  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 United States Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Air and Radiation

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

Air Quality Policy Division

New Source Review Group

August, 2003

INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST FOR CHANGES TO   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 40
CFR PARTS 51 AND 52:  

Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) for Particulate Matter
Less Than 2.5 Micrometers (PM2.5) – Increments, Significant Impact
Levels (SILs) and Significant Monitoring Concentration (SMC)

EPA # 1230.16

The EPA is revising the regulations governing the Prevention of
Significant Deterioration (PSD) program mandated by part C of title I of
the Clean Air Act (the Act).  The PSD and nonattainment major New Source
Review (NA NSR) programs collectively comprise the major NSR program. 
Specifically, the PSD regulations are being revised to add increments,
significant impact levels (SILs), and a significant monitoring
concentration (SMC) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter
less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5).  This action
is being taken as part of our efforts to implement the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5.

The PSD program is a preconstruction review and permitting program for
new major sources of air pollutants and major modifications at existing
major sources, which applies to sources located in areas that meet the
NAAQS for one or more regulated NSR pollutants (called “attainment
areas”) and in areas where there is insufficient information to
determine whether they meet the NAAQS (“unclassifiable areas”).   
SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The types of information collection activities
associated with the PSD program are those necessary for the preparation
and submittal of construction permit applications and the issuance of
final permits.  The PSD rule changes addressed in this ICR add
increments, SILs, and an SMC for PM2.5 , but do not otherwise change the
requirements of the program.  For convenience, we refer to this
rulemaking as the “PM2.5 Increments Rule” hereafter.

This purpose of this Information Collection Request (ICR) (OMB Control
Number 2060-0609; EPA ICR Number 2276.02) is to show the burden and cost
associated with the PM2.5 Increments Rule.  Table E-1 summarizes the
overall burden and cost for respondents – sources who must obtain PSD
permits and state and local agencies who issue the permits (called
“reviewing authorities”).  

TABLE E-1

BURDEN FOR RESPONDENTS RESULTING FROM PM2.5 INCREMENTS RULE

Type of Respondent	Average Annual Burden (Hours)	Average Annual Burden
per Respondent (Hours)	Average Annual Costc

($ 2008)	Average Annual Cost per Respondent 

Sourcesa

Reviewing Authoritiesb	28,770

7,521	105

67	$2,808,239

$580,797	$10,249

$5,186

Total	36,291	N/A	$3,389,036	N/A

a We estimate 274 PSD permits per year.  

b We assume that there are 112 state and local reviewing authorities.

c All costs are labor costs associated with increased burden; there is
no increase in capital, start-up, or O&M costs. 

The EPA is the only federal entity that will experience burden and cost
as a result of the PM2.5 Increments Rule.  We estimate that the average
annual burden for EPA will be 461 hours, at a cost of $19,887 annually.

    SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 This document fulfills the Agency’s
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) with regard to
determining the regulatory burden associated with adding increments,
SILs, and an SMC for PM2.5 to the PSD program required under part C of
title I of the Act.  It has been assigned EPA tracking number 2276.02
and OMB Control Number 2060-0609.  

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The program called the “PSD program” under
authority of part C of Title I of the Act is a preconstruction review
and permitting program applicable to new and modified major stationary
sources of air pollutants.  The PSD program applies in attainment areas
(areas meeting the NAAQS) and in areas where there is insufficient
information to determine whether they meet the NAAQS (“unclassifiable
areas”).  The applicability of the PSD program must be determined in
advance of construction and is pollutant-specific.  When a source
triggers PSD, it must install best available control technology (BACT)
and conduct modeling, monitoring, and other analyses for the regulated
NSR pollutant(s) for which the area is designated as attainment or
unclassifiable.

In 1997, EPA promulgated NAAQS for PM2.5 to address fine particle
pollution, while retaining the NAAQS for particulate matter with an
aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers
(PM10) to address coarse particle pollution.  In 2006, we revised the
PM2.5 and PM10 NAAQS.  After delays associated with litigation over the
NAAQS and with building up technical capacity to address PM2.5, we are
proceeding with implementation of the PM2.5 program, including
implementation of the NSR program for PM2.5.  In a related rulemaking
action we added PM2.5 and its precursors to both the PSD program and the
NA NSR program as regulated NSR pollutants.

This ICR addresses rule changes to add increments, SILs, and an SMC for
PM2.5 to the PSD rules.  For some sources, this will add to the burden
of obtaining a PSD permit because it will add to the number of air
quality analyses that must be carried out in the application process. 
Similarly, state and local reviewing authorities will incur increased
burden to review such permit applications and issue the permits.  In
addition, reviewing authorities will incur a one-time burden to revise
their Implementation Plans to incorporate the PSD rule changes.

Title I of the Act authorizes EPA to collect this information.  Through
the PSD program it requires owners or operators of emissions units that
emit air pollutants to submit an application for a permit to construct,
modify, or significantly alter the operations of each source of criteria
pollutants.

For EPA to carry out its required oversight function of reviewing
construction permits and assuring adequate implementation of the
program, it must have available to it information on proposed
construction and modifications.  The burden estimates included in this
ICR cover activities to provide PM2.5 air quality impact projections for
the PSD program.

The information in this ICR is based upon the best data available to the
Agency at this time.  However, inconsistencies in reviewing authority
reporting techniques, incomplete data sets, and sampling limitations
necessitated a certain amount of extrapolation and “best-guess”
estimations.  Consequently, the reader should not consider the
conclusions to be an exact representation of the level of burden or cost
that will occur.  Instead, this ICR should be considered a directionally
correct assessment of the impact the programmatic changes included in
this rulemaking. 

