National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program (Renewal)

Forms and Documents

Document Name	Status
Form 3510-1 Applicants seeking coverage under an NPDES Permit- Private Sector Form and Instruction	Modified
Form 3510-1 Consolidated NPDES ICR - Public Sector Form and Instruction	Modified
App.F.2 EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0719-0109.pdf Supplementary Document	2022-01-27
NPDES Program ICR_APP B-E_112921.pdf Supplementary Document	2022-01-27
0229ss25.docm Supporting Statement A	2022-01-27

IC Document Collections

IC ID	Document Title	Status
23570	Applicants seeking coverage under an NPDES Permit- Private Sector Form and Instruction	Modified
187546	Consolidated NPDES ICR - Public Sector Form and Instruction	Modified

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 2040-0004	ICR Reference No: 202201-2040-004
Status: Received in OIRA	Previous ICR Reference No: 201902-2040-001
Agency/Subagency: EPA/OW	Agency Tracking No: 0229.25
Title: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program (Renewal)
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular	Date Submitted to OIRA: 02/17/2022

	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	36 Months From Approved	03/31/2022
Responses	9,310,277	10,297,857
Time Burden (Hours)	31,143,504	28,221,350
Cost Burden (Dollars)	22,999,181	43,158,437

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Abstract: This consolidated Information Collection Request (ICR) renews the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program ICR. It calculates the information collection burden and costs associated with the NPDES program, identifies the types of activities regulated under the NPDES program, describes the roles and responsibilities of state governments and the Agency, and presents the program areas that address the various types of regulated activities. This ICR renewal (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control no. 2040-0004, EPA ICR no. 0229.24, expiration date 03/31/2022) consolidates the information collection burden and costs associated with activities previously reported in 18 of the NPDES program or NPDES-related ICRs. This renewal documents the addition of the burden and costs for the four existing NPDES ICRs listed below. Once this renewal ICR is approved, the following ICRs will be discontinued.

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Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 33 USC 1251 Name of Law: Clean Water Act
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	86 FR 40823	07/29/2021
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	87 FR 6170	02/03/2022
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? Yes

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 2

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Applicants seeking coverage under an NPDES Permit- Private Sector	3510-2A, 3510-1, 3510-2B, 3510-2C, 3510-2D, 3510-2E, 3510-2F	NPDES Application Form 1 ,   NPDES Application Form 2A ,   NPDES Application Form 2B ,   NPDES Application Form 2C ,   NPDES Application Form 2D ,   NPDES Application Form 2E ,   NPDES Application Form 2F
Consolidated NPDES ICR - Public Sector	3510-2A, 3510-1, 3510-2B, 3510-2C, 3510-2D, 3510-2E, 3510-2F, 3510-2S	NPDES Application Form 1 ,   NPDES Application Form 2A ,   NPDES Application Form 2B ,   NPDES Application Form 2C ,   NPDES Application Form 2D ,   NPDES Application Form 2E ,   NPDES Application Form 2F ,   NPDES Application Form 2S

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ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Request	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	9,310,277	10,297,857	0	0	-987,580	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	31,143,504	28,221,350	0	0	2,922,154	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	22,999,181	43,158,437	0	0	-20,159,256	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: This consolidated Information Collection Request (ICR) renews the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program ICR. It calculates the burden and costs associated with the NPDES program, identifies the types of activities regulated under the NPDES program, describes the roles and responsibilities of state governments and the Agency, and presents the program areas that address the various types of regulated activities. This ICR being renewed (Office of Management and Budget [OMB] control no. 2040-0004, EPA ICR no. 0229.24, expiration date 03/31/2022) consolidates the burden and costs associated with activities previously reported in 18 of the NPDES program or NPDES-related ICRs. Once this renewal ICR is approved, the following ICRs will be discontinued (each originally would have been effective for three years) as this renewal ICR will account for their burden and costs: Public Notification Requirements for CSOs in the Great Lakes Basin (OMB control no. 2040-0293, EPA ICR 2562.03, expiration date 04/30/2024) Effluent Limitation Guidelines and Standards for the Dental Category (OMB control no. 2040-0287, EPA ICR no. 2514.01, expiration 11/30/2023) 2020 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) for Industrial Stormwater Discharges (OMB control no. 2040-0300, EPA ICR no. 2612.02, expiration 03/31/2024) NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule Phase 2 Extension (OMB Control No.: 2020-0037, EPA ICR No. 2617.02, expiration 12/31/2023) The Clean Water Act (CWA) authorizes the Agency to issue permits for the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States; the Agency uses the NPDES program to regulate point source discharges. CWA section 402(b) allows states (defined to include Indian tribes and U.S. territories) to acquire authority for the NPDES program, enabling them to issue and administer NPDES permits. At present, 47 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands are authorized to administer the NPDES permit program. In states that do not have authority for these programs, the Agency administers the program and issues NPDES permits. Because some permit applications are processed by states and some by EPA, this ICR calculates government burden and cost for both authorized states and EPA. The majority of this burden hour increase occurred as a result of an increase in EPAs estimates of permittee respondents. The increases in EPAs estimates of the number of permittee respondents is largely attributed to improvements in the current NPDES Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS-NPDES) database, implementation of the Electronic Reporting Rule Phase 1, and refined estimates. Other significant changes in estimates of burden hours are the result of the following adjustments: This ICR eliminates the initial permit application and compliance activities for existing Cooling Water Intake Structure (CWIS) facilities as these activities have been completed by all existing CWIS facilities, resulting in a decrease in estimated burden hours for CWIS facilities. The collection burden associated with compliance with and administration of small vessels general permit (sVGP) has been removed. Eliminating the sVGP also decreased the number of vessel respondents significantly. The estimated number of respondents in some of the categories (shown in Appendix D of the ICR Supporting Statement) both increased and decreased per the current ICIS-NPDES database and based on refined EPA estimates. This ICR accounts for adjustments to inflation to September 2021 dollars that updated the presumed capital and operation and maintenance cost burden. The burden associated with Electronic Reporting Rule Phase I implementation activities has been removed. This includes the burden associated with Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) mailing by permittees, and all state and federal DMR processing previously included in the ICR.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $8,110,242

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

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Common Form ICR:  No

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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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 02/17/2022

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