[Federal Register: March 7, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 45)]
[Notices]
[Page 10404-10405]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07mr02-58]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7154-4]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; Operator Certification Guidelines and Operator
Certification Expense Reimbursement Grants Program
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this notice announces that the following Information
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Operator Certification
Guidelines and Operator Certification Expense Reimbursement Grants
Program, OMB Control Number 2040-0236, expiration date February 28,
2002. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and
its expected burden and cost; where appropriate, it includes the actual
data collection instrument.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 8, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Send comments, referencing EPA ICR #1955.02, and OMB Control
No. 2040-0236 to the following addresses: Susan Auby, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Collection Strategies Division (Mail
Code 2822), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC, 20460; and to
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the ICR contact Susan
Auby
[[Page 10405]]
at EPA by phone at (202) 260-4901, by E-mail at auby.susan@epa.gov, or
download off the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA
ICR #1955.02. For technical questions about the ICR, contact Jenny
Jacobs, Drinking Water Protection Division (Mailcode 4606M), Office of
Ground Water and Drinking Water, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Washington, DC, 20460. Ms. Jacobs may be contacted by phone at
(202) 564-3836 or by E-mail at jacobs.jenny@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Operator Certification Guidelines and
Operator Certification Expense Reimbursement Grants Program (OMB
Control Number 2040-0236; EPA ICR Number 1955.02) expiring 2/28/02.
This is an extension of a currently approved collection.
Abstract: This information collection is to determine if states are
meeting the requirements of EPA's operator certification guidelines,
which were published in the Federal Register on February 5, 1999 (64 FR
5916). Section 1419(a) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments
of 1996 requires EPA to develop operator certification guidelines for
state operator certification programs and to publish final guidelines
by February 6, 1999. Pursuant to section 1419(b) of the SDWA, beginning
two years after the date on which EPA publishes operator certification
guidelines (February 5, 2001), EPA shall withhold 20 percent of the
funds a state is otherwise entitled to receive under SDWA section 1452
unless a state has adopted and is implementing a program that meets the
requirements of EPA's operator certification guidelines. EPA is
required under SDWA section 1419 to make an annual determination on
whether to withhold 20 percent of a state's Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund (DWSRF) allotment. In order to make these decisions, EPA
must collect information from the states as required by EPA's
guidelines. States, in turn, must collect information from water
systems as required by their respective programs.
SDWA section 1419(d) requires EPA to reimburse (through grants to
states) the costs of training, including an appropriate per diem for
unsalaried operators, and certification for persons operating community
and nontransient noncommunity public water systems serving 3,300
persons or fewer that are required to undergo training pursuant to
EPA's operator certification guidelines. Prior to awarding grants to
states, EPA will need to collect information from states to ensure that
the state has a plan for distributing the funds to small system
operators. 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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's
regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15. The
Federal Register document required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting
comments on this collection of information was published on 2/28/01 (66
FR 12776); 1 comment was received.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and record keeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 4
hours per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This
includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire,
install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of
collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information;
adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable
instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to
a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review
the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the
information.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Owners/operator of public water
systems, State Environmental Water Quality Agencies, State Departments
of Health.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 68,396.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 302,425 hours.
Estimated Total Annualized Capital, O&M Cost Burden: $898,000.
Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods
for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of
automated collection techniques to the addresses listed above. Please
refer to EPA ICR No. 1955.02 and OMB Control No. 2040-0236 in any
correspondence.
Dated: February 26, 2002.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 02-5450 Filed 3-6-02; 8:45 am]
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