EPA

United States Environmental Protection Agency

 Office of Air and Radiation

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

____________________________________________________________________________________

November 2011

DRAFT SUPPORTING 

STATEMENT FOR THE 

PART 70 STATE

OPERATING PERMIT 

PROGRAM

prepared by

Jeff Herring, Environmental Scientist

Air Quality Policy Division

Operating Permits Group

EPA #1587.12
E-1

The approved burden level in the previous ICR was 4.2 million hours per 

year for sources, 1.3 million hours per year for permitting authorities (PAs), 

and 33 thousand hours for the Federal government; for a total of 5.6 million 

hours each year. The current ICR predicts 4.0 million, 1.3 million, and 37

thousand hours, respectively, for each respondent group, for a total of 5.3

million hours each year. Overall, this is an expected decrease of 

211 thousand hours. This small decrease in burden primarily reflects the 

benefits of reductions in permit modification activities brought about by the 

implementation of the Flexible Air Permits rule and a decrease in source

population and existing permits based on updated data available from 

permitting authorities. For sources, this is a decrease in burden of 199

thousand hours, due to the same reasons as for permitting authorities. The 

Agency predicts States and other PAs will incur a burden decrease of about 

15 thousand hours per year and the Federal government will incur an

increase of about 3 thousand hours per year.

TABLE E-1

BURDEN CHANGE FROM DECEMBER 2007 ICR TO CURRENT ICR

Average Annual 

Burden in November 

2007 ICR

Average Annual 

Burden in ICR 

Renewal

Difference

Sources 4,176,069 3,977,118 -198,951

PAs 1,349,570 1,334,766 -14,804

Federal 33,389 36,583 3,194

TOTAL 5,559,028 5,348,467 -210,561

Table E-1 displays the expected annual burden and the expected change in 

annual burden for sources, PAs, and the Federal government for 

implementation of the part 70 Operating Permits Program between the 3-

year period covered by this ICR renewal, May 2012 and April 2015. Of the 

5.3 million hours the Agency anticipates it will take to perform all the 

functions required each year, about 75 percent of the burden applies to 

sources. However, the magnitude of the total expected burden can be 

misleading due to the number of permitted sources. For the 15,940 sources 

included in this analysis, the average expected burden is relatively small –

just over 6 weeks of a full-time employee's time.

Permitting authorities incur about 24 percent of the burden of part 70 

management, with the total burden spread between a significantly smaller

Executive Summary
E-2

number of entities compared to sources. On average, the Agency estimates 

the burden associated with the part 70 Operating Permits Program will be 

about 11,900 hours per year per PA. Each PA can expect to expend an 

average of 84 hours of effort per source each year, at a cost of about $3,900

per permit. However, PA burden cannot be considered an Unfunded 

Mandate because the net cost to PAs for their management of an operating 

permits program must, by law, be passed on to the PA's sources through the 

permit fee. The cost of permits to sources must be of sufficient magnitude to 

fully offset all permit management costs. Hence, the true annual cost to 

permitting authorities under title V is zero, and the true annual cost to 

sources is $227 million, approximately $14,200 per source per year.

The decrease in burden for sources and permitting authorities compared to 

the 2007 ICR renewal is primarily due reductions in the number of permit 

modification activities performed each year due to implementation of the 

Flexible Permits (FAP) rule. Secondary to this, compared to the 2007 ICR 

renewal, some of the burden decreases are due to updated data from 

permitting authorities about the numbers of existing sources and permits and 

updated wage rates. 

Since the 2007 ICR renewal, EPA promulgated two new regulatory

revisions to part 70 and part 71: the Flexible Air Permits Rule1and the GHG 

Tailoring rule

2

. OMB has previously approved ICR changes related to these 

two rule changes and we incorporate them into this renewal and update them 

to match the current state of program implementation (see ICR change 

justification documentation for the Flexible Air Permits Rule3and the GHG 

Tailoring Rule)

4

. These change justification documents are included in the 

docket for this ICR renewal. The first rule resulted in a net reduction in 

burden for a large number of existing sources, while the second resulted in 

an increase in burden for a modest number of newly subject sources and 

small increases in burden for a large number of existing sources. The two 

revisions resulted in a net reduction in burden when compared to the 2007

ICR renewal. Since the changes in burden are caused by updated data on the 

 

1 Operating Permit Programs, Flexible Air Permits Rule, Final Rule (74 FR 51418, October 

6 2009).

2

Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule, Final 

Rule (75 FR 31514, June 3, 2010). 

3

Information Collection Request for Changes to the Part 70 Operating Permit Regulations, 

the Part 71 Operating Permits Regulations, and the Parts 51 and 52 Prevention of 

Significant Deterioration Regulation and Non-Attainment New Sources Review 

Regulations for Flexible Air Permits, November 2008, EPA tracking # 1587.10.

4

Information Collection Request for State Operating Permit Regulations (40 CFR part 70) 

Change Justification, EPA tracking # 1587.11.
E-3

number of sources and permits, rather than changes in information 

collection requirements that have not already been approved by OMB, there 

are no new information collection requirements contained in this analysis. 

The burden and cost increase for Federal (EPA) activities compared to the 

2007 renewal are due to increased EPA review related to implementation of 

the GHG Tailoring rule, which is greater than the burden decrease for EPA 

epected from implementation of the Flexible Air Permit rule.

In accordance with the analytical requirements established under the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), the Agency has determined that there 

are no adverse effects to be identified vis-à-vis small entities and small 

businesses. Note that EPA has not made any changes in regulatory

requirements or policy that would impose any new information collection 

requirements for small business. This ICR renewal does show a small 

decrease in overall burden hours due to the update in the number of existing 

permits and the effects of the Flexible Air Permit rule.
1

Table of Contents

Executive Summary...................................................................E-1

1. Identification of the Information Collection......................................1

2. Need and Use of the Collection.....................................................3

3. Non-Duplication, Consultation, and Other 

Collection Criteria....................................................................5

4. The Respondents and the Information Requested.............................8

5. The Information Collected – Collection Methodology

and Information Management....................................................12

6. Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection............................14

Attachment 1

Assumptions for Part 70 ICR Renewal......................................................29

Attachment 2

Title V of the Clean Air Act, the Statutory Requirements

For the Respondent Information...............................................................44

Attachment 3

Analysis of Part 70 State Program Evaluations For ICR Renewal Purposes 

(1587.07)...........................................................................................55

Attachment 4

Federal Register Notice ....................................................................61
2

This analysis is titled: "Draft Supporting Statement for the State Operating Permit 

Program." It fulfills the Agency's requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

to determine, report, and periodically update the regulatory burden associated with the 

Operating Permits Program, codified in 40 CFR part 70. This report has been assigned 

EPA tracking number 1587.12. The OMB tracking number for this ICR is 2060-0243. 

Title V of the Clean Air Act requires States to develop and implement a program for 

issuing operating permits to all sources that fall under any Act definition of major and 

certain other non-major sources that are subject to Federal air quality regulations. The Act 

further requires EPA to develop regulations that establish the minimum requirements for 

those State operating permits programs and to oversee their implementation. The EPA 

regulations setting forth requirements for the operating permits programs to be 

implemented by state and local agencies were codified at 40 CFR part 70 on July 21, 

1992. 

The activities that will occur during the period of this ICR include: 

• permitting authorities issuing the remaining initial permits; 

• sources submitting semi-annual monitoring and annual compliance certification 

reports; 

• permitting authorities reviewing those reports; 

• sources submitting applications for permit revisions; 

• permitting authorities processing permit revisions; 

• sources applying for permit renewal; 

• permitting authorities renewing permits; 

• newly subject sources submitting permit applications; and 

• permitting authorities issuing new initial permits. 

All of these data are made available for public review and comment. The activities to 

carry out these tasks are considered mandatory and necessary for implementation of title V 

and the proper operation of the operating permits program. The information will also be 

available for public inspection at any time in the offices of the permitting authorities. 

The Agency anticipates annualized direct costs of the part 70 program for the three years 

of the ICR to subject sources to be approximately $496 million. These represent the direct

administrative costs for 15,940 sources, or approximately $10,400 per source per year 

(250 hours per source per year). The Agency estimates the cost of the part 70 permit 

program for the three years of the ICR to permitting authorities to be approximately $184

million (about $3,900 and 84 hours per source per year) while Federal costs for the three 

1 Identification of the Information Collection

1.2 Description
3

years of the ICR will be approximately $5.0 million (about $100 and 2 hours per source 

per year).

In implementing title V of the Act and EPA's part 70 operating permit regulations, State 

and local permitting authorities must develop programs and submit them to EPA for 

approval (section 502(d)). Sources subject to the program must prepare operating permit 

applications and submit them to the permitting authority within 1 year after approval of 

the program by EPA (section 503). Permitting authorities will then issue permits (section 

503(c)) and thereafter enforce, revise, and renew those permits at no more than 5-year 

intervals (section 502(b)(5)). Permit applications and proposed permits will be provided 

to, and are subject to review by, EPA (section 505(a)). The permit and all information 

submitted by a source shall be available for public review except for confidential 

information which will be protected from disclosure (section 503(e)) and the public shall 

be given public notice of, and an opportunity for comment on, permit actions (section 

502(b)(6)). Sources will submit monitoring reports semi-annually and compliance 

certification reports annually, to the permitting authorities (section 503(b)(2)). The EPA 

has the responsibility to oversee implementation of the program (section 502(c)). A copy

of sections 502 through 504 of title V of the Act are in Attachment 2.

The burden estimates included in this ICR include the total burden of implementing the 

part 70 operating permits program. For the 3-year period covered by this ICR, all State 

programs (including those portions of States for which an operating permits program is 

being implemented by a local agency) have been submitted to EPA and have been granted 

full approval. All permit applications have been submitted to State or local permitting 

authorities except for sources that will be newly subject to the program. 

To carry out the remaining activities of the program (listed above in section 1.2)

permitting authorities must obtain the required information from sources subject to the 

program and they must then carry out their functions (e.g., permit issuance, renewal, and 

revision and report review) based on the information. 

The information included in this ICR is based upon the best data sources available to the 

Agency at this time. However, inconsistencies in PA reporting techniques, incomplete 

 2 Need and Use of the Collection

 2.1 Need/Authority for the Collection

2.2 Practical Utility/Users of the Data

2.3 Caveats and Considerations
4

data sets, and sampling limitations imposed upon the Agency by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act necessitated a certain amount of extrapolation and "best-guess" estimations by

permitting authority and Agency experts. Consequently, the reader should not consider the 

conclusions to be an exact representation of the level of burden or cost that will occur 

during the three years of this ICR. Instead, this ICR should be considered a directionallycorrect assessment of the impact the Part 70 Permits Program will have over the next three 

years. 

