[Federal Register: November 22, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 225)]
[Notices]
[Page 67557-67558]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22no06-58]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OECA-2006-0448; FRL-8245-7]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Comment Request; NSPS for Steel Plants: Electric
Arc Furnaces and Argon-Oxygen Decarburization Vessels (Renewal) ICR
Number 1060.14, OMB Number 2060-0038
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 document announces that an Information Collection
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. The ICR which is abstracted below describes the
nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before December 22,
2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OECA-2006-0448, to (1) EPA online using http://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or by e-mail to docket.oeca@epa.gov, or by mail to:
EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Environmental Protection Agency,
Enforcement and Compliance Docket and Information Center, mail code
2201T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB
at: 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: Maria Malave, Compliance Assessment
and Media Programs Division (Mail Code 2223A), Office of Compliance,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-7027; fax number:
(202) 564-0050; e-mail address: malava.maria@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR
1320.12. On June 21, 2006 (71 FR 35652), EPA sought comments on this
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments. Any
additional comments on this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB
within 30 days of this notice.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under docket ID
number EPA-HQ-OECA-2006-0448, which is available for public viewing
online at http://www/regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the
Enforcement and Compliance Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC),
EPA West, Room B 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.
The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The
telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the
telephone number for the Enforcement and Compliance Docket is (202)
566-1927.
Use EPA's electronic docket and comment system at http://www.regulations.gov
, to submit or view public comments, access the
index listing of the contents of the docket, and to access those
documents in the docket that are available electronically. Once in the
system, select ``docket search,'' then key in the docket ID number
identified above. Please note that EPA's policy is that public
comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made
available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov, as EPA
receives them and without change, unless the comment contains
copyrighted material, Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other
information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. For
further information about the electronic docket, go to
http://www.regulations.gov.
[[Page 67558]]
Title: NSPS for Steel Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon-
Oxygen Decarburization Vessels (Renewal).
ICR Numbers: EPA ICR Number 1060.14, OMB Control Number 2060-0038.
ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2006.
Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor
the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.
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
in title 40 of the CFR, after appearing in the Federal Register when
approved, are listed in 40 CFR part 9, and displayed either by
publication in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, such
as on the related collection instrument or form, if applicable. The
display of OMB control numbers in certain EPA regulations is
consolidated in 40 CFR part 9.
Abstract: The New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for electric
arc furnaces were proposed on October 21, 1974 (39 FR 37466) and
promulgated on September 23, 1975 (40 FR 43850). These standards apply
to the following affected facilities in steel plants that produce
carbon, alloy, or specialty steels: Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and
dust handling systems commencing construction, modification or
reconstruction after the date of proposal and on or before August 17,
1983. A review of 40 CFR part 60, subpart AA in 1980 resulted in the
promulgation of a new standard (NSPS 40 CFR part 60, subpart AAa). The
review of NSPS subpart AA found that fugitive emissions capture
technology had improved since promulgation of NSPS subpart AA, and that
argon-oxygen decarburization (AOD) vessels are a significant source of
particulates in specialty steel shops. NSPS, subpart AAa was proposed
on August 17, 1983 and promulgated on October 31, 1984. The new
standard established new standards applicable to EAFs, AOD vessels, and
dust handling systems constructed, modified, or reconstructed after
August 17, 1983. On March 2, 1999, the Agency promulgated a direct
final rule to amend subparts AA and AAa in response to a petition made
by the Common Sense Initiative Council, established under a charter
approved pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which
approved daily visible emissions observations as an alternative to
static pressure monitoring at an EAF with a direct shell evacuation
system, and clarified some definitions.
In general, all NSPS standards require initial notifications,
performance tests, and periodic reports. Owners or operators 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 sources subject to
NSPS. Any owner or operator subject to the provisions of this part
shall maintain a file of these measurements, and retain the file for at
least two years following the date of such measurements, maintenance
reports, and records.
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, and are
identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 308
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 which have subsequently changed; 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: plants with electric arc furnaces,
AOD vessels, and dust handling systems that produce carbon, alloy, or
specialty steels.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 97.
Frequency of Response: Initially and semiannually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 60,112 hours (rounded).
Estimated Total Cost: $5,286,222, which includes $4,140 annualized
capital startup costs, $194,250 annual Operating and Maintenance (O&M)
costs, and $5,087,832 annual labor cost.
Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 288 hours from the
most recently approved ICR due primarily to a change made in the number
of operational days from 365 to 350 which offsets any increase that
resulted from the increase on the number of average respondents per
year from 95.3 to 96.6. The labor hours for management, clerical, as
well as for technical employees have been updated.
The decrease in the annualized capital/startup and operation and
maintenance costs from $285,750 to $198,390 is due to a decrease on the
number of respondents using continuous opacity monitors (COMs) for
compliance with the stack emissions requirements. This is an update to
the most recently approved ICR (i.e., ICR 1060.13) which did not
account for this type of burden change as a result of the 2005
amendments to the standard. The operation and maintenance costs for the
renewal of this ICR decreased due to a decrease in the number of
sources using COMs as a result of electing to comply with the
alternative option of daily opacity shop observations by a certified
visible emission observer couple with the use of bag leak detection
systems (BLDS).
Dated: November 15, 2006.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E6-19754 Filed 11-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P