[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4068-4070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00904]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-OW-2013-0610; FRL-10017-57-OW]
Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Clean
Water Act 404 State-Assumed Programs
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to
submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Clean Water Act
Section 404 State-Assumed Programs'' (EPA ICR No. 0220.14, OMB Control
No. 2040-0168) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review
and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before
doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the
proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed
extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through July 31,
2021. 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: Comments must be received on or before March 16, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OW-2013-0610, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/
(our
[[Page 4069]]
preferred method). Follow the online instruction for submitting
comments.
Email: ow-docket@epa.gov. Include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2013-0610 in the subject line of the message.
Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket
Center, Water Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery or Courier (by scheduled appointment only):
EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center's hours of
operations are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except
Federal Holidays).
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information
provided. Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public and
our staff, the EPA Docket Center and Reading Room are closed to the
public, with limited exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting
COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote
customer service via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public
to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov/ or email, as there
may be a delay in processing mail and faxes. Hand deliveries and
couriers may be received by scheduled appointment only. For further
information on EPA Docket Center services and the current status,
please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dolores Wesson, Oceans, Communities,
and Wetlands Division, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW (4504T), Washington, DC 20460; telephone number:
202-566-2755; email address: wesson.dolores@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents which explain in detail
the information that 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. The EPA is temporarily
suspending its Docket Center and Reading Room for public visitors, with
limited exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our
Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote customer service
via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public to submit
comments via https://www.regulations.gov/ as there may be a delay in
processing mail and faxes. Hand deliveries or couriers will be received
by scheduled appointment only. For further information and updates on
EPA Docket Center services, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.
Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act,
EPA is soliciting comments and information to enable it to: (i)
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility; (ii) evaluate the
accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology
and assumptions used; (iii) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected; and (iv) minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who are to respond, including
through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses. EPA
will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as appropriate.
The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for review and
approval. At that time, EPA will issue another Federal Register notice
to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to
submit additional comments to OMB.
Abstract: Section 404(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(FWPCA), or the Clean Water Act (CWA) as it is commonly called,\1\
authorizes States and Tribes to assume the section 404 permit program
for discharges of dredged or fill material into certain waters of the
United States. This ICR covers the collection of information EPA needs
to perform its program approval and oversight responsibilities and the
State or Tribe needs to implement its program.
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\1\ The FWPCA is commonly referred to as the CWA following the
1977 amendments to the FWPCA. Public Law 95-217, 91 Stat. 1566
(1977). For ease of reference, EPA will generally refer to the FWPCA
in this document as the CWA or the Act.
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Request to assume CWA section 404 permit program. States and Tribes
must demonstrate that they meet the statutory and regulatory
requirements at 40 CFR part 233 for an approvable program. Specified
information and documents must be submitted by the State or Tribe to
EPA to request assumption and must be sufficient to enable EPA to
undertake a thorough analysis of the State or tribal program. The
information contained in the assumption request submission is provided
to the other involved federal agencies (e.g., U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marine
Fisheries Service) and to the general public for review and comment.
Permit application information. States and Tribes with assumed
programs must be able to issue permits that assure compliance with all
applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including the CWA
section 404(b)(1) Guidelines. Sufficient information must be provided
in the application so that States or Tribes and federal agencies
reviewing the permit are able to evaluate, avoid, minimize, and
compensate for any anticipated impacts resulting from the proposed
project. EPA's assumption regulations at 40 CFR 233.30 establish
required and recommended elements that should be included in the State
or Tribe's permit application, so that sufficient information is
available to make a thorough analysis of anticipated impacts. These
minimum information requirements generally reflect the information that
must be submitted when applying for a section 404 permit from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. (CWA section 404(h); CWA section 404(j); 40
CFR 230.10, 233.20, 233.21, 233.34, and 233.50; 33 CFR 325)).
Annual report and program information. EPA has an oversight role
for assumed section 404 permitting programs to ensure that State or
tribal programs are in compliance with applicable requirements and that
State or tribal permit decisions adequately consider, avoid, minimize,
and compensate for anticipated impacts. States and tribes must evaluate
their programs annually and submit the results in a report to EPA.
EPA's assumption regulations at 40 CFR 233.52 establish minimum
requirements for the annual report.
The information included in the State or Tribe's assumption request
and the information included in a permit application is made available
for public review and comment. The information included in the annual
report to EPA is made available to the public. EPA does not make any
assurances of confidentiality for this information.
Form numbers: None.
[[Page 4070]]
Respondents/affected entities: Entities potentially affected by
this action are those States requesting assumption of the CWA section
404 permit program; States with approved assumed programs; and permit
applicants for assumed State programs. No Tribes are expected to assume
at this time.
Respondent's obligation to respond: Required to obtain or retain a
benefit (40 CFR 233).
Estimated number of respondents: Two States to request program
assumption; 9,022 permit applicants (2,255.5 applications per State);
and four States with assumed programs (the two current programs and
potentially two that may be approved under this ICR) which will submit
an annual report.
Frequency of response: States will respond one time to request
assumption; if the program is approved, they will respond annually for
the annual report; permit applicants will respond one time when
requesting a permit.
Total estimated burden: The public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to be 165,755.4
hours per year (1,012 hours to request program assumption times two
States (2,024 hours) over a three-year period (675 hours); 2,255.5
permit applications reviewed by four States times 12.7 hours per
application (114,579.40 hours); 4,511 permit applications in the two
State-assumed programs times 11 hours per permit application (49,621);
and 110 hours to prepare an annual report times four State assumed
programs (440 hours)). The burden to EPA for related activities is
8,455 hours per year (442 hours to review assumption requests times two
States (884 hours) over a three-year period (295); 100 permit
applications times 80 hours per application review (8,000 hours); and
40 hours to review an annual report times four State assumed programs
(160 hours). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
Total estimated cost: Costs to States for assumed section 404
permit programs will vary widely by State and permit; however, the
total estimated costs for four programs is $5,641,625.21 and costs to
permittees in State-assumed programs is $1,266,824.13. There are $0
capital or operation and maintenance costs. The cost to EPA for related
activities is $502,251.20 in labor costs (per year), includes $0
annualized capital or operation and maintenance costs.
Changes in estimates: There is an increase of 45,250.4 hours in the
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently
approved by OMB (128,960 hours in the current ICR). There are several
reasons for this increase: (1) A small increase in the estimate of
hours required to assume a program based on information provided by
Michigan and New Jersey, the two States that are currently approved by
EPA to administer a State dredged and fill program; (2) recent changes
to policy in 2020 addressing endangered species and historic
preservation requiring additional burden for States and federal
agencies; (3) this estimate for the first time includes and reports
burden to State-assumed programs of permit review and burden to
permittees (prior ICRs did not calculate this burden due to lack of
data); and (4) adjustments reflecting a small increase in the estimate
of hours reported for review of permits by Michigan and New Jersey, as
well as a small increase in the time reported to complete the annual
report by Michigan. The estimate for number of permits per state has
been reduced based on data provided by New Jersey and Michigan (down to
2,255.5 per state from the prior estimate of 2,975).
John Goodin,
Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2021-00904 Filed 1-14-21; 8:45 am]
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