SUPPORTING STATEMENT 

FOR AN INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST

1.  	IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION

 	1(a)  Title of the Information Collection:

	Pesticide Product Registration Maintenance Fee

  	EPA No.: 1214.08   OMB No.: 2070-0100

1(b)  Short Characterization/Abstract:

This information collection provides a practical means of communication
between the registrants and Environmental Protection Agency’s Office
of Pesticide Programs (OPP) to collect registration maintenance fees
from pesticide registrants as required by law.  Respondents complete and
submit EPA Form 8570-30 (Attachment A) indicating the respondent's
liability for the registration maintenance fee.  

The first Registration Maintenance Fee filing form was sent to
approximately 5,000 pesticide registrant firms in 1989.   Since then,
the number of respondents has slowly declined from approximately 2800
firms in 1990 to 2500 in 1991, 2350 in 1992, 2250 in 1993, and 2200 in
1994.   Since 1994, the number of registrants to which these forms are
sent has declined steadily to a total of 1,720 in January, 2009.  Each
affected firm is required to complete the filing form and submit their
fee payment by January 15 of each year.  

Annually, the Agency provides registrants a list of the registered
products currently registered with the Agency.   Registrants are
provided the opportunity to review the list, determine its accuracy, and
remit payment of the maintenance fee.   The list of products has space
identified for marking those products to be supported and those products
that are to be canceled.   The registrants are also instructed to
identify any products on the list which they believe to be transferred
to another company, and to add to the list any products which the
company believes to be registered that are not on the Agency-provided
list.   The failure to pay the required fee for a product will result in
cancellation of that product’s registration.  

2.	NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION 

2(a)  Need/Authority for the Collection

Section 4(i)(5) of, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act  (FIFRA) (Attachment B) requires registration maintenance fees to be
applied to all products registered under Section 3 and Section 24(c) of
FIFRA.  The fees are to be paid annually for each product registered and
payable on January 15 of each year.  The authority to collect fees under
the 1988 amendments would have terminated on September 30, 1997. 
However the Food Quality Protection Act extended the authority to
collect these fees until September 30, 2001.  The EPA Appropriation
Bills of FY 2002 and FY 2003 also extended the authority to collect
maintenance fees.  The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA),
which became effective on March 23, 2004, further extended the authority
to collect maintenance fees through fiscal year 2012.

      

 2(b)  Practical Utility/Users of the Data

In order to provide an efficient system to bill, collect, and account
for registration maintenance fees, the Agency has used a filing form
which is sent to all registrants of currently active products.  The
information is used by the Agency to ensure that the fees prescribed by
FIFRA have been paid by each registrant.  The information is also used
to adjust OPP's computer files to reflect changes in the status of
registrations resulting from registrant responses.

3.	NON DUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS, AND OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA

  

3(a)  Non duplication

The specific information required under this ICR (i.e., the number of
registrations that a given registrant wishes to maintain and, thus, the
fee amount that will be remitted to EPA) does not exist in data bases at
EPA or any other agency.  To determine the amount of maintenance fees
accurately, the Agency and the registrant must have a joint
understanding concerning the number of products currently registered. 
An alternative approach considered prior to seeking approval for the
original maintenance fee filing form (ICR) was to simply notify
registrants that fees were due for each of their products according to a
fee schedule.  The registrant would submit payment according to their
best information concerning the number of registrations that they wanted
to support.  However, if a registrant submitted payment that did not
correspond to the fee schedule, the Agency would be in a position of
either unilaterally determining which registrations to cancel, or
contacting each registrant to determine that registrant's intentions. 
This option was considered to be inefficient, and not in the best
interest of the Agency or the registrants.  

3(b)  Public Notice Required Prior to ICR Submission to OMB

Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d), EPA will publish a Federal Register (FR)
Notice announcing this proposed information collection activity and
provide a 60-day public comment period.

	

3(c)  Consultations

During the development of this renewal ICR, EPA staff will contact
appropriate stakeholders and ask them for their assessment of the
regulatory burden estimates expressed by the Agency in this ICR.  A
summary of these consultations will be provided in the supporting
statement during the second comment period.

