Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Detergent Gasoline (Renewal), EPA ICR Number 1655.05, OMB Control Number 2060-0275

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 renewan existing approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on October 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 October 27, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2004-0078, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, Mail Code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 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:

James W. Caldwell, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Mail Code 6406J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9303; fax number: (202) 343-2801; e-mail address: caldwell.jim@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 June 1, 2004 (69 FR 30896), 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-2004-0078, 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 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 Office of 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, confidential business information (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 Fuels and Fuel Additives: Detergent Gasoline (40 CFR part 80, subpart G) (Renewal).

Abstract: Gasoline combustion results in the formation of engine deposits that contribute to increased emissions. Detergent additives deter deposit formation. The Clean Air Act requires gasoline to contain a detergent additive. The regulations at 40 CFR part 80, subpart G specify certification requirements for manufacturers of detergent additives, recordkeeping or reporting requirements for blenders of detergents into gasoline or post-refinery component (any gasoline blending stock or any oxygenate which is blended with gasoline subsequent to the gasoline refining process), and reporting or recordkeeping requirements for manufacturers, transferors, or transferees of detergents, gasoline, or post-refinery component (PRC). These requirements ensure that (1) a detergent is effective before it is certified by EPA, (2) a certified detergent, at the minimum concentration necessary to be effective (known as the lowest additive concentration (LAC), is blended into gasoline, and (3) only gasoline which contains a certified detergent at its LAC is delivered to the consumer. The EPA maintains a list of certified gasoline detergents, which is publicly available. There are approximately 325 certified detergents for 18 detergent manufacturers.

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, 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 3.2 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: (1) Manufacturers of gasoline, post-refinery component, or detergent additives, (2) blenders of detergent additives into gasoline or post-refinery component, and (3) transferors or transferees of detergent additives, gasoline, or post-refinery component.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1376.

Frequency of Response: On occasion and monthly.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 221,808 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $13,277,604, which includes $0 annualized capital/startup costs, $205,380 O&M costs, and $13,072,224 annual labor costs.

Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 1,200 hours in the total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. This decrease is due to a reduction in the annual number of applications for detergent certification, from 50 to 30.