In fact, this ICR clearly overstates the impact of the PM2.5 Increments
rulemaking over the 3 years following promulgation because it has been
prepared as if the rule revisions would be fully implemented upon the
effective date of the rule.  In actuality, the full effect of these PSD
rule changes for PM2.5 will lag the promulgation of this rule due to the
time needed for state and local agencies with approved PSD programs to
modify their Implementation Plans.  We believe that this approach
provides a more realistic assessment of the long-term impact of the
rulemaking.

Throughout this ICR, the reader will observe estimated values that show
accuracy to the single hour or dollar.  However, reporting values at the
single unit level can be misleading.  In most situations, the proper way
to present estimated data would be to determine an appropriate level of
accuracy and truncate values accordingly, usually in terms of thousands
or millions of units.  For instance, a spreadsheet-generated estimation
of $5,456,295 could be presented in the text as $5.5 (millions) or
$5,456 (thousands).  One problem with such an approach is the loss of
data richness when the report contains a mixture of very large and very
small numbers, which is the case with this ICR.  Consequently, to avoid
the loss of information through rounding, this ICR reports all values to
the single unit, and we remind the reader that there is no implied
precision inherent in this style of reporting.

For approval of a proposed ICR, the Agency must ensure that it has
taken every reasonable step to avoid duplication in its paperwork
requirements in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.9.  Although the reviewing
authorities may be required to revise their Implementation Plans, this
action imposes no new paperwork requirements. 

The proposal notice for this rulemaking was published in the Federal
Register on September 21, 2007 (72 FR 54112).  A 60-day public comment
period was provided for this ICR, during which all affected parties were
given the opportunity to comment on the burden analysis.  No comments on
the ICR were received.

In an earlier proposed rulemaking, we solicited comment on the
programmatic aspects of PM2.5 increments, SILs, and SMCs.  We received
numerous comments from sources and state and local reviewing authorities
on the need for these elements in the PM2.5 PSD program and the level of
effort associated with them.  We considered these comments in developing
this ICR. 

The Act defines the rate of reporting by sources, states, and local
entities.  Consequently, less frequent collection is not possible.

The OMB’s general guidelines for information collections must be
adhered to by all federal agencies for approval of any rulemaking’s
collection methodology.  In accordance with the requirements of 5 CFR
1320.5, the Agency believes:

1.	The PM2.5 Increments Rule does not require periodic reporting more
frequently than semi-annually.

2.	The PM2.5 Increments Rule does not require respondents to participate
in any statistical survey.

3.	Written responses to Agency inquiries are not required to be
submitted in less than 30 days.

4.	Special consideration has been given in the design of the PM2.5
Increments Rule to ensure that the requirements are, to the greatest
extent possible, the same for federal requirements and those reviewing
authorities who already have PSD programs in place.

5.	Confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information necessary for
the completeness of the respondent’s permit are protected from
disclosure under the requirements of section 114(c) of the Act.

6.	The PM2.5 Increments Rule does not require more that one original and
two copies of the permit application, update, or revision to be
submitted to the Agency.

7.	Respondents do not receive remuneration for the preparation of
reports required by the Act or 40 CFR part 51 or 52.

8.	To the greatest extent possible, the Agency has taken advantage of
automated methods of reporting.

9.	The Agency believes the impact of the PM2.5 Increments Rule on small
entities to be insignificant and not disproportionate.

The recordkeeping and reporting requirements contained in the PM2.5
Increments Rule do not exceed any of the Paperwork Reduction Act
guidelines contained in 5 CFR 1320.5, except for the guideline which
limits retention of records by respondents to 3 years.  The Act requires
both respondents and state or local agencies to retain records for a
period of 5 years.  The justification for this exception is found in 28
U.S.C. 2462, which specifies 5 years as the general statute of
limitations for federal claims in response to violations by regulated
entities.  The decision in U.S. v. Conoco, Inc., No.  83-1916-E (W.D. 
Okla., January 23, 1984) found that the 5-year general statute of
limitations applies to the Clean Air Act.

Confidentiality is not an issue for this rulemaking.  To the extent that
the information required in a PSD permit under the PM2.5 Increments Rule
is proprietary, confidential, or of a nature that could impair the
ability of the source to maintain its market position, that information
is collected and handled subject to the requirements of section 114(c)
of the Act.  Information received and identified by owners or operators
as confidential business information (CBI) and approved as CBI by EPA,
in accordance with Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 2, Subpart B, shall be
maintained appropriately (see 40 CFR 2; 41 FR 36902, September 1, 1976;
amended by 43 FR 39999, September 8, 1978; 43 FR 42251, September 28,
1978; 44 FR 17674, March 23, 1979).

The consideration of sensitive questions, (i.e., sexual, religious,
personal, or other private matters), is not applicable to this
rulemaking.  The information gathered to establish a PSD permit does not
include personal data on any owner or operator.

The President’s priorities in promoting environmental justice (EJ) are
contained in Executive Order 12898.  Because the PSD program operates
nationwide and across all industry classifications, the Agency does not
believe there is a disproportionate EJ effect in the PSD program.  

   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Table 4-1 lists the
industrial groups that we expect will contain the majority of the
industrial respondents affected by the NSR program.  These categories
were chosen because of their historic relative incidence in seeking NSR
permits as established in prior ICRs and confirmed by a nationwide air
pollutant emission inventory developed by the EPA in 1986-87.  These
industries have been used as the basis for impact analysis since that
inventory.  

