Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0057-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: New Source Performance Standards for Steel Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon Oxygen Decarburization Vessels (Renewal)
Posted Date: 2023-03-24T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 57 (Friday, March 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17841-17842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06049]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0057; FRL-10834-01-OMS]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; NSPS for Steel Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon Oxygen 
Decarburization Vessels (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), NSPS for Steel Plants: Electric 
Arc Furnaces and Argon Oxygen Decarburization Vessels (EPA ICR Number 
1060.20, OMB Control Number 2060-0038), 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 March 31, 2023. Public comments were 
previously requested via the Federal Register on April 8, 2022 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 April 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2022-0057, to EPA online using https://www.regulations.gov/ (our 
preferred method), or by email to [email protected], 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: Muntasir Ali, Sector Policies and 
Program Division (D243-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle 
Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-0833; email 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a proposed extension of the ICR, 
which is currently approved through March 31, 2023. An Agency may 
neither conduct nor 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 
(87 FR 20847) on April 8, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. 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 https://www.regulations.gov or in person at the 
EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, 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: The New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Steel 
Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon Oxygen Decarburization Vessels 
(40 CFR part 60, subpart AA) were proposed on October 21, 1974, 
promulgated on September 23, 1975, and most-recently amended on 
February 22, 2005. These regulations apply to electric arc furnaces and 
dust-handling systems that commenced construction, modification, or 
reconstruction either after October 21, 1974 or on/or before August 17, 
1983 at steel plants that produce carbon, alloy, or specialty steels. 
In addition, the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for these 
regulations (40 CFR part 60, subpart AAa) were proposed on August 17, 
1983, promulgated on October 31, 1984, and most recently-amended on 
February 22, 2005. These

[[Page 17842]]

latter regulations apply to electric arc furnaces, argon-oxygen 
decarburization vessels, and dust-handling systems that commenced 
construction, modification, or reconstruction after August 17, 1983 at 
steel plants that produce carbon, alloy, or specialty steels. New 
facilities include those that commenced construction, modification or 
reconstruction after the date of proposal. This information is being 
collected to assure compliance with 40 CFR part 60, subparts AA and 
AAa. EPA proposed revisions to Subparts AA and AAa and proposed a new 
Subpart AAb on May 16, 2022 (87 FR 29710). The burden for these 
requirements is not included in this renewal and will be accounted for 
once the rule is finalized. In general, all NSPS standards require 
initial notifications, performance tests, and periodic reports by the 
owners/operators of the affected facilities. They are also required to 
maintain records of the occurrence and duration of any startup, 
shutdown, or malfunction in the operation of an affected facility, or 
any period during which the monitoring system is inoperative. These 
notifications, reports, and records are essential in determining 
compliance, and are required of all affected facilities subject to 
NSPS.
    Form numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Steel plants that produce carbon, 
alloy, or specialty steels.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 60, 
subparts AA and AAa).
    Estimated number of respondents: 90 (total).
    Frequency of response: Initially, semiannually.
    Total estimated burden: 56,700 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    Total estimated cost: $7,000,000 (per year), which includes 
$198,000 in annualized capital/startup and/or operation & maintenance 
costs.
    Changes in the estimates: There is an adjustment decrease in the 
total estimated burden as currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved Burdens. This decrease is not due to any program changes. The 
change in the burden and cost estimates is due to a decrease in the 
average number of respondents per year subject to subparts AA and AAa 
based on information gathered by EPA for a proposed rulemaking. 
Although there was a decrease in the average number of respondents per 
year, there was an increase in the number of new sources each year. 
This resulted in an adjustment increase to the total capital/startup 
cost. There is an adjustment decrease in the operation and maintenance 
(O&M) costs as calculated in section 6(b)(iii) compared with the costs 
in the previous ICR due to the decreased number of respondents based on 
more recent information provided by EPA.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-06049 Filed 3-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P