Throughout this ICR, the reader will observe estimated values that show accuracy to the 

single hour or dollar. Because this ICR estimates the expected impact of the Operating 

Permits Program, reporting values at the single unit level may be misleading. In most 

situations, the proper way to present estimated data would be to determine an appropriate 

level of precision and truncate values accordingly, usually in terms of thousands or 

millions of units. For instance, a spreadsheet generated estimation of $5,456,295 would be 

presented in the text as $5.5 (millions) or $5,456 (thousands). One problem with such an 

approach is the loss of data richness when the report contains a mixture of very large and 

very small numbers. Such was the case with this ICR, where source values are 

consistently in the millions and Federal values in the tens of thousands. Consequently, to 

avoid the loss of information through rounding, this ICR reports all values at the single 

unit level and reminds the reader that there is no implied precision inherent in this style of 

reporting.
5

While much of the information requested under this ICR existed prior to the creation of 

the operating permits program, an operating permit is a compilation of existing 

requirements; the purpose being to bring all requirements applicable to a source into one 

document. The intent of this compilation is to (1) resolve any questions of applicability at 

the time of permit issuance, (2) provide certainty to sources as to their obligations, and (3) 

provide the public access to a source's obligations and compliance status. The Agency has 

no leeway to not require such previously existing information under this ICR since 

consolidation of the information into the operating permit and providing public access is 

the whole purpose of the statute. To the extent that similar information was previously

collected (e.g., State permits under State implementation plans), the part 70 program may 

replace those activities thus avoiding duplication of efforts. 

For any existing rule, § 3507(g) of the PRA limits the length of time for which the 

Director may approve a collection of information to 3 years. The last ICR renewal (EPA 

tracking number 1587.07) was granted on September 12, 2007 for the period ending

September 30, 2010. On April 22, 2009, the expiration date of the ICR renewal was 

extended to April 30, 2012 as part of the approval of collection changes associated with 

the promulgation of the final Flexible Air Permits rule, EPA tracking number 1587.10.

Except for information collection in notices of proposed rules or those exempted under the 

emergency processing provisions of 44 U.S.C. § 3507(j), the PRA requires EPA to solicit 

comment on each proposed information collection, including the renewal or modification 

of any existing ICR. [We will update the following after the first FR notice is 

published in December 2011] On February 9, 2007 (72 FR 6233), the Agency published 

a notice soliciting comment on an analysis of burden for the part 70 program for the 3-

year period of this ICR (i.e., July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2010). A copy of the February 2007 

notice is attached as Attachment 4. The EPA received no public comments.

In updating this ICR, EPA relied on the latest information on the number of sources 

subject to the program and the number of permits issued which is provided to EPA’s 

regional offices, semiannually, by permitting authorities within their jurisdictions. Also,

EPA contacted the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the 

Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officers (STAPPA/ALAPCO), now known as

the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA), and during a conference call 

3 Non-Duplication, Consultation, and Other Collection Criteria

 3.1 Non-Duplication

3.2 Public Notice Requirements

3.3 Consultations
6

with them EPA received input on the draft ICR renewal for part 70 that was released for 

public comment on February 2, 2007. Consistent with NACAA’s input during that 

consultation, changes were made to burden estimates for certain activities performed by 

permitting authorities and EPA. Also, consistent with NACAA’s concerns, in section 

4.2.2, we are providing more detailed descriptions of permitting authority activities. The 

burden estimates for specific activities for this ICR renewal continues to rely on 

consultations conducted for the previous ICRs, as shown below.

Permitting authorities contacted by EPA:

• Tom Micai, New Jersey DEP, 609-292-0834 

• Lisa McClung, West Virginia DEP, 304-558-0885 

• Wayne Anderson, Mississippi DEQ, 601-961-5153 

• Rick McVaigh, San Joaquin UAPCD, 209-497-2000 

Geri O. Sullivan of STAPPA/ALAPCO (now NACAA) contacted the following members 

and provided their responses to EPA: 

• Jim Ross, Illinois EPA, 217-782-4651 

• Brian Fitzgerald, Vermont ANR, 802-241-3848 

• Phil Davis, Alabama DEM, 334-271-7875 

• Curt Marshall, Regional Air Pollution Control Agency (Dayton, OH), 937-225-

4435 

• Renee Bashel, Wisconsin DNR, 608-266-7718 

In the 2007 ICR renewal, EPA discussed two other EPA activities that it thought would 

yield additional title V burden information. One of these activities was a nationwide, 

comprehensive evaluation of the majority of title V operating permits programs, which 

was completed September 2006. The second activity was a stakeholder effort to assess all 

aspects of the title V program, currently lead by the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee.

(This effort is known as the Title V Task Force.) The first activity, the State program 

evaluations, was not specifically designed to provide information for purposes of 

estimating burdens and cost of title V programs but it did result in information that 

generally supports the assumptions of the prior ICR, including those based on input from 

State and local permitting authorities. This resulted in only one assumption for permitting 

authorities that changed, that is the frequency that public comments results in changes to 

draft permits (see Table 8, section 6.3.2), which did not lead to significant changes in 

overall burden for permitting authorities. The second activity, the Title V Task Force, 

resulted in recommendations on ways that EPA could improve the effectiveness of the title 

V programs, such as through rulemaking or the issuance of guidance, but it did not result 

in any information useful for estimating burdens for this ICR, and no guidance or 
7

rulemaking resulting from this effort are effective at this time. (For more on the Title V 

Taskforce, see http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/permits/taskforce.html) 

In general, the information collections included in this ICR are one-time submittals per 

activity (e.g., permit application, permit issuance, and permit revision). Exceptions are 

deviation reports that must be submitted "promptly" and the semi-annual monitoring data 

report and the annual compliance certification. These reports are required by section 

503(b)(1) and (2), respectively, of the Act and EPA has no leeway to require less frequent 

reporting. 

Part 70 requires retention of all monitoring data and support information and all permit 

applications, proposed permits, and final permit records for a period of 5 years. These 

records are necessary to fulfill the intent of title V to assure compliance with applicable 

requirements. Questions regarding the obligations of a source and its status of compliance 

can be resolved through such records.

All information, other than confidential business information, relating to the permitting of 

sources under this program and related to compliance monitoring are required by section 

503(e) of the Act to be subject to public review at all times. Section 70.4(b)(3)(viii) 

requires the permitting authority to make available to the public any permitting 

information except that entitled to protection from disclosure under section 114(c) of the 

Act. Protected information may be required to be submitted directly to EPA. Such 

information will be stored in EPA's Confidential Business Information office. 

3.4 Effects of Less Frequent Collection

3.5 General Guidelines

3.6 Confidentiality
8

Respondents to this information collection come from two groups: permitting authorities 

(PAs) and sources required to obtain an operating permit. 

All States are required by title V to develop a part 70 operating permits program. In many 

instances, local agencies administer a program in their jurisdiction in lieu of the State and 

are thereby subject to the same program requirements as States. In total, there are 112 

State, territorial, and local agencies administering operating permits programs. 

Under title V, all major stationary sources must obtain an operating permit.5Some nonmajor sources may also be subject to the program if they are subject to a Federal standard 

such as a New Source Performance Standard (including standards for hazardous air 

pollutants). Some of these sources have been exempted from the program or the 

applicability of the program requirements are deferred until some future date. Information 

provided to the EPA by permitting authorities indicates that 14,988 sources are now 

subject to the program, representing more than 500 SIC codes. Additional information 

(including SIC codes) for major sources subject to title V may be found by accessing the 

following web page:

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/data/systems/air/afsmajorsources.p

df 

All activities associated with the operating permits program are considered information 

collection activities and are reflected in the ICR for part 70. Following are lists of the 

operating permits program data items submitted by sources and permitting authorities and 

program activities performed by permitting authorities and sources.

Permitting Authorities (submitted to EPA)

• Applications for initial permits, permit revisions, and permit renewals

• Draft/proposed permits, permit revisions, or permit renewals 

• Final permit 

• Annual report of enforcement activities 

 

5 All definitions of “major” in the Act.

4 The Respondents and the Information Requested

4.1 Respondents

4.2 Information Requested

4.2.1 Data Items Submitted Including Recordkeeping Requirements
9

Sources (submitted to permitting authority) 

• Application for initial permits, permit revisions, and permit renewals

• Deviation reports that must be filed "promptly"

• Semi-annual monitoring report 

• Annual compliance certification report 

PERMITTING AUTHORITY ACTIVITIES

• Program administration: Responding to inquiries about the program, developing 

internal and external program guidance, developing rules, forms, and other 

mechanisms to implement the program, planning, attending program training, 

permit fee collection, providing source training, attending EPA meetings and 

conferences, providing public education, and other program related activities.

• Permit application review, including discussions with a source concerning the 

completeness of the permit application, review of applications for completeness 

and technical approach, and requests for additional information, when necessary.

• Draft permit preparation, including contact with the source to clarify the specific 

requirements that apply, drafting the “statement of basis,” drafting gap-filling 

monitoring, when necessary, and drafting permit terms and conditions to reflect 

existing requirements.

6

• Comment period notification: Providing notice to the public, EPA, and affected 

States of the comment period on a draft permit (for initial permit issuance, permit 

renewal and significant permit modification). Affected State notification is also 

required for minor permit modification.

• Public hearing administration: Administering a public hearing, when 

appropriate, for initial permit issuance, permit renewal, and significant permit 

modification.

• Interaction with EPA on a proposed permit, including negotiations, re-drafting, 

and formal EPA objections (including those attributable to public petitions).

 

6

This involves writing permit terms that reflect the “applicable requirements” that apply 

to sources. These “applicable requirements” (e.g., MACT and CAM) are not required by 

part 70; they are required by other Federal rules and their burden are counted in the ICRs 

for those rules. Nevertheless, writing permit terms to reflect those requirements are part 70 

burdens. Also, part 70 burden include imposing additional monitoring through part 70, 

such as gap-filing monitoring (as clarified in a December 15, 2006 interpretive rule, 71 FR 

75422).

4.2.2 Respondent Activities
10

• Response to public comments: Analyzing public comments and revising the draft 

permit accordingly, when appropriate.

• Permit issuance: Formalizing permits, placing copies of final permits on public 

websites, entering information into EPA’s permit website (Air Facility System), 

and providing copies to sources.

• General permits administration (Burden for issuing general permits included 

with other permit issuance burden).

• Permit revision: Modifying permits to reflect changes at the source otherwise 

prohibited by the permit, including public participation and affected State review, 

when needed. 

• Permit renewal: Updating the permit to reflect changes at the source, not captured 

through permit revision (includes reviewing application, drafting changes, public 

notice, public hearings (when needed), responding to public comments (when 

needed), and permit issuance).

