Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements Regarding the Sulfur Content of Motor Vehicle Gasoline Under the Tier 2 Rule, EPA ICR Number 1907.03, OMB Control Number 2060-0437

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document announces that an Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request for a renewal of an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2004. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission is pending at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES:

Additional comments may be submitted on or before February 26, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2003-0171, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by email to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marilyn Bennett, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Mail Code 6406J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9624; fax number: (202) 343-2802; e-mail address: bennett.marilyn@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. On October 20, 2003, (68 FR 59934), EPA sought comments on this ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.

EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. OAR-2003-0171, which is available for public viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 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 is (202) 566-1742. An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET 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.

Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB within 30 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material (CBI), or other information whose public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov/edocket.

Title: Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements Regarding the Sulfur Content of Motor Vehicle Gasoline Under the Tier 2 Rule.

Abstract: The requirements covered under this ICR are included in the final Tier 2 rule, published on February 10, 2000 (65 FR 6698). A minor additional ICR requirement was added to the Tier 2 rule on June 12, 2002 (67 FR 40169).

The scope of the recordkeeping and reporting requirements for each type of party (e.g., refiners, importers, distributors, or retailers of gasoline), and therefore the cost to that party, reflects the party's opportunity to create, control or alter the sulfur content of gasoline. As a result, refiners and importers have significant requirements, which are necessary both for their own tracking and that of downstream parties, and for EPA enforcement, while parties downstream from the gasoline production or import point, such as retailers, have minimal burdens under the rule. Many of the reporting and recordkeeping requirements for refiners and importers regarding the sulfur content of gasoline on which the Tier 2 sulfur program relies currently exist under EPA's reformulated gasoline (RFG) and conventional gasoline (CG) anti-dumping programs. The ICR for the RFG/CG programs approved under OMB Control Number 2060-0277 covered the majority of the start-up costs associated with the reporting of gasoline sulfur content. Consequently, much of the cost associated with the sulfur-control requirements under the sulfur program has already been accounted for under the ICR for the RFG/CG programs.

The information under this ICR will be collected by EPA's Transportation and Regional Programs Division, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), and by EPA's Air Enforcement Division, Office of Regulatory Enforcement, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA). The information collected will be used by EPA to evaluate compliance with the gasoline sulfur control requirements under the Tier 2 rule. This oversight by EPA is necessary to ensure attainment of the air quality goals of the Tier 2 program. Proprietary information will be submitted by refiners and importers for demonstrating compliance with the sulfur standards, and for establishing baseline sulfur levels under the credit trading and hardship programs associated with the rule. Confidentiality is handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 2.

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 in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and are identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average between 12 and 500 hours per respondent, depending on the information collection requirements of the particular party. The average number of hours per response is approximately 1 hour. The total number of annual responses is estimated to be 37,818.

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.

Respondents/Affected Entities: Refiners, Importers, Gasoline Terminals, Pipelines, Users of Research & Development Gasoline.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,380.

Frequency of Response: On occasion, monthly and annually.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 38,742.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $2,405,185, includes $0 annualized capital/startup costs, $0 annual O&M costs, and $2,405,185 labor costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 26,210 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This increase reflects a change in the information collection burdens beginning on January 1, 2004. Some of the burdens associated with the initial phase of the program will not be required after January 1, 2004, while other burdens will be imposed beginning on January 1, 2004. The increase is largely due to a requirement that refiners and importers sample and test each batch of gasoline for compliance with the gasoline sulfur standards, which become effective on January 1, 2004. The difference in the total number of responses in the early years of the program (192,268) and subsequent years (37,818) is due to the large number of small gasoline distributors and retail gasoline service stations that needed to become familiar with the requirements of the new program. The new requirements, however, do not impose additional recordkeeping burdens on these parties beyond what they currently are required to keep under the reformulated gasoline program.