INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST (ICR)

OMB-83 SUPPORTING STATEMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

OFFICE OF AIR & RADIATION

A.	JUSTIFICATION

1.	Identification of the Information Collection

a.	Title:   Recordkeeping and Reporting for Diesel Fuel Produced by
Transmix Processors.

EPA Number:      2463.01

b. Short characterization:

	With this proposed information collection request (ICR), the Office of
Air and Radiation (OAR) is seeking permission to collect information
related to diesel fuel produced by transmix processors.  “Transmix”
is a mixture of finished fuels, such as pipeline interface, that no
longer meets the specifications for a fuel that can be used or sold
without further processing.  “Pipeline interface” means the mixture
of different fuels that abut each other during pipeline shipment.  The
proposed recordkeeping and reporting requirements apply to producers of
fuels from transmix, as well as parties who take custody to these fuels.
 The associated recordkeeping and reporting requirements are proposed to
include:  

Submission of a compliance plan by transmix processors;

Submission of necessary updates to that compliance plan; and

Initial programming and use of product transfer document (PTD) codes by
transmix processors and other parties who handle transmix in the
distribution system.

	There are no associated registration requirements as a result of this
proposal, since all known transmix processors are already registered
with EPA as “refiners” and are not required to take any additional
action.  Furthermore, as refiners subject to the existing diesel
regulations, transmix processors are already required to test diesel
fuel for sulfur.  Recordkeeping and reporting associated with that
activity has been accounted for under EPA’s diesel fuel program ICR,
OMB number 2060-0308 (renewal pending).       

	Specifically, EPA is proposing the following amendments are to the
following sections in 40 CFR Part 80:  

Section	Description

80.511(b)(4)	Amended to allow for the production and sale of 500-ppm
locomotive and marine (LM) diesel fuel produced from transmix past 2014.

80.513 (entire section)	Amended to allow for the production and sale of
500-ppm LM diesel fuel produced from transmix past 2014.

80.572(d)	Amended to extend 500ppm LM diesel fuel label past 2012.

80.597(d)(3)(ii)	Amended to include 500-ppm LM diesel fuel in the list
of fuels that an entity may deliver or receive custody of past June 1,
2014.



	

 

2.  Need For, and Use of, the Collection

Authority for the Collection

	  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Sections 114 and 208 of the Clean Air Act (CAA),
42 U.S.C. §§ 7414 and 7542, authorize EPA to require recordkeeping and
reporting regarding enforcement of the provisions of Title II of the
CAA.  The relevant regulations are in 40 CFR Part 80, Regulation of
Fuels and Fuel Additives.  

	

	b. Practical Utility/Uses of the Data

	The reported data will enable EPA to:

	1)  Process compliance plans from transmix producers.

	2)  Ensure that diesel fuel made from transmix meets the standards
required under the regulations at 40 CFR Part 80, and that the
associated benefits to human health and the environment are realized.

3.  Non-duplication, Consultation, and other Collection Criteria

	a.  Non-duplication

	  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Efforts have been made to eliminate duplication
in this information collection. Where possible, information requirements
from various organizations within the Agency have been combined to
minimize the submittal of duplicate information in different formats. 
The information in this collection will not be available from another
source.

	b.	Public Notice

	EPA will submit the ICR to OMB for review, along with the notice of
proposed rulemaking.  This proposed supporting statement is being
docketed in order to permit interested parties to fully comment upon the
performance-based approach and the recordkeeping and reporting costs
associated with it.  

	c. 	Consultations

	EPA is providing an opportunity for notice and comment regarding the
proposed rule and this proposed supporting statement.  We anticipate
that the notice of proposed rulemaking and the proposed information
collection will generate comments from interested parties.  We will
consider these comments in generating a supporting statement for
submission to OMB in connection with the final rule.        

	d. 	Effects of Less Frequent Data Collection

	  For most items in this proposed information collection, the frequency
of response is determined by the submitter.    

	e.	General Guidelines

	This rule does not exceed any of the OMB guidelines.  

