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SUPPORTING STATEMENT

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requests an extension of the current 

approval for information collection activities associated with contractor conflicts of 

interest (COI). The EPA number for this collection is 1550.09. The Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) Information Clearance Request (ICR) number is 2030-

0023.

The collection of this information is required to ensure that the Agency can 

effectively identify, evaluate, and take appropriate action concerning contractor COI. 

EPA contractors are required to disclose any actual or potential COI with regard to its 

employees, corporate affiliations, and business relationships. Contractors will be 

required to maintain a database of business relationships and report information to EPA 

on either an annual basis or when work is ordered under an Agency contract. 

Additionally, under some contracts, the contractor must request written approval from the 

contracting officer to enter into a proposed contract subject to the restrictions of EPA’s 

Limitation of Future Contracting Clause. 

2. NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION

a) NEED/AUTHORITY FOR THE COLLECTION

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Subpart 9.5, requires contracting 

officers to analyze acquisitions to identify and evaluate potential COI, and to avoid, 

neutralize, or mitigate significant COI before contract award. EPA’s information 

collection is required to fulfill the requirements of FAR, protect the Government’s 

interests at contract award, and ensure this protection extends throughout the performance 

of Agency contracts. 

EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment. This mission 

involves crosscutting functions such as developing and enforcing regulations and 

performing environmental research. Since EPA uses contractor support for all these 

functions it is imperative that the Agency maintain rigorous COI standards to protect the 

integrity and the public’s trust in our work. Originally, this ICR was initiated due to the 

need to ensure that contractors supporting work under the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) or ‘‘Superfund’’ are free 

from conflict so as not to prejudice CERCLA clean-up and cost recovery actions. In the 

past few years, it is clear that the potential for conflict is not limited to contracts 

supporting just Superfund activities, but includes other EPA contracts as well. 

Environmental laws, besides Superfund, that give the Agency the authority for its

programs and regulatory activities include, but are not limited to, the Clean Water Act 

(CWA); Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA); Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuary

Act (MPRSA); Clean Air Act (CAA); Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

(RCRA); Oil Pollution Act (OPA); Pollution Prevention Act (PPA); Federal Insecticide, 
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Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA); Superfund Reauthorization and Amendments 

Act (SARA); Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA); Federal Facility Compliance Act 

(FFCA); National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); Emergency Planning and

Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA); Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA); and the Mercury-Containing and 

Rechargeable Battery Management Act (Battery Act). 

FAR Subpart 2.1 states organizational conflict of interest means “that because of 

other activities or relationships with other persons, a person is unable or potentially

unable to render impartial assistance or advice to the Government, or the person’s 

objectivity in performing the contract work is or might be otherwise impaired, or a person 

has an unfair competitive advantage.” Depending on the contract terms, EPA requires 

the contractor to either certify annually or certify each time work is ordered under the 

contract that to the best of the Contractor's knowledge and belief, all actual or potential 

organizational conflicts of interest have been reported to EPA. If the contractor cannot so 

certify, the firm must provide a disclosure statement describing all relevant information 

concerning any past, present, or planned interests bearing on whether it may have a 

conflict of interest. The contracting officer and advisers will use this information to 

evaluate potential conflicts and to determine the appropriate action necessary to avoid, 

mitigate, or neutralize the disclosed conflict.

Several examples of potential COI follow. Example 1: A contractor which may

perform clean-up work at a Superfund site must disclose any business relationship it has 

with potentially responsible parties (PRP). Once PRPs are identified for specific sites, 

the Agency attempts to recover costs expended for cleanup through either consent 

agreements or litigation. Because EPA has the dual responsibility of cleanup and 

enforcement and because its contractors are often involved in both activities, it is 

imperative that EPA contractors are free of conflicts so as not to prejudice CERCLA 

response and enforcement/cost recovery actions. Example 2: A contractor which is 

tasked with evaluating radon measurement devices must disclose any business 

relationships it has with firms manufacturing radon measurement devises. The 

contractor’s objectivity would be questioned if the firm evaluated a radon measurement 

device manufactured by a company with which the contractor has an ongoing business 

relationship. Example 3: A contractor providing peer review services must disclose if 

any contractor employees assigned were substantially involved in the development of the 

product under review. The individual’s impartiality would be questioned if he or she 

contributed to the development of the product under review. 