 

	In the past, stakeholder feedback received that at least some
registrants prefer electronic reporting and payment and that some burden
reduction may be realized.  EPA worked with the Treasury Department to
implement electronic payment of maintenance fees via http://www.pay.gov.
 This capability was in place for the FY08 collection cycle. 
Approximately 15% of maintenance fee payments were received
electronically during the FY 2008 cycle.  In the FY 2009 cycle
approximately 20% of the maintenance fee payments were received
electronically.   

3(d)  Effects of Less Frequent Collection

The payment of maintenance fees for all pesticide products is mandated
in FIFRA amendments to occur annually.  Thus, there can be no option
other than to require a minimum submission of the filing form once a
year.  Less frequent information collection in this area would violate
the statute.

3(e)  General Guidelines

With respect to the PRA imposed guidelines contained in 5 CFR 1320.6,
this information collection activity has the following features:

The respondents are required to respond on an annual basis and hence the
quarterly response limitation is not applicable

The respondents are not required to keep records relating to this
information collection for a period of more than 3 years.

This information collection activity does not utilize a statistical
survey.  The requirement to collect maintenance fees for all products
means that all pesticide registrants submit replies.

The respondents are given at least 30 days to respond.

The information collection under this ICR can be held confidential under
long established procedures for properly handling Confidential Business
Information.  Confidentiality is discussed in more detail below. 

The respondents are not required to submit more than an original and two
copies of any document.

The ICR is for processing of fees mandated by Congress.  No provision in
the law allows for remuneration of respondents.

This information collection activity has used automation to the extent
practicable without electronic reporting and payment.  For example, the
name and address of each respondent is pre-printed by computer,
alleviating the registrant of the burden of writing it in.  A computer
generated listing of products is also provided, and the registrant must
only circle an appropriate keyword (CAN, PAY) etc.  Because the
regulated community runs the gamut from large multinational corporations
to small sole proprietor firms, some with limited technological
capabilities, the Agency makes available a simple filing form and the
ability to make electronic reporting and payment (see section 3(c),
above).  

As discussed in Section 4(c), this form requires the minimum amount of
information from all firms.

This collection activity does not apply to grantees.

3(f)  Confidentiality

Product registration maintenance fee information submitted by pesticide
registrants under this ICR is considered by OPP to contain no
confidential business information (CBI).  If, however, registrants
submit data that contains CBI or relates to trade secrets or commercial
or financial information, such information is protected from disclosure
under section 10 of FIFRA.  Such data submitted to the EPA are handled
strictly in accordance with provisions of the FIFRA Confidential
Business Security Manual. This manual contains instructions relative to
all contact with confidential documents including responsibilities of
EPA employees physical security measures; CBI copying and destruction
procedures; transfer of CBI materials within the EPA to contractors or
other government offices; computer security; CBI typing procedures; and
procedures internal to OPP. The manual dictates that all CBI must be
kept in secure (double-locked) areas, and all CBI intended to be
destroyed must be cleared by a Document Control Officer and shredded.

3(g)  Sensitive Questions

No information of a sensitive or private nature is requested in
conjunction with this collection activity.  Further, this information
collection activity complies with the provisions of the Privacy Act of
1974 and OMB circular A-108.

4.	THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

4(a)  Respondents/NAICS Codes

All pesticide registrants holding currently active registrations under
FIFRA section 3 and Section 24(c) are subject to this information
collection activity.  These include pesticide companies and state
governments.  The North American Industrial Classification System
(NAICS) codes are 325320 (Pesticide and other Agricultural Chemical
Manufacturing) and 9641 (Regulation of Agricultural Marketing and
Commodities).

  

4(b)  Information Requested

4(b)(i)  Data Items, Including Record Keeping Requirements

Part A -- Registrant Identification	Registrant Name and Address are
pre-printed. The registrant needs to complete this section only to
indicate a name and/or address change.

Part B -- EPA Company Numbers	If a firm has been assigned more than one
company number, the firm may combine its fee payments under a single
number by writing in all of the company numbers for which the firm is
paying.

Part C -- Maintenance Fee Calculation	The respondent must fill in the
number of registrations for which he is paying the fee, number of
registrations which he believes to   be transferred, number of
registrations to be canceled, number of registrations which he believes
to be in error, total fee amount due, and check number.

