MEMORANDUM

DATE			May 2018

SUBJECT:	Electronic Reporting for Surface Coating of Metal Furniture, Subpart RRRR

FROM:	Barrett Parker
	Measurement Policy Group
TO:	Docket Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0669

Overview
The proposed rule would have owners or operators of facilities engaged in surface coating of metal furniture submit notifications of compliance status (NOCS), performance test reports, and semiannual reports, electronically to the Agency's Central Data Exchange (CDX) using the Compliance and Emissions Data Reporting Interface (CEDRI).  The CDX is EPA's point of entry on the Internet-based Environmental Information Exchange Network for environmental data exchanges, and it enables us to work with stakeholders such as regulated industries and environmental agencies to facilitate the electronic submission of data to EPA via the Internet.  Many other Agency electronic reporting programs, including those associated with Discharge Monitoring Reports, Greenhouse Gas Reporting, Risk Management Plans, and Toxic Release Inventory, also rely on CDX to ensure the submitted data are legally acceptable.  CDX is compliant with the Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (see 40 CFR part 3), meaning that documents submitted using an electronic signature are equally enforceable as documents submitted using a handwritten (or "wet") signature.  To access CDX, users must register with the system.  Users registering as certifiers and delegated certifiers must go through a one-time identity-proofing process when registering, and, depending on the method of identity-proofing selected by the users, the registration process can take up to 10 business days to complete.  Therefore, users should allow enough time for the registration process to be completed so that they can be registered before their submissions are required.  Registration for CDX can be completed by connecting to the CDX registration Webpage and submitting the necessary information.  More specific instructions, including the step-by-step process, are available in the CDX Registration and Compliance and Emissions Data Reporting Interface (CEDRI) User Guide.
CEDRI is the electronic, web-based portal developed by EPA's air program specifically for electronic reporting of the data required by its rules under 40 CFR parts 60, 62, and 63.  Multiple reports can be submitted simultaneously using CEDRI, as it aggregates uploaded files (bulk upload) or forms into a single package for submission.  As shown in the Electronic Reporting Data Schematic on the next page, submissions are stored in CDX after being certified and uploaded.  Upon receipt in CDX, a processing period occurs during which air agencies can review the submissions and seek corrections or clarifications to the submissions, as warranted, from the facility submitting the report(s).  Following the processing period, submitted reports and notifications will be sent to the Agency's publicly accessible Web Factor and Information Retrieval (WebFIRE) database.  Once performance test reports are available in WebFIRE they can be used by EPA and others to generate new or revised emission factors.  A description of CEDRI is available on the following website on the CEDRI Webpage.  


Figure 1 - Electronic Reporting Data Schematic

Electronic Reporting Tool (ERT)
For sources required to conduct a performance test, the data from the performance test are input into the Electronic Reporting Tool (ERT), a Microsoft Access(R) application that generates files containing electronic versions of source test reports; these files are then uploaded to CEDRI for submission.  The ERT supports most, if not all, test methods used by sources subject to this rule; however, if the ERT does not support a specific test method, submitters are to provide the information using the WebFIRE spreadsheet template, and to attach an electronic copy of the test report as a portable document format (PDF) file within the ERT package.  The test report must include documentation that supports the responses in the WebFIRE spreadsheet fields.  More information concerning the ERT is available at the ERT Webpage. 

Metal Furniture Reporting Spreadsheet
To the extent a new source is created or a modification to an existing source triggers creation of a revised notice of compliance status (NOCS) report, a NOCS report is to be submitted electronically.  Unlike the schematic in Figure 1, this rule requires use of a specific spreadsheet, instead of a generic report attached as a PDF file, for NOCS.  A draft copy of this spreadsheet, entitled Metal Furniture Reporting Spreadsheet.xlsm, accompanies this memorandum for your review and comment.  The draft spreadsheet is dual-purpose, in that it can be used for NOCS and for semiannual report creation and submission.  Colored tabs correspond to the separate portions.  Grey tabs provide instructions and accept information common to both NOCS and semiannual reports, such as company location and compliance approach, to minimize data entry.  Orange tabs concern information associated with NOCS reports, while green tabs concern information associated with semiannual reports.  Upon entering the requisite information, a submitter would prepare the appropriate certification, contained in the last tab, whether orange or green, and upload the file to CDX using CEDRI. 

