Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0048-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: New Source Performance Standards for Kraft Pulp Mill Affected Sources for Which Construction, Reconstruction, or Modification Commenced After May 23, 2013
Posted Date: 2023-08-18T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 159 (Friday, August 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56615-56616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17838]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0048; FRL-11346-01-OMS]

Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; NSPS for Kraft Pulp Mill Affected Sources 
for Which Construction, Reconstruction, or Modification Commenced After 
May 23, 2013 (Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), NSPS for Kraft Pulp Mill Affected 
Sources for which Construction, Reconstruction, or Modification 
Commenced After May 23, 2013 (EPA ICR Number 2485.05, OMB Control 
Number 2060-0690), 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 September 30, 2023. Public comments were previously requested 
via the Federal Register on July 22, 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 September 18, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2022-0048, to EPA online using 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. The 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 specific 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

[[Page 56616]]

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 September 30, 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 
on July 22, 2022 during a 60-day comment period (87 FR 43843). 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 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 Kraft 
Pulp Mill Affected Sources for Which Construction, Reconstruction, or 
Modification Commenced After May 23, 2013 (40 CFR part 60, subpart BBa) 
were proposed on May 23, 2013; promulgated on April 4, 2014; and 
amended on November 5, 2020. These regulations apply to emissions of 
particulate matter (PM) and total reduced sulfur (TRS) at recovery 
furnaces, smelt dissolving tanks (SDTs), lime kilns, digester systems, 
brown stock washer (BSW) systems, multiple effect evaporator systems 
and condensate stripper systems at kraft pulp mills that commenced 
construction, or modification or reconstruction after May 23, 2013. At 
pulp mills, where kraft pulping is combined with neutral sulfite semi-
chemical pulping, the provisions of this subpart are applicable when 
any portion of the material charged to an affected source is produced 
by the kraft pulping operation. This subpart includes provisions 
specifying that sources complying with the TRS standard for digester 
systems, BSW systems, evaporator systems and condensate stripper 
systems by venting to a control device must collect the gases in a 
closed-vent system subject to the provisions of 40 CFR part 63, subpart 
S. Facilities may be exempt from the TRS standard in the NSPS if the 
facility can demonstrate that TRS emissions from a brown stock washer 
cannot feasibly be controlled either technically or economically. 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, subpart BBa.
    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: Kraft pulp mills.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 60, 
subpart BBa).
    Estimated number of respondents: 12 (total).
    Frequency of response: Initially, occasionally, and semiannually.
    Total estimated burden: 4,250 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    Total estimated cost: $1,000,000 (per year), which includes 
$487,000 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. due to an update of the respondent count. The 
previous ICR renewal assumed 12 existing sources and two new sources 
per year would be subject to these requirements. However, consultations 
with the Agency's industry experts estimate there are 12 existing 
sources and no new sources per year. The previous ICR reflected those 
burdens and costs associated with the initial activities for subject 
facilities. This includes purchasing monitoring equipment, conducting 
performance tests and establishing recordkeeping systems. This ICR, by 
in large, reflects the on-going burden and costs for existing 
facilities. Activities for existing source include continuously 
monitoring of pollutants and the submission of semiannual reports. In 
addition, there are no new facilities that are expected to be in the 
initial compliance phase described above. The overall result is a 
decrease in burden hours and costs. There is also a decrease in the 
Capital and O&M costs from the most-recently approved ICR due to the 
updated respondent count.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-17838 Filed 8-17-23; 8:45 am]
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