• Monitoring and compliance certification: Reviewing deviation and semiannual 

monitoring reports and annual compliance certification reports required by part 70, 

and any enforcement activities related to such reviews.

• Annual reporting: Preparing and submitting to EPA annually a report of the 

State's enforcement activities.

SOURCE ACTIVITIES

• Permit application preparation, including internal meetings, permitting authority

discussions, management and legal department involvement, responsible official 

certification, contractor services.

• Draft permit development: Interaction with the permitting authority on draft 

permit development.

• Gap-filling development: Development of “periodic” monitoring or reporting, 

where necessary.

• Public hearing participation

• Operate gap-filling periodic monitoring: Operation of monitoring equipment 

and the taking and keeping of records, where necessary.

• Monitoring reports: Preparing deviation and semi-annual monitoring data reports

and annual compliance certifications, including data analysis, responsible official 

certification, and report submission.

• Permit revisions: Preparing applications for revisions.

• Permit renewal: Preparing permit renewal applications.

• Other activities associated with permit renewal, including discussions with 

permitting authority and public hearing participation.
11

EPA ACTIVITIES

• Review proposed permits and permit revisions to determine if they provide for 

compliance with all applicable requirements.

• Review monitoring provisions of proposed permits or permit revisions to see if 

they contain applicable requirements or to add periodic monitoring if needed.

• Consult with the permitting authority on any problems detected in the proposed 

permit or permit revision including interaction related to fact finding on permit 

petitions.

• Program oversight including review of program changes, review annual reports 

of enforcement activities, program evaluation, issuing notices of deficiency, 

development of formal EPA responses to public petitions, and applying sanctions

to States, as appropriate.
12

The Agency will receive proposed permits or permit revisions in hard copy or 

electronically, depending on permitting authority capability. Each EPA Regional Office 

has determined with their permitting authorities the most efficient system to exchange 

information. Each Regional Office maintains files of permit information only to the extent 

that the office determines the need for file retention. This will vary depending on factors 

such as the source (e.g., large, complicated sources vs. small), the type of permit (general 

vs. full), the number of actions occurring at a source, or the record of the source with 

respect to compliance. There is no need for EPA to maintain complete files of permit 

actions for public access since these are maintained by permitting authorities. 

Title V provides few ways to mitigate the effects of operating permit regulations on small 

entities. Under section 502(a) of the Act, the Agency has exempted or deferred 

applicability of title V for those non-major source categories for which compliance with 

title V will be impractical, infeasible, or unnecessarily burdensome. (For example, see a 

recent final rule, 70 FR 75320, December 19, 2005, which exempted a large number of 

small sources). The Agency has not analyzed how many of these non-major sources will 

be small businesses, but believes that a large percentage may fall under that definition. 

For industries with a large number of identical sources (e.g., bulk gasoline distribution 

terminals and gravel mining operations) general permits may be used to meet the 

requirements of title V (instead of a source-specific permit). General permits can reduce 

the burden of the program on small businesses. 

In accordance with the analytical requirements established under the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 

(SBREFA), the Agency has determined that, because this ICR does not significantly

increase burden relative to its predecessor, there are no adverse effects to be identified visà-vis small entities and small businesses. 

Items identified in section 4.2.1 are listed below with their schedule for submission. 

5 The Information Collected – Collection Methodology and Information Management

5.1 Collection Methodology and Management

5.2 Small Entity Flexibility

5.3 Collection Schedule
13

Permitting Authorities (submitted to EPA):

• Application for permits, permit revision, and permit renewal should be submitted 

to EPA with the proposed permit or permit revision.

• Draft/proposed permits, permit revisions, or permit renewals should be submitted 

when the State wants to commence the EPA review period of the proposed permit 

or permit revision.

• The final permit should be submitted to EPA soon after it is issued, but there is no 

deadline in part 70 for this submission.

• The annual report of enforcement activities is submitted to EPA annually, but part 

70 does not specify a date.

• Responding to program evaluation questionnaires.

Sources (submitted to permitting authority): 

• New permit applications are due within 1 year after a source becomes subject to 

the program.

• Permit revision applications are submitted by a source when it wishes to make a 

change to its permit. There is no schedule for these submissions in that they are at 

the discretion of the source.

• Permit renewal applications are due at least 6 months prior to expiration of the 

permit.

• The semi-annual periodic monitoring report is due to be submitted to the 

permitting authority twice a year on dates specified by the permitting authority.

• The annual compliance certification report is due annually on a date specified by

the permitting authority.

• Deviation reports (frequency is defined by permitting authority but at least every 

six months).
14

Historically, the Agency has identified 116 permitting authorities for title V purposes. 

This number includes several governmental agencies that do not manage operating permits 

programs. In actuality, there are 112 permitting authorities acting within the United States. 

Forty-nine States operate as permitting authorities, with California employing 34 local air 

quality management organizations in lieu of a statewide permitting authority. Puerto Rico, 

the Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C. all have operating permits programs, and there 

are 26 county or regional permitting authorities within States that operate in a manner 

similar to that of California. 

As of July 2011, the Agency identified 14,988 sources subject to permitting under part 70, 

14,650 of which have already received permits, representing a backlog of 338 sources. We 

consider sources who have not yet received initial permits to be in the backlog if the 

deadline for the permitting authority to act on the application has passed and a permit has 

not been issued. Also, between May 2011 and April 2012, EPA estimates that 100 new 

sources will become subject to permitting, and that an additional 185 permits will be 

issued (i.e., comprised of 100 new sources and 85 backlogged sources). Thus, at the 

beginning of the period covered by this analysis, EPA estimates there will be a source 

population of 15,088 sources, 14,835 issued permits, and a backlog of 253 permits. In 

addition, during the three years of this ICR we assume that the backlog of initial permits 

will be reduced in equal amount each year, eliminating the backlog by the end of the 

period of analysis. Also, 300 sources will become newly subject to permitting during the 

period of the analysis as a normal consequence of economic growth7and 552 sources will 

become newly subject because they trigger permitting requirements for GHGs pollutants 

under the GHG Tailoring Rule.

8

Table 1 summarizes the number of permitting authorities 

and the number of permits to be issued during the period of this ICR renewal.

In the original 1992 RIA and ICR for the Operating Permits Regulations, the Agency

anticipated 34,324 sources would be required to obtain operating permits. Since that time, 

the Agency has offered additional regulatory relief to sources by providing a vehicle 

through which sources defined as major based upon their potential to emit can, by 

contractually limiting operations, reduce their potential to emit to under the major source 

threshold (generally 100 tons per year of a criteria pollutant, 25 tons of a mixture of 

HAPs, or 10 tons of a single HAP). The success of this "synthetic minor" program can 

 

7 The 2007 ICR renewal assumed there would be 50 new sources per year, while data collected by EPA from 

permitting authorities suggests 100 sources per year is a more accurate assumption. 

8 This number is based on assumptions made in the RIA and ICR for the GHG Tailoring rule for sources that 

would become subject to part 70 solely based on Step 2 of the Tailoring rule.

6 Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection

6.1 Estimating the Number of Respondents
15

readily be seen by the significant drop (over 16,000 sources) in the number of affected 

major sources.

TABLE 1

IDENTIFICATION OF AFFECTED ENTITIES AND PERMIT ISSUANCE SCHEDULE

PERMITTING AUTHORITIES SOURCES

State Permitting Authorities 

 PLUS: California Local 

Authorities 

 PLUS: Territories and 

Possessions 

 PLUS: District of Columbia 

 PLUS: Other Local PAs 

Total Permitting Authorities 

 

49

 

34

 

2

 1

 26

112

Total Population of Part 70 Sources as of June 2011 

Less: Sources Permitted Before June 2011 

Less: Sources Permitted July 2011 through April 2012 

Total Sources Expected to Be Permitted through April 

2012 

Plus: Newly Subjected Sources through April 2012 

Sources remaining to Be Permitted as of May 2012

 

Percent of Sources Expected to Be Covered by General 

Permits 

Existing Sources Expected to Be Covered 

Less: Sources Covered through June 2007 

Existing Sources Issued General Permits During this ICR 

Plus New Subject Sources During ICR Period (3 years)

Total Permits to be Issued in Year 1

Less: New Sources Covered by General Permits

Single-source Permits to be Issued in Year 1

 

Total Permits to be Issued in Year 2

Less: New Sources Covered by General Permits

Single-source Permits to be Issued in Year 2

 

Total Permits to be Issued in Year 2

Less: New Sources Covered by General Permits 

Single-source Permits to Be Issued in Year 3

 

Total (single) Permits Expected to Be Issued During This 

ICR

 

14,650 

185 

14,835 

100 

 

 

 

 

 

14,988 

 

 

 

 

253

 

16% 

2,374 

2,374 

0 

852

369

0

369

 

369

0

369

 

368

0 

368

 

1105

Another example of regulatory relief incorporated into the operating permits program is 

the general permit, which allows large numbers of homogenous major sources of pollution 

to receive the same permit. This program has been successful in allowing approximately

16% (more than 2,300 part 70 sources) of all part 70 sources a cost-effective alternative to 

single-source permitting. The EPA estimates that by April 2012 (when the period of this 

ICR begins), the total population of part 70 sources will have grown to 15,088 and that 

16% of these sources (2,374 sources) will have received general permits. Because general 

permits are typically relatively easy to issue, the Agency assumes that all existing sources 

eligible for general permits will have received them by May 2012 and that none of the 253

backlogged sources will be issued general permits during the three years of this ICR. We 

further assume that none of the estimated 852 newly subject sources will receive general 

permits during the period of this ICR.
16

Data collected by EPA suggests a renewal backlog of 3,335 permits as of July 2011. These 

permits will need to be renewed during the 3-year ICR period in order to eliminate the 

backlog. Additional permits will become subject to renewal during the ICR period because 

their initial or previous renewal permits are expiring. Thus, the total amount of permits 

projected to be renewed during the ICR period is 13,295. EPA assumes that the total 

number of permits to be renewed in each year of the ICR will be one third of the backlog 

plus whatever permits would normally come up for review because their permits are at the 

end of their 5-year term, or 4,431 the first year, 4,432 the second year, and 4,432 the third 

year. This analysis also assumes that 84 percent of renewal permits will be issued as 

single-source permits and 16 percent as general permits.

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. The Agency derived its estimates in Tables 

2 and 3 from previous consultations with fewer than nine respondents from the regulated 

community on the burdens and costs of the permit programs, data collected by EPA from 

permitting authorities on the numbers of permits issued, renewed, and modified in the 

course of program administration, and based on our analysis of data submitted within the 

context of State and local permitting program evaluations. The assumptions in Table 2, 3 

and 4 are unchanged from the 2007 ICR renewal.

