
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 28 (Monday, February 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3160-3161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-01878]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OECA-2013-0331; FRL-9988-76-OEI]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; NSPS for New Residential Wood Heaters 
(Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), NSPS for New Residential Wood 
Heaters (EPA ICR No. 1176.13, OMB Control No. 2060-0161), to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a proposed extension of the 
ICR, which is currently approved through March 31, 2019. Public 
comments were previously requested, via the Federal Register, on June 
29, 2017 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an 
additional 30 days for public comments. A fuller description of the ICR 
is given below, including its estimated burden and cost to the public. 
An agency may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before March 13, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OECA-2013-0331, to: (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), or by email to docket.oeca@epa.gov, or by mail to: 
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; and (2) OMB via email 
to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer 
for EPA.
    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: Patrick Yellin, Monitoring, 
Assistance, and Media Programs Division, Office of Compliance, Mail 
Code 2227A, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-2970; fax number: 
(202) 564-0050; email address: yellin.patrick@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: http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Abstract: The New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for New 
Residential Wood Heaters (40 CFR 60, Subpart AAA) apply to existing 
facilities and new facilities that contain wood heaters. A wood heater 
is defined as an enclosed, wood burning appliance capable of and 
intended for residential or space heating and domestic water heating. 
Unless otherwise specified, these devices include, but are not limited 
to, adjustable burn rate wood heaters, single burn rate wood heaters 
and pellet stoves. New facilities include those that commenced 
construction, modification or reconstruction after the date of 
proposal.
    One feature of the NSPS requires emphasis at the outset, which is 
that the requirements of subpart AAA establish a certification program 
instead of the usual NSPS requirements, where each affected facility is 
required to demonstrate compliance through performance testing. Under 
the subpart AAA-required certification program, a single wood heater is 
tested to demonstrate compliance with particulate matter (PM) emission 
limits for an entire model line, which could consist of thousands of 
stoves. The use of a certification approach significantly reduces the 
compliance burden, including information collection, for the 
manufacturers of wood heating appliances. In order to minimize risks to 
the environment from intentional or accidental misuse of the 
certification approach, subpart AAA includes several safeguards, some 
of which entail reporting and recordkeeping.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Respondents/affected entities: Owners and operators of facilities 
that contain new residential wood heaters.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (40 CFR part 60, 
subpart AAA).
    Estimated number of respondents: 45 (total).
    Frequency of response: Initially, occasionally, and annually.
    Total estimated burden: 4,320 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    Total estimated cost: $1,210,000 (per year), which includes 
$740,000 in annualized capital/startup and/or operation & maintenance 
costs.
    Changes in the estimates: There is an increase in the total 
estimated respondent annual burden as currently identified in the OMB 
Inventory of Approved Burdens due to an increase in the number of test 
laboratories and third-party certifiers subject to these standards. The 
number of sources has been adjusted in this ICR to reflect more current 
information obtained regarding the number of manufacturers certifying 
model lines in advance of Subpart AAA's Step 2 p.m. standards, which go 
into effect in 2020, as well as data that indicates a decline in the 
number of manufacturers based on ongoing industry consolidation and 
decreasing market size, and to reflect additional entities obtaining 
EPA approval as test laboratories or third-party certifiers.
    There is a decrease in capital/startup costs as compared to the 
previous ICR. This change is due to a decrease in the number of 
manufacturers, and because initial compliance requirements for test 
laboratories and third-party certifiers within the standard occurred 
during the

[[Page 3161]]

period of the previous ICR. The overall result is a decrease in costs 
to the industry.
    The supporting statement for this information collection was 
revised to clarify and consolidate the information items requested 
(including notification, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements) and 
respondent activities in section 4(b), as well as for agency activities 
in section 5(a). These requirements were previously listed in Appendix 
A of the prior ICR and have been relocated in sections 4(b) and 5(a) to 
help more easily identify the relevant data items and activities that 
contribute to burden. There are no changes to these requirements from 
the prior ICR.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2019-01878 Filed 2-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