Table 4-1.    SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Most Numerous Industrial Respondents
by Industrial Group

Industry Group		SIC	NAICS

Electric Services	491	221111, 221112, 221113, 221119, 221121, 221122

Petroleum Refining	291	32411

Industrial Inorganic Chemicals	281	325181, 32512, 325131, 325182,
211112, 325998, 331311, 325188

Industrial Organic Chemicals	286	32511, 325132, 325192, 325188, 325193,
32512, 325199

Miscellaneous Chemical Products	289	32552, 32592, 32591, 325182, 32551

Natural Gas Liquids	132	211112

Natural Gas Transport	492	48621, 22121

Pulp Mills	261	32211, 322121, 322122, 32213

Paper Mills	262	322121, 322122

Automobile Manufacturing	371	336111, 336112, 336712, 336211, 336992,
336322, 336312, 33633, 33634, 33635, 336399, 336212, 336213

Pharmaceuticals	283	325411, 325412, 325413, 325414



  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The respondents also include state and local air
regulatory agencies.  Because of the national scope of the PSD program,
these governmental respondents are in all 50 states.

This section discusses the data items that must be collected and
reported and the activities that respondents must carry out under the
PM2.5 Increments Rule.

The data required from sources for a complete PSD permit application can
be found in parts 51 and 52 of title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (40 CFR).  Section 51.166 specifies the minimum requirements
that a PSD permit program under title I, part C of the Act must contain
to warrant approval as a revision to an Implementation Plan.  Section
52.21 delineates the federal PSD permit program which applies to all
federally controlled areas, such as tribal lands, outer continental
shelf sources, and states that have not submitted a PSD program meeting
the requirements of 40 CFR 51.166. 

Respondent data and information requirements for PSD permits can be
found in the Supporting Statement for the 2008 ICR renewal for the
entire major NSR program (ICR No. 1230.23, OMB Control Number
2060-0003), including appropriate references in 40 CFR part 51 for the
data and information requirements that govern the way states implement
NSR programs.

The data requirements associated with the PM2.5 Increments Rule are a
small subset of the total data required for PSD permits.  Specifically,
this rule enables the air quality impact analyses that already must be
carried out for other significant pollutants to be implemented for
PM2.5.  Thus, when the rule is implemented, the modeling analyses
required by 40 CFR 51.166(k) and (l) or 52.21(k) and (l), whichever is
applicable, will have to be conducted by sources for PM2.5 and submitted
for review by reviewing authorities.

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The Supporting Statement for the 2008 ICR renewal
for the entire major NSR program (ICR No. 1230.23) identifies the
activities for PSD permitting for source and reviewing authority
respondents.  For source respondents, the activities are divided into
three broad categories:  (1) preparation and planning, (2) d  SEQ
CHAPTER \h \r 1 ata collection and analysis, and (3) permit
application.  The PM2.5 Increments Rule will add new burden for the data
collection and analysis category as sources will have to conduct these
activities for PM2.5.

Reviewing authority respondents’ activities involve interacting with
the source during its preparation of an application, reviewing the
application and making a determination, implementing the public notice
and comment process, issuing the permit, and transmitting information to
EPA.  The PM2.5 Increments Rule will add new burden for attending
pre-application meetings, answering sources’ questions, and logging in
and reviewing data submissions, as reviewing authorities will have to
conduct these activities for PM2.5.

In addition to the activities associated with reviewing and issuing
major NSR permits under the revised regulations, reviewing authority
respondents may have to revise their Implementation Plans to add
increments, SILs, and an SMC for PM2.5 to their PSD programs.



    SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 These activities generally
involve oversight review of PSD permitting actions to verify that the
requirements of the Act and the implementing part 51 and 52 regulations
are being met.  The PM2.5 Increments Rule will add new burden for
oversight review of air quality analyses.  In addition, EPA will have to
review the Implementation Plan revisions submitted by the reviewing
authorities.

The owner or operator of a new or modified major stationary source
affected by the PM2.5 Increments Rule must conduct PM2.5 air quality
analyses and submit the data and conclusions in a construction permit
application to the reviewing authority, who logs in the permit
application, stores the application in a central filing location,
notifies the Federal Land Manager (FLM) of the permit, and provides a
copy of the application (if applicable) to the FLM and transmits a copy
of each application to EPA.

The reviewing authority reviews the PM2.5 air quality analyses and
checks the quality of data submitted by the applicant on a case-by-case
basis.  The applicant will be required to submit information on how the
data were obtained and how the calculations and modeling were performed.
 The reviewing authority personnel will check data quality by reviewing
the modeling documentation and checking engineering calculations. 
Confidential information submitted by the applicant (if any) will be
handled by the reviewing authority’s confidential information handling
procedures.  The public will be provided the opportunity to review a
permit application and other materials relevant to the reviewing
authority’s decision on issuing the permit, including FLM findings, by
obtaining a copy from the permit reviewing authority or by attending the
public hearing.  The PM2.5 Increments Rule will not require information
through any type of survey.  

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires regulatory agencies, upon
regulatory action, to assess that action’s potential impact on small
entities (businesses, governments, and small non-governmental
organizations) and report the results of the assessments in (1) an
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), (2) a Final Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis (FRFA), and (3) a Certification.  For ICR approval,
the Agency must demonstrate that it “has taken all practicable steps
to develop separate and simplified requirements for small businesses and
other small entities” (5 CFR 1320.6(h)).  In addition, the agencies
must assure through various mechanisms that small entities are given an
opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process.  

A Regulatory Flexibility Act Screening Analysis (RFASA) developed as
part of a 1994 draft Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) and incorporated
into the September 1995 ICR renewal analysis reported an initial
regulatory flexibility screening analysis showed that the changes to the
NSR program due to the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments would not have an
adverse impact on small entities.  This analysis encompassed the entire
universe of applicable major sources that were likely to also be small
businesses.  The Agency estimates there are approximately 50 “small
business” major sources.  Because the administrative burden of the NSR
program is the primary source of the NSR program’s regulatory costs,
the analysis estimated a negligible “cost to sales” (regulatory cost
divided by the business category mean revenue) ratio for this source
group.  The new burden resulting from the PM2.5 Increments Rule is small
compared to the overall burden of the PSD program.  Thus, there is no
economic basis for a different conclusion regarding the PM2.5 Increments
Rule.