	f. 	Confidentiality

	EPA informs respondents that they may assert claims of business
confidentiality for any or all of the information they submit. 
Information claimed as confidential will be treated in accordance with
40 CFR Part 2 and established Agency procedures.  The template for
qualification that we use for diesel sulfur permits a party to clearly
assert a claim of business confidentiality on the actual submission.  We
anticipate developing a similar form for this approach when it is
finalized.  Information that is received without a claim of
confidentiality may be made available to the public without further
notice to the submitter under 40 CFR § 2.203.

g.	Sensitive Information

	

	Individual reporting data may be claimed as sensitive and will be
treated as confidential information in accordance with the procedures
outline in 40 CFR Part 2.

4.	The Respondents and the Information Requested

	a.	Respondents/SIC Codes

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The respondents to this information collection
are:

Refiners who produce diesel fuel from transmix (i.e., transmix
processors)

Parties in the distribution chain who handle diesel fuel made from
transmix (e.g., distributors, carriers)

	Recordkeeping and reporting are required by the following industries,
with SIC Code/2002 NAICS Code indicated in parentheses:  refiners
(2911/324110), [and petroleum marketers and other distributors (5171,
5172/424710, 424720). 

	b.	Information Requested

		In order to qualify a test method, the following information must be
provided to the Agency

		A)	Reporting:  Respondents who produce diesel fuel from transmix
(i.e., transmix processors) must submit to EPA in order to have a
compliance plan approved.  Other reporting is related to PTDs, which are
used in the normal course of business by all parties in the petroleum
distribution system already.  

		B)	Recordkeeping:  Under the existing diesel fuel regulations,
respondents must retain underlying records for five (5) years.  This
time period is consistent with the required record retention for all 40
CFR Part 80 fuels programs.

5.  The Information Collected, Agency Activities, Collection
Methodology, and Information Management

a.	Agency Activities

EPA will review compliance plans and updates that are submitted.

Data will be stored.

b. 	Collection and Methodology and Management

	Compliance plans will be submitted by transmix producers in accordance
with the regulations.  A common form is not feasible, since the content
of the submission may vary from respondent to respondent.  PTDs are used
in the normal course of business.  EPA may ask to review a party’s
PTDs, but does not routinely collect them.  

 

c.	Small Entity Flexibility

	This collection will not adversely affect small entities.  

d.	Collection Schedule

	The collection schedule for this information collection is largely
driven by the respondent.  Refiners are required to submit a compliance
plan only if they wish to produce diesel fuel from transmix.  PTDs are
used by parties in the distribution chain in the normal course of
business; the frequency of PTDs indicating diesel-from-transmix has been
estimated for this ICR, but the actual frequency will be driven by the
parties and by demand for the product.     

6.	Estimating the Burden and Cost of Collection

a.	We drew upon experience implementing similar regulations among the
same entities to develop estimates of the burden associated with this
collection.  We estimate that 25 refiners will produce diesel fuel from
transmix and will be required to submit compliance plans.  We estimate
that 150 additional parties (e.g., distributors, carriers) will handle
the product and be subject to the PTD requirements. Of these 150
additional parties who distribute and carry the fuel, we estimate that
45% of the volume distributed/carried will be by barge, 45% will be by
rail, and 10% will be by truck.  

   

b.	Three labor categories are involved:  managerial (includes legal and
professional review), technical, and clerical. The estimates use the
Bureau of Labor Statistics figures from "Employer Costs for Employee
Compensation - Table 12 - Private Industry, Manufacturing, and
Non-Manufacturing Industries by Occupational Group” (December 2003),
with a 3% annual inflation factor applied to bring the values to the
present.  Using this method, the following wages and benefits apply by
category:

Wages and Benefits

Managerial 		$53.87 per hour

Technical		$35.29 per hour

Clerical		$24.56 per hour

Doubling for company overhead beyond wages and benefits, and for
convenience, rounding up to the dollar, gives the following rates for
this proposed ICR:

