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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST (ICR)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

OFFICE OF AIR & RADIATION

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Identification of the Information Collection

a. Title: Recordkeeping and Reporting for Amended Heating Oil Definition under 

the Renewable Fuels Standard 

EPA Number: 2462.01

OMB Control Number: 2060-NEW

b. Short characterization:

With this proposed information collection request (ICR), the Office of Air and 

Radiation (OAR) is seeking permission to require certain recordkeeping and reporting in 

connection with an amendment to the definition of “heating oil” under the renewable fuel 

standard (RFS2) program. The recordkeeping and reporting changes are expected to 

affect 11 non-Federal respondents, including ten producers and one importer. 

EPA is issuing a proposed rule to amend the definition of heating oil in 40 CFR 

80.1401 in the RFS2 program, under section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act. This 

amendment will expand the scope of renewable fuels that can generate Renewable 

Identification Numbers (RINs) as heating oil will be amended to include fuel oil 

produced from qualifying renewable biomass that will be used to generate heat to warm 

buildings or other facilities where people live, work, recreate, or conduct other activities. 

Fuel oils used to generate process heat, power, or other functions will not be included in 

the amended definition. Producers or importers of fuel oil that meets the amended 

definition of heating oil will be allowed to generate RINs, providing that the fuel oil 

meets the other requirements specified in the RFS regulations. This amendment will not 

modify or limit fuel included in the current definition of heating oil at §80.2(ccc). The 

proposed rule does include new recordkeeping and reporting items applicable to 

producers or importers of fuel oil that meet the amended definition. These are described 

below. 

It is useful for parties commenting on this proposed ICR to review the existing, 

approved RFS2 information collections related to the RFS2 program, as identified by

OMB Approval Number and expiration date: 
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 Renewable Fuels Standard Program: Petition and Registration, OMB Approval 

Number 2060-0637, Expires 03/31/2013

 Renewable Fuels Standard, OMB Approval Number 2060-0640, Expires 

7/31/2012

2. Need For, and Use of, the Collection

a. Authority for the Collection

Sections 114 and 208 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 7414 and 7542, 

authorize EPA to require recordkeeping and reporting regarding enforcement of the 

provisions of Title II of the CAA. The relevant regulations are in 40 CFR Part 80, 

Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives. 

b. Practical Utility/Uses of the Data

The information collected via registrations and reports is used by EPA to 

determine compliance with the RFS2 program. Records retained by regulated parties 

support compliance information submitted to EPA. 

3. Non-duplication, Consultation, and other Collection Criteria

a. Non-duplication

Efforts have been made to eliminate duplication in this information collection. 

Where possible, information requirements from various organizations within the Agency

have been combined to minimize the submittal of duplicate information in different 

formats. The information in this collection will not be available from another source.

b. Public Notice

This supporting statement is being docketed in order to permit interested parties 

to fully comment upon the costs associated with the rule. 

c. Consultations

EPA is providing an opportunity for notice and comment regarding this proposed 

ICR. To date, we are aware of only one producer who would be subject to this direct 

rule. However, we reasonably anticipate that other RIN generators may also choose to 

engage in activities that may make them subject to the ICR for this rule. We encourage 

all interested parties to provide us with comments as to our burden estimates. 
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d. Effects of Less Frequent Data Collection

The frequency of response is controlled by the submitter of the information. 

e. General Guidelines

This rule does not exceed any of the OMB guidelines. 

f. Confidentiality

EPA informs respondents that they may assert claims of business confidentiality

for any or all of the information they submit. Information claimed as confidential will be 

treated in accordance with 40 CFR Part 2 and established Agency procedures. 

Information that is received without a claim of confidentiality may be made available to 

the public without further notice to the submitter under 40 CFR § 2.203.

g. Sensitive Information

This section is not applicable as this proposed ICR does not involve 

matters of a sensitive nature.

4. The Respondents and the Information Requested

The parties subject to RFS2 information collections fall into the following general 

industry categories: petroleum refineries (324110/2911), ethyl alcohol manufacturers 

(325193/2869), other basic organic chemical manufacturing (325110/2869), chemical and 

allied products merchant wholesalers (426990/5169), petroleum bulk stations and 

terminals (422710/5171), petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers 

(422720/5172), and other fuel dealers (454319/5989).