b) USE AND USERS OF THE DATA

If contractors submit a certification stating they have no conflicts of interest, the

contracting officer reviews the certificate and retains the information in the official 

contract file. If contractors disclose information showing they have an actual or potential 

conflict of interest, the contracting officers and advisers (subject matter or technical 

experts, legal advisors, and procurement analysts) carefully review and analyze the 

disclosure to determine the appropriate course of action. EPA staff will use the conflict 
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of interest plan and certifications as a means to ensure contractors are complying with 

EPA's requirements for detecting and avoiding conflicts of interest.

Contracting officers document their determinations in the official contract file. 

This is also where they retain the original information collected. 

In general, the information collected and the determinations made will be used by

the Agency to ensure that contractors and the EPA are adequately addressing conflict of 

interest concerns, and that the Agency is making determinations consistent with the 

exercise of common sense, good judgment, and sound discretion to protect its programs.

3. THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

a) RESPONDENTS/NAICS CODES

Respondents to this information collection activity are Agency contractors 

performing work for the Agency which requires protection from conflicts of interest. The 

number of EPA contractors who will be required to provide information under this 

collection is approximately 135. This includes 125 existing contractors and 10 

contractors new to doing business with the EPA.

The respondents represent a variety of industries such as: remediation services 

(NAICS #56910); environmental consulting services (NAICS #56920); engineering 

services (NAICS #541330); research and development (NAICS #541710); administrative 

management and general management consulting services (NAICS #541611); and 

computer related services (NAICS #541519).

b) INFORMATION REQUESTED

(i) DATA ITEMS 

Data to be collected includes: (1) certification on either an annual basis or when 

work is ordered that conflicts have been disclosed or that none exist; (2) disclosure of 

actual and potential conflicts of interest under the contract; and (3) requests for 

authorization to enter into a certain future contract work, cited in the "Limitation of 

Future Contracting Clause” in the applicable contract.

The recordkeeping requirements associated with this request include corporate 

recordkeeping consistent with a contractor's system for identifying, mitigating, and preventing 

conflicts of interest as described in its conflict of interest plan submitted to EPA. This conflict of 

interest recordkeeping includes maintaining a database of corporate clients and contracts in order 

to identify potential conflicts and maintain records of disclosures of conflicts to demonstrate 

compliance with a contractor's conflict of interest plan. NOTE: The term "database" as used in 

this section includes any system which permits a contractor to search its records for conflicts of 

interest and may be manual or automated. The critical function of any database is that it gives the 

respondent the capability to identify any past, present, and future work which may be in conflict.
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(ii) RESPONDENT ACTIVITIES

To properly respond to EPA’s conflict of interest disclosure requests requires the 

contractor to first maintain a list of all current contracts they are working under and the nature of 

the work they are performing under the contract. Then, the contractor must analyze 

interrelations between the work the firm will be performing under the current contract and any 

work performed under other contracts which may cause the contractor to be unable to render 

impartial assistance or advice to EPA, impair the firm’s objectivity, or give the firm an unfair 

competitive advantage. For example, if EPA wants the contractor to assist with research on 

pesticide products, the contractor would check the work they currently perform to ensure it 

doesn’t involve work for pesticide manufacturers. A third party would question the objectivity

of the contractor’s research if the contractor’s work involved a pesticide manufactured by a firm 

with which the contractor does a significant amount of business. If the firm discovers no 

conflicts of interest, then it certifies this fact to the contracting officer. If the firm discovers an 

actual or potential problem, then the facts of the situation will be reported to the contracting 

officer for his or her response. The steps involved in this process would include:

1) Create information

(a) prepare conflict of interest plan; (CBP = 50%) 

2) Gather information; (CBP = 80%) 

(a) create a database

3) Process, compile, and review information;

(a) search database and records (CBP = 25%) and

(b) maintain records

4) Complete written forms or other paperwork;

(a) prepare annual certification, or

(b) prepare certification when work is ordered

5) Identify a potential conflict of interest;

(a) make decision and notify EPA contracting officer (CBP = 10%)

6) Record disclosure or display information; (CBP = 10%) and

7) Request approval to enter a future contract that may have a conflict of interest.

