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OMB Control No: 2040-0295	ICR Reference No: 202206-2040-001
Status: Historical Inactive	Previous ICR Reference No: 202007-2040-001
Agency/Subagency: EPA/OW	Agency Tracking No: 2603.06
Title: Water Quality Certification Regulations (Proposed Rule)
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Comment filed on proposed rule and continue	Conclusion Date: 07/22/2022
	Date Received in OIRA: 06/14/2022
Terms of Clearance: OMB files this comment in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.11(c). This OMB action is not an approval to conduct or sponsor an information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This action has no effect on any current approvals. If OMB has assigned this ICR a new OMB Control Number, the OMB Control Number will not appear in the active inventory. For future submissions of this information collection, reference the OMB Control Number provided. In accordance with 5 CFR 1320, OMB is withholding approval at this time. Prior to publication of the final rule, the agency must submit to OMB a summary of all comments related to the information collection contained in the proposed rule and the agency response. The agency should clearly indicate any changes made to the information collection as a result of these comments.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	07/31/2023	36 Months From Approved	09/30/2023
Responses	194,000	0	194,000
Time Burden (Hours)	931,000	0	931,000
Cost Burden (Dollars)	8,000,000	0	8,000,000

Abstract: The information collected under section 401 is used by certifying authorities and EPA to evaluate potential water quality impacts from federally licensed or permitted projects. When states or tribes with TAS act as the certifying authority, the primary collection of this information is performed by the Federal agencies issuing the licenses or permits or the states and tribes acting as certifying authorities. When EPA acts as the certifying authority or evaluates potential neighboring jurisdiction impacts, the information is collected by EPA. Information collected directly by EPA under section 401 in support of the section 402 NPDES program is already captured under existing ICR No. 0229.255 (OMB Control No. 2040-0004). The information collected under section 518(e) is used by EPA to determine whether a tribe is eligible for TAS for section 401 or section 401(a)(2). Information collected directly by EPA under section 518(e) in support of the process for tribes to obtain TAS for CWA section 303(c) and section 401 simultaneously is already captured under existing ICR No. 0988.14 (OMB Control No. 2040-0049). The proposed revisions clarify the nature of the information project proponents must include in a request for section 401 certification. They also contain a pre-filing meeting request requirement for project proponents which may be waived or shortened by a certifying authority. The proposed revisions also provide tribes with the ability to obtain TAS solely for either section 401 or section 401(a)(2). Total annual burden for respondents (project proponents and certifying authorities and tribes applying for TAS) are anticipated to be 861,274 hours with the associated annual labor costs being approximately $47 million. EPA expects that these proposed revisions will provide additional transparency in the certification modification and section 401(a)(2) contexts. EPA expects these proposed revisions to provide greater clarity regarding section 401 requirements, to reduce the overall preparation time spent by a project proponent on certification requests, and to reduce the review time for certifying authorities. EPA solicits comment on whether there are ways it can increase clarity, reduce the information collection burden, or improve the quality or utility of the information collected, or the information collection process itself, in furtherance of goals and requirements of section 401.

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Changing Regulations

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

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: There is a decrease in the estimated burden, number of respondents, and number of responses when compared to the estimates presented in the existing collection. These changes are due to refinements in how the estimates are calculated in addition to: (1) a decrease in the average number of annual licenses and permits issued that are used in the low estimate (56,700 as reported in Table 1 vs. 63,000 in the existing collection) and (2) a decrease in the high estimate of annual certification requests (97,000 as reported in Table 2 and Table 5 vs. 131,000 in the existing collection) from incorporating values provided in pre-proposal input letters. EPA reviewed pre-proposal input letters to compile suitable data for the number of responses and burden per response, where appropriate. The previous ICR for this collection (2603.05) included an estimate of $8M in average annual non-labor costs for the CWA section 401 fees that project proponents pay to certifying authorities when submitting certification requests. Upon further consideration, the Agency determined that CWA section 401 fees represent a transfer from project proponents to certifying authorities that should not be attributed to this collection as respondent costs. That cost has therefore been removed in this ICR.

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