Rationale for Electronic Reporting

The EPA believes that the electronic submittal of the reports addressed in this proposed rulemaking will increase the usefulness of the data contained in those reports, is in keeping with current trends in data availability, will further assist in the protection of public health and the environment, and will ultimately result in less burden on the regulated community.  Under current requirements, paper reports are often stored in filing cabinets or boxes, which make the reports more difficult to obtain and use for data analysis and sharing.  Electronic storage of such reports make data more accessible for review, analysis and sharing.  Electronic reporting also eliminates paper-based, manual processes, thereby saving time and resources, simplifying data entry, eliminating redundancies, minimizing data reporting errors and providing data quickly and accurately to affected facilities, air agencies, the EPA and the public.

In 2011, in response to Executive Order 13563, the EPA developed a plan to periodically review its regulations to determine if they should be modified, streamlined, expanded or repealed in an effort to make regulations more effective and less burdensome.  The plan includes replacing outdated paper reporting with electronic reporting.  In keeping with this plan and the White House's Digital Government Strategy, in 2013, the EPA issued an agency-wide policy specifying that new regulations will require reports to be electronic to the maximum extent possible.  By requiring electronic submission of specified reports in this proposed rule, the EPA is taking steps to implement this policy.

The EPA website that stores the submitted electronic data, WebFIRE, is easily accessible to everyone and provides a user-friendly interface that any stakeholder can access.  By making data readily available, electronic reporting increases the amount of data that can be used for many purposes.  One example is the development of emissions factors.  An emissions factor is a representative value that attempts to relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the atmosphere with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant (e.g., kilograms of particulate emitted per megagram of coal burned).  Such factors facilitate the estimation of emissions from various sources of air pollution and are an important tool in developing emissions inventories, which in turn are the basis for numerous efforts, including trends analysis, regional and local scale air quality modeling, regulatory impact assessments and human exposure modeling. Emissions factors are also widely used in regulatory applicability determinations and in permitting decisions. 

Benefits of Electronic Reporting

The EPA has received feedback from stakeholders asserting that many of the EPA's emissions factors are outdated or not representative of a particular industry emission source.  While the EPA believes that the emissions factors are suitable for their intended purpose, we recognize that the quality of emissions factors varies based on the extent and quality of underlying data.  We also recognize that emissions profiles on different pieces of equipment can change over time due to a number of factors (fuel changes, equipment improvements, industry work practices), and it is important for emissions factors to be updated to keep up with these changes.  The EPA is currently pursuing emissions factor development improvements that include procedures to incorporate the source test data that we are proposing be submitted electronically.  By requiring the electronic submission of the reports identified in this proposed action, the EPA would be able to access and use the submitted data to update emissions factors more quickly and efficiently, creating factors that are characteristic of what is currently representative of the relevant industry sector.  Likewise, an increase in the number of test reports used to develop the emissions factors will provide more confidence that the factor is of higher quality and representative of the whole industry sector. 

Additionally, by making the records, data and reports addressed in this proposed rulemaking readily available, the EPA, the regulated community and the public will benefit when the EPA conducts its Clean Air Act (CAA)-required technology and risk-based reviews.  As a result of having performance test reports and air emission data readily accessible, our ability to carry out comprehensive reviews will be increased and achieved within a shorter period of time.  These data will provide useful information on control efficiencies being achieved and maintained in practice within a source category and across source categories for regulated sources and pollutants.  These reports can also be used to inform the technology-review process by providing information on improvements to add-on control technology and new control technology. 

Under an electronic reporting system, the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) would have air emissions and performance test data in hand; OAQPS would not have to collect these data from the EPA Regional Offices or from delegated air agencies or industry sources in cases where these reports are not submitted to the EPA Regional Offices.  Thus, we anticipate fewer or less substantial information collection requests (ICRs) in conjunction with prospective CAA-required technology and risk-based reviews may be needed.  We expect this to result in a decrease in time spent by industry to respond to data collection requests.  We also expect the ICRs to contain less extensive stack testing provisions, as we will already have stack test data electronically. Reduced testing requirements would be a cost savings to industry.  The EPA should also be able to conduct these required reviews more quickly, as OAQPS will not have to include the ICR collection time in the process or spend time collecting reports from the EPA Regional Offices.  While the regulated community may benefit from a reduced burden of ICRs, the general public benefits from the agency's ability to provide these required reviews more quickly, resulting in increased public health and environmental protection.

