DRAFT

Supporting Statement

for

Information Collection Request

Control of Evaporative Emissions from New and In-Use 

Portable Gasoline Containers (Renewal)

EPA ICR 2213.04

March, 2013

Compliance and Innovative Strategies Division

Office of Transportation and Air Quality

Office of Air and Radiation

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 	PART A OF THE SUPPORTING STATEMENT

1.	Identification of the Information Collection

(a)	Title and Number of Information Collection.

	"Control of Evaporative Emissions from New and In-Use Portable Gasoline
Containers (Renewal)", ICR 2213.04, OMB 2060-0597. 

(b)	Short Characterization.

	Under regulations promulgated on February 26, 2007 (72 FR 8428; 40 CFR
Part 59, Subpart F), manufacturers of new portable gasoline containers
from 0.25 to 10.0 gallons in capacity are required to obtain
certificates of conformity with the Clean Air Act. The rule applies to
containers manufactured on or after January 1, 2009 (manufacturers and
importers were given until June 30, 2009 and wholesale distributors
until December 31, 2009 to dispose of stocks manufactured before January
1, 2009). Certificates are valid from the effective date until the end
of the production period, with a maximum of five years. This ICR covers
the burdens associated with the applications for certification and the
required annual reports of successful warranty claims, based on
experience during the first three years of the program. The applications
are processed by the Compliance Division (CD), Office of Transportation
and Air Quality, EPA. In essence, an application is in support of an
emission limitation of 0.3 grams per gallon per day for the mandated
five-year useful life of the container. Applicants submit test results
conducted in accordance with the regulations, maintenance instructions
and warranty information given to the purchasers, copies of the labels,
and other information listed in section 4(b).  Applications are
submitted in no fixed format, although EPA did work with industry
informally on application questions and provided non-confidential
versions of acceptable received applications (“FOIA applications”)
as examples to other potential applicants. Applications are submitted
electronically as a part of the EPA’s Verify certification information
system.   

	The current authorization is based on an estimated ten respondents for
213.2 hours and $20,439 in costs, including $10,519 in capital and O&M
costs per year, the rest labor.. 

The burdens in this ICR are based on experience administering the
program from January 1, 2009, through December, 2012. During that
period, EPA has issued fifteen certificates to seven companies. All
certificates were issued for five years. Annual warranty reports were
due July 1, 2010.  The portable fuel container companies have not
experienced any emission related warranty claims, so no warranty reports
have been received to date.  The main changes from the prior ICR are the
following: updating the agency burden estimate,  labor costs, and the
number of respondents and responses, including allowance for carry-over
applications.  The current request estimates eight respondents for 179.4
hours and $23,170 in costs, including $12,552 for capital and O&M costs,
including the costs of conducting tests. 

	 

	

2.	Need for and Use of the Collection

(a)	Need/Authority for the Collection.  

	Statutory authority for the portable gasoline container controls is
found in Sections 183(e) and 111 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
sections 7511b(e) and 7414. The EPA is required under Section 183(e) of
the Clean Air Act (Act) to regulate Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)
emissions from the use of consumer and commercial products.  Pursuant to
Section 183(e)(3), the EPA published a list of consumer and commercial
products and a schedule for their regulation on March 23, 1995 (60 FR
15264).  Consumer products were included in Group I of the list, and
standards were promulgated on September 11, 1998.  In the
Administrator's judgment, VOC emissions from the use of consumer
products contribute to ground-level ozone formation in ozone
non-attainment areas. Portable gasoline containers are a consumer
product which has been shown to be deficient in preventing VOCs in the
form of fuel vapors from being emitted into the air.  The certification
program for portable fuel containers was promulgated in 2007 (72 FR
8533; February 26, 2007).  The regulations appear in 40 CFR Part 59,
Subpart F (40 CFR §§ 59.600 - 59.699). 

The information in the application is needed to insure that the emission
standard will be met during the useful life of the container and that
the certified containers comply with the labeling, warranty, and other
requirements of the regulations. The information is sufficient to allow
the manufacture to aggregate containers of like design into one emission
family.  This saves the manufacturer the expense of testing models of
similar but not identical design.  The information is also detailed
enough to allow subsequent recertification when a certificate has
expired (“carry over”).  