Using the terminology associated with the RFS2 Proposed Rule and associated 

ICRs, we have assumed the following classes of party would have new recordkeeping 

and reporting covered by this supporting statement. The total universe of parties is 

derived from the existing approved RFS2 ICRs, cited above. 

 Producers of renewable fuels - we anticipate that 10 of 1,010 producers, or 

.01%, will engage in activities that will make them subject to new information 

collection requirements outlined in this proposed ICR.

Importers - we anticipate that one of the approximately 120 importers will engage in 

activities that will make them subject to this ICR.
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b. Information Requested

i. Registration

For the purpose of registration, EPA is requiring producers of the expanded fuel 

oil types to submit to EPA all existing contracts with their prospective clients for 

specified quantities of fuel oil that the prospective client intends to purchase from the 

producer for the purpose of heating homes or buildings. The submission of the contracts 

will help EPA to verify the potential volumes the producer is requesting to register under 

the program for RIN generation. 

EPA recognizes that the producer may not have all contracts set up prior to 

registration that will equate to the facility’s permitted capacity or actual peak capacity as 

defined in §80.1401 of the rule that is currently used by EPA to establish a facility’s 

baseline volume for registration purposes. EPA also recognizes that it will not be 

practical for program implementation to require these producers to continually submit 

new and revised contracts for every client to the EPA to continually update the 

producer’s registered baseline volume based on these contracts to reflect every gallon of 

fuel oil produced up to the facility’s permitted capacity or actual peak capacity. 

Therefore, EPA is allowing the producer of the expanded fuel oil types to 

establish their facility’s baseline volume in the same manner as all other producers under 

the RFS program, e.g., based on the facility’s permitted capacity or actual peak capacity. 

However, we are also adopting additional requirements for the submission of contracts 

executed prior to registration, as a means to verify the initial volumes that will be sold for 

heating purposes as defined in paragraph (2) of the amended definition of heating oil. 

EPA is also requiring submissions of new and revised contracts that are executed 

after registration on an annual basis as part of the producer’s update to their registration. 

Additionally, we are adopting new recordkeeping, PTD and reporting requirements 

discussed below that will be used as a means for verification of the remaining gallons up 

to the facility’s registered baseline volume. The registration requirements are detailed in 

the registration section in §80.1450(b)(1)(ix).

ii. Recordkeeping, Product Transfer Documents and Reporting

For the purpose of continued verification after registration, EPA is adopting 

additional requirements for recordkeeping in §80.1454(b) (6) and (7), PTDs in 

§80.1453(d) and reporting requirements in §80.1451(b)(1)(ii)(T) for the expanded fuel oil 

types. 

The recordkeeping, PTD and reporting requirements will ensure that the expanded 

fuel oil types that are used to generate RINs are actually used in a qualifying application. 

The regulations will require contracts between the fuel oil producer and the final end user 

for the legal transfer of title of a specific volume of fuel oil that is designated for use, and 

is actually used, only for the purpose of heating interior spaces of homes or buildings to 
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control ambient climate for human comfort. For instance, the additional recordkeeping

requirements will stipulate that the producer of fuel oils maintain documents associated 

with each gallon of fuel oil that is under contract for sale and is sold to all of its clients, 

and affidavits from the client stipulating that they are using the fuel oil for purposes of 

heating interior spaces of buildings where people live, work, recreate, or conduct other 

activities to control ambient climate for human comfort. Additionally, producers are 

required to maintain all documents and records submitted for registration and registration 

updates as part of the producer’s recordkeeping requirements for the expanded fuel oil 

types they register for RIN generation. EPA believes the producer’s maintenance of these 

records will help to substantiate continued tracking and verification that the end use of 

the fuel oil is in compliance with the stipulations of the expanded definition of heating 

oil. 

The additional PTD requirement stipulates that the PTD used to transfer 

ownership of the renewable fuel must contain the statement: “This volume of renewable 

fuel is designated and intended to be used to heat interior spaces of homes or buildings. 

Do not use for any other purpose.” EPA believes that this PTD requirement would help to 

ensure that each gallon of fuel oil that is transferred from the producer to the end user is 

used for qualifying purposes under the expanded definition of heating oil.

