Notice2023-16216
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)
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 1, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50147-50148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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 <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> (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
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. 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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#25465244111514654055440b424a53"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8eedf9efbabebfceebfeefa0e9e1f8">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> 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 <a href="http://www.epa.gov/dockets">http://www.epa.gov/dockets</a>.
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]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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