Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Regulation of Fuel and Fuel Additives (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1591.15, OMB Control Number 2060-0277

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 to renew an existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on April 30, 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 June 2, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2003-0213, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, 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:

Jose M. Solar, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Mail Code 6406J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9027; fax number: (202) 343-2801; e-mail address: solar.jose@epamail.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 Wednesday, November 19, 2003 (68 FR 65276), 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-2003-0213, which is available for public viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., 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 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: Regulation of Fuel and Fuel Additives (Renewal).

Abstract: Gasoline combustion is the major source of air pollution in most urban areas. In the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act (Act), section 211(k), Congress required that gasoline dispensed in nine areas with severe air quality problems, and areas that opt in, be reformulated to reduce toxic and ozone-forming emissions. (Ozone is also known as smog.) Congress also required that, in the process of producing reformulated gasoline (RFG), dirty components removed in the reformulation process not be “dumped” into the remainder of the country's gasoline, known as conventional gasoline (CG). The Environmental Protection Agency promulgated regulations at 40 CFR part 80, subpart D—Reformulated Gasoline, subpart E—Anti-Dumping, and subpart F—Attest Engagements, implementing the statutory requirements, which include standards for RFG (80.41) and CG (80.101). The regulations also contain reporting and recordkeeping requirements for the production, importation, transport and storage of gasoline, in order to demonstrate compliance and facilitate compliance and enforcement. The program is run by the Transportation and Regional Programs Division, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Office of Air and Radiation. Enforcement is done by the Air Enforcement Division, Office of Regulatory Enforcement, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. This program excludes California, which has separate requirements for gasoline.

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 1.8 hours per response. 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: Entities that produce, import or distribute gasoline.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,190.

Frequency of Response: Annually, quarterly, on occasion.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 96,625.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $29,266,307 includes $4,800,000 annualized capital costs, $18,184,357 O&M costs, and $6,281,950 Respondent Labor costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 4,946 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is due to adjustments, primarily in that the date for filing petitions had passed, so no burden for those activities could be expected.