The additional reporting requirements will stipulate that the producer of fuel oils 

report to EPA the total quantity of the fuel oils produced and sold to all its clients for 

qualifying purposes and the total volume produced or sold that did not qualify for RIN 

generation, including an explanation of why these volumes of fuel oil did not qualify and 

to what entity were the volumes eventually sold. EPA believes the additional 

requirement to report the total gallons sold by the producers of fuel oils as well as the 

total gallons produced or sold that did not qualify for RIN generation will enable EPA to 

verify that the producers are producing and selling RIN-generating fuel oil that falls 

within their allowable volume that is registered under the program and that it is used in a 

qualified application. 

5. The Information Collected, Agency Activities, Collection Methodology, and 

Information Management

a. Agency Activities

 All reported registration and compliance reports will be reviewed by EPA.

 EPA may discuss information received with parties or request further 

information. 

 The data will be stored.

b. Collection and Methodology and Management

Because of the subjective (i.e., produce specific) nature of the additional 

information requested, there can be no standard forms. However, EPA’s regulations 
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guide the regulated parties in what to submit and retain. PTDs are standard formats and 

are customary business practice within the fuel industry. 

c. Small Entity Flexibility

This collection will not adversely affect small entities. We expect this proposed 

ICR to affect very few parties, who elect to produce fuel subjected to the amended 

definition of heating oil. 

d. Collection Schedule

The collection schedule is driven by the party. Therefore it is best described as 

“infrequent” or “episodic.” 

6. Estimating the Burden and Cost of Collection

a. We drew upon experience implementing similar regulations among the same 

entities to develop estimates of the burden associated with this collection. The burden 

and cost of this collection is broken down by party, producers and importers. As 

described above, we anticipate that 10 producers of renewable fuel and one importer may

be subject to the proposed recordkeeping and reporting. 

We are estimating 10 producers to provide 1 report each under provisions 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(A – E) as it relates to new registrations on existing contracts to the 

EPA, affidavits from the producer and end users, registration of client list and analysis 

and the analysis/specification for fuel by producer. We estimate the industry will take 4 

hours per response to report in this collection. We are also assuming 10 producers will 

report at least 12 occurances to affix the required statement for use of fuel oils on PTDs. 

This information is reported quarterly taking 8 minutes per response. Producer records 

from this collection will be kept on a monthly filing schedule for the 10 respondents 

under both 80.1454(b)(6) and (7) and expected to take 1 hour per response.

We are estimating 1 importer to provide 1 report each under provisions 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(A – E) as it relates to new registrations on existing contracts to the 

EPA, affidavits from the producer and end users, registration of client list and analysis 

and the analysis/specification for fuel by importer. The collection will take 4 hours per 

response. We are also assuming 1 importer will report at least 12 occurances to affix the 

required statement for use of fuel oil on PTDs. This information is reported quarterly 

taking 8 minutes per response. Importer records are kept on a monthly filing schedule for 

the 10 respondents under both 80.1454(b) (6) and (7) and expected to take 1 hour per 

response.

The total industry burden associated with this collection is 495 hours costing $ 35,113 per 

year with 451 total responses and 11 respondents. These totals can be found in Table I –
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Detailed Estimates –RIN Generators (10 producers, one importer) of Renewable Fuel 

Meeting the Amended Heating Oil Definition; broken down by party found below.

b. Three labor categories are involved: managerial (includes legal and professional 

review), technical, and clerical. The estimates use the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures 

from "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation - Table 12 - Private Industry, 

Manufacturing, and Non-Manufacturing Industries by Occupational Group” (December 

2003), with a 3% annual inflation factor applied to bring the values to the present. Using 

this method, the following wages and benefits apply by category:

Wages and Benefits

Managerial $53.87 per hour

Technical $35.29 per hour

Clerical $24.56 per hour

Doubling for company overhead beyond wages and benefits, and for convenience, 

rounding up to the dollar, gives the following rates for this proposed ICR:

Total Employer Cost

Managerial $108 per hour

Technical $71 per hour

Clerical $49 per hour

It is assumed that for each hour of activity the mix will be about 0.1 hour managerial, 0.7 

hour technical, and 0.2 hour clerical. This gives an average labor cost of $71 per hour, 

which will be used in this ICR. There is no capitol or O&M cost associated with this 

collection. We estimate the following burden: 
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Table I – Detailed Estimates –RIN Generators (10 producers, one importer) of 

Renewable Fuel Meeting the Amended Heating Oil Definition; 

broken down by party.

a. PRODUCERS

Collection 

Activity

Total

Number 

of 

Respondents

Number 

of 

Responses 

per 

Respondent

Total 

Number 

of 

Responses

(All 

Respondents)