The Agency may not,   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 under any circumstances,
exempt a major source of air pollution from the requirements of PSD. 
Since the impacts of PSD regulations which may impact small entities
occur predominantly at major sources, little room exists for regulatory
flexibility to avert the impact of the proposed rulemaking on small
entities through exemption.  

Respondents are not subjected to a collection schedule per se under the
PSD regulations.  In general, each major stationary source is required
to submit an application as a prerequisite to receiving a construction
permit.  Preparation of a major source construction permit application
is a one-time-only activity for each project involving construction of a
new major stationary source or major modification of an existing major
stationary source.  The applicable Implementation Plan typically states
the time period that is necessary to process a permit application and
issue a permit.  Consequently, a prospective source would be obliged to
work backward from the desired commencement date for construction to
determine the optimum submittal date for the application. 



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; train
personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; and
transmit or otherwise disclose the information.  In addition to the
labor hours expended by the respondents, the burden estimate should
include:  (1) total capital and start-up costs annualized over the
useful life of the purchased equipment, and (2) total costs for
operation, maintenance, and purchases of services.  Each component
should be divided into burden borne directly by the respondent and any
services that are contracted out.

This section discusses the development of burden estimates and their
conversion into costs, which are separated into burden costs and capital
and operating and maintenance (O&M) costs.  According to the latest
guidance for ICRs (EPA 2005), capital and O&M costs display the cost of
any new capital equipment the source or reviewing authority may have to
purchase solely for information collection, assimilation, and storage
purposes.  For example, if a source had to purchase a new computer to
store and manipulate data, that computer would be a cost of
administration subject to reporting in the ICR.  In addition, the latest
guidance instructs the Agency to differentiate the burden associated
with a source’s labor and that which it hires through outside
contractors.  To the extent a source contracts out for administrative
purposes (e.g., employing consultants to perform modeling functions),
the burden associated with those contracted tasks are not a burden to
the source - but they still remain a cost.  The reader should read this
section with the following considerations in mind:

•		The Agency believes the time necessary to perform a task is
independent of the origins of its labor.  In other words, if a source
would employ 20 hours of burden to fully perform a function, then a
contractor hired by the source would also take 20 hours to perform that
same task.  Furthermore, the Agency assumes no economies or diseconomies
of scale.  The linear combination of any amount of contractor and source
effort will also sum to 20.  Therefore, the burden estimates in this ICR
act as an assessment of the total burden to affected sources and
reviewing authorities, given the affected entity does not employ
contracted labor.

•		For some burden categories, the Agency believes the hours assigned
to them will be divided between the source and outside contractors.  For
these categories, the Agency established a composite cost per hour by
developing a weighted average of the source and contractor wages, with
the weight defined by the percentage of total effort each burden source
applied.  Consequently, the cost developed in this ICR should be
interpreted as an upper bound on the actual cost of administration by
the source or reviewing authority.  The methodology for determining cost
per hour can be found in greater detail in section 6.2, below.

The requirements of the PSD program apply to new or modified sources on
a pollutant-by-pollutant basis (for those pollutants for which the area
is designated as attainment or unclassifiable).  That is, a source must
meet the requirements of the program for each pollutant that it will
emit in amounts greater than the applicable threshold, and must address
each such pollutant in its permit application.  Thus, PSD permitting
actions very often involve more than one pollutant.

The PM2.5 Increments Rule adds increments, SILs, and an SMC for PM2.5 to
the PSD program.  When the rule is implemented, sources will be required
to conduct the air quality impact analyses for PM2.5 that they are
already required to conduct for other pollutants.  Thus, the rule will
add new burden as sources and reviewing authorities carry out the
activities associated with such analyses for PM2.5.

Under PSD, sources are generally required to conduct dispersion modeling
to determine the air quality impacts of the criteria pollutants that
they emit in significant quantities.  Up until now, the lack of PM2.5
increments, SILs, and SMCs have prevented sources from carrying out the
full range of air quality impact analyses that would otherwise have been
required for significant sources of PM2.5.  Instead, in accordance with
our stated policy, sources and reviewing authorities have used PM10
analyses as a surrogate for PM2.5.  As a result of the PM2.5 Increments
Rule, we expect most PM2.5 sources to be required to carry out modeling
analyses for both PM2.5 and PM10 (as well as any other criteria
pollutants that they emit), resulting in a new burden to obtain a PSD
permit.  In addition, a corresponding new burden will result for
reviewing authority respondents to review permit applications and issue
permits.

To estimate the magnitude of the permitting burden that will result from
the PM2.5 Increments Rule, we considered two factors:  (1) which
permitting activities are likely to be affected by an increase in the
number of air quality impact modeling analyses, and (2) the new burden
for carrying out the affected activities for PM2.5.  These factors are
discussed further below.

Since the 2008 ICR renewal for the overall NSR program (EPA ICR
No. 1230.23), the ICR was revised to account for the Flexible Air
Permitting rule (EPA ICR No. 1230.26).  Based on this approved ICR, the
average burden to a source to obtain a PSD permit is 879 hours.  Of
these, 350 hours are associated with data collection and analysis
activities, which we believe are the activities that will be most
affected by an increase in the number air quality modeling analyses. 
Also based on the approved ICR, the average burden to a reviewing
authority for issuing a PSD permit is 313 hours, of which 75 hours are
associated with attending pre-application meetings, answering sources’
questions, and logging in and reviewing data submissions (the activities
most related to air quality modeling analyses).

To determine the new burden per PSD permit for carrying out the affected
activities for PM2.5, we assumed that PSD permit applicants who would be
subject to the requirements for PM2.5 currently conduct an average of
four modeling impact analyses.  After implementation of the PM2.5
Increments Rule, we believe that this number will increase by two (i.e.,
by 50 percent) to an average of six such analyses.  Thus, for sources
subject to PSD permitting for PM2.5, the new, additional burden
associated with the affected activities will be 50 percent of the
currently approved burden.  We assumed the same percent increase for
reviewing authorities where PSD permits must address PM2.5.