"Customary and usual business practice" (CBP) means efforts that are part of a 

company’s day to day work efforts and are not unique to their contracts with EPA. The 

percentages identified above were based on analysis of interviews with Agency contractors, 

Agency contracting staff, and historical data on handling conflicts of interest.
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Public Notice

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Agency

notified the public through a Federal Register notice on the submission of this ICR _________.

4. THE INFORMATION COLLECTED--AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION 

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

(a) AGENCY ACTIVITIES

The Agency anticipates performing the information collection activities listed below, in 

conjunction with conflict of interest requirements. (See 6(b) for calculations of the Agency's 

cost estimates.)

(1) Analyzing the contract scope and inserting appropriate conflict of interest clauses in 

contracts;

(2) Collecting conflict of interest certifications or disclosures, or requests to review 

future contracts from the contractor;

(3) When a conflict is disclosed or a request for a future contract is made, analyzing the 

information provided and determining the appropriate measures to avoid, neutralize or mitigate 

the conflict; and 

(4) Filing certifications of no conflict or documenting action on potential conflict of 

interests disclosures in the contract file. 

(b) COLLECTION METHODOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

The original information collected will go directly to the Contracting Officer who has 

responsibility for making conflict of interest determinations. The information and 

determinations will be filed in the specific contract files as the official record of the Agency

decision. Most respondents will prepare their submissions electronically. Submissions are 

accepted in any format so long as the required information is provided. 

(c) SMALL ENTITY FLEXIBILITY

Based on fiscal year 2009 and 2010 figures, approximately 40% of the Agency’s 

contracts are awarded to small businesses. Only the minimum information necessary to ensure 

that conflicts of interest do not exist is requested. Because the information requested is vital to 

monitoring contractor performance under Agency contracts, separate or simplified procedures 

cannot be developed for small businesses.

EPA considered alternatives to the information collection, such as establishing different 

compliance or reporting requirements or simplifying the requirements for small entities. EPA 
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also considered exempting small entities from all or part of the rule. However, separate or 

further simplified requirements are not practical, because the stated objectives cannot be met 

under such alternatives. An undisclosed conflict of interest poses the same risk to EPA whether 

it is a conflict involving a large or small business contractor. EPA believes the information 

collection, along with other established internal controls within the Agency, will prevent 

conflicts of interest that may jeopardize future actions.

Although the information collection requirements for small and large business are the 

same, EPA surveys of small businesses confirmed that the workload is generally less for small 

businesses because they have less complex organizational structures, fewer contracts, and less 

data to maintain and search than large businesses.

(d) COLLECTION SCHEDULE AND EFFECT OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION

Depending on the type of contract, this information collection requires contractors to 

certify, either annually or for individual work orders, that they have no conflict of interest. If the 

contractor detects an actual or potential conflict, then the firm must disclose the nature of the 

conflict. The annual certification requirement is possible where the nature of the work the 

contractor is performing is sufficiently known in advance to allow certifying for an entire year. 

More frequently, EPA requires its contractors to certify or disclose with each order for work 

under the contract. This requirement for reporting when specific work is ordered is essential 

under contracts with a wide scope where it is not possible to know in advance the exact type of

work needed or the exact location the work will be performed. For example, most Superfund 

contracts are performed at multiple sites and there is little or no advance notice of where such 

work will be assigned because of our changing cleanup priorities. Therefore, a contractor is in a 

better position to identify its conflicts or potential contracts when work is ordered compared to 

when the basic contract is awarded. We are unable to further reduce this requirement without 

handicapping our ability to ensure our contractors do not work in areas where their objectivity

may be impaired, or where their actions may adversely affect enforcement actions or cost 

recovery from polluters.