Table 4 includes Federal burden estimates for each of the EPA activities discussed above 

in section 4.2.2. These activities remain unchanged from the last ICR renewal. Also, there 

are several new activities or changes in activity levels compared to the 2007 ICR renewal 

that are related to the Flexible Air Permits and GHG Tailoring rules, and for the sake of 

clarity, we discuss those later in this document. 

6.2 Estimating Burden
17

TABLE 2

AVERAGE SOURCE BURDEN BY ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY BURDEN PER SOURCE OR PERMIT (Hours)

Prepare Application 300

Draft Permits Interaction 40

Gap-filling Monitoring Development 40

Public Hearing Participation 10

Operate Gap-filling Periodic Monitoring 200

Prepare Monitoring Reports 80

Permits Revisions

 Significant Permit Modifications(10% of Permits)

 Minor Permit Modifications (50% of Permits)

 Administrative Amendments (50% of Permits)

80

40

8

Re-application of General Permit 2

Permit Renewal 200

Other Activities 20

TABLE 3

PERMITTING AUTHORITY BURDEN BY ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY BURDEN PER PERMIT OR PROGRAM (Hours)

Program Administration 3,500 / PA

Permit Application Review 100 / permit

Draft Permits Preparation 150 / permit

Comment Period Notification 10 / permit

Hold Public Hearings 100 / hearing

Interaction with EPA 20 / permit

Analyze Public Comments 40 / permit

Permits Issuance 8 / permit

General Permits 80 / PA

Permit Revision

 Significant Permit Modification

 Minor Permit Modification

 Administrative Amendment

90/ permit

30 / permit

5 / permit

Permits Renewal 90 / permit

Renew General Permits 10 / permit 

Review Monitoring and Compliance Cert. Report 5 / report / permit

Annual Enforcement Activity Reporting 40 / PA
18

TABLE 4

EPA ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITIES BURDEN HOURS PER PERMIT / PROGRAM

Review Proposed Permits*

 New Permits

 Significant Permit Modifications

 Minor Permit Modifications

20 / permit

8 / revision

1 / revision

Consultation

 New Permits (25%)

 Significant Permit Modifications (25%)

 Minor Permit Modifications (25%)

8 / permit

8 / permit

1 / permit

Program Oversight 50 / program / year

Review the Annual Enforcement Activity Reports 10 / report

* Includes the burden for review of periodic monitoring

Historically, the Agency had assumed 70 percent of all source burden categories would be 

performed in-house, with the remaining 30 percent delegated to contractors.9 However, 

this renewal incorporates the previous ICR reassessment of that assumption, which is 

based on allocation of contractor support for only the initial permit application task. This 

analysis assumes one-third of the source's initial permit application preparation would be 

performed by contracted labor. The remainder of the source's tasks would be done entirely 

in-house. 

In the 2000 ICR renewal, EPA determined source wage rates based on data from the 1997 

Statistical Abstract of the United States, adjusted to 1999 dollars using the Employment 

Cost Index (ECI). The Agency estimated the total hourly cost of in-house labor using the 

wage rates for technical support staff (at full time), administrative staff (at one-eleventh 

time), and administrative support staff (at one-eighth time), adding in the costs for 

benefits, sick leave/vacation, and general overhead. The resulting hourly cost was $32 per 

hour for in-house labor. In the 2004 ICR renewal, EPA calculated an updated hourly cost 

for in-house labor using the same methodology. At that time, the hourly cost was $34 per 

hour.

For this ICR renewal, the Agency was unable to duplicate the methodology used in 2000 

and 2004 because the Bureau of the Census has changed the data reported in the Statistical 

 

9 United States Environmental Protection Agency, Regulatory Impact Analysis and Regulatory Flexibility 

Act Screening for Operating Permits Regulations, EPA-450/2-91- 011, June 1992, pp. 16-17.

6.3 Estimating Costs

6.3.1 Estimating Source Costs
19

Abstract of the United States. Instead, EPA updated the hourly cost for in-house labor by 

adjusting the 2004 value (in 2003 dollars) to 2006 dollars using the ECI for white-collar 

workers in private industry. Then in the change justification for the GHG Tailoring rule, 

we adjusted the wage rates based on an index for December 2007 relative to December 

2006 for private industry workers, management, professional, and related workers, as 

contained in the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost 

Index Historical Listing: Current Dollar March 2001-March 2009. This calculation 

resulted in an hourly cost of $39 for in-house labor for sources as detailed below in Table 

5.

TABLE 5

DETERMINATION OF SOURCE IN-HOUSE and Contractor BURDEN COSTS 

Cost2007 Cost2006 ECI 2007 factor  *

 

* 0.03179

103.8

107.1 103.8

2007 $37.83/ *



ECI factor  hour

In-hour Cost2007 = $37.83 /hour x 1.032 = $39.03/hour

Contractor Cost 2007 = $143/hour x 1.032 = $147.58/hour

 

.

For contracted labor, operating permit management and reporting require the same skills 

employed by the EPA's consultants. For the 2000 ICR, as an estimation of a source's 

consulting costs, the Agency averaged the fully loaded cost of three environmental 

contractors at the PL 2 (secretarial support), PL 3 (technical), and PL 4 (administration) 

levels, applying the methodology employed below in Table 6 for establishing a Federal 

and PA FTE wage rate. The fully loaded hourly cost calculated at that time for Industryhired consultants is $268 (1999 dollars). Therefore, the hourly rate for preparing the initial 

permit application was set at $111 for the 2000 ICR (1/3 of $268 plus 2/3 of $32). All 

other source tasks were estimated using the in-house hourly cost of $32 per hour. 

Because of the confidential nature of the values used to estimate contractor hourly costs, 

the exact methodology was not documented in the 2000 ICR. As a result, for the 2004 ICR 

renewal EPA used the ECI to update the hourly cost for preparing initial permit 

applications, calculating a value of $131 per hour. For the 2007 ICR, EPA used the same 

approach. The Agency used the methodology detailed above in Table 5, except that we 

started with the value in 1999 dollars ($111 per hour) and used the ECI for 1999 (146.9) in 

place of the ECI for 2003. This resulted in an hourly cost for preparing an initial permit 

application of $143. All other source tasks are estimated at the in-house hourly cost of $38 
20

per hour, as discussed above. In 2010, for purposes of calculating the wage rates for 

purposes of the ICR change justification for the GHG tailoring rule, EPA calculated the 

wage rates for in-house and contractor wages as shown in Table 5, which resulted in an inhouse wage rate of $39/hour and a contractor rate of $148/hour. This is the wage rates 

assumed in this ICR renewal.

Historically, the Agency applied a $34 per hour rate for Federal and State full time 

employee (FTE) wage rates. During the development of the ICR for the part 71 Federal 

Operating Permit Regulations, the Agency was instructed by the Office of General 

Council (OGC) to compute more accurate estimations of these hourly costs. To determine 

the appropriate hourly wage to apply to the burden estimation for each respondent, OGC 

instructed the Agency to assume the appropriate FTE rate to apply would be a GS-11 Step 

3, fully loaded to account for overhead, benefits, and all other appropriate costs. To fully

incorporate the cost of that FTE's support staff and managerial costs, the Agency also 

assumed one-eleventh of a manager's time (at a GS-13, Step 3 level), and one-eighth of a 

secretary's time (at a GS-6, Step 6 level). Applying the same process for this ICR renewal, 

the Agency has determined the appropriate cost of Federal and permitting authority

burden at $46 per hour. Table 6 displays the calculation of this rate.

TABLE 6

DETERMINATION OF FEDERAL AND PERMITTING AUTHORITY BURDEN COSTS

Annual Salary of Permit Staff, GS 11 Step 3 (FY 07 Schedule)* $50,106.00

Annual Cost of Supervisory Staff, GS 13 Step 3 (FY 076 Schedule )* $71,415.00

 Factor (1/11) 0.09

 $6,427.35

Annual Cost of Admin. Support Staff, GS 6 Step 6 (FY 06 Schedule)* $33,322.00

 Factor (1/8) 0.13

 $4,331.86

Annual Applicable Salary of Permit Staff $60,865.21

Benefits (at 16%) $9,738.43

 

Sick Leave/Vacation (at 10%) $6,086.52

General Overhead $18,511.67

Total Cost Per FTE $95,301.83

Total Hourly Cost (Total Per FTE divided by 2,080 hours per year) $45.77

* http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/html/gs.asp, January 4, 2007

Table 7 lists the burden categories for respondent sources, the number of estimated 

occurrences for each item, and the expected cost for each, based on the burden estimations 

from Table 2. Table 8 lists the burden categories for respondent permitting authorities, the 

expected number of permits or programs involved, and the expected cost for each, based 

6.3.2 Estimating PA and Agency Costs
21

on the burden estimations from Table 3. Table 9 lists the burden categories for Federal 

(EPA) activities, the number of estimated permits or programs involved, and the expected 

cost for each, based on the burden estimations from Table 4.

Tables 7, 8 and 9 closely follow the analysis of the 2007 ICR renewal without accounting

for changes due to the Flexible Air Permits or GHG Tailoring rules. We refer to these 

tables as the “baseline” analysis later on in this document because they allow the reader to 

see the effects of this ICR update relative to the 2007 ICR renewal baseline. We later 

show the changes relative to the FAP and the GHG tailoring rule relative to the baseline in 

the bottom line section, where we show the totals taking everything into account.