Total Employer Cost

Managerial		$108 per hour

Technical		$71 per hour

Clerical		$49 per hour

It is assumed that for each hour of activity the mix will be about 0.1
hour managerial, 0.7 hour technical, and 0.2 hour clerical.  This gives
an average labor cost of $71 per hour, which will be used in this ICR. 
Note that the figures in this table are rounded to the next whole
number, wherever possible. We estimate the following burden:  

Table I – Transmix Processors (Refiners)

Collection Activity	Total Number 

of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Total Number of
Responses	Hours Per Response	Total Hours	Total 

Cost

$

Submission of Compliance Plan	25	1	25	 8 (24 total hours for one report 
divided by 3 years to yield annual burden)	200	$14,200

 Annual updates to compliance plan	25	2	50	

6 hours per report	

300	

$21,300

Programming of PTD Codes (one time cost)	25	1	25	8 (24 hours total for
one program-ming instance divided by 3 to yield annual burden)	200
$14,200

Application of PTD Codes to batches	25	364	9,104	.0003 (1 second per
instance of reporting	3	$213

TOTAL

	  =SUM(ABOVE)  9,204 

  =SUM(ABOVE)  703 	  =SUM(ABOVE)  $49,913.00 



	Table II – Product Transfer Documents for Parties Downstream of the
Transmix Processor

Collection Activity	Total Number 

of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Total Number of
Responses	Hours Per Response	Total Hours	Total 

Cost

$

Programming of Code	150	1	150	 8 (24 hours total for one program-ming
instance divided by 3 to yield annual burden)	1200	$85,200

 Application of Code	150	61	9,104	.0003 (1 second per instance of
reporting	3	$213



TOTAL

	  =SUM(ABOVE)  9,254 

  =SUM(ABOVE)  1203 	  =SUM(ABOVE)  $85,413.00 

 

c. Estimating the Agency Burden and Cost

	The Agency burden consists of one GS-13 engineer (estimated at $161,000
including overhead to review compliance plans and compliance plan
updates.  We estimate that this employee will Spend 5% of his/her time
engaged in such review.  This yields an Agency cost of $8,050.

d.	Estimating the Respondent Universe

	We were able to estimate the number of regulated entities drawing upon
experience regulating the same entities.  

e.	Bottom Line Annual Burden Hours and Costs

	For transmix producers, we estimate 25 respondents, and a total annual
reporting burden of 703 hours and $49,913.00.  For other parties in the
distribution system, we estimate 150 respondents, and a total annual
reporting burden of 1,203 hours and $85,413. Considering all respondents
who would be subject to this information collection yields an annual
total of 175 respondents, 1,906 hours, and $135,326.  We do not
anticipate any additional recordkeeping burden, since diesel PTDs are
normally kept in the course of business.      

f.	Reason for Change in Burden

	This proposed supporting statement has been prepared in anticipation of
EPA’s future submission of a proposed, new collection to OMB.  

g.	Burden Statement

	

	We estimate an annual reporting burden of 28 hours per respondent who
is a transmix producer.   We estimate an annual reporting burden of 8
hours for all other respondents. Considering all respondents (transmix
producers and other parties) who would be subject to this proposed
information collection, the annual reporting burden, per respondent,
would is estimated to be 11 hours.

	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 the instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize
technology and systems for the purpose 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
transit 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.

	  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1   SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Interested parties are
urged to comment on the Agency's need for this information collection,
the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods
for minimizing respondent burden, including the use of automated
collection technique.  

	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, EPA has established a public docket for this rule,
which includes this ICR.   Submit any comments related to the ICR to EPA
and OMB.  Send comments to OMB at the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street,
NW, Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for EPA.  Since OMB is
required to make a decision concerning the ICR between 30 and 60 days
after publication in the Federal Register, a comment to OMB is best
assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of
publication.  The final rule will respond to any OMB or public comments
on the information collection requirements contained in this proposal.	

Part B of the Supporting Statement

This part of the supporting statement is not applicable.

 Since EPA regulations dictate labeling language, no information is
collected via labels.  

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