	The record keeping requirements are likewise in support of a
demonstration that the emissions family certified will meet the emission
standard in the regulation. The records specified are to be provided to
EPA upon request. 

The annual warranty reports are needed to assure that the containers
survive normal use and provide EPA important information on the success
of its certification program, weaknesses therein, or examples or
patterns of noncompliance.  Cans showing excessive warranty claims could
be candidates for in-use testing by EPA.  Although EPA does not have the
authority to recall portable fuel containers, the warranty information
along with possible in-use testing by EPA could be used as grounds to
withhold subsequent certification or to enter into enforcement action
under the Clean Air Act. 

(b)	Practical Utility/Users of the Information.  

	Agency personnel will use the information collected to: 

Determine if a manufacture’s portable gasoline containers meet the
emission standard when new;

Allow the agency to issue a certificate of compliance to the
manufacturer so that they can market the approved containers;

Allow the agency to issue carry-over certificates waiving the testing
process required for a new design;

Allow the agency to issue certificates to the manufacturer for
containers that are substantially similar to the tested prototype and
waive the testing process required for a new design (“carry
across”);

Provide information to the agency to indicate that the portable gasoline
containers are meeting the standard in-use; and

Provide information to the agency that a portable gasoline container
design is not meeting the standard in-use and provide a basis on which
to reject a manufactures application for that design in subsequent model
years or take other appropriate action.

3.	Non-duplication, Consultations, and Other Collection Criteria

(a)	Non-duplication.

	The information collected includes product and manufacturing
specifications, testing documentation, and successful warranty claims. 
Similar information is collected by the state of California and
approximately 13 other states that have adopted the California Portable
Fuel Container regulation.  However, the California regulation is
different in several key areas that make the information unsuitable for
information collection required for Federal rule.  These are all due to
the following differences in the standards and certification
requirements in the two rules: 

The test fuel and the temperature cycles used in the Federal program are
more in keeping with nationwide ambient temperatures and fuels, while
those required in the California regulation are more suitable to
California fuels and ambient conditions.   

The Federal rule requires the reporting of successful warranty claims
concerning fuel containers sold as certified under the rule.  While the
California regulation does require that the manufacturer issue
warranties, it does not require them to report on the outcomes of
successful claims against them.

These differences make the California data unsuitable for the Federal
rule on fuel containers.

	Public Notice Required Prior to ICR Submission to OMB

An announcement soliciting public comment on this ICR was published in
the Federal Register on March ______, 2013 (__ FR ____). A copy of the
draft ICR was placed in the docket. No comments were received.  

(c)	Consultations

	For this renewal, EPA will consult the following individual: 

Organization			Name					Phone Number

Scepter USA.			Phil Monckton				416-715-9445 			

	For the prior ICR, we consulted the following individuals (Blitz has
subseqently gone out of business).\: 

Blitz USA			Dan Weibel				416-540-5153

No Spill, LLC			Tom Cray				913-888-9200			

Testing Services Group	Andy Meloney			810-245-1600	

Their responses were very helpful in developing this request. On the
whole they approve of the EPA program and express frustration at the
areas of the California program that differ from EPA, particularly the
fuel specifications. Information from TSG on contract costs for testing
and application preparation were particularly helpful. 		

		

(d)	Effects of Less Frequent Collection.

	Certificates of conformity are issued for the production period of the
models covered in the emissions family, not to exceed five years. All
certificates to date have been issued for five years.  However, when a
fuel container design is a “carried over” or a new version of a
container that is substantially similar to a current container (“carry
across”), the amount of new information required is substantially
reduced.  Warranty reports are required by regulation to be submitted
annually.

(e)	General Guidelines.

	This ICR adheres to the guidelines for Federal data requesters, as
provided at 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2), with the exception that the regulation
requires that records concerning the application for certification be
maintained for 5 years (except for routine testing data for 1 year). 
The five-year requirement is consistent with the maximum production
period and the consequent five-year duration of certificates. The
retention is necessary to allow the agency to adequately monitor
compliance. Information on successful warranty claims is required for
the preceding model by July 1 of the following year.  There is no
requirement to report unsuccessful claims against container warranties.
There is no requirement by EPA for the manufactures to retain that
information beyond the extent necessary to report it annually.  