TABLE 7

BASELINE BURDEN AND COST OF SOURCE ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY BURDEN HOURS 

PER PERMIT

RATE PER 

HOUR

AFFECTED 

PERMITS

TOTAL BURDEN 

(HOURS)

TOTAL COST 

($2007)

Prepare Application 300 $148 852 255,600 $37,828,800

Draft Permit 40 $39 1,190 47,600 $1,856,400

Gap Filling Monitoring 

Development 40 $38 595 23,800 $928,200

Public Hearing 

Participation 10 $39 24 240 $9,360

Operate Gap Filling 

Monitoring

 Year 1

 Year 2

 Year 3

200 $39

7,418

7,602

7,786

1,483,600

1,520,400

1,557,200

4,561,200

 $57,860,400

 $59,295,600

 $60,730,800

$177,886,800

Prepare Monitoring 

Reports

 Year 1

 Year 2

 Year 3

80 $39

14,835

15,204

15,572

1,186,800

1,216,280

1,245,760

3,648,840

$46,285,200

 $47,434,920

 $48,584,640

$142,304,760

Permit Revisions

Significant Permit 

Mods

 Year 1

 Year 2

 Year 3

 Minor Permit Mods

 Year 1 

 Year 2

 Year 3

 

Admin. Amendments

 Year 1

 Year 2

 Year 3

80

40

8

$39

1,246

1,277

1,308

3,831

 6,231

 6,385

 6,540

19,156

 6,231

 6,385

 6,540

19,156

 

99,680

102,160

104,640

306,480

249,240

249,015

255,060

766,240

49,848

 51,080

 52,320

153,248

$ 3,887,520

$ 3,984,240

$ 4,080,960

$11,952,720

$ 9,720,360

$ 9,960,600

$10,202,400

$29,883,360

$1,944,072

$1,992,120

$2,040,480

$5,976,672

General Permit 

Renewal 2 $39 2,127 4,254 $165,906

Permit Renewal 200 $39 11,168 2,233,600 $87,110,400

Other Activities 20 $39 11,168 223,360 $8,711,040
22

Totals 12,224,462 $504,614,418

TABLE 8

BASELINE BURDEN AND COST OF PERMITTING AUTHORITY ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden Hours 

per Permit

Affected Permits 

or Programs

Total Burden 

(Hours)

Total Cost 

($2007)

Program Administration 3,500/year 112 programs 1,176,000 $54,096,000

Permit Application Review 100 150 85,200 $ 3,919,200

Draft Permit Preparation 150 323 165,750 $7,624,500

Comment Period Notification 10 323 11,050 $508,300

Public Hearing 100 6 2,200 $101,200

Interaction with EPA 20 323 22,100 $1,016,600

Analyzing Public Comments 40 6 880 $40,480

Permit Issuance 8 323 8,840 $406,640

General Permits Administration 80/year 112 programs 26,880 $1,236,480

Permit Revisions

 Significant 

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

90

1,246

1,277

1,308

3,831

112,140 

114,930

117,720

344,790

$5,158,440

$5,286,780

$5,415,129

$15,860,340

 Minor 

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

30

6,231

 6,385

 6,540

19,156

186,930

191,550

196,200

574,680

$8,598,780

$8,811,300

$9,025,200

$26,435,280

 Administrative 

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

5 

 6,231

 6,385

 6,540

19,156

 

 31,155

31,925

 32,700

 95,780

1,015,250

$1,590,220

$1,602,640

$1,615,060

$4,405,880

$46,701,500

Permit Renewals 90 11,168 1,005,120 $46,235,520

Review General Permits 10 2,127 21,270 $978,420

Review Monitoring and Compliance 

Certification Reports

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

15

15

15

14,835

15,202

15,572

45,611

222,525

228,053

233,580

747,135

$10,236,150

$10,490,415

$10,744,680

$31,471,245

Annual Enforcement Activity Reporting 40 112 programs 13,440 $618,240

Totals 4,238,138 $194,954,325
23

TABLE 9

BASELINE BURDEN AND COST OF EPA ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden Hours Affected Permits 

or Programs 

Total Burden 

(Hours)

Total Cost 

($2006)

Review Permits and Revisions

 New Permits

 Renewals

 Significant Permit Revisions 

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

 Minor Permit Revisions 

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

20

20

8

1

298

558

1,246

1,277

1,308

3,831

 

 6,231

 6,385

 6,540

19,156

5,950

11,160

9,968

10,216

10,464

30,648

 

6,231

 6,385

 6,540

19,156

$273,700

$513,360

$458,528

$469.936

$481,344

$1,409,808

$286,626

$293,710

$300,840

$881,176

Consult with PA

 New Permits

 Significant Permit Revisions 

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

 Minor Permit Revisions 

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3

8

8

1

 298

 312

 319

327

 958

1,558

1,596

1,635

4,789

2,380

2,496

2,552

2,616

7,664

1,558

1,596

1,635

4,789

$109,480

$114,816

$117,392

$120,336

$352,544

$71,668

 $73,416

 $75,210

$220,294

Program Oversight 50 112 programs 16,800 $772,800

Review the Annual Report 10 112 3,360 $154,560

Totals 101,907 $4,687,722

Since the approval of the 2007 ICR renewal, EPA has promulgated several rules which 

have affected the burden and cost of the part 70 program, the Flexible Air Permits and the 

GHG Tailoring rule. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved ICR change 

requests for both of these rules, EPA tracking numbers 1587.10 and 1587.11, respectively;

however, this is the first ICR renewal that will addresses the two provisions at the same 

time and update them to reflect current implementation experience.

The Flexible Air Permits (FAP) rule, promulgated during the term of the last ICR renewal, 

revised part 70 to provide for permits that for allow for upfront approval for changes to 

processes, equipment, raw materials and end products at a facility, in such a way as to 

6.3.3 Bottom Line Burden Hours and Costs
24

avoid formal submittal and processing of significant permit modifications (SPM) and 

minor permit modifications (MPM) during the term of the permit. The FAP rule did not 

increase the number of sources subject to title V permitting and it only applies to a 

relatively small number of new and existing sources that would need to get a permit 

anyway. While there is typically an increased burden to put the flexible provisions in the 

permit, once added, they allow the source to avoid permit modifications on a recurring, 

open-ended basis, resulting in an overall decrease in burden over the long term.

 

The baseline permitting burden for all existing and new source for the 3-year period of this 

ICR is shown in tables 7-9, while tables 10-12 show the incremental burden increases for 

issuing new tier 2 permits and burden decreases for avoided modifications for all tier 1 

and 2 permits expected by the end of the ICR period. For EPA, the additional incremental 

burden is for reviewing and consulting with permitting authorities on modifications that 

occur solely due to GHG (usually related to combustion sources).

The EPA estimated in the FAP ICR that 5 percent of the total number of existing sources 

subject to part 70 would obtain a comprehensive flexible permit (a “Tier 1” permit) and 

that an additional 10 percent of all existing sources and new sources subject to part 70 

would seek simpler flexible permits (“Tier 2” permits). The FAP ICR assumed all existing 

part 70 sources would be issued Tier 1 and 2 permits during the period of that ICR, and 

that there would be no new Tier 1 permits needed after that period ended. Thus, for this 

ICR period, we assume that only new Tier 2 permits will be issued.

Table 10 lists the burden categories for respondent sources, the number of estimated 

occurrences for each item, and the expected costs for each, based on the burden 

estimations made in the previous OMB-approved ICR change worksheet for the Flexible 

Permits rule. Tables 11 and 12 present the same analysis for permitting authorities and 

EPA, respectively. Our assumptions for the mix of activities expected to occur under the 

FAP rule have changed compared to the OMB-approved change worksheet due to the 

normal evolution of the program (by May 2012, the beginning of the ICR period, all 

eligible existing permits have been changed to add Tier 1 and 2 flexibility and only new 

tier 2 permits will need to add such flexibility during the term of the ICR renewal). Also, 

the number of affected permits has changed because of different assumptions concerning 

the number of existing permits over the period.

TABLE 10

THE INCREMENTAL BURDEN AND COST OF THE FLEXIBLE PERMITS RULE FOR SOURCE ACTIVITIES FOR THE 

3-YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden Hours 

per permit

Rate per hour Affected 

permits

Total Burden

(Hours)

TOTAL COST 

(2007)

Tier 1 – 5 MPM Avoided 

per year

-40 $39 797 -478,200 -$18,649,800

Tier 1 - 1 SPM Avoided 

every 5 years

-80 $39 797 -38,240 -$1,491,360

Tier 2 – New Permit 60 $148 119 7,140 $1,056,720

Tier 2 – 1 MPM Avoided 

per year

-40 $39 1594 -191,280 -$7,459,920

TOTAL -700,580 -$26,544,360
25

TABLE 11

THE INCREMENTAL BURDEN AND COST OF THE FLEXIBLE PERMITS RULE FOR PERMITTING AUTHORITY 

ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden Hours 

per permit

Rate per hour Affected 

permits

Total Burden

(Hours)

TOTAL COST 

(2007)

Tier 1 – 5 MPM Avoided 

per year

-30 $46 797 -358,650 -$16,497,900

Tier 1 - 1 SPM Avoided 

every 5 years

-90 $46 797 -43,020 -$1,978,920

Tier 2 – New FAP Permit 

issued

45 $46 119 5,355 $246,330

Tier 2 – 1 MPM Avoided 

per year

-30 $46 1,594 -143,460 -$6,599,160

TOTAL -539,775 -$24,829,650

TABLE 12

THE INCREMENTAL BURDEN AND COST OF THE FLEXIBLE PERMITS RULE FOR EPA ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-

YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden 

Hours per 

permit

Rate per 

hour

Affected permits Total Burden

(Hours)

TOTAL COST 

(2007)

Tier 1 – 5 MPM Avoided 

per year

-1 $46 797 -11,955 -$549,930

Tier 1 - 1 SPM Avoided 

every 5 years

-8 $46 797 -3,824 -$175,904

Tier 2 – New Permit 8 $46 119 952 $43,792

Tier 2 – 1 MPM Avoided 

per year

-1 $46 1,594 -4,782 -$219,972

TOTAL -19,609 -$902,014

The GHG Tailoring Rule, also promulgated during the term of the last ICR renewal, 

“tailors” the requirements of the Clean Air Act to limit the number of facilities that would 

otherwise be required to obtain title V permits solely due to their emissions of Greenhouse 

Gases (GHG). Prior to the Tailoring Rule there were no requirements for sources to 

consider GHG emissions in their title V permit applications or permits and there were no 

applicable requirements related to GHG to put into title V permits. We are currently in 

Step 2 of the implementation schedule of the Tailoring Rule and EPA assumes that there 

are about 552 GHG sources subject to part 70 solely due to GHG emissions during this 

implementation step and that all of these sources will be issued single source permits 

(non-general permits). 

The baseline burden of permitting any source subject to title V is shown in tables 7, 8 and 

9. This burden is based on the assumptions of the 2007 ICR renewal. The 552 additional 

GHG sources are included in those tables as well. The baseline burden tables, however, do 

not include the incremental burden for addressing GHG emissions in permits that applies 

to both GHG and non-GHG subject sources. The incremental GHG burden is shown in 

Tables 13, 14 and 15 below. Note that EPA assumes the burden for issuing new GHG 

permits is the same as non-GHG permits, so there is no incremental burden for new permit 

issuance included in the tables below (it is included in tables 7, 8 and 9 instead). 