However, not all sources that must obtain a PSD permit will be subject
to PSD for PM2.5.  To estimate the percentage of permits that will have
to address PM2.5, we consulted the RBLC to determine what percentage has
historically been subject to major NSR for particulate matter.  We found
that over a 10-year period, approximately 60 percent of facilities that
obtained control technology determinations obtained a determination for
particulate matter.  We used this percentage as a weighting factor to
determine the weighted average increase in burden for the affected
activities across all PSD permits (i.e., those that address PM2.5 and
those that do not).  This weighted average is 30 percent (0.60 x 0.50
= 0.30).  We applied this weighted average burden increase to the
affected PSD activities for both source respondents and reviewing
authority respondents to determine the average new burden per PSD permit
associated with the PM2.5 Increments Rule.  

Table 6-1 shows the average new burden per PSD permit for source and
reviewing authority respondents.  As the table shows, we estimate an
average burden for sources of 105 hours per PSD permit.  Based on the
current approved total burden for a PSD permit (879 hours), this
represents an increase of about 12 percent.  For reviewing authorities,
we estimate an average burden of 22 hours per permit, or about 7 percent
of the current approved total burden of 313 hours.

Table 6-1.  Burden for Source and Reviewing Authority Respondents, Hours
per PSD Permit

Type of Respondent	Activities Affected	Approved Burden Absent PM2.5
Increments Rule (hours)	Additional Burden Resulting from PM2.5
Increments Rule (hours)

Sources	Data collection and analysis	350	105

Reviewing authorities	Attending pre-application meetings

Answering sources’ questions

Logging in and reviewing data submissions

Total	38

21

16

75	11

 6

 5

22



In addition to issuing permits, the reviewing authorities must ensure
that their PSD programs meet the requirements that EPA specifies for
such programs pursuant to part C.  The PM2.5 Increments Rule revises
these requirements.  Therefore, each reviewing authority must submit
changes to its existing Implementation Plan program or demonstrate that
its existing program is no less stringent than EPA’s new requirements.
 Because the changes needed for updating Implementation Plans are small
and the requirements for Implementation Plan development differ from
state to state, the EPA assumed it would take no more than 40 hours for
each reviewing authority to fully incorporate this rulemaking into its
plan.  This assumption includes legislative review, public comment, and
all legal and legislative processes necessary for all of the above
components.  This is a one-time burden that will occur during the 3-year
period covered by this ICR.  

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 In order to allow a direct cost comparison with
the existing approved ICR for the major NSR program (i.e., EPA ICR No.
1230.26), we use the same cost factors in this ICR.  These cost factors
are laid out below.

As in the currently approved ICR for the major NSR program, the hourly
labor rate for source respondents used for this analysis is $97.61 per
hour. 

Similarly, the labor rate used in this analysis for reviewing authority
respondents is $77.22 per hour.

Capital/start-up and O&M costs are non-labor related costs.  One-time
capital/start-up costs are incurred with the purchase of durable goods
needed to provide information.  According to the Paperwork Reduction
Act, capital/start-up cost should include among other items,
preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and
software, monitoring, sampling, drilling, and testing equipment.

Even if an applicant is a brand new company and the prospective source
is a “greenfield” source (the EPA estimates less than 1 percent of
source respondents fit that description) most, and perhaps all, of the
equipment needed to prepare permit applications (for example, the
computers and basic software) will be part of the source’s business
operation inventory.  Furthermore, the models for performing ambient air
impact analyses are available in electronic form from several different
EPA web sites for just the Internet access charges, which are typically
absorbed in routine business overhead expenses.  Thus, the PM2.5
Increments Rule will not cause any new capital costs to be incurred by
any respondents.

In the 2008 ICR renewal for the entire major NSR program (EPA ICR
No. 1230.23), EPA estimated that 34 PSD permit applicants are required
to conduct preconstruction ambient monitoring each year at an average
cost of approximately $335,000, and this estimate was unchanged in the
current approved ICR for the program (EPA ICR No. 1230.26).  This cost
is considered a start-up, direct cost associated with preparing a permit
application (not a fixed capital cost) because we believe that most
sources contract out this activity, which is generally a one-time
exercise.  Based on this assumption, the cost of capital equipment for
preconstruction monitoring is negligible.  Because the effect of adding
PM2.5 to the major NSR program on the start-up cost associated with
preconstruction monitoring was previously accounted for in the ICR for
the 2008 PM2.5 NSR Implementation Rule (EPA ICR No. 1230.21), we do not
believe that the PM2.5 Increments Rule will have any effect on this
cost.   

Since the purchase of capital equipment is believed to be an
insignificant factor in permit application preparation, we assume that
the O&M and services for same are negligible.  Further, once a permit is
issued, there is no O&M cost associated with it.  It remains unaltered
unless the source or the reviewing authority discovers specific reasons
to reexamine it and change any conditions or specifications.  If purely
administrative, the changes are handled exclusively by the reviewing
authority.  If changes have the potential for environmental
consequences, the action may be significant enough to be counted as a
separate and new application, to which a new burden and cost may be
ascribed.

Typically, annualized capital cost would be derived from a discounted
net present value of the stream of costs that would occur over the life
of the permit, or the ICR, whichever is shorter.  However as discussed
above, there are no capital costs in the case of the PM2.5 Increments
Rule.  Therefore, the annualized capital costs for this ICR to industry
respondents are zero.