There is also no set schedule for submission of requests for authorization to enter into a 

contract for non-EPA work cited in the "Limitation of Future Contracting Clause." This clause 

identifies outside work that could pose a significant conflict of interest with work performed for 

EPA and may impair EPA contractor performance or harm enforcement actions. These requests 

are required to be submitted if and when a contractor wants to request authorization to enter into 

such high risk contracts. Such requests are essential in order that EPA has the opportunity to 

protect its enforcement actions from an unacceptable risk of prejudice before it occurs. This is 

essential to protecting the Government interests.
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5. NONDUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS & OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA

(a) NONDUPLICATION

The collection of information is not duplicative of information otherwise accessible to the 

Agency. The data is unique to each firm’s contract or order for work under a contract and is not 

available from any other source. EPA provisions have the same general objectives of 

identifying, mitigating and avoiding conflicts of interest as FAR Subpart 9.5. However, unlike 

the FAR, the EPA provisions include reporting and certification requirements to ensure that 

actual and potential conflicts of interest are reviewed not only prior to contract award, but also 

during the period of contract performance and after contract performance to ensure enforcement 

actions are not prejudiced. This is the only way that EPA can evaluate whether a contractor's 

work efforts, which may be initiated during the EPA contract performance period or in some 

cases, after contract completion, may present an unacceptable risk to the Agency.

(b) CONSULTATIONS

For this ICR, informal consultations were conducted with the following EPA contractors 

who provide information under EPA's conflict of interest disclosure requirements.

The firms contacted were:

Name Phone Affiliation

Hema Patel 937-427-4148, ext 286 Intellitech, Small Business

Paul Brown 703-390-0658 Tetratech, Large Business

Jay Bassin 301-589-5318 EMS, Small Business

Amy Conner 703-818-5668 CSC, Large Business

Kyle Barney 617-528-1109 Industrial Economics, Lrg Business

The process each firm used for tracking contract work, reviewing the scope of work, and 

certifying there are no conflicts or disclosing the nature of an actual or potential conflict were 

virtually identical. The amount of effort involved varied on the size of the business, the number 

of affiliates, and the amount of contracting they do. 

(c) CONFIDENTIALITY AND SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

Some of the information submitted in response to our information request is confidential

business information (CBI). The Agency will protect CBI from release, and will disclose it only

to the extent consistent with 40 CFR part 2, subpart B, Agency regulations, and the contract 

terms.

This information collection complies with the Privacy Act of 1978 and OMB Circular A108, as revised and incorporated into OMB Circular A-130. We have identified no sensitive 

questions.
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(d) Public notice required prior to ICR Submission to OMB: The Federal Register document 

required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments in this collection of information was 

published on ________________. 

6. ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION

(a) ESTIMATING THE RESPONDENT BURDEN AND COSTS

(i) General Notes

Respondent burden in complying with the COI information collection is broken down 

into the following tasks. Each task will be separately addressed in the narrative, and the

all tasks will be summarized in the table at the end of this section:

1. Prepare Conflict of Interest Plan (one-time burden)

2. Create a Database (one-time burden)

3. Storage and Maintenance of Records (recurring burden) 

4. Search Data Base Records for Possible COI (recurring burden)

5. Identify Potential COI, Record Decision, and Notify EPA (recurring burden)

6. Request Approval for Future Contract (recurring) 

EPA’s conflict of interest information requirements have been in effect since 1994. 

Additionally, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5 has rules and 

procedures in place to identify, evaluate, and resolve organizational and consultant 

conflicts of interest. Firms doing business with the Federal Government as prime 

contractors or subcontractors must meet the FAR requirements for identifying conflicts of 

interest. Given EPA’s long history with requiring conflict of interest information, the 

vast majority of EPA contractors have established systems for tracking the work they

perform and identifying areas which may raise issues concerning the contractors’ 

impartiality or objectivity

One time costs, such as COI plan development and creation of a database were discussed 

in prior requests and continue to apply only to contractors who have never done any work 

as either a prime contractor or subcontractor on a Government contract involving a 

potential for conflict of interest. 

