Notice2024-23474
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Influent Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Study and National Sewage Sludge Survey (NSSS) (New)
Primary source
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Published
October 10, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Influent Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Study and National Sewage Sludge Survey (NSSS) (EPA ICR Number 2799.01, OMB Control Number 2040-NEW) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a request for approval of a new collection. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on March 26, 2024 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 89 Issue 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82238-82239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23474]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2023-0580; FRL-12332-01-OMS]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Influent Per- and
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Study and National Sewage Sludge
Survey (NSSS) (New)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an
information collection request (ICR), Publicly Owned Treatment Works
(POTW) Influent Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Study and
National Sewage Sludge Survey (NSSS) (EPA ICR Number 2799.01, OMB
Control Number 2040-NEW) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act.
This is a request for approval of a new collection. Public comments
were previously requested via the Federal Register on March 26, 2024
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 November 12, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OW-2023-0580, to EPA online using <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> (our preferred
method), by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ade2fa80e9c2cec6c8d9edc8ddcc83cac2db"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="85cad2a8c1eae6eee0f1c5e0f5e4abe2eaf3">[email protected]</span></a>, 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: Sean Dempsey, Engineering and Analysis
Division, Office of Science and Technology, (4303T), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: 202-564-5088; email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#93d7f6fee3e0f6eabdc0f6f2fdd3f6e3f2bdf4fce5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7135141c010214085f2214101f311401105f161e07">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a request for approval of a new
collection. 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 March 26, 2024 during a 60-day comment period (89 FR 20962). 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,
[[Page 82239]]
WJC West, 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 <a href="http://www.epa.gov/dockets">http://www.epa.gov/dockets</a>.
Abstract: This data collection is intended to gather essential data
to identify and quantify sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS) discharges, prioritize industrial categories for potential
regulation, and establish a current national data set of sewage sludge
characteristics. The data collection will support two separate EPA
studies--the POTW Influent PFAS Study and the National Sewage Sludge
Survey (NSSS).
The Clean Water Act directs the EPA to develop national regulations
known as Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards (ELGs) to place
limits on the pollutants that are discharged by categories of industry
to surface waters and POTWs. Additionally, Section 405(d) of the Clean
Water Act requires that the EPA establish requirements for the use or
disposal of sewage sludge and review the regulations every two years to
identify additional pollutants.
For many decades, industrial facilities have used and discharged
PFAS into the environment. PFAS are a class of synthetic chemicals of
concern to the EPA because of their widespread use and potential to
accumulate in the environment. Certain PFAS are known to cause adverse
ecological and human health effects.
The EPA will require, through an OMB-approved Information
Collection Request, a subset of large POTWs across the United States to
complete an electronic questionnaire and collect and analyze wastewater
and sewage sludge samples. The data collection activities will produce
a robust data set that will characterize the type and quantity of PFAS
in wastewater discharges from industrial users (including industrial
categories that the EPA has determined historically or currently use
PFAS but for which there is insufficient PFAS monitoring data
available), domestic wastewater or sewage, and POTW influent, effluent,
and sewage sludge. The wastewater sampling data will primarily be used
to identify and prioritize industrial point source categories where
additional study or regulations may be warranted to control PFAS
discharges. The sewage sludge sampling will fulfill the EPA's data
needs for the upcoming NSSS by establishing a current national data set
of sewage sludge characteristics which the EPA will subsequently use to
inform upcoming risk assessments and the need for future regulations
and guidance pertaining to the management of sewage sludge.
As part of the POTW Influent PFAS Study and NSSS, the EPA estimates
that approximately 400 POTWs (individual wastewater or standalone
wastewater treatment plans, as defined by Section 212 of the Clean
Water Act, which is owned by a state or municipality) with a daily
design flow rates greater than or equal to 10 million gallons per day
(MGD) and a service population greater than or equal to 50,000 people
will be required to complete an electronic questionnaire. The
questionnaire will gather POTW-specific information and data on
industrial users discharging to the POTW, known or suspected sources of
PFAS discharges to the POTW, and wastewater and sewage sludge
management practices of the POTW. The EPA will use the information and
data collected in the questionnaire to select a subset of 200 to 300 of
the 400 POTWs to participate in the POTW Influent PFAS Study and the
NSSS's sampling programs.
Form numbers: None.
Respondents/affected entities: 400 POTWs with a daily design flow
rate greater than or equal to 10 million gallons per day (MGD) and a
service population greater than or equal to 50,000 people will be
required to complete an electronic questionnaire. 200-300 of the 400
POTWs will be required to conduct wastewater and sewage sludge
sampling.
Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (Clean Water Act
Section 308).
Estimated number of respondents: 400 (total).
Frequency of response: One-time data collection.
Total estimated burden: 25,640 hours. Burden is defined at 5 CFR
1320.03(b).
Total estimated cost: $5,486,816 (one-time cost), which includes
$3,891,520 in capital or operation & maintenance costs.
Changes in the estimates: This is a new data collection request and
is a one-time temporary increase to the agency's burden.
Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-23474 Filed 10-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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