Hours 

Per 

Response

Total 

Hours

(All 

Respondents)

Total 

Cost

$

(All 

Respondents)

New registration 

activity - provision 

of existing contracts 

to EPA under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(A

10 1 10 4 40 $2840

New registration 

activity – provision 

of affidavit from the 

producer under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(B) 

10 1 10 4 40 $2840

New registration 

activity – provision 

of affidavit from the 

end user under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(C)

10 1 10 4 40 $2840

New registration 

activity – provision 

of list of clients under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(D)

10 1 10 4 40 $2840

New registration 

activity – provision 

of 

analysis/specification 

for fuel by producer 

under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(E)

10 1 10 4 40 $2840

Affixing of required 

statement for use on 

PTDs (note: codes 

are not appropriate, 

10 12 

(assumes 3 

customers 

and 4 

120 .08 (5 

minutes 

per 

response)

9.6 $681
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since statement must 

appear) under 

80.1453

quarterly 

shipments 

per 

respondent)

Retention of records

related to registration 

under 80.1454(b)(6)

10 12 

(assumes a 

monthly

filing 

schedule)

120 1 120 $8520

Retention of records

related to contracts, 

clients, certificate of 

analysis, under 

80.1454(b)(7)

10 12 

(assumes a 

monthly

filing 

schedule)

120 1 120 $8520

TOTAL 410 449.6 $31921.00

b. IMPORTERS

Collection Activity Total 

Number 

of 

Respondents

Number of 

Responses 

per 

Respondent

Total 

Number 

of 

Responses

(All

Respondents)

Hours 

Per 

Response

Total 

Hours

(All 

Respondents)

Total 

Cost

$

(All

Respon-dents)

New registration 

activity - provision 

of existing contracts 

to EPA under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(A

1 1 1 4 4 $284

New registration 

activity – provision 

of affidavit from the 

producer under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(B) 

1 1 1 4 4 $284

New registration 

activity – provision 

of affidavit from the 

end user under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(C)

1 1 1 4 4 $284

New registration 

activity – provision 

of list of clients under 

1 1 1 4 4 $284
10

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(D)

New registration 

activity – provision 

of 

analysis/specification 

for fuel by producer 

under 

80.1450(b)(1)(ix)(E)

1 1 1 4 4 $284

Affixing of required 

statement for use on 

PTDs (note: codes 

are not appropriate, 

since statement must 

appear) under 

80.1453

1 12 

(assumes 3 

customers 

and 4 

quarterly 

shipments 

per 

respondent)

12 .08 (5 

minutes 

per 

response)

0.96 $68

Retention of records 

related to registration 

under 80.1454(b)(6)

1 12 12 

(assumes 

a monthly

filing 

schedule)

1 12 $852

Retention of records 

related to contracts, 

clients, certificate of 

analysis, under 

80.1454(b)(7)

1 12 12

(assumes 

a monthly

filing 

schedule)

1 12 $852

TOTAL 41 44.96 $3192.00

c. Estimating the Agency Burden and Cost

The Agency burden consists of 0.05 of one GS-13 engineer (estimated at 

$161,000 including overhead to review/respond/store data, for a total of $8,050. 

d. Estimating the Respondent Universe

We were able to estimate the number of regulated entities drawing upon

experience regulating the same entities. 

e. Bottom Line Annual Burden Hours and Costs

We estimate a total annual burden for all RIN generators (10 producers plus one 

importer) of 495 hours and $35,113. There are a total of 11 respondents. Therefore, 

there is an annual burden per respondent of 45 hours and $3,192 per respondent. Note 

that figures have been rounded up to the next whole hour or dollar. 
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f. Reason for Change in Burden

The burden covered by this ICR is associated with proposed rule that amends the 

definition of heating oil in 40 CFR 80.1401 in the RFS2 program, under section 211(o) of 

the Clean Air Act.

g. Burden Statement

The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of 

information is estimated to average one hour 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 the instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems 

for the purpose 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 transit 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.

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, EPA has established a public docket for this rule, which includes this ICR, under 

Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2012-0223, which is available for online viewing at 

www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket in the EPA 

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

Washington, DC. The 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 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 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, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for 

EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2012-0223 and OMB 

Control Number 2060-NEW.

Part B of the Supporting Statement

This part of the supporting statement is not applicable.