EPA’s initial request for information collection clearance, which was submitted in 1994, 

utilized a seven year period to allocate one time, non-recurring costs associated with COI 

plan development and database creation. The seven year period was chosen because 

most Agency Superfund contracts average seven years. Now that the seven years has 

passed, and burden hours for the seven years were covered in EPA’s initial and first two

renewal ICRs, none of the original allocation of one-time costs remains. Any burden 

associated with tasks 1 and 2 will only be incurred by contractors and subcontractors who 

have never contracted with EPA. 
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The customary and usual business practices (CBP) in this ICR are based on knowledge of 

the business practices of anticipated respondents and from a review of information 

received from EPA contractors (potential respondents) who provided data in response to 

our consultations. In our burden calculations, the CBP is subtracted from the overall total 

burden to show the new estimated burden anticipated for this requirement. The 

calculations for CBP are described below for each category of effort.

In accordance with the provisions of FAR Part 31, EPA anticipates that costs incurred in 

complying with this information collection request will be chargeable to Government 

contracts.

(ii) Labor Costs: For all tasks below, the hours are allocated among labor categories 

in the same manner as the original ICR hours: 25% Management, 

50% Technical, and 25% Clerical. 

(1) Prepare Conflict of Interest (COI) Plan. (Non-recurring one-time effort) In its 

initial request, EPA estimated 1,170 hours per plan as a non-recurring one-time 

cost, because once contractors have prepared a COI Plan, it will only be necessary

to update and/or modify it. We continue to utilize the estimate of 1,170 hours per 

plan for any firms who have never previously done business with EPA or been a 

prime or subcontractor on a Federal Government contract involving conflict of 

interest provisions. For new respondents, we retain the original CBP of 50%. 

This results in an estimate of 585 hours for each of the estimated 10 new 

respondents. In order to allocate the 585 hours across the seven year period of

performance, we have divided the 585 by 7 to arrive at an average 84 hours per 

respondent per year to prepare the initial COI plan. Total burden per year for the 

10 new respondents is 840. 

BURDEN: 84 hours X 10 new respondents = 840 hours 

(2) Create Data Base. (Non-recurring one-time effort) Our estimate of 700 hours 

reflects EPA's best estimate based on information received from respondents. 

The CPB for this line item is 80%, resulting in total hours of 140. This line item 

is also a non-recurring one-time burden. Also, as described in task 1 above, these 

hours are allocated over a seven year period of performance and only for new 

respondents, which is anticipated to be 10 per year. Therefore, our estimate 

includes 140 hours per response for new respondents, divided by 7 years which 

equals 20 hrs per year, times 10 respondents or 200 hours total for new 

respondents.

BURDEN: 20 hours X 10 new respondents = 200 hours 
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(3) Storage and Maintenance of Records. The estimate for storing and

maintaining records is 484 hours. The CBP for this line item remains at 80% to 

reflect that most firms routinely keep lists of their contract work and have

experience in keeping conflict of interest records for Federal contracts. 

Therefore, a total of 154 hours of storage and maintenance of records activity is 

associated with this collection request. 

BURDEN: 154 hours

(4) Search Data Base Records for Possible COI The number of times work is 

ordered under an EPA contract varies greatly; however, for purposes of this ICR 

we retain the estimate that 75 work orders will be issued in a given year. Of this 

number, approximately 16% will be for the same Superfund site for which a 

previous work order has been issued. Since contractors are not required to submit 

more than one certification or disclosure per Superfund site, then contractors will 

only do certifications or disclosures for 63 work orders. 

