Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2023-0095-0004
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Clean Water Act Water Quality Certification
Posted Date: 2023-08-01T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50147-50148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16216]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2023-0095; FRL-11249-01-OMS]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Clean Water Act Water Quality Certification (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), Clean Water Act Water Quality 
Certification (EPA ICR Number 2603.07, OMB Control Number 2040-0295) 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 July 31, 
2023. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal 
Register on April 5, 2023, during a 60-day comment period. This notice 
allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before August 31, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OW-2023-0095, to 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. 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.
    Submit written comments and recommendations to OMB for the proposed 
information collection within 30 days of publication of this notice to 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liana Prudencio, Oceans, Wetlands, and 
Communities Division, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, (Mail 
Code 4504T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. 
NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-3351; email 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a proposed extension of the ICR, 
which is currently approved through July 31, 2023. 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.
    Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register 
on April 5, 2023 during a 60-day comment period (88 FR 20165). This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments. 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, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460. 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 part 121, the regulations that implement Clean Water Act (CWA) 
section 401. Under 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. Certifying authorities are 
states, tribes with treatment as a state (TAS) authorization, and in 
limited circumstances, EPA. 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. To demonstrate it has acted on the certification 
request, the certifying authority must provide a decision document to 
the relevant federal licensing or permitting agency. If the certifying 
authority fails or refuses to act on a certification request within a 
reasonable period of time (which shall not exceed one year) after 
receipt, the requirement to obtain certification is waived. EPA is also 
responsible for coordinating input from certain neighboring or 
downstream states and tribes affected by a discharge from a

[[Page 50148]]

federally licensed or permitted project under section 401(a)(2). 
Information collected directly collected by 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 0229.22) and 
therefore is not included in this analysis.
    Form numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Project proponents, State, and 
tribal reviewers (certifying authorities).
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Required to obtain 401 
certification (33 U.S.C. 1341(a)(1)).
    Estimated number of respondents: 154,000 responses from 77,140 
respondents annually (total).
    Frequency of response: One per federal application.
    Total estimated burden: 860,500 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $48,000,000 (per year), includes $0 
annualized capital or operation and maintenance costs.
    Changes in the estimates: There is a decrease of 70,500 annual 
hours in the total estimated respondent burden, a decrease of 19,979 
respondents, and a decrease of 40,000 annual responses compared with 
the ICR currently approved by OMB. This decrease is due to refinements 
in how the estimates are calculated in addition to a decrease in the 
average number of annual licenses and permits issued that are used in 
the low estimate and a decrease in the high estimate of annual 
certification requests from incorporating values provided in pre-
proposal input letters.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-16216 Filed 7-31-23; 8:45 am]
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