(f)	Confidentiality.

Any information submitted to EPA for which a claim of confidentiality is
made will be safeguarded according to EPA regulations at 40 CFR 2.201
Part 2, as stated explicitly in the regulations (40 CFR §59.695). The
section sets fort how to make confidentiality claims and how documents
raising confidentiality issues will be handled.  

	Sensitive Questions.  

	This collection does not involve matters of a sensitive nature.

4.	The Respondents and the Information Requested

(a)	Respondents/SIC and NAICS Codes.  

	Respondents to this information collection are manufacturers of
portable fuel containers. They fall within standard industrial
classification (SIC) 3411 and within the North American Industrial
Classification System (NAICS) code of 332431 (metal can manufacturing)
or SIC 3089, NAICS 326199 (all other plastic product manufacturing). 

(b)	Information Requested.

	(i)	Data items.  

	The required data items are specifically enumerated in the regulations
(40 CFR §59.623):

(a) Describe the emission family's specifications and other basic
parameters of the emission controls. List each distinguishable
configuration in the emission family. Include descriptions and part
numbers for all detachable components such as spouts and caps.

(b) Describe and explain the method of emission control.

(c) Describe the products you selected for testing and the reasons for
selecting them.

(d) Describe the test equipment and procedures that you used, including
any special or alternate test procedures you used (see §59.650).

(e) List the specifications of the test fuel to show that it falls
within the required ranges specified in §59.650.

(f) Include the maintenance and use instructions and warranty
information you will give to the ultimate purchaser of each new portable
fuel container (see §59.613).

(g) Describe your emission control information label (see §59.615).

(h) State that your product was tested as described in the application
(including the test procedures, test parameters, and test fuels) to show
you meet the requirements of this subpart.

(i) Present emission data to show your products meet the applicable
emission standards. Where applicable, §§59.626 and 59.627 may allow
you to submit an application in certain cases without new emission data.

(j) Report all test results, including those from invalid tests or from
any other tests, whether or not they were conducted according to the
test procedures of §§59.650 through 59.653. We may ask you to send
other information to confirm that your tests were valid under the
requirements of this subpart.

(k) Unconditionally certify that all the products in the emission family
comply with the requirements of this subpart, other referenced parts of
the CFR, and the Clean Air Act.

(l) Include estimates of U.S.-directed production volumes.

(m) Include the information required by other sections of this subpart.

(n) Include other relevant information, including any additional
information requested by EPA.

(o) Name an agent for service located in the United States. Service on
this agent constitutes service on you or any of your officers or
employees for any action by EPA or otherwise by the United States
related to the requirements of this subpart.	

	An additional reporting requirement is listed in 40 CFR §59.628(e):

(e) Send us an annual warranty report summarizing successful warranty
claims by emission family under §59.612, including the reason for the
claim. You must submit the report by July 1 for the preceding calendar
year.

There is also a one-to-one correspondence between the recordkeeping
requirements and the requirements listed in the regulations (40 CFR
§59.628):

(a) Organize and maintain the following records:

(1) A copy of all applications and any other information you send us.

(2) Any of the information we specify in §59.623 that you were not
required to include in your application.

(3) A detailed history of each emission-data unit. For each
emission-data unit, include all of the following:

(i) The emission-data unit's construction, including its origin and
buildup, steps you took to ensure that it represents production
containers, any components you built specially for it, and all the
components you include in your application for certification.

(ii) All your emission tests, including documentation on routine and
standard tests, as specified in §§59.650 through 59.653, and the date
and purpose of each test.

(iii) All tests to diagnose emission-control performance, giving the
date and time of each and the reasons for the test.

(iv) Any other relevant events or information.

(4) Production figures for each emission family divided by assembly
plant.

(5) If you identify your portable fuel containers by lot number or other
identification numbers, keep a record of these numbers for all the
containers you produce under each certificate of conformity.

(b) Keep data from routine emission tests (such as test cell
temperatures and relative humidity readings) for one year after we issue
the associated certificate of conformity. Keep all other information
specified in paragraph (a) of this section for five years after we issue
your certificate.

(c) Store these records in any format and on any media, as long as you
can promptly send us organized, written records in English if we ask for
them. You must keep these records readily available. We may review them
at any time.

