Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NESHAP for Mercury (Renewal): AGENCY; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION; Notice.

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 November 21, 2012.

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 August 9, 2012 (77 FR 47631), 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 both EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice.

ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2012. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to either conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB.

Abstract: The affected entities are subject to the General Provisions of the NESHAP at 40 CFR part 61, subpart A, and any changes, or additions to the Provisions specified at 40 CFR part 61, subpart E.

Owners or operators of the affected facilities must submit a one-time-only report of any physical or operational changes, initial performance tests, and periodic reports and results. 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. Reports are also required semiannually.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 160 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: Owners or operators of stationary sources which process mercury ore to recover mercury
Estimated Number of Respondents: 107.
Frequency of Response: Initially, semiannually and annually.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 20,490.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $1,984,018, which includes $1,984,018 in labor costs, no capital/startup costs and no operating and maintenance costs.
Changes in the Estimates: There is no change in the burden hours in this ICR compared to the previous ICR. This is due to two considerations: (1) The regulations have not changed over the past three years and are not anticipated to change over the next three years; and (2) the growth rate for the industry is very low, negative or non-existent, so there is no significant change in the overall burden.
There is an increase in costs for both the respondents and the Agency from the most recently approved ICR. The increase in burden cost is due to an increase in labor rates. This ICR uses updated labor rates
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate burden costs.

FOR MORE INFO: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-10-22/pdf/2012-25918.pdf

https://refineryicr.rti.org/