Staff in EPA’s Regional Offices typically review PSD permits.  Based
on the currently approved ICR for the overall NSR program (ICR
No. 1230.26), the average EPA burden per PSD permit is 15 hours.  Under
the PM2.5 Increments Rule we expect an additional burden of 1 hour per
permit associated with our review of additional PM2.5 air quality
modeling analyses.  This new burden was derived as discussed above in
section 6.1 for the source and reviewing authority burden increases. 
That is, for those activities that will be affected by the number of
modeling analyses conducted for a PSD permit, the weighted average
burden per permit will increased by 30 percent.  The additional 1 hour
of EPA burden will amounts to about 7 percent of the currently approved
EPA burden for PSD permits.

To facilitate cost comparisons between this ICR revision and the
currently approved ICR for the NSR program (EPA ICR No. 1230.26), we
have used the same federal labor rate,   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 $43.17 per
hour.

In addition, there will be Agency burden to review the revised
Implementation Plans submitted by the reviewing authorities to verify
that the revisions fully meet the requirements of the PSD program, as
changed by the PM2.5 Increments Rule.  Due to the nature of the
Implementation Plan revisions needed, the Agency expects that each
Implementation Plan revision will require about 5 hours of review.  We
expect this one-time burden to occur during the period covered by this
ICR.							

For the purpose of estimating the total burden in this ICR, the
respondent universe is defined by the annual number of permit
applications prepared by sources and the number of reviewing authorities
that must process such permit applications.  It also includes the number
of reviewing authorities that will have to revise their Implementation
Plans.

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 As discussed above in
section 6.1, the PM2.5 Increments Rule will result in addition burden
per PSD permit.  However, we do not believe that the number of permits
will be affected because the rule does not affect PSD applicability. 
For this reason, this analysis uses the number of PSD permits (274 per
year) that results from implementation of the Flexible Air Permitting
rule, as set out in EPA ICR No. 1230.26.  For purposes of this ICR, we
carried out the analysis as if the PM2.5 Increments Rule would be fully
implemented immediately upon promulgation.  That is, we have allowed for
no lag time for reviewing authorities to submit Implementation Plan
revisions and for EPA to review and approve the revisions.  This
approach results in a “worst-case” analysis for the 3-year period
covered by this ICR, but more accurately reflects the long-term impacts
of the rule.

For the number of respondent reviewing authorities associated with major
NSR permitting and Implementation Plan revisions, we used the
112 reviewing authority count used by other permitting ICRs.  Again, we
carried out this “worst-case” analysis as if all reviewing
authorities would begin issuing PSD permits for PM2.5 immediately, with
no lag time for Implementation Plan revisions.  We also included the
reviewing authorities’ burden for revising the Implementation Plans in
this ICR.

Based on the estimates presented above for the new burden for PSD
permits, the labor rates for source and reviewing authority respondents,
and the number of respondents, we have estimated the total burden and
costs that will result from the PM2.5 Increments Rule.  Table 6-2
presents the totals for source respondents for each year of the 3 years
covered by this ICR.  Table 6-3 shows the average annual totals for
reviewing authority respondents.

Table 6-2.  Annual Burden and Costs for Source Respondents 

Activity	Number of Permits per Year	Burden per Permit (Hours)	Annual
Burden (Hours)	Labor Rate	Annual Cost 

PSD Permitting	274	105	28,770	$97.61/hr	$2,808,239



Table 6-3.  Annual Burden and Costs for Reviewing Authority Respondents 

Major NSR Permitting

Activity	Number of Permits per Year	Burden per Permit (Hours)	Annual
Burden (Hours)	Labor Rate	Annual Cost 

PSD Permitting	274	22	6,028	$77.22/hr	$465,482 

Implementation Plan Revisions

Activity	Number of Plan Revisions per Yeara	Burden per Revision (Hours)
Average Annual Burdenb (Hours)	Labor Rate	Average Annual Costc 

Revision of Implementation Plan	37.33	40	1,493	$77.22/hr	$115,315

Reviewing Authority Totals

TOTAL

	7,521

$580,797 

a   Each of the 112 reviewing authorities may submit one Implementation
Plan revision to conform their PSD programs to the revised rules over
the 3-year period covered by this ICR.  Thus, the average annual number
of such revisions is 112 / 3 = 37.33 per year.

b   Each reviewing authority will revise its Implementation Plan once
for a 3-year total burden of 4,480 hours.  Average annual burden is
4,480 / 3 = 1,493 hours.

c  Total 3-year cost is 4,480 hours x $77.22 = $345,946.  Average annual
cost is $345,946 / 3 = $115,315.

Based on the estimates presented above for the federal burden hours for
each activity, the federal labor rate, and the number of permits and
Implementation Plan revisions, we have estimated the total average
annual federal burden and costs that will result from the PM2.5
Increments Rule.  All of the federal burden and costs are incurred by
EPA.  Table 6-4 presents the estimated burden and costs.

Table 6-4.  Federal Annual Burden and Costs

Major NSR Permitting

Activity	Number of Permits per Year	Additional Burden per Permit (Hours)
Additional Annual Burden (Hours)	Labor Rate	Annual Cost 

PSD Permitting	274	1	274	$43.17/hr	$11, 829 

Implementation Plan Review

Activity	Number of Plans to Review per Yeara	Burden per Plan Review
(Hours)	Average Annual Burdenb (Hours)	Labor Rate	Average Annual Costc 

Review of Implementation Plans	37.33	5	187	$43.17/hr	$8,058

Federal Totals

TOTAL

	461

$19,887

a   The EPA will review one Implementation Plan revision submitted by
each of the 112 reviewing authorities over the 3-year period covered by
this ICR.  Thus, the average annual number of Implementation Plan
reviews is 112 / 3 = 37.33 per year.

b   The EPA will review a total of 112 Implementation Plan revisions for
a 3-year total burden of 560 hours.  Average annual burden is 560 / 3 =
187 hours.

b  Total 3-year cost is 560 hours x $43.17 = $24,175.  Average annual
cost is $24,175/ 3 = $8,058.

