temporary, no-charge telephone

number that survey recipients may call

to obtain assistance in completing the

data collection surveys. EPA believes

that the no-charge telephone number

will greatly reduce burden by helping

recipients to answer specific questions

within the context of their individual

operations. To minimize burden on

federal, state, and local governments

that may operate MP&M-Phase-II-type

facilities, survey instruments for these

specific government entities that reflect

the unique nature of government

economic accounting have been

developed. Similar survey instruments

that discuss potential burden issues on

other government entities such as

wastewater treatment plant operators

have also been developed. Current

burden estimates, based on an analysis

of the MP&M Phase I survey responses

and comments provided by trade

associations on the proposed MP&M

Phase II survey instruments are based

on the type and number of surveys that

will be distributed. The following

summarizes these burden estimates:

1. The total estimated burden on

industry to respond to the data

collection surveys is estimated to be

59,540 hours. This burden is based on

industry completing approximately

5,000 surveys. Of these 5,000 surveys,

4,620 will be the simple, one-page

screeners that are estimated to require

only one hour to complete (i.e., the

average time required by all recipients

to complete the survey will be one hour;

with many recipients requiring only a

few minutes to complete the screener,

while large firms may require a few

hours to collect the required data). The

remaining 380 recipients (i.e., the larger

industrial wastewater dischargers) will

receive larger, more comprehensive

surveys that will take up to

approximately 154 hours to complete.

The burden estimates for these larger

facilities are based on approximately

100 sites requiring approximately 118

hours to complete the survey and 280 of

the largest discharging facilities

requiring 154 hours to complete the

survey.

2. The total burden estimate on

municipalities, DoD, DoE, and other

government entities is expected to be

3,400 hours with approximately 50

government entities having to complete

surveys. EPA estimates that these other

government entities will require an

average of 68 hours to complete the

surveys (i.e., the amount of time

municipalities will require to complete

the surveys will range from 1 hour to

136 hours with 68 hours being an

average estimated amount of time).

3. The total burden estimate on

POTWs and other entities that will

implement the MP&M Phase II rules is

estimated to be 5,500 hours with

approximately 250 POTWs completing

the data collection surveys and each

respondent requiring an average of 22

hours to complete the survey. Estimates

for the time required to complete these

surveys ranges from 4 to 40 hours for

each survey respondent.

Thus, the total national burden

estimate for all parts of this data

collection is 68,440 hours.

Given that EPA needs to collect data

regarding both costs and benefits

associated with environmental rules,

EPA is interested in any suggestions

industry or the public may have

regarding means of reducing the data

collection burden. Any burden

reduction suggestions must consider the

need to collect information on the

pollutants being discharged by the

industries, the processes that generate

the pollutants, the economic

achievability of the proposed

regulations, and the economic benefits

derived from reducing pollution in our

oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. Please

send any suggestions for reducing

burden to Mr. Mark Ingle, U.S. EPA,

Engineering and Analysis Division, Mail

Code 4303, Office of Science and

Technology, 401 M Street, S.W.,

Washington, DC 20460.

Dated: November 14, 1995.

Tudor T. Davies,

Director, Office of Science and Technology.

[FR Doc. 95–30258 Filed 12–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

[FRL–5344–5]

XL Community Pilot Program

SUMMARY: This document responds to

President Clinton’s March 16, 1995

initiatives listed in the report,

Reinventing Environmental Regulation.

In the report, EPA committed to

implementing pilot programs to develop

innovative alternatives to the current

environmental management system.

These programs will give a limited

number of regulated entities and

communities an opportunity to

demonstrate excellence and leadership

in environmental protection. These

reinvention pilot programs, entitled

Project XL, will focus on four areas:

facilities, industry sectors, federal

government agencies, and communities.

This Federal Register Notice addresses

the XL Community Pilot Program and is

a solicitation for pilot project proposals

and comments on all aspects of the XL

Community Pilot Program. An earlier

Federal Register Notice published on

May 23, 1995 (60 FR 27282 discusses

the XL pilot programs for facilities,

industry sectors, and Federal

government agencies.

Today, EPA is announcing the XL

Community Pilot Program to join with

local governments, communities, states,

federal recognized tribes, and others to

conduct a limited number of pilot

projects that demonstrate and assess the

merits of community-designed and

directed strategies for achieving greater

environmental quality and sustainable