Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2019-0566-0003
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Water Quality Certification Regulations (Renewal)
Posted Date: 2020-02-28T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 40 (Friday, February 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11985-11986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04063]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2019-0566; FRL-10005-90-OMS]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Water Quality Certification Regulations 
(Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Water Quality Certification 
Regulations (EPA ICR No. 2603.03, OMB Control No. 2040-0295) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This is a proposed 
revision of an ICR, which is currently approved through February 29, 
2020. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal 
Register on November 27, 2019 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 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: Additional comments may be submitted on or before March 30, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OW-2019-0566, to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB via email to 
oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer for 
EPA.
    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: Lauren Kasparek, Oceans, Wetlands, and 
Communities Division, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, (MC 
4504T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-3351; email address: 
cwa401@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.
    Abstract: This ICR describes the cost and burden associated with 40 
CFR 121, the regulations that implement Clean Water Act (CWA) section 
401. Under

[[Page 11986]]

section 401, a federal agency may not issue a permit or license that 
may result in any discharge into waters of the United States unless the 
certifying authority where the discharge would originate issues a 
section 401 water quality certification verifying that the discharge 
will comply with certain water quality requirements or waives the 
certification requirement. CWA section 401 requires project proponents 
to submit project specific information to certifying authorities. 
Certifying authorities may act on project specific information by 
either granting, granting with conditions, denying, or waiving section 
401 certification. CWA section 401 requires certifying authorities to 
submit information to the relevant federal licensing or permitting 
agency to indicate the action taken on a request for certification. If 
the certifying authority fails or refuses to act on a request for 
certification, within a reasonable period of time (which shall not 
exceed one year) after receipt of such request, the certification 
requirements of this subsection shall be waived with respect to such 
Federal application. The EPA is also responsible for providing 
notification to certain neighboring or downstream states and tribes 
affected by a discharge from a federally licensed or permitted project 
under section 401(a)(2). Information collected directly collected by 
the EPA under section 401 in support of the section 402 permit program 
is already captured under an existing ICR (OMB Control Number 2040-
0004, EPA ICR Number 0229.23) and therefore is not included in this 
analysis.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Applicants (Project Proponents) for 
certain federal licenses and permits; Certifying Authorities including 
states, territories, and authorized tribes.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Project Proponents: Required to 
obtain or retain a benefit (33 U.S.C. 1341). Certifying Authorities: 
Not mandatory.
    Estimated number of respondents: 97,119 (total).
    Frequency of response: Per Federal Application.
    Total estimated burden: 1,067,000 hours (per year). Burden is 
defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $64 million (per year), includes $8 million 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 739,000 hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. There is an increase in the total estimated respondent 
burden, number of respondents, and number of responses compared with 
the ICR currently approved by OMB due to refinements in how the 
estimates are calculated. See the Supporting Statement in the docket 
for more information on the changes in estimates.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2020-04063 Filed 2-27-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P