Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Cooling Water Intake Structures at Existing Facilities (Final Rule), 30605-30607 [2014-12312]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30605-30607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12312]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0667, FRL-9911-52-OW]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Cooling 
Water Intake Structures at Existing Facilities (Final Rule)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to 
submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Cooling Water Intake 
Structures at Existing Facilities (Final Rule)'' to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public 
comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as 
described below. This is a revision of an existing ICR. 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 July 28, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2008-0667 online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), by 
email to OW-Docket@epa.gov, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samantha Lewis, Engineering and 
Analysis Division, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, 
(4303T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-566-1058; fax number: 202-
566-1053; email address: Lewis.Samantha@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 
www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, 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 .
    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, EPA is soliciting 
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

[[Page 30606]]

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 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 
through 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. EPA 
will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as appropriate. 
The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for review and 
approval.
    EPA ICR Number: 2060.07.
    OMB Control Number: 2040-0257.
    Abstract: The section 316(b) Existing Facility Final Rule applies 
to existing facilities that use cooling water intake structures to 
withdraw water from waters of the United States and have or require a 
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued 
under section 402 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). If a facility meets the 
conditions specified below (from 40 CFR 125.91), it is subject to the 
rule. If a facility has or requires an NPDES permit but does not meet 
the 2 million gallons per day (mgd) intake flow threshold, it is 
subject to permit conditions implementing CWA section 316(b) developed 
by the NPDES permit director on a case-by-case basis using best 
professional judgment (BPJ). The rule applies to owners and operators 
of existing facilities that meet all of the following criteria:
     The facility is a point source;
     The facility uses or proposes to use one or more cooling 
water intake structures with a cumulative design intake flow (DIF) of 
greater than 2 mgd to withdraw water from waters of the United States; 
and
     Twenty-five percent or more of the water the facility 
withdraws on an actual intake flow basis is used exclusively for 
cooling purposes.

Generally, facilities that meet these criteria fall into two major 
groups: steam electric generating facilities and manufacturing 
facilities. The rule also makes limited corrections to the requirements 
for ``Phase I'' facilities (i.e., new facilities).\1\
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    \1\ This ICR does not calculate the burden and costs associated 
with amendments related to the Phase I Rule (66 FR 65255, December 
18, 2001; amended 68 FR 36749, June 19, 2003), as the changes to the 
Phase I rule promulgated today do not materially affect the burden 
associated with compliance for Phase I facilities. See the 76 FR 
22183 for a discussion of the amendments to the Phase I Rule.
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    The rule establishes national requirements applicable to the 
location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake 
structures at existing facilities that reflect the best technology 
available for minimizing the adverse environmental impact--impingement 
and entrainment--associated with the use of these structures. The rule 
requires several types of information collection as part of the NPDES 
permit application. In general, the information would be used to 
identify both how the facility plans to meet the rule requirements and 
if the facility is meeting the rule requirements. Specific data 
requirements that apply to all facilities are:
     Source water physical data which shows the physical 
configuration of all source waterbodies used by the facility, 
identifies and characterizes the source waterbody's hydrological and 
geomorphological features, and provides location through maps [Sec.  
122.21(r)(2)].
     Cooling water intake structure data which shows the 
configuration and location of cooling water intake structures, provides 
details on the design and operation of each cooling water intake 
structure, and diagrams showing flow distribution and water balance 
[Sec.  122.21(r)(3)].
     Source water baseline biological characterization data 
that characterizes the biological community in the vicinity of the 
cooling water intake structure (CWIS) and characterizes the operation 
of the CWIS [Sec.  122.21(r)(4)].
     Cooling water system data that, among other things, 
describes the operation of the cooling water system, its relationship 
to the CWIS, the proportion of the design intake flow used in the 
system, the number of days the cooling water system is operational and 
seasonal changes in operation, as well as design and engineering 
calculations to support these descriptions [Sec.  122.21(r)(5)].
     Intended method of compliance information that describes 
how the facility will meet the impingement mortality standards; the 
specific requirements vary, depending on the compliance approach chosen 
by the facility. This information would be reflected in the facility's 
Impingement Technology Performance Optimization Study [Sec.  
122.21(r)(6)].
     Description of any biological survival studies conducted 
at the facility and a summary of any conclusions or results for 
entrainment related studies only [Sec.  122.21(r)(7)].
     Operational status data that describes the operational 
status of each generating, production, or process unit [Sec.  
122.21(r)(8)].
    In addition to the above requirements, existing facilities with 
actual intake flows in excess of 125 mgd actual intake flow are 
required as part of the permit application process to submit an 
entrainment characterization study and related supporting information 
[(Sec.  122.21(r)(9)-(12)] that has been peer reviewed [Sec.  
122.21(r)(13)]. Facilities that withdraw less than 125 mgd actual 
intake flow do not have specific permit application requirements for 
entrainment but the Director may require additional information on a 
site-specific basis.\2\
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    \2\ For this ICR, no burden has been assigned for entrainment-
related studies at Sec.  122.21(r)(9)-(13) for facilities that 
withdraw less than 125 mgd actual intake flow, as it is not possible 
to project which facilities might be required to submit these 
studies.
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    Under the rule, a new unit at an existing facility that withdraws 
more than 2 mgd would have requirements similar to the requirements of 
a new facility in Phase I. A new unit (as defined at Sec.  125.92(u)) 
is required to reduce flow commensurate with closed-cycle cooling. 
Alternatively, a facility could demonstrate compliance with the 
entrainment control requirements by establishing reductions in 
entrainment mortality for the new unit that are 90 percent or greater 
of the reductions that would be achieved by closed-cycle cooling.
    Finally, facilities are required to maintain records of all 
submitted documents, supporting materials, and monitoring results for 
at least five years. Depending on the compliance method chosen, 
facilities may also be required to perform compliance monitoring to 
demonstrate that their selected method of complying with the 
impingement mortality standard (e.g. screen velocity, actual intake 
flow, numeric impingement mortality performance) achieves the required 
performance.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Respondents include existing 
electric power generating facilities, including traditional steam 
electric utilities and nonutility power producers. The rule also 
applies to existing manufacturing and industrial facilities. EPA 
anticipates that the regulated manufacturing facilities will be largely 
concentrated in five industrial sectors: Chemicals and allied products; 
primary metals industries; paper and allied products; petroleum and 
coal products; and food and kindred products.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory, under section 316 of 
the

[[Page 30607]]

Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Pub. L. 92-
500).
    Estimated number of respondents: 1,115 (1,068 facility respondents 
and 47 state respondents).
    Frequency of response: Varies (monthly, quarterly, or annually; 
every 5 years).
    Total estimated burden: Total estimated burden is 634,596 hours 
(per year). Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $37,725,394 (per year), includes 
$8,525,907annualized capital and operation & maintenance costs (all 
costs in 2011 dollars).
    Changes in Estimates: There is a decrease of 388,925 hours in the 
total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. This decrease is due to changes in program 
requirements. The currently approved ICR is for electric generators 
with a DIF of at least 50 mgd and that were subject to the 2004 Phase 
II rule. Many of these facilities have already met most of the new data 
collection requirements of the revised rule. Newly affected facilities 
have significantly fewer comprehensive requirements for data collection 
than was required under the Phase II rule, such as less frequent 
biological data collection. Further, while the overall universe of 
affected facilities has increased, more facilities in the affected 
universe already meet the requirements of the revised rule.

    Dated: May 19, 2014.
Elizabeth Southerland,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2014-12312 Filed 5-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P