Specifically, included in the tables below is the incremental burden for sources and 

permitting authorities alike to address GHG in all new non-GHG permits (including 

backlog sources), the burden of permit modifications solely related to GHG (based on the 
26

number of NSR actions involving GHG in the NSR ICR), the burden of addressing GHG 

in all existing non-GHG permits when they undergo minor permit or significant 

modification procedures, and the burden of addressing GHG in 80 percent of all permit 

renewals. For EPA, the additional incremental burden is for reviewing and consulting with 

permitting authorities on minor and significant modifications that occur solely due to 

GHG.10

 

Table 13 lists the burden categories for respondent sources, the number of estimated 

occurrences for each item, and the expected costs for each, based on the burden 

estimations made in the previous OMB-approved ICR change worksheet for the GHG 

Tailoring rule. Compared to the change worksheet for this rule, these tables have been

updated to reflect the number of affected permits and the mix of activities expected to 

occur due to the maturity of the program. Tables 14 and 15 present the same analysis for 

permitting authorities and EPA, respectively

TABLE 13

THE INCREMENTAL BURDEN AND COST OF THE GHG TAILORING RULE FOR SOURCE ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-

YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden Hours 

per permit

Rate per 

hour

Affected permits Total Burden

(Hours)

TOTAL COST 

(2007)

Prepare Application (add 

GHG to non-GHG permit)

34 $148 553 18,802 $2,782,696

Modification due to GHG 43 $39 2,745 118,035 $4,603,365

Modification to address 

GHG to non-GHG permit

4 $39 22,987 91,948 $3,585,972

Address GHG at 

Renewal 

20 $39 8,934 178,688 $6,968,832

TOTAL 407,473 $17,940,865

TABLE 14

THE INCREMENTAL BURDEN AND COST OF THE GHG TAILORING RULE FOR PERMITTING AUTHORITY 

ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-YEAR ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden Hours 

per permit

Rate per 

hour

Affected permits Total Burden

(Hours)

TOTAL COST 

(2007)

Prepare Application (add 

GHG to non-GHG permit)

43 $46 553 23,779 $1,093,834

Modification due to GHG 40 $46 2,745 109,800 $5,050,800

Modification to address 

GHG in non-GHG permit

4 $46 40,799 163,196 $4,229,608

Address GHG at Renewal 9 $46 8934 80,419 $3,698,842

TOTAL 305,937 $14,073,084

 

10 Note we did not include administrative permit modifications because there is no requirement for EPA 

review and they do not involve substantive changes.
27

TABLE 15

THE INCREMENTAL BURDEN AND COST OF THE GHG TAILORING RULE FOR EPA ACTIVITIES FOR THE 3-YEAR 

ICR PERIOD

ACTIVITY Burden Hours 

per permit

Rate per 

hour

Affected permits Total Burden

(Hours)

TOTAL COST 

(2007)

Review Modification due 

to GHG

8 $46 2,745 21,960 $1,010,160

Consult on Modification 

due to GHG

8 $46 686 5,490 $252,540

TOTAL 27,450 $1,262,700

Tables 2, 3, and 4 display the activities of the part 70 program for sources, permitting 

authorities, and Federal government (EPA), respectively. Table 5 explains the derivation 

of the hourly cost of in-house labor for sources, and Table 6 gives the derivation of hourly

costs for permitting authorities and EPA. Tables 7, 8 and 9 summarize the expected 

baseline costs for the 3-year period (in 2007 dollars) for sources, permitting authorities 

and EPA. The baseline burden and costs, which are based on the methodology of the 

previous renewal ICR, do not account for changes to the approved burden from the 

Flexible Permits rule and the GHG Tailoring rule. The incremental burden and costs 

attributable to the Flexible Air Permits rule is shown in tables 10, 11 and 12, and that 

attributable to the GHG Tailoring rule is shown in Table 13, 14, and 15. In table 16 we 

show the calculation of the burden and in table 17 the calculation of the cost for the 3-year 

period of this renewal, adjusted for the Flexible Permits and GHG tailoring Rules. In table 

18, we show the bottom line burden and cost for this renewal ICR.

TABLE 16

CALCULATION OF BOTTOM LINE TOTAL ICR (3-YEAR) BURDEN HOURS

Respondent Baseline Flexible Air Permit GHG Tailoring TOTAL

Sources 12,224,462 -700,580 407,473 11,931,365

Permitting 

Authorities

4,238,138 -539,775 305,937 4,004,299

Federal (EPA) 101,907 -19,609 27,450 109,748

TOTAL 16,564,507 -1,259,964 740,860 16,045,402

TABLE 17

CALCULATION OF BOTTOM LINE TOTAL ICR (3-YEAR) COST

Respondent Baseline Flexible Air Permit GHG Tailoring TOTAL

Sources $504,614,418 -$26,544,360 $17,940,865 $496,010,923

Permitting 

Authorities

$194,954,325 -$24,829,650 $14,073,084 $184,197,759

Federal (EPA) $4,687,722 -$902,014 $1,262,700 $5,048,408

TOTAL $704,256,465 -$52,276,024 $33,276,649 $685,257,090
28

Table 18 below displays the expected burden and cost for sources, permitting authorities 

and the Federal government (EPA) for implementation of the part 70 Operating Permits 

Program between May 2012 and April 2015. Of the 16.0 million hours the Agency

anticipates it will take to perform all the functions required by title V, about 3/4 of the 

burden applies to sources. However, the magnitude of the total expected burden can be 

misleading, due to the number of permitted sources. For the 15,940 sources included in 

this analysis, the average expected burden is relatively small – just over 6 weeks of a full 

time employee's time. Likewise, the cost associated with that burden is also small - about 

$10,400.

TABLE 18

BOTTOM LINE BURDEN AND COST (2012-2015)

Number of 

Affected 

Entities

Total ICR 

(3-Year) 

Burden 

Hour

Average 

Annual 

Burden Per 

Respondent

Average 

Annual 

Burden Per 

Source

Total ICR (3-

Year) Cost 

($2006)

Average 

Annual Cost 

Per 

Respondent 

($2006)

Average 

Annual 

Cost Per 

Source

Sources 15,940 11,931,355 250 250 $496,010,923 $10,372 $10,372

PAs 112 4,004,299 11,918 84 $184,197,759 $548,208 $3,852

Federal 1 109,748 36,583 2 $5,048,408 $1,682,803 $106

Total 16,045,402 NA NA $685,257,090 NA NA

Permitting authorities incur about 24 percent of the burden in Table 18, with the total 

burden spread between a significantly smaller number of entities than for sources. On 

average, the Agency estimates the PA burden associated with the part 70 Operating 

Permits Program will be about 11,900 hours per year. However, for some permitting 

authorities with relatively fewer sources (Connecticut, Wyoming, etc.), this average 

burden will exceed their actual burden; and, for permitting authorities with more than the 

average number of sources (Louisiana, Texas, etc.), the average burden will be too low. A 

better measure of the effect of title V regulations on permitting authorities would be to 

divide the total estimated hours by the number of operating permits. On average, each PA 

can expect to spend about 84 hours per year managing and overseeing each permit in its

jurisdiction, at a cost of approximately $3,900 per permit. However, this cost cannot be 

considered an Unfunded Mandate from the Federal government, because the net cost to 

permitting authorities for their management of an operating permits program must, by law, 

be passed on to sources in the form of permit fees of sufficient magnitude to fully offset 

all permit management costs. Therefore, the true annual cost to permitting authorities 

under title V is zero, and the true annual cost to sources is $227 million, or approximately

$14,200 per permit. 
29

The part 70 program has been evolving since its inception, beginning with promulgation 

of the part 70 regulations in 1992. Early on, State and local permitting authorities 

developed their programs, submitted them to EPA for approval, and began issuing the 

initial permits. As of the beginning of this ICR, all initial permits have essentially been 

approved and permit issuance activities have shifted to processing permit renewals and 

permit implementation activities, such as operating gap-filling monitoring and preparing 

monitoring or compliances reports. The FAP rule was designed to reduce the number of 

permit modification procedures necessary for processing by sources and permitting 

authorities to reduce overall burden and cost. The GHG tailoring rule reduces the number 

of sources that would otherwise have to get permit under the statutory” major source” 

thresholds, so even though it modestly increases the number of source that have to get 

permits, it is beneficial to sources and permitting authorities because it prevents a much 

larger number of sources from having to get permits. Also, this ICR renewal reflects step 2 

of the phase-in of the implementation of the tailoring rule and there are other rulemakings 

scheduled to possibly subject additional sources to permitting for their GHG emissions, 

however, it is too early to prejudge what the outcome of those rulemaking will be and any 

future rulemakings to expand the universe of sources will likely result in additional EPA 

submittals to OMB to revise the burden and cost for this program.

With the experience gained through program implementation, EPA and permitting 

authorities have a better sense of the activities associated with the program and the burden 

of those activities. The activities in this ICR have been developed based on this 

knowledge. The burden (in hours) in this ICR can be accurately compared to the approved 

burden levels in its predecessor on an activity-by-activity basis, since these burdens are

independent of changes in the wage rates used to compute the costs for each activity.

The approved burden level in the previous ICR was 4.2 million hours per year for sources,

1.3 million burden hours per year for permitting authorities, and 33 thousand hours for 

Federal oversight; for a total of 5.6 million hours. Table 19 compares the burden in the 

previous ICR with the burden in this ICR. The change in burden is a decrease from the 

previous ICR primarily due to burden reductions from fewer permit modifications being 

necessary due to implementation of the Flexible Permits (FAP) rule. During the period of 

the 207 ICR renewal, sources and permitting authorities were focused on revising existing 

permits (through significant modification procedures and renewals) to put flexibility

provisions, authorized by the FAP, into existing title V permits, which partially offset the 

burden reductions that come from fewer permit modifications under the FAP. During the 

period of this ICR, we assume those FAP provisions have been established in the permits 

(except for a small number of new sources seeking Tier 2 FAP), and thus, sources and 

permitting authorities alike reap the recurring burden reductions that come from the 

6.4 Changes in the Burden
30

reduction in the number of significant and minor permit modifications that must be 

processed over the period of this renewal ICR (The FAP reduces about 701 thousand

hours for sources and 540 thousand hours for permitting authorities over 3 years). The 

effects of the FAP is somewhat partially offset by the increased burden of the GHG 

Tailoring Rule (about 407 thousand hours for sources and 306 thousand hours for 

permitting authorities), but the FAP still provides a net reduction in benefits for sources 

and permitting authorities after taking the GHG Tailoring rule into account. 

For permitting authorities, there is a slight decrease in burden during the 3-year period of 

this ICR compared to the 2007 renewal also primarily due to implementation of the 

Flexible Permit rule. Fewer source submittals related to permit modifications affects 

permitting authorities in much the same manner as sources. 