 

Table 6-5 displays the annual burden and costs for source and reviewing
authority respondents that we estimate will result from the PM2.5
Increments Rule, as well as the total across all respondents.  Table 6-6
shows the annual burden and costs for the EPA that we estimate will
result from the PM2.5 Increments Rule.

Table 6-5.  Total Estimated Annual Respondent Burden and Costs 

Type of Respondent	Number of Responses	Total Burden (Hours/Year)	Total
Labor Costs ($/Year)	Total Capital Costs ($/Year)	Total Costs ($/Year)

Sources	274	28,770	$2,808,239	$0	$2,808,239

Reviewing Authoritiesa	311.33	7,521	$580,797	$0	$580,797 

TOTAL	  =SUM(ABOVE)  585.33 	36,291	$3,389,036	  =SUM(ABOVE) \#
"$#,##0;($#,##0.00)"  $0 	$3,389,036

a	During the 3-year period of this ICR, the 112 reviewing authorities
will review 274 PSD permits each year and submit an average of 37.33
Implementation Plan revisions per year (112 / 3 = 37.33), for a total of
311.33 responses per year. 

Table 6-6.  Total Estimated Annual Federal Burden and Costs 

Type of Entity	Number of Entities	Total Incremental Burden (Hours/Year)
Total Incremental Labor Costs ($/Year)	Total Incremental Capital Costs
($/Year)	Total Incremental Costs ($/Year)

Federal Agency (EPA)	1	461	$19,887	$0	$19,887



 the PM2.5 Increments Rule will result in new burden associated with
obtaining and issuing PSD permits.  This change in the PSD regulations
is necessary under the Clean Air Act because EPA has, in other
rulemakings, promulgated NAAQS for PM2.5 to protect the public health
and welfare.  This new rule adds increments, SILs, and an SMC for PM2.5
to the PSD program, but it does not otherwise change the requirements of
the program.  We expect the rule to add to the burden associated with
applying for and issuing those PSD permits that will now involve PM2.5
air quality modeling analyses in addition to analyses for other
pollutants, but we do not expect any change in the number of PSD permits
that must be issued (i.e., no change in the number of source
respondents).  In addition, reviewing authorities may incur a one-time
burden to revise their Implementation Plans to incorporate the PSD rule
changes.  The magnitude of the new burden is presented above in
Tables 6-5 and 6-6.

We estimate that the PM2.5 Increments Rule will result in a total annual
burden on 274 source respondents of about 29,000 hours and $2,800,000
per year (see Tables 6-2 and 6-5), for an average burden of about 105
hours and $10,000 per source.  For the 112 reviewing authority
respondents, we estimate that the total annual burden will be about
7,500 hours and $580,000 (see Tables 6-3 and 6-5), for an average burden
of about 67 hours and $5,200 per reviewing authority.

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; 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.  An agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number.  The OMB control numbers for EPA’s regulations are
listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15.

To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of
the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing
respondent burden, including the use of automated collection techniques,
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID Number
EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0628, which is available for online viewing at  
HYPERLINK "http://www.regulations.gov"  www.regulations.gov , or
in-person viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center
in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.  The EPA Docket Center Public
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays.  The telephone number for the Reading
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Air Docket is
(202) 566-1742.  An electronic version of the public docket is available
at   HYPERLINK "http://www.regulations.gov"  www.regulations.gov .  This
site can be used to submit or view public comments, access the index
listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those
documents in the public docket that are available electronically.  When
in the system, select “search,” then key in the Docket ID Number
identified above.  Also, you can send comments to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725
17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for
EPA.  Please include the EPA Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0628 and
OMB Control Number 2060-NEW in any correspondence.

 	“Proposed Rule to Implement the Fine Particle National Ambient Air
Quality Standards,” 70 FR 65984, November 1, 2005.

 	These citations can be accessed from the electronic Code of Federal
Regulations (eCFR) website at:    HYPERLINK
"http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?sid=15afbd009d0485fc06fb4
f566f3bfc3b&c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title40/40tab_02.tpl" 
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?sid=15afbd009d0485fc06fb4f
566f3bfc3b&c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title40/40tab_02.tpl 

 	United States Environmental Protection Agency.  Information Collection
Request for Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Nonattainment
New Source Review (40 CFR Part 51 And 52).  ICR No. 1230.23.  2008. 
Appendix A.

 	United States Environmental Protection Agency.  Information Collection
Request for Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Nonattainment
New Source Review (40 CFR Part 51 And 52).  ICR No. 1230.23.  2008. 
Pages 17 and 18.

 	United States Environmental Protection Agency.  Information Collection
Request for Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Nonattainment
New Source Review (40 CFR Part 51 And 52).  ICR No. 1230.23.  2008.   
Page 19.

	“Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Part C and D Regulatory
Changes,” June 2, 1994.

	The definition for “small business” employed for all SIC categories
in this analysis was any business employing fewer than 500 employees. 

 	The PM2.5 SILs and SMC are actually de minimis levels that can reduce
the number and/or complexity of the air quality analyses for PM2.5 that
must be carried out through modeling and monitoring, respectively. 
Thus, they work to lessen the burden and cost that result from the
addition of PM2.5 to the PSD program.  The PSD program currently uses
SILs and SMCs for other regulated pollutants, as well, and the approved
ICR for the major NSR program incorporates their impact on the average
burden and cost of PSD permits without addressing them directly. 
Because in this ICR we derive the burden and cost of adding PM2.5
increments, SILs, and the SMC to the PSD program relative to the
approved ICR, we also do not address the impact of the PM2.5 SILs and
SMC directly.