(d) Send us copies of any maintenance instructions or explanations if we
ask for them.

	By implication, the annual report of successful warranty claims
includes a requirement to keep records of such claims on a yearly basis
until July 1 of the following year. 

	(ii)	Respondent Activities.  

	The applications are in no set format but generally follow the
enumerated application requirements specified in §59.623 (see 4(b)(i)
above).  The respondent will have to document fuel container
specifications in detail, such as physical size, shapes, materials,
quality of component fit, and production methods, in submitting its
application(s) for certification. The respondent will also perform tests
and keep records on them.  The respondent must collect and keep
information on successful warranty claims for annual reporting.  The
respondent must also retain records on the units produced, apply serial
numbers to individual containers, and track the serial numbers to their
certificates of conformity.  Many of these activities are performed in
the production of any modern consumer product, but clearly some of the
information is uniquely required by the fuel container regulation.   

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

(a)	Agency Activities.

	 During the renewal period the most significant portion of EPA’s
activity for the fuel container regulation will be spent reviewing new
applications and renewal applications.  Other activities include
processing exceptions and answering questions concerning details of the
testing and certification requirements, including researching the
answers and communicating by email and telephone. Running change
submissions must also be reviewed for possible impacts and
manufacturers’ evaluations thereof. A part of this process involves
determining if “carry over” or “carry across” of data from a
previous model year or addition of a new container model to an existing
emissions family is appropriate or instead that new testing will be
required. EPA has the right to select a number of containers for testing
to confirm that the cans are indeed meeting the emissions standards, but
no confirmatory testing burden is anticipated in this estimate. EPA will
also be reviewing the annual submissions of successful warranty claims
and processing exemption requests. 

(b)	Collection Methodology and Management.

	Applicants submit their applications for certification in the document
module of EPA’s Verify information system. All Verify users go through
an initial registration process that includes submission of basic
information and assignment of a manufacturer code.  It is anticipated
that warranty reports will also be submitted through the Verify document
module, with no set format. 

(c)	Small Entity Flexibility.

	There are several provisions for small entity flexibility in the
regulations. Hardship deadline extensions for compliance with the
standard are available where, due to circumstances neither foreseeable
nor preventable, compliance would jeopardize the solvency of the
company. Exemptions are for up to one year and are renewable. There are
also exemptions for containers intended only for export, used for the
sole purpose of testing, or for national security. As with other
certification programs, small as well as larger manufacturers have
recourse to carry over and carry across. They may also request to use
alternative testing methods or emissions data already collected using
other procedures. The portable fuel container program currently collects
no certification fees. 

(d)	Collection Schedule.

	The portable fuel container regulation applies to all fuel containers
as defined in the regulations manufactured on or after January 1, 2009. 
Information collections are on a production period basis, five years in
all cases so far.  Warranty reports are on a calendar year basis, with
reports due July 1 for the previous calendar year.   

6.	Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection

	These estimates represent the average annual burden that will be
incurred by the affected industry during the three-year period beginning
on September 30, 2013, with a margin for error.  

(a)	Estimating Respondent Burden.

	The previous ICR, 2213.03, estimated 213.2 hours and $9,920 in labor
hours and labor costs and $10,519 in startup capital and O&M costs, for
a  total of $20,439 per year for  ten estimated respondents, assuming a
total of two applications per year.  

	This ICR estimates 179.4 labor hours from eight manufacturers. This
figure primarily reflects the following adjustments: we conservatively
ask authorization to cover five applications per year, half of which are
counted as carry-over applications (a conservative figure, as the actual
figure is quite likely to be higher), and because warranty violations
have not been reported so far, the labor associated with annual warranty
reports is decreased. In addition, the number of manufacturers covered
is reduced to 8. 

	

	This ICR does not include the costs of developing products that comply
with the Clean Air Act, only the burdens of making the showing to EPA
that they do. TSG, which does nearly all of the contract work, states
that it charges under $2,000 for application preparation and submission
and under $5,000 for testing work. Because the facility does a wide
variety of testing, including for these clients, it is difficult to
allocate these contracted costs among labor, capital, and O&M. 