Part D -- Authorized Company Representative or Agent	The respondent must
print the name and title of the company representative or agent.  The
respondent must sign and date the form, and provide the telephone number
of the respondent.



	4(b)(ii)  Respondent Activities

 

Activities in which a registrant must engage in order to comply with
this collection include the following:

Read instructions	Read accompanying instructions to understand how to
fill out form, annotate list of registrations, and calculate fee due.

Plan Activities	Plan the activities necessary to respond to the billing.
 

Review Information	Review the attached listing of registrations and
compare to the firm's records.

Complete Paperwork	Annotate attached listing of registrations to
indicate which products the respondent is paying and which products are
to be canceled or transferred.

File Information	Maintain a copy of the form in company files.  Although
this is not required, the Agency assumes that most companies will retain
this information as a common business practice.



The existing paper version form is printed on 3 part NCR paper.  The
respondent sends one copy along with payment to the Headquarters
Accounting Operations Branch Lock Box in St. Louis and the second copy
together with the annotated list of products to OPP via a designated
Washington D.C. area mail box.  The third copy is retained by the
respondent for his own records.  Information contained on the forms
returned to OPP is used to check and ensure that the proper amount of
fees have been submitted by each registrant.  In the past there has been
a need for follow-up with some registrants when the information provided
indicates that there has been a misunderstanding of the requirements. 
For the most part these have been handled by telephone.  There is also a
toll free information line available which registrants may use to ask
questions and resolve problems regarding their maintenance fee payments.
 The information provided also serves as an update for pesticide product
information files.  Updates of the Agency’s files are an ongoing
process.

5.	THE INFORMATION COLLECTED - AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION

	METHODOLOGY, AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

5(a)  Agency Activities

The following activities are necessary to conduct the information
request:

Develop Letter	Prepare a cover/transmittal letter to be included in the
package.

Answer Questions	Staff a toll free information line to respond to any
questions that respondents have regarding payment requirements.

Review Submissions	Review submitted forms and annotated listings for
completeness.

Record Submissions	Record information provided by respondents into a
tracking system.  Make adjustments to Product Information Master Files
as required.

Verify Payments	Cross check payment information from Financial
Management Division to ensure that payment has been received.

Store Data	Image all forms, listings, and telephone conversation logs
for archiving.

  

5(b)  Collection Methodology and Management

For the past 17 years, the Agency has employed the same method of
collecting maintenance fees.  This method involves using OPP master
files of product information to identify the firms to which the billing
information is to be sent.  Computer generated listings of products are
mailed to each firm along with the Maintenance Fee Filing Form.  The
registrant is instructed to circle the word PAY, CAN, XFR, ERR, next to
each Registration Number to indicate if he wants to pay for the
registration, cancel the registration, indicate if he believes that the
registration was transferred, or if the registration is listed in error.

The list of registrations is pre-loaded into a tracking file, and only
the PAY, CAN, XFR, ERR indicator is keyed manually for each product. 
Company name and address information is also pre-loaded reducing the
data entry burden for the maintenance fee filing forms.  The total
number of products for each company is calculated by computer, and
totals entered from the filing form are verified by computer to ensure
that all items balance.  In addition, data entry for all forms is
quality checked visually.

Receipt of payment is entered by the Financial Management Division into
the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS).  This information is
then extracted and posted to the maintenance fee tracking system to
close out each record.  Results are made available to OPP staff on
request as soon as the information is entered into the tracking system.

5(c)  Small Entity Flexibility

The Agency's filing form for the submission of maintenance fees requires
the minimum amount of information that is needed to provide adequate
communication between pesticide product registrants and the Agency.  The
needs of small businesses were of primary concern in designing the
filing form.  The respondents are asked to provide only readily
available information.  Experience indicates that there is no need for
more involved reporting by large business concerns to meet Agency needs.
  Hence, there is no separate requirement for small businesses versus
large business.  Only the basic requirement to identify products that
firms wish to continue to support is imposed on all registrants.   In
1990 the fee structure was changed to provide a 50% discount on the
first product supported.  Therefore, companies with only one registered
product received the greatest benefit from the discount.