	“Criteria pollutants” are those for which NAAQS have been
established, i.e., ozone, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2),
carbon monoxide (CO), lead, PM10, and PM2.5.  Ozone is not emitted
directly, but is formed in the atmosphere by complex photochemical
reactions involving volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of
nitrogen (NOx).  Impact modeling is not required for ozone under PSD
because existing models are not capable of accurately predicting the
impacts of a single source.

 	Full modeling analyses must be conducted for each criteria pollutant
emitted by the source for which PSD increments (i.e., maximum allowable
increases above baseline ambient concentrations) have been established. 
These analyses must be carried out for each averaging period that has
been established for the pollutants.  Sources subject to PSD for PM2.5
currently must conduct modeling analyses for PM10 (as a surrogate for
PM2.5) for two averaging periods – annual and 24-hour.  Some such
sources also are subject to PSD for SO2 and/or NOx.  Sources subject for
SO2 must conduct analyses for three averaging periods (annual, 24-hour,
and 3-hour), while NOx sources only need to conduct an analysis for the
annual averaging period.  To account for overlapping SO2 and NOx
applicability, we believe it is a reasonable assumption that PM2.5
sources must conduct an average total of four modeling analyses (prior
to the PM2.5 Increments Rule) – two for PM10 and an average of two for
SO2 and/or NOx.

 	Under the PM2.5 Increments Rule, sources subject to PSD for PM2.5 will
be required to conduct PM2.5 modeling analyses for two averaging periods
– annual and 24-hour.  Because most such sources also will be subject
to PSD for PM10, they will also be required to conduct two PM10 modeling
analyses, also for annual and 24-hour averaging periods.  The rule will
not affect the average of two analyses that we assume for SO2/NOx. 
Thus, the average total number of modeling analyses under the PM2.5
Increments Rule will be six.

 	The Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT), Best Available
Control Technology (BACT), Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER)
Clearinghouse, or RBLC, is a database of RACT/BACT/LAER determinations
made in site-specific permitting analyses.  It is generated and updated
using information provided by state and local permitting agencies.

E-  PAGE  2 

INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST FOR
CHANGES吠⁏䡔⁅〴䌠剆倠剁協㔠‱湡⁤㈵倠䑓䄠䑎丠乏
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⁄剐䩏䍅⁔䕎呔义േऍ慐敧
഍义但䵒呁佉⁎佃䱌䍅䥔乏删充䕕呓䘠剏䌠䅈䝎卅吠⁏
〴䌠剆倠剁⁔ㄵ䄠䑎㔠㨲†牐癥湥楴湯漠⁦楓湧晩捩湡
⁴敄整楲牯瑡潩⁮倨䑓 潦⁲慐瑲捩汵瑡⁥慍瑴牥 Less
Than 2.5 Micrometers (PM2.5) – Increments, Significant Impact Levels
(SILs) and Significant Monitoring Concentration (SMC)

Page   PAGE  22 

EPA

Executive Summary

1.2	Description

1	Identification of the Information Collection

1.1	Title 

TRACKING NUMBER: 1230.19

formation Collection

1.1	Title 

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 EPA TRACKING NUMBER: 

1713.05

OMB TRACKING NUMBER: 

2060-0336

formation Collection

1.1	Title 

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 EPA TRACKING NUMBER: 

1713.05

OMB TRACKING NUMBER: 

2060-0336

formation Collection

1.1	Title 

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 EPA TRACKING NUMBER: 

1713.05

OMB TRACKING NUMBER: 

2060-0336

OMD1.2	Description

OMD1.2	Description

OMD1.2	Description

2

	

2  	Need For and Use of Collection

isfice of Air and Radiationfor the entire NSR program includes  and
minor) is about 3.5 million hours for sources and about 2.4 

2.1	Need / Authority for the Collection

2.2	Practical Utility / Users of the Data

2.3	Caveats and Considerations

3	Non-Duplication, Consultation, and Other Collection Criteria

3.1	Non-Duplication

3.2	Public Notice Requirements

3.3	Consultations

3.4	Less Frequent

	Collection

3.5	General

	Guidelines

3.6	Confidentiality

3.7	Sensitive 

	Questions

4	The Respondents and the Information Requested

4.1	Respondents/SIC and NAICS Codes

5.4	Collection

	Schedule

4.2.1	Data items, including recordkeeping requirements 

6.2.3	Annualized capital costs

5.3.2	Measures to mitigate impacts on small entities

5.3.1	Measures to avert impacts on small entities

5.3	Small Entity

	Flexibility

5.1	Agency Activities

5	The Information Collected -   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Agency Activities,
Collection Methodologies, and Information Management

1.1	Title

5.2	Collection 

	Methodology

	and

	Management

6	Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection

6.1	Estimating Respondent Burden

6.2	Estimating Respondent Costs

6.2.2	Estimating capital/start-up and O&M costs, including purchase of
services

6.2.1	Estimating labor costs

6.3	Estimating Agency Burden and Cost

6.7	Burden Statement

CONCLUSION:

This rulemaking represents a POTENTIAL INCREASE IN BURDEN to sources and
Reviewing Authorities related to permit actions.

This rulemaking represents a ONE-TIME INCREASE IN BURDEN to states and
other Reviewing Authorities to revise their Implementation Plans.

Because the PSD program rarely affects small entities, the Agency
determined this rulemaking represents

NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF SMALL ENTITIES.

6.6	Reasons for Change in Burden

June 2010

EPA No. 2276.02

3.8	Environmental Justice Considerations

6.4	Estimating the Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Cost

6.5	Bottom Line Burden and Cost

6.4.1	Estimating the number of respondents

6.4.2	Estimating total respondent burden and cost

6.4.3	Estimating total federal burden and cost

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 EPA TRACKING NUMBER: 

2276.02

OMB CONTROL NUMBER: 

2060-0609

4.2	Information Requested

4.2.2	Respondent activities