	This ICR uses $7,500 per application cost for new applications,
allocated approximately one third to labor and two thirds to the
contractor’s remaining O&M costs, following the Regulatory Impact
Analysis and the prior ICR.  Carry-over applications only require labor
costs, with no testing (O&M) costs. .	

Estimating Respondent Costs.

(i) Estimating Labor Costs

Rates for managers, mechanical engineer technicians, and administrative
staff are from the May 2011 National Industry-Specific Occupational
Employment and Wage Estimates
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_326100.htm , accessed January 8,
2013). With a overhead multiplier of 1.6, these are $85.44, $42.37, and
$26.26, respectively. Applying these figures to the application,
warranty, and record keeping labor totals above, the total labor cost is
$9,116.

(ii) Estimating Capital and Operations and Maintenance Costs

The prior ICR included a one-time startup cost estimate of $519 per year
 for ten new manufacturer applicants. The current ICR assumes one new
manufacturer with the startup cost allocated proportionately. We assume
the same $5,000 in O&M costs, for testing, for 2.5 new applications per
year, for a total O&M cost of $12,500 per year for the industry. 

 (c)	Estimating Agency Burden and Cost.

	  The program is now in place and the considerable startup efforts are
in the past. One hour per application by a GS 13, Step 10, EPA employee
is estimated for review of the portable fuel container certifications.
There are no secretarial or database management costs, as these too
small to differentiate from the very much larger Verify baseline as part
of the motor vehicle certification IC.  The EPA employee cost is $86.96
per certification review. The EPA labor estimate is  based on Office of
Personnel Management SALARY TABLE 2009-DET (  HYPERLINK
"http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/pdf/salhr.pdf" 
http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/pdf/salhr.pdf  ). For five applications
per year the estimated annual Agency burden is $434.80.  We anticipate
nominal effort in eliciting and reviewing  warranty action reports,
which to date have included only notice of no warranty actions,
estimated at an average of one hour  for each of a maximum of 8 report
per year for a total of $695.68. The current estimate includes no new
hardship and national security exemption determinations. The agency
total is therefore ten hours and $1,130.48.   

	Estimating the Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Costs 

The following assumptions were used to estimate the respondent universe
and total burden and costs for industry to comply with the various
requirements of the rule.

The estimated ten manufactures of fuel containers for the domestic
market from the prior ICR is reduced to eight. So far seven
manufacturers have applied for certificates, one has gone out of the
business, and four are currently active, with one new entry expected. 

. We conservatively anticipate 25 applications in the next five years,
or five applications a year.  

 We conservatively expect half the applications over the next five years
to be carry-over applications requiring no testing. As many as 90
per-cent of applications could be carry-over, which would reduce the
testing O&M costs from those presented in this estimate.  

Manufactures will continue to contract for testing services and most
certificate application preparation.

(e)	Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost Tables.

	(i)	Respondent Tally  

RESPONDENTS	8

BURDEN HOURS	179.4

LABOR COST	$9,116

OPERATING COST	     $12,500	

CAPITALIZED COST	$ 52

TOTAL COST	$23,170

				

	(ii)	Agency Tally  

EMPLOYEES	1

STARTUP	$0

LABOR HOURS	13

LABOR COST	$ 1,130

(f)     Reasons for Change in Burden.  

	The program is now mature and startup costs have largely already been
incurred, except for one new expected entrant. Similarly, at least half
of the certification applications are expected to be carry-overs. No
warranty violation report have been received, so warranty report
applications are expected to be less time consuming. The number of
manufacturers is reduced from ten to eight. These reductions are
partially offset by an increase from two to five in the number of
applications per year covered by this authorization, to provide a margin
of error for fluctuations in the small number of manufacturers and
certifications in this industry. 

(g)    Burden Statement

The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection
of information is estimated to average 12.64 hours respondent.  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 No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0018, 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
Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. 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 and Radiation
Docket and Information Center is (202) 566-1742.  An electronic version
of the public docket is available at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.regulations.gov"  www.regulations.gov  .  Use this site 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.  Once 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, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for EPA.  Please include
the EPA Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0328 and OMB Control Number
2060-0597 in any correspondence.

 “Certification Procedure for Portable Fuel Containers and Spill-Proof
Spouts”, California Air Resources Board July 22, 2005

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