Electronic reporting minimizes submission of unnecessary or duplicative reports in cases where facilities report to multiple government agencies and the agencies opt to rely on the EPA's electronic reporting system to view report submissions.  Where air agencies continue to require a paper copy of these reports and will accept a hard copy of the electronic report, facilities will have the option to print paper copies of the electronic reporting forms to submit to the air agencies, and, thus, minimize the time spent reporting to multiple agencies.  Additionally, maintenance and storage costs associated with retaining paper records could likewise be minimized by replacing those records with electronic records of electronically submitted data and reports.

Air agencies could benefit from more streamlined and automated review of the electronically submitted data.  For example, because performance test data would be readily-available in a standard electronic format, air agencies would be able to review reports and data electronically rather than having to conduct a review of the reports and data manually.  Having reports and associated data in electronic format facilitates review through the use of software "search" options, as well as the downloading and analyzing of data in spreadsheet format.  Additionally, air agencies would benefit from the reported data being accessible to them through the EPA's electronic reporting system wherever and whenever they want or need access (as long as they have access to the Internet).  The ability to access and review reports electronically assists air agencies in determining compliance with applicable regulations more quickly and accurately, potentially allowing a faster response to violations, which could minimize harmful air emissions. This benefits both air agencies and the general public. 

The proposed electronic reporting of data is consistent with electronic data trends (e.g., electronic banking and income tax filing).  Electronic reporting of environmental data is already common practice in many media offices at the EPA.  The changes being proposed in this rulemaking are needed to continue the EPA's transition to electronic reporting.
Extensions for Electronic Reporting

We have identified two broad circumstances in which electronic reporting extensions may be provided.  In both circumstances, the decision to accept your claim of needing additional time to report is within the discretion of the Administrator, and reporting should occur as soon as possible. 

As mentioned in the preamble, the proposal addresses the situation where an extension may be warranted due to outages of the EPA's CDX or CEDRI which preclude you from accessing the system and submitting required reports.  If either the CDX or CEDRI is unavailable at any time beginning 5 business days prior to the date that the submission is due, and the unavailability prevents you from submitting a report by the required date, an owner or operator may assert a claim of EPA system outage.  We consider 5 business days prior to the reporting deadline to be an appropriate timeframe because if the system is down prior to this time, you still have 1 week to complete reporting once the system is back online.  However, if the CDX or CEDRI is down during the week a report is due, we realize that this could greatly impact the ability to submit a required report on time.  We will notify owners or operators about known outages as far in advance as possible by Clearinghouse for Inventories and Emissions Factors (CHIEF) Listserv notice, posting on the CEDRI website and posting on the CDX website so that an owner or operator can plan accordingly and still meet the reporting deadline.  However, if a planned or unplanned outage occurs and an owner or operator believes that it will affect or it has affected the ability to comply with an electronic reporting requirement, we have provided a process to assert such a claim.

We address the situation where an extension may be warranted due to a force majeure event, which is defined as an event that will be or has been caused by circumstances beyond the control of the affected facility, its contractors, or any entity controlled by the affected facility that prevents an owner or operator from complying with the requirement to submit a report electronically as required by this rule.  Examples of such events are acts of nature, acts of war or terrorism, or equipment failure or safety hazards beyond the control of the facility.  If such an event occurs or is still occurring or if there are still lingering effects of the event in the 5 business days prior to a submission deadline, we have provided a process to assert a claim of force majeure.

We are providing these potential extensions to protect owners or operators from noncompliance in cases where a report cannot be submitted successfully by the reporting deadline for reasons outside the control of the owner or operator as described above.  We are not providing an extension for other instances.  Owners or operators should register for CEDRI far in advance of the initial compliance date, to ensure that the identity proofing process can be completed prior to the initial compliance date.  Additionally, we recommend owners or operators to start developing reports early, in case any questions arise during the reporting process.