5(d)  Collection Schedule

The payment of maintenance fees for all pesticide products is mandated
in FIFRA to occur annually.  Thus, there can be no option other than to
require a minimum submission of the filing form once a year.  Less
frequent information collection in this area would violate the statute.

6.	ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION

6(a)  Estimating Respondent Burden

Experience has shown that the average burden per respondent has remained
at approximately 1 hour.  The agency believes that the number of actual
burden hours has remained steady due to the fact that registrants now
have 20 years of experience.  In 2009, 1,720 firms responded to the
collection request.  A summary of firms and their number of
registrations is provided below.

Table 1. Number of Registrations Held by Registrants (Summary)

Number of Products	Number of Registrants	Registrants Cumulative total
Cumulative %

   1 – 10	1,477	1,477	86%

  11 – 20	95	1,572	91%

  21 – 50	78	1,650	96%

  50 - 100	32	1,682	98%

    > 100	38	1,720	100%



Based on consultations with several respondents, both in the past and
for this ICR renewal, we believe that the average time required to
complete the maintenance fee filing form depends upon the number of
registrations held by the registrant. Below is the breakdown of the
burden associated with the 2009 maintenance fee filing based on
registrant-supplied information.

Table 2. Respondent Burden, by Number of Registrations Held      

Number of Products	Average

 hours	Number of

Registrants	Total Hours

   1 – 10	0.75	1,477	1108

  11 – 20	1.0	95	95

  21 – 50	2.0	78	156

  51 – 100	3.0	32	96

    > 100	5.0	38	190

Totals	   

1,720	1,645



PAPERWORK BURDEN: 1,645 (total hours) / 1720 (number of respondents) =
0.956 hours per response (rounded to two digits).

These calculations were made using the average case scenario.   The
average case burden was developed from the above table.

Table 2a. Average Respondent Burden 

Collection Activities	Management	Technical	Clerical	TotalHours

Read Instructions

0.25

0.25

Plan Activities	0.20

	0.20

Review Information	0.20

	0.20

Complete Paperwork

0.20

0.20

File Information

	0.11	0.11

Total	0.40	0.45	0.11	0.96



TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN: average hours per form (0.96) X number of
respondents (1,720) = 1,645 hours.

6(b)  Estimating Respondent Costs

  

As in 2006, the Agency estimates wages, benefits, and overhead for all
labor categories for the pesticide industry and Agency employees using
currently available information on labor rates and other benefits from
publicly available websites.  A copy of the methodology used to
re-estimate the labor rates and formulas used to derive the fully loaded
rates and overhead costs are listed in Attachment C. 

To derive the labor rates for this ICR, Agency economists estimated the
wages for the management, technical, and clerical labor categories using
the methodology cited above.  The respondent costs for this renewal for
managerial, technical and clerical rates are estimated at $109.82,
$60.39, and $35.89 per hour, respectively.  These labor rates are fully
loaded and include benefits and overhead costs. 

The table below describes the average costs for completing one
maintenance fee filing form.  The average hourly burden was derived from
consultation with a selected group of respondents, and is described
above.

Table 3. Average Respondent Paperwork Costs

Collection Activities	Burden Hours	Total

	Managerial

$109.82/hr.	Technical

$60.39/hr.	Clerical

$35.89/hr.	Burden

Hours	Cost



Read instructions



0.25	

	0.25	$37.06 

Plan activities	

0.20	

	

	0.2	$21.96 

Review information	

0.20	

	

	0.2	$21.96 

Complete Paperwork	

	

0.20	

	0.2	$12.08 

File Information	

	

	

0.11	0.11	$3.95 

TOTAL	0.4	0.45	0.11	0.96	$97.02 



ANNUAL PAPERWORK BURDEN: 0.96 hours X 1720 respondents = 1,645 hours.