TABLE 19

BURDEN CHANGE FROM DECEMBER 2007 ICR TO CURRENT ICR

Average Annual 

Burden in November 

2007 ICR

Average Annual 

Burden in ICR 

Renewal

Difference

Sources 4,176,069 3,977,118 -198,951

PAs 1,349,570 1,334,766 -14,804

Federal 33,389 36,583 3,194

TOTAL 5,559,028 5,348,476 -210,552

Also, affecting the calculation of burden in this renewal is a change in the source 

population and the number of permits issued to part 70 sources since the last ICR renewal. 

Recent data shows a decline of almost 900 sources and permits from the levels assumed in 

the 2007 renewal, possibly attributable to sources that have ceased operation due to the 

recent national economic decline. Several other factors have affected the calculation of 

burden in this ICR renewal, but to a lesser extent. We recalculated the wage rate for 

source and permitting authorities, adjusting them to a 2007 basis from the 2006 basis used 

in the last ICR update. Also, our assumption concerning the number of new source subject 

to permitting has changed – we assumed 50 new sources per year in the 2007 renewal,

while this renewal assumes 100 new sources per year (based on recent data collected from 

permitting authorities).

As previously noted, it is impractical to attempt to delineate burden by respondent and 

activity due to the large number of respondents, the variation in the circumstances for each 

respondent, and the varied nature of the activities of the program. Following in Table 20

6.5 Burden Statement
31

is the apportioned burden for each type of respondent. This is derived from the total 

permitting authority hourly burden divided by the number of permitting authorities, and 

similarly for sources. 

TABLE 20

BURDEN STATEMENT

Number of 

Respondents

Total Annual 

Burden

Average Annual 

Burden per 

Respondent

Average Annual 

Burden per 

Source

Source 15,940 3,977,118 250 250

PAs 112 1,334,766 11,918 84

Federal 1 36,583 36,583 2

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. 

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-OAR-2004-0015, which is available for 

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

Docket and Information Center 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 Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center 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 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
32

Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0015 and OMB Control Number 2060-0243 in any

correspondence.
33

ATTACHMENT 1

ASSUMPTIONS FOR PART 70 ICR RENEWAL

TIME PERIOD OF ICR

The time period covered by this ICR is May 1, 2012 to April 2015

SOURCE POPULATION

1. Total population of title V sources as of June 2011 = 14,998.

An additional 100 sources will be added to the program before the ICR period begins, so 

the source populations at the beginning of ICR period will be 15,088.

2. This ICR projects that 284 new sources will become subject to title V each year 

increasing the population as follows:

3. Source population at the end of ICR year 1 = 15,372

4. Source population at the end of ICR year 2 = 15,656

5. Source population at the end of ICR year 3 = 15,940

INITIAL PERMIT ISSUANCE BACKLOG

6. The total backlog of existing sources that had not received their initial permits was 338

sources as of June 2011.

7. We Assume 85 initial backlogged permits will be issued before the ICR period begins

and that all backlogged initial permits will be issued by the end of the ICR period (85 each 

year).

GENERAL PERMITS

8. Assume 16% of existing permits at beginning of ICR period are general permits.

9. Assume no new general permits will be issued during period of ICR

10. Assume 16% of renewals will be for general permits.

INITIAL PERMITS ISSUANCE RATE

11. Single-source permits are non-general permits. 

12. There will be 253 backlogged initial single-source permits that will be issued in equal 

amounts each year of the ICR.

13. Source with backlogged permits have already submitted permit applications.

14. There will be 852 new single-source permits issued during the ICR (284 per year).

15. 552 of the 852 new single-source permits will be for sources that become subject due 

to step 2 of the GHG tailoring rule, 300 of the 852 are subject for other reasons -- the 

GHG estimate is from the RIA for the Tailoring Rule.
34

16. Initial permits are composed of the new permits issued to new sources and new 

permits issued to reduce the backlog of sources that have submitted applications but are 

awaiting permit issuance (852 new + 253 backlog = 1,105 initial permits)

PERMIT APPLICATIONS

During the period of this ICR, it is assumed that only the new initial sources will submit 

applications for initial title V permits - backlogged initial source are assumed to have 

already prepared and submitted permit applications.

PERMIT REVISION RATES

17. Sources covered by general permits will not apply for permit revisions.

18. Permit revisions estimates for any year are based on the number of single-source 

permits in force at the beginning of the year.

19. Significant modifications occur for 10% of existing single source permits per year.

20. Minor permit modifications and administrative amendments occur for 50% of existing 

single source permits per year.

PERMIT RENEWAL

21. Both single source and general permits are renewed but we treat them separately 

because burdens differ greatly.

22. Data indicate permit renewal backlog of 3,335 single-source permits as of June 2011

(permits that are passed their deadline for renewal).

23. We assume that equal numbers of backlogged permits renewed each year.

24. An additional 3,320 single-source permits will come due for renewal each year on 

their normal schedule (approximately 1/5 of the universe of permits issued or renewed 5 

years previously, due to 5-year permit term). 

25. Assume 16% of all renewals are general permits and 84 % single source permits.

OPERATION OF GAP-FILING MONITORING

26. We assume operation of such monitoring in 50% of all permits.

MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE STATUS REPORTS

27. These reports are made based on all previously-issued permits (single-source and 

general), so the permit total at the beginning of each ICR year is used to calculate the 

number of reports occurring each year.

SYNTHETIC MINOR PERMITS

All synthetic minor permits had been issued prior to July 2007 so no burden is included 

during the term of this ICR.
35

PERMITTING AUTHORITY ACTIVITIES

28. Program administration, general permits administration, and preparing the 

enforcement reports occur on a yearly basis.

29. All new initial single-source permits (new and backlog) are assumed to go through the 

activities of permit drafting, public notification, interaction with EPA, and issuance 

notifications.

30. The activities of public hearings and finalizing draft permits that have public comment 

is assumed for 2% of new permits.

EPA ACTIVITIES

31. EPA reviews 25% of all new initial permits and consults on 25% of issues on new 

single-source permits, significant modifications, and minor permit modification.

32. EPA reviews all significant and minor permit modifications to single-source permits.

33. EPA reviews 5% of all single-source permit renewals.

34. Program oversight and review of enforcement reports occurs on a yearly basis

FLEXIBLE AIR PERMITS

35. See the ICR for the Flexible Air Permits rule (the FAP ICR) for more on the 

assumptions used in this portion of this ICR.

36. All existing tier 1 and 2 FAP permits were issued prior to the beginning of this ICR. 

37. Tier I FAPs are 5% of all title V existing permits (existing when the ICR period begins 

or 797 permits).

38. No new Tier 1 FAPs expected during ICR period because EPA assumes that new 

sources are built and permitted to handle anticipated growth.

39. Each Tier I FAP avoids 5 MPM per year and 1 SPM every 5 years.

40. Tier 2 FAPs are 10% of all title V existing permits or 1,574 existing permits and 10% 

of all new permits issued by the end of the ICR period or 119 permits.

41. Each Tier 2 FAP avoids 1 MPM per year.

GHG TAILORING RULE

42. The burden hour assumptions in this ICR are from the RIA and the ICR change 

worksheet for the GHG Tailoring Rule.

43. The RIA for the Tailoring rule estimated 552 new single-source permits due to GHG 

during step 2 of the tailoring rule – we assume all will be issued in equal amounts during 

each year of the ICR period.

44. We assume no residential or commercial sources (non-industrial sources) will be 

issued title V permits during step 2 – the tailoring rule RIA estimated less than 20 such 

permits would be issued and assumed the permit issuance burden would be one half that of 

industrial sources. 
36

45. All modifications and all renewals for existing single-source permits (non-GHG) will 

experience a small burden increase to address GHG requirements.

46. We assume no general permits will be issued for new GHG sources during the period 

of this analysis.

47. Modifications due to GHG are new modifications to single-source permits that not 

already accounted for in the baseline analysis. The NSR RIA assumes 915 per year of 

these. See Appendix C, table 3.1.

48. We assume 80% of renewals that occur during this period will need to address GHG 

due to combustion-related activities.

49. The only additional burden for EPA is related to review (100%) and consultation 

(25%) of minor permit modifications (MPM) and significant permit modifications (SPM) 

due to GHG.
37

ATTACHMENT 2

TITLE V OF THE CLEAN AIR ACT, THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR 

THE RESPONDENT INFORMATION

SEC. 502. PERMIT PROGRAMS

(a) Violations.- After the effective date of any permit program approved or 

promulgated under this title, it shall be unlawful for any person to violate any requirement 

of a permit issued under this title, or to operate an affected source (as provided in title IV), 

a major source, any other source (including an area source) subject to standards or 

regulations under section 111 or 112, any other source required to have a permit under 

parts C or D of title I, or any other stationary source in a category designated (in whole or 

in part) by regulations promulgated by the Administrator (after notice and public 

comment) which shall include a finding setting forth the basis for such designation, except 

in compliance with a permit issued by a permitting authority under this title. (Nothing in 

this subsection shall be construed to alter the applicable requirements of this Act that a 

permit be obtained before construction or modification.) The Administrator may, in the 

Administrator's discretion and consistent with the applicable provisions of this Act, 

promulgate regulations to exempt one or more source categories (in whole or in part) from 

the requirements of this subsection if the Administrator finds that compliance with such 

requirements is impracticable, infeasible, or unnecessarily burdensome on such categories, 

except that the Administrator may not exempt any major source from such requirements.

(b) Regulations.- The Administrator shall promulgate within 12 months after the 

date of the enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 regulations establishing 

the minimum elements of a permit program to be administered by any air pollution 

control agency. These elements shall include each of the following:

(1) Requirements for permit applications, including a standard application form 

and criteria for determining in a timely fashion the completeness of applications.

(2) Monitoring and reporting requirements.

(3)(A) A requirement under State or local law or interstate compact that the owner 

or operator of all sources subject to the requirement to obtain a permit under this title pay 

an annual fee, or the equivalent over some other period, sufficient to cover all reasonable 

(direct and indirect) costs required to develop and administer the permit program 

requirements of this title, including section 507, including the reasonable costs of -

(i) reviewing and acting upon any application for such a permit,

(ii) if the owner or operator receives a permit for such source, whether before or 

after the date of the enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, implementing 

and enforcing the terms and conditions of any such permit (not including any court costs 

or other costs associated with any enforcement action),

(iii) emissions and ambient monitoring,

(iv) preparing generally applicable regulations, or guidance,

(v) modeling, analyses, and demonstrations, and

(vi) preparing inventories and tracking emissions.
38

(B) The total amount of fees collected by the permitting authority shall conform to 

the following requirements:

(i) The Administrator shall not approve a program as meeting the requirements of 

this paragraph unless the State demonstrates that, except as otherwise provided in 

subparagraphs (ii) through (v) of this subparagraph, the program will result in the 

collection, in the aggregate, from all sources subject to subparagraph (A), of an amount 

not less than $25 per ton of each regulated pollutant, or such other amount as the 

Administrator may determine adequately reflects the reasonable costs of the permit 

program.