The average time required to perform each search is estimated to be 8 hours. In

our interviews with contractors, we found firms typically perform a key word 

search (key words such as type of work, location, names of affiliates) in an 

automated database. The database search would take less than an hour; however, 

an employee with the appropriate expertise must review the search findings for 

accuracy. Eight hours includes the database search time, ensuring the findings are 

appropriate, and possibly querying contractor project staff as well as records. 

Based on interviews with contractors, the CBP for this line item is 10%. Few 

public sector contracts require searching the previous conflict of interest records; 

however, some state or local contracts may require it. Therefore, the hours 

associated with this collection request for data base searches is 7 hours.

BURDEN: 7 x 63 = 441 hours

(5) Identify Potential COI, Record Decision. Execute Work Order or the Annual 

Certification, and Notify the EPA of the Decision. This category reflects the 

management and technical activity in the search and certification effort that a 

contractor must perform. In accordance with the contract terms, the contractor is 

required to submit either a one time certification or individual certifications when 

work is ordered under the contract. Of the 63 worker orders requiring certification 

or disclosure, approximately 17% of cases (11 work orders per year), only an 

annual certification is required. The remaining 52 orders will require individual 

certification or disclosure.

Our estimate is 28 hours to complete an annual certification (in 11 cases) and 4

hours to complete a per work order review (in 52 cases). The CBP factor for this 

task is very low because most of this effort is associated solely with EPA 

requirements. The estimate of 10% for CBP is associated with an identification of 
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a conflict of interest on a private contract which requires management attention 

but may not require the documentation and certification process required by EPA. 

BURDEN: 11 x 28 = 308 (annual certification)

52 x 4 = 208 (work order certifications)

 516 hours

(6) Request Approval to Contract. The estimate utilized is identical to that 

provided in the ICR for the proposed rule and for previous renewals. It is based 

upon an average estimate of five requests per respondent per year with an 

associated effort of 20 hours per request, or 100 hours per respondent. This 

review and approval time has remained fairly constant over the years and is not 

expected to change during the three year period covered by this renewal. This is 

exclusively a requirement for the Federal Government and therefore no CBP is 

assigned.

BURDEN: 100 hours 

Summary of Annual Time Burden

Total annual respondent burden for new respondents, which includes all tasks, is 2,251 hours 

times 10 new respondents for a total of 22,510 hours.

Total annual respondent burden for respondents which are not new, i.e., performing only tasks 3 

through 6, is 1,211 hours times 125 respondents for a total of 151,375 hours

Annual time burden for all respondents, all tasks, is 153,626 hours. Estimated burden is (total 

hours divided by all 135 respondents) is 1,138.

Breakdown of Costs Burden

The following chart shows the labor costs associated with the burden hours discussed in the 

previous section. The mean hourly labor rates are from the 2009 Bureau of Labor national mean 

statistics. For business/financial management the rate was $54.68; for a conservation scientist

(technical) the rate was $29.41; and for administrative staff the rate was $15.86. To calculate a

fully loaded rate, an overhead of 100% was added to the hourly rate. As discussed in the 

previous section, for each task it is calculated 25% of the effort would be managerial, 50% would 

be technical, and 25% would be administrative.

 
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Hourly Effort Cost 

Rate (Hours)

New Respondents Only

Task I Prepare COI Plan

Management $109.36 21 $2,296.56

Technical $58.82 42 $2,470.44

Administrative $31.72 21 $ 666.12 

Subtotal 84 $5,433.12

Task 2 Create Database

Management $109.36 5 $546.80

Technical $58.82 10 $588.20

Administrative $31.72 5 $158.60

Subtotal 20 $1,293.60

All Respondents

Task 3 Storage & Maintenance

Management $109.36 38.5 $4,210.36

Technical $58.82 77 $4,529.14

Administrative $31.72 38.5 $1,221.22

Subtotal 154 $9,960.72

Task 4 Search Database

Management $109.36 110.25 $12,056.94

Technical $58.82 220.5 $12,969.81

Administrative $31.72 110.25 $ 3,497.13

Subtotal 441 $28,523.88

Task 5 Certify/Disclose $109.36 129 $14,107.44

Management $58.82 258 $15,175.56

Technical $31.72 129 $ 4,091.88

Administrative Subtotal 516 $33,374.88

Task 6 Request Approval to Contract

Management $109.36 25 $2,734.00

Technical $58.82 50 $2,941.00

Administrative $31.72 25 $ 793.00

Subtotal 100 $6,468.00

New respondent costs for tasks 1 and 2 are $6,726.72 x 10 responses= $67,267.20.