ANNUAL PAPERWORK COSTS:

Management: 	0.40 hrs.  X  $109.82/hr.  X  1720 respondents = $75,556

Technical:	0.45 hrs.  X    $60.39/hr.  X  1720 respondents =   $46,742 

Clerical:	0.11 hrs.  X    $35.89/hr.  X  1720 respondents =     $6,790 

 TOTAL = $129,088

6(c)  Estimating Agency Burden and Cost

Agency labor rates were estimated for the relevant technical, and
clerical staff using the methodology cited above.  Technical and
clerical rates are estimated at $71.58 and $41.21 per hour,
respectively.  The Agency expends no management hours in processing
submissions. Labor rates are fully loaded and include benefits and
overhead costs. 

The cost to the Federal Government for this ICR is estimated to be
$82,987.  This estimate has two components.  The first is the annual
costs of generating listings and conducting mass mailings as well as
pre-loading tracking data.  The Agency estimates that these activities
cost $1,518.  The second component is the per submission costs totaling
$81,468, which are required on a per submission basis (see annual number
of actions in Table 4). 

Table 4. Agency Burden Hours per filing form and Total Cost

Collection Activities	 Annual Number of Actions	Burden Hours	Total



Technical

($71.58/hr)	Clerical

($41.21/hr)	Burden Hours	Cost

Generate Listings/Mass Mailing	1	8	16	24	$1,232.00 

Pre-load Tracking Data	1	4

4	$286.32 

Receive/Review Submissions	1,720

0.2	344	$14,176.24 

Enter Data into Tracking Sys.	1,720

0.2	344	$14,176.24 

Reconcile Discrepancies	100	0.5

50	$3,579.00 

Respond to Questions	300	0.5

150	$10,737.00 

Verify Payment	1,720	0.2

344	$24,623.52 

File Documents	1,720

0.2	344	$14,176.24 

TOTAL	NA	NA	NA	1,604	$82,986.56



6(d)  Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost Tables

Table 5. Total Annual Respondent and Agency Burden and Costs

	Total Burden Hours	Total Cost

Respondent Burden	1,645	$129,088

Agency Burden	1,604	$82,987



6(e)  Reasons for Change in Burden

The total annual burden for respondents associated with this renewal is
1,645 hours.  This is the same burden estimate as in the previous ICR
renewal.   The average time required to complete the maintenance fee
filing form depends upon the number of registrants holding product
registrations and the number of registrations held by registrants. The
number of registrants and the average number of registrations held by
registrant has not changed since the previous ICR, thus no shift in the
average burden hours was required.  Cost increased since the last
renewal merely because of labor cost increase.

6(f)  Burden Statement

The annual "respondent" (applicant) burden for the Pesticide Product
Registration Maintenance Fee program is estimated to average 0.96 hours
per form, or per respondent, as there is one form per respondent. 
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act, “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.  For this collection, it is the time reading the regulations,
planning the necessary activities, reviewing the information, and
completing the maintenance fee filing form.  The 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 number for this information collection appears at the
beginning and the end of this document, as well as on the maintenance
fee filing form itself.

The Agency has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0049, which is available for online viewing at  
HYPERLINK "http://www.regulations.gov"  www.regulations.gov , or in
person viewing at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One
Potomac Yard (South Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. 
This docket facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays.  The docket telephone number is (703)
305-5805.  You may submit comments regarding 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.  

Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0049 to
(1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or by
mail to: Public Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB), Mail
Code: 7502P, Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, and
(2) OMB by mail to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office
of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725
17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503.

ATTACHMENTS TO THE SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Attachments to the supporting statement are available in the public
docket established for this ICR under docket identification number
EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0049.  These attachments are available for online
viewing at   HYPERLINK "http://www.regulations.gov_" 
www.regulations.gov  or otherwise accessed as described in section 6(f)
of the supporting statement.

Attachment A:	EPA Form 8570-30 - Pesticide Registration Maintenance Fee
Filing Form.

Also available electronically at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/forms/8570-30.pdf" 
www.epa.gov/opprd001/forms/8570-30.pdf 



Attachment B	The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA) Section 4(i)(5).  Also available electronically at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/regulating/fifra.pdf" 
http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/regulating/fifra.pdf  



Attachment C:	Worksheet for Estimating OPP ICR Wage Rates for Industry,
State and EPA Labor. Attached as part of the public docket
identification number EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0049

Attachment D:	For consultation questions and comments

                      (reserved)

	

: 	

	

	

 

January  2010

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