In accordance
with 5 CFR 1320, OMB is filing comment and withholding approval at
this time. The agency shall examine public comment in response to
the proposed rulemaking and will include in the supporting
statement of the next ICR--to be submitted to OMB at the final rule
stage--a description of how the agency has responded to any public
comments on the ICR, including comments on maximizing the practical
utility of the collection and minimizing the burden.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
03/31/2019
36 Months From Approved
03/31/2019
2,154
0
2,154
17,902
0
17,902
6,546,967
0
6,546,967
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), as
amended in 1996, requires EPA to establish criteria for a program
to monitor not more than 30 unregulated contaminants every five
years. Information collected under the program supports Agency
decision making regarding whether or not to regulate particular
contaminants in drinking water. EPA published the first group of
contaminants in UCMR 1 in the Federal Register on September 17,
1999 (64 FR 50556), and the second group of contaminants in UCMR 2
in the Federal Register on January 4, 2007. UCMR 3 addresses the
third group of 30 contaminants and was published in the Federal
Register on May 2, 2012. UCMR 3 "Assessment Monitoring" began in
January 2013 and continues through December 2015 for all large
systems (those systems serving 10,001 to 100,000 people) and very
large systems (those systems serving more than 100,000 people), and
for a nationally representative sample of 800 small public water
systems (PWSs) (those serving 10,000 or fewer people). The
"Screening Survey" began in January 2013 and continues through
December 2015 for all very large systems, 320 randomly-selected
large systems, and 480 randomly selected small systems. "Pre-Screen
Testing" began in January 2013 and continues through December 2015
for a sample of 800 very small (systems serving 1,000 or fewer
people) undisinfected ground water systems. This request renews the
currently approved UCMR 3 ICR, (OMB Control No. 2040-0270), which
covered the period 2012-2014. This ICR renewal accounts for
activities conducted during 2015-2017. The complete 5-year UCMR 3
period of 2012-2016 overlaps with the applicable ICR period only
during 2015 and 2016. With respect to this ICR renewal, PWSs will
only be involved in active monitoring during 2015 (i.e., one-third
of this ICR period).
There are burden increases in
the proposed rule ICR due to the fact that two of the three
reporting years will fall into the current 3-year ICR cycle, as
well as other miscellaneous changes from the previous UCMR 3,
including: • UCMR 4 includes only one monitoring component;
Assessment Monitoring. • UCMR 4 includes a new list of 30
contaminants. Because the laboratory methods are different, the
cost of laboratory analysis differs for UCMR 4. • EPA will not
collect duplicate Quality Assurance (QA) field samples for the
small PWSs. • EPA updated wage rates, and re-examined labor burden
estimates for states, EPA, and PWS activities. • PWSs will collect
samples from EPTDS, distribution locations, and source water
locations. Because not all of these samples will be collected at
the same time, and at the same locations, EPA estimated more time
for sample collection activities than in previous UCMRs.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
2192ss07.docx
Public Water Systems