For respondents performing tasks 3 through 6, the total annual costs are $78,327.48, times 125 

responses is $9,790,935. The total cost for all respondents is $9,858,202.20. For each 

respondent, the cost is $73,023.72.
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 ii) Capital/Start-up Costs

Because it will not be necessary for respondents to acquire any capital goods to 

provide the requested information, EPA has estimated no incurred capital/start-up 

costs.

(iii) Operating and Maintenance Costs

Operating and maintenance costs, which include such items as file storage, photo 

copying, and postage, are negligible.

(b) ESTIMATING AGENCY BURDEN AND COST

The Agency based its burden estimates on actual experience in collecting, reviewing, and 

approving contractors’ conflict of interest submissions. EPA has recognized a need to collect 

conflict of interest information from more than just its Superfund contracts. This resulted in an 

increase in the number of respondents from 80 in the first ICR to 135 for the 2008 ICR. The 135 

is still an accurate number and is being used for the purposes of calculating subject renewal.

Additionally, we note in this ICR that EPA does not keep conflict of interest certifications or 

disclosures centrally. This information is collected, reviewed, and documented in the contract 

file by the contracting officer. 

Due to the complexity of the task, as well as the experience and skill required in 

reviewing contractors’ conflict of interest submissions, it is estimated that this effort will be 

performed by Grade 14 contracting personnel. The contracting personnel who review the 

submissions also document their findings in the contracting file. Contract files contains CBI, so 

there are no additional measures required for the conflict of interest information collected. No 

administrative support is used in this effort. The first task, reviewing the contractor’s conflict of 

interest plan is done before the contract is awarded on a one time basis. (In Section 6 of this 

ICR, this was task one for contractors.) Tasks 2 and 3 below are recurring efforts. The second 

task, reviewing certifications and disclosures, includes annual and by work order certifications 

and disclosures as well as requests. (This was task 5 for contractors.) The third task is reviewing 

requests for approval of future contract. (This was task 6 for contractors.)

The hourly rate for a step five, GS-14 is $46.33 (according the Office of Personnel 

Management Salary Table 2010-GS). A rate of 65%, or $30.11, was added to cover overhead 

costs. The loaded rate equals $76.33 per hour. 

 
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ANNUAL AGENCY BURDEN/COST ESTIMATES

Collection Activity Burden Hours per year Cost (based 

on rate of $76.33)

1. Answer Respondent Questions 250 $19,110.00

2. Reviewing the contractor’s conflict of 240 $18,345.60

interest plan

 

3. a. Reviewing annual certifications or 22 $1,681.68

disclosures and documenting the file

(11x2=22)

b. Reviewing work order certifications or 14,040 $1,073,217.60

disclosures and documenting the file

52x135=7,020 responses

7020x2 hours

4. Reviewing requests for approval for future 100 $7,644.00

contracting and documenting the contract file

TOTAL: 14,652 $1,119,998.88

c) BURDEN STATEMENT

 Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this 

collection of information is estimated to average 1,138 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. 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. 
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To comment on 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, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under 

Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OARM-2010-0989, which is available for online viewing at 

www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Office of Environmental Information in the 

EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, 

Washington, D.C. 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 Environmental Information 

is (202) 566-1752. An electronic version of the public docket is available at 

www.regulations.gov. This site can be used 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. When in the system, select “search,” then key in the 

Docket ID Number identified above. Also, you can send comments to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, 

D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID Number 

EPA-HQ-OARM-2010-0989 and OMB Control Number 2030-0023 in any correspondence.