81 FR 64151 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Proposed Information Collection Request for the National Study of Nutrient Removal and Secondary Technologies: Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Screener Questionnaire

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 181 (September 19, 2016)

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR) for a mandatory survey, ``Proposed Information Collection Request for the National Study of Nutrient Removal and Secondary Technologies: Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Screener Questionnaire'' (EPA ICR No. 2553.01, OMB Control No. 2040-NEW). Before submitting the ICR to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. 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.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64151-64153]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22498]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0404; FRL-9952-57-OW]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Proposed Information 
Collection Request for the National Study of Nutrient Removal and 
Secondary Technologies: Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Screener 
Questionnaire

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an 
information collection request (ICR) for a mandatory survey, ``Proposed 
Information Collection Request for the National Study of Nutrient 
Removal and Secondary Technologies: Publicly Owned Treatment Works 
(POTW) Screener Questionnaire'' (EPA ICR No. 2553.01, OMB Control No. 
2040-NEW). Before submitting the ICR to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of 
the proposed information collection as described below. 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 submitted on or before November 18, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2016-0404 online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by 
email to [email protected], Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-
0404, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 
20460.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-
0404. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or email. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment along with 
any disk you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be 
able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects 
or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket, visit 
the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Paul Shriner, Engineering and 
Analysis Division (4303T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-566-
1076; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

How can I access the docket and/or submit comments?

    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. EPA--EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0404, which is available at https://www.regulations.gov, or for in person viewing at the Water Docket in 
the EPA Docket Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The 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 Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
    Use https://www.regulations.gov to obtain a copy of the draft 
collection of information supporting statement, obtain a draft of the 
screener, review the draft mailing list of screener respondents, submit 
or view public comments, view the index listing of the contents of the 
docket, and access those documents in the public docket that are 
available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' then 
key in the docket ID number identified in this document.

What information is EPA particularly interested in?

    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, EPA specifically 
solicits 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 accuracy, 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 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). In particular, EPA is requesting comments 
from small POTWs (those that service a population of less than 50,000) 
on examples of specific additional ways EPA can reduce the paperwork 
burden on small facilities.

[[Page 64152]]

What should I consider when I prepare my comments for EPA?

    You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing your 
comments:
    1. Explain your views as clearly as possible and provide specific 
examples.
    2. Describe any assumptions that you used.
    3. Provide copies of any technical information and/or data you used 
that support your views.
    4. If you estimate potential burden or costs, explain how you 
arrived at the estimate that you provide.
    5. Offer alternative ways to improve the collection activity.
    6. Make sure to submit your comments by the deadline identified 
under DATES above.
    7. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, be sure to identify the docket 
ID number assigned to this action in the subject line on the first page 
of your response. You may also provide the name, date, and Federal 
Register citation.

What information collection activity or ICR does this apply to?

    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
approximately 16,000 (but no more than 20,000) POTWs that meet the 
definition under 40 CFR 403.3(q), as well as up to 100 state and/or 
small municipal association contacts.
    Title: National Study of Nutrient Removal and Secondary 
Technologies: Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Screener 
Questionnaire Information Collection Request.
    ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 2553.01, OMB Control No. 2040--NEW.
    ICR status: This ICR is for a new information collection activity. 
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 information 
collections are displayed either by publication in the Federal Register 
or by other appropriate means, such as on the related collection 
instrument or form, if applicable.
    Abstract: Nutrient pollution remains the single greatest challenge 
to our Nation's water quality, and presents a growing threat to public 
health and local economies--contributing to toxic harmful algal blooms, 
contamination of drinking water sources, and costly impacts on 
recreation, tourism and fisheries. The multi-phase study described 
here, when completed, will provide a rich database of nutrient removal 
performance at secondary treatment POTWs nationwide, and will help 
POTWs understand the range of nutrient removal performance and 
opportunities to optimize nutrient removals based on data from their 
peers. It will also serve as a major new resource for POTWs, states and 
stakeholders to evaluate the most cost effective approaches to nutrient 
reduction at the watershed scale. The EPA is collaborating with states 
to make greater progress in reducing nutrient loadings discharged into 
the Nation's waters from all sources. With this goal in mind, EPA's 
Office of Water is planning to collect data to evaluate the nutrient 
removals and related technology performance of POTWs with conventional 
secondary treatment. For the purposes of this study ``conventional 
secondary treatment'' are those processes used by industry to meet the 
regulatory requirements for secondary treatment. The goals of this 
study would be to establish a baseline of nutrient performance 
nationally for secondary treatment facilities and to document the 
capability of POTWs to reduce nutrient discharges by implementing 
changes to operations and maintenance, without making extensive capital 
investments.
    The full study would be conducted in multiple phases over the 
course of four to five years, allowing for interactions with 
stakeholders and experts in each phase. The first phase of the study is 
a screener questionnaire which is the focus of this ICR.
    To initiate this study, EPA first needs to update existing 
information on the universe of POTWs in the U.S., including tribally 
owned facilities, and collect basic information on the characteristics 
of these POTWs. There are no currently available datasets which 
identify all the POTWs in the country, or that identify which POTWs are 
conventional secondary treatment plants. These conventional secondary 
plants would then be the focus of study over the next four years to 
determine how efficiently these plants remove nutrients and how 
enhancements to operation and maintenance have improved that 
performance. EPA envisions conducting future surveys of a statistically 
representative sample of the population of secondary treatment plants 
but will not know the exact format of the collection until it receives 
data from this screener. Regardless of the method, EPA's objective is 
to create a database of the full population of POTWs in the U.S. and 
use that database for further statistical study of nutrient removal 
performance. EPA plans to make this database publically available--
subject to confidentiality concerns that may arise. Currently only a 
small number of case studies are available documenting how secondary 
treatment plants can reduce nutrient discharges through enhanced 
operation and maintenance procedures. The study EPA is planning would 
provide statistically representative data on improved nutrient removal 
by secondary treatment plants resulting from changes in operation and 
maintenance. This study would help States and POTWs agree to and set 
well-informed and realistic nutrient load reduction targets for 
wastewater treatment facilities where appropriate, and provide 
information on the time and costs needed to make enhancements in 
operation and maintenance procedures.
    EPA's Office of Water plans to administer the initial survey as a 
mandatory census of POTWs in the U.S. Clean Water Act Section 308 
authority constitutes a broad authority \1\ to request information to 
carry out any objective under the Clean Water Act. 33 U.S.C. 1318(a). 
Any use of 308 authority is never taken lightly by EPA, and much 
deliberation went into this decision. Key to our decision are the goals 
of the overall study and the concern that voluntary submission or self-
selection could result in a low or unrepresentative survey response 
rate. This census, the first phase of the study, is essential to the 
future phases of the study. Requiring facilities to participate is 
necessary to identify all of the secondary treatment or equivalent 
facilities in the U.S. EPA's Office of Water intends to use this 
information for research and statistical purposes only. Information is 
not being collected for purposes of enforcement or to compel facilities 
to submit information regarding activities that might be potential 
violations of their National Pollution Discharge Elimination System 
(NPDES) permits. This census will solicit basic facility 
identification, characterization, and technical information necessary 
to develop the future detailed questionnaire, to select the sample of 
secondary treatment plants planned for subsequent phases of the study, 
and to select POTWs where future influent and effluent sampling could 
be conducted to document performance. EPA would prepare a second ICR 
for the subsequent phases of the study after the first phase census is 
completed and the sample frame for the

[[Page 64153]]

subsequent phases developed. EPA is considering utilizing pre-tests, 
pilots, or other techniques to obtain stakeholder input in the 
development of the subsequent phases of this study which may not need 
to be conducted using 308 authority.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. U.S. EPA, 822 
F.2d 104, 119 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (``[i]n our view, the statute's sweep 
is sufficient to justify broad information disclosure requirements 
relating to the Administrator's duties, as long as the disclosure 
demands which he imposes are `reasonable.' '')
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The rationale for conducting this effort as a mandatory census is 
two-fold. Currently there exist multiple, disparate databases 
containing information concerning various subsets of treatment 
facilities; however, each of these databases is incomplete with respect 
to identifying all facilities. In addition, each database has missing 
or incomplete data fields. Second, historic precedent indicates that 
voluntary survey designs have extremely low response rates and issues 
with bias. Both of these facts make getting an accurate, national 
profile of POTWs infeasible without making it mandatory to respond. EPA 
also intends to conduct up to 40 POTW site visits and up to 100 state 
and small municipality association phone contacts to solicit 
information on industry terminology, typical treatment trains and modes 
of operation, and nutrient removal technologies and operating 
practices, and this ICR addresses these activities as well.
    EPA is limiting the information requested by the census to that 
which is necessary to create a complete population of POTWs and to 
identify basic information about that population. Questions include 
those necessary to identify and stratify the universe of POTWs and, 
within that population, the secondary treatment POTWs not designed 
specifically to remove nitrogen and phosphorus. A draft of the screener 
is available at Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0404 as part of today's 
request for comments (see Instructions section of this notice for 
further information).
    The draft screener makes use of multiple choice and yes/no 
questions, with the intention to use drop down menus and checkboxes 
from which respondents will choose the best answer. EPA is not 
including open-ended questions in the screener questionnaire which 
would likely be unwieldy due to the number and expected variation of 
responses and the extensive follow-up needed when entering the 
responses into a database. EPA intends to design the screener 
questionnaire as a web-based survey that POTWs can fill out and submit 
online. EPA intends to require the submittal of a signed certification 
form that will either be uploaded with the screener, or may be mailed 
directly to the Agency. EPA will provide a mechanism for POTWs to 
respond with a mailed response if they cannot access the internet. EPA 
is specifically soliciting comments on simplifying the census format. 
In addition, EPA is soliciting comments on EPA's approach to developing 
the mailing list, and has made a draft available in the Docket (see 
Instructions section of this notice for further information).
    Burden statement: This information collection is a one-time event. 
The total respondent reporting and recordkeeping burden for this 
collection of information is estimated to average 3.5 hours per 
response for 90 percent of the respondents and 1.5 hours per response 
for 10 percent of the respondents. 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. 
The burden estimate 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; 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.
    The ICR provides a detailed explanation of the Agency's estimate, 
which is only briefly summarized here:
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: No more than 
20,000 POTWs, 40 POTWs for site visits, 100 state or small municipal 
association contacts.
    Frequency of response: One-time data collection.
    Estimated total average burden for each respondent: POTW screener 
survey response--3.5 hours for 90 percent of the respondents ($147) and 
1.5 hours for 10 percent of the respondents ($65); POTW site visit 
respondent--8 hours, $224; State/Small Municipal Association contact--1 
hour, $55.
    Estimated total respondent burden hours: 66,420.
    Estimated total respondent costs: $2,792,713. This estimate 
reflects unit costs for labor and operational and maintenance costs.

What is the next step in the process for this ICR?

    EPA will consider the comments received and amend the ICR, the 
screener questionnaire, and its approach as appropriate. During this 
public comment period, EPA will be working with stakeholders to refine 
the survey instrument and will revise the instrument as appropriate 
after considering the comments expressed during those interactions and 
in response to this notice. The final ICR package will then be 
submitted to OMB for review and approval pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.12. At 
that time, EPA will issue another Federal Register notice pursuant to 5 
CFR 1320.5(a)(1)(iv) to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and a 
30 day opportunity to submit comments to OMB on this ICR. If you have 
any questions about this ICR or the approval process, please contact 
the technical person listed above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

    Dated: September 12, 2016.
Elizabeth Southerland,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2016-22498 Filed 9-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P