(ii) As used in this subparagraph, the term "regulated pollutant" shall mean (I) a 

volatile organic compound; (II) each pollutant regulated under section 111 or 112; and 

(III) each pollutant for which a national primary ambient air quality standard has been 

promulgated (except that carbon monoxide shall be excluded from this reference).

(iii) In determining the amount under clause (i), the permitting authority is not 

required to include any amount of regulated pollutant emitted by any source in excess of 

4,000 tons per year of that regulated pollutant.

(iv) The requirements of clause (i) shall not apply if the permitting authority 

demonstrates that collecting an amount less than the amount specified under clause (i) will 

meet the requirements of subparagraph (A).

(v) The fee calculated under clause (i) shall be increased (consistent with the need 

to cover the reasonable costs authorized by subparagraph (A)) in each year beginning after 

the year of the enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 by the percentage, if 

any, by which the Consumer Price Index for the most recent calendar year ending before 

the beginning of such year exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year 1989.

For purposes of this clause - 

(I) the Consumer Price Index for any calendar year is the average of the Consumer 

Price Index for all-urban consumers published by the Department of Labor, as of the 

close of the 12-month period ending on August 31 of each calendar year, and

(II) the revision of the Consumer Price Index which is most consistent with the 

Consumer Price Index for calendar year 1989 shall be used.

(C)(i) If the Administrator determines, under subsection (d), that the fee 

provisions of the operating permit program do not meet the requirements of this 

paragraph, or if the Administrator makes a determination, under subsection (i), that the 

permitting authority is not adequately administering or enforcing an approved fee 

program, the Administrator may, in addition to taking any other action authorized under 

this title, collect reasonable fees from the sources identified under subparagraph (A). Such 

fees shall be designed solely to cover the Administrator's costs of administering the 

provisions of the permit program promulgated by the Administrator.

(ii) Any source that fails to pay fees lawfully imposed by the Administrator under 

this subparagraph shall pay a penalty of 50 percent of the fee amount, plus interest on the 

fee amount computed in accordance with section 6621(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code 

of 1986 (relating to computation of interest on underpayment of Federal taxes).

(iii) Any fees, penalties, and interest collected under this subparagraph shall be 

deposited in a special fund in the United States Treasury for licensing and other services, 

which thereafter shall be available for appropriation, to remain available until expended, 
39

subject to appropriation, to carry out the Agency's activities for which the fees were 

collected. Any fee required to be collected by a State, local, or interstate agency under this 

subsection shall be utilized solely to cover all reasonable (direct and indirect) costs 

required to support the permit program as set forth in subparagraph (A).

(4) Requirements for adequate personnel and funding to administer the program.

(5) A requirement that the permitting authority have adequate authority to:

(A) issue permits and assure compliance by all sources required to have a permit 

under this title with each applicable standard, regulation or requirement under this Act;

(B) issue permits for a fixed term, not to exceed 5 years;

(C) assure that upon issuance or renewal permits incorporate emission limitations 

and other requirements in an applicable implementation plan;

(D) terminate, modify, or revoke and reissue permits for cause;

(E) enforce permits, permit fee requirements, and the requirement to obtain a 

permit, including authority to recover civil penalties in a maximum amount of not less 

than $10,000 per day for each violation, and provide appropriate criminal penalties; and

(F) assure that no permit will be issued if the Administrator objects to its issuance 

in a timely manner under this title.

(6) Adequate, streamlined, and reasonable procedures for expeditiously

determining when applications are complete, for processing such applications, for public 

notice, including offering an opportunity for public comment and a hearing, and for 

expeditious review of permit actions, including applications, renewals, or revisions, and 

including an opportunity for judicial review in State court of the final permit action by the 

applicant, any person who participated in the public comment process, and any other 

person who could obtain judicial review of that action under applicable law.

(7) To ensure against unreasonable delay by the permitting authority, adequate 

authority and procedures to provide that a failure of such permitting authority to act on a 

permit application or permit renewal application (in accordance with the time periods 

specified in section 503 or, as appropriate, title IV) shall be treated as a final permit action 

solely for purposes of obtaining judicial review in State court of an action brought by any

person referred to in paragraph (6) to require that action be taken by the permitting 

authority on such application without additional delay.

(8) Authority, and reasonable procedures consistent with the need for expeditious 

action by the permitting authority on permit applications and related matters, to make 

available to the public any permit application, compliance plan, permit, and monitoring or 

compliance report under section 503(e), subject to the provisions of section 114(c) of this 

Act.

(9) A requirement that the permitting authority, in the case of permits with a term 

of 3 or more years for major sources, shall require revisions to the permit to incorporate 

applicable standards and regulations promulgated under this Act after the issuance of such 

permit. Such revisions shall occur as expeditiously as practicable and consistent with the 

procedures established under paragraph (6) but not later than 18 months after the 

promulgation of such standards and regulations. No such revision shall be required if the 

effective date of the standards or regulations is a date after the expiration of the permit 

term. Such permit revision shall be treated as a permit renewal if it complies with the 

requirements of this title regarding renewals.
40

(10) Provisions to allow changes within a permitted facility (or one operating 

pursuant to section 503(d)) without requiring a permit revision, if the changes are not 

modifications under any provision of title I and the changes do not exceed the emissions 

allowable under the permit (whether expressed therein as a rate of emissions or in terms of 

total emissions: Provided, That the facility provides the Administrator and the permitting 

authority with written notification in advance of the proposed changes which shall be a 

minimum of 7 days, unless the permitting authority provides in its regulations a different 

time frame for emergencies.

(c) Single Permit.- A single permit may be issued for a facility with multiple 

sources. 

(d) Submission and Approval.- (1) Not later than 3 years after the date of the 

enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the Governor of each State shall 

develop and submit to the Administrator a permit program under State or local law or 

under an interstate compact meeting the requirements of this title. In addition, the 

Governor shall submit a legal opinion from the attorney general (or the attorney for those 

State air pollution control agencies that have independent legal counsel), or from the chief 

legal officer of an interstate agency, that the laws of the State, locality, or the interstate 

compact provide adequate authority to carry out the program. Not later than 1 year after 

receiving a program, and after notice and opportunity for public comment, the 

Administrator shall approve or disapprove such program, in whole or in part. The 

Administrator may approve a program to the extent that the program meets the 

requirements of this Act, including the regulations issued under subsection (b). If the 

program is disapproved, in whole or in part, the Administrator shall notify the Governor of 

any revisions or modifications necessary to obtain approval. The Governor shall revise 

and resubmit the program for review under this section within 180 days after receiving 

notification.

(2)(A) If the Governor does not submit a program as required under paragraph (1) 

or if the Administrator disapproves a program submitted by the Governor under paragraph 

(1), in whole or in part, the Administrator may, prior to the expiration of the 18-month 

period referred to in subparagraph (B), in the Administrator's discretion, apply any of the 

sanctions specified in section 179(b).

(B) If the Governor does not submit a program as required under paragraph (1), or 

if the Administrator disapproves any such program submitted by the Governor under 

paragraph (1), in whole or in part, 18 months after the date required for such submittal or 

the date of such disapproval, as the case may be, the Administrator shall apply sanctions 

under section 179(b) in the same manner and subject to the same deadlines and other 

conditions as are applicable in the case of a determination, disapproval, or finding under 

section 179(a).

(C) The sanctions under section 179(b)(2) shall not apply pursuant to this 

paragraph in any area unless the failure to submit or the disapproval referred to in 

subparagraph (A) or (B) relates to an air pollutant for which such area has been designated 

a nonattainment area (as defined in part D of title I).

(3) If a program meeting the requirements of this title has not been approved in 

whole for any State, the Administrator shall, 2 years after the date required for submission 
41

of such a program under paragraph (1), promulgate, administer, and enforce a program 

under this title for that State.

(e) Suspension.- The Administrator shall suspend the issuance of permits 

promptly upon publication of notice of approval of a permit program under this section, 

but may, in such notice, retain jurisdiction over permits that have been federally issued, 

but for which the administrative or judicial review process is not complete. The 

Administrator shall continue to administer and enforce federally issued permits under this 

title until they are replaced by a permit issued by a permitting program. Nothing in this 

subsection should be construed to limit the Administrator's ability to enforce permits 

issued by a State.

(f) Prohibition.- No partial permit program shall be approved unless, at a 

minimum, it applies, and ensures compliance with, this title and each of the following:

(1) All requirements established under title IV applicable to "affected sources."

(2) All requirements established under section 112 applicable to "major sources", 

"area sources," and "new sources."

(3) All requirements of title I (other than section 112) applicable to sources 

required to have a permit under this title. Approval of a partial program shall not relieve 

the State of its obligation to submit a complete program, nor from the application of any 

sanctions under this Act for failure to submit an approvable permit program.

(g) Interim Approval.- If a program (including a partial permit program) 

submitted under this title substantially meets the requirements of this title, but is not fully 

approvable, the Administrator may by rule grant the program interim approval. In the 

notice of final rulemaking, the Administrator shall specify the changes that must be made 

before the program can receive full approval. An interim approval under this subsection 

shall expire on a date set by the Administrator not later than 2 years after such approval, 

and may not be renewed. For the period of any such interim approval, the provisions of 

subsection (d)(2), and the obligation of the Administrator to promulgate a program under 

this title for the State pursuant to subsection (d)(3), shall be suspended. Such provisions 

and such obligation of the Administrator shall apply after the expiration of such interim 

approval.

(h) Effective Date.- The effective date of a permit program, or partial or interim 

program, approved under this title, shall be the effective date of approval by the 

Administrator. The effective date of a permit program, or partial permit program, 

promulgated by the Administrator shall be the date of promulgation.

(i) Administration and Enforcement.- (1) Whenever the Administrator makes a 

determination that a permitting authority is not adequately administering and enforcing a 

program, or portion thereof, in accordance with the requirements of this title, the 

Administrator shall provide notice to the State and may, prior to the expiration of the 18-

month period referred to in paragraph (2), in the Administrator's discretion, apply any of 

the sanctions specified in section 179(b).

(2) Whenever the Administrator makes a determination that a permitting authority

is not adequately administering and enforcing a program, or portion thereof, in 

accordance with the requirements of this title, 18 months after the date of the notice under 

paragraph (1), the Administrator shall apply the sanctions under section 179(b) in the 
42

same manner and subject to the same deadlines and other conditions as are applicable in 

the case of a determination, disapproval, or finding under section 179(a).

(3) The sanctions under section 179(b)(2) shall not apply pursuant to this 

subsection in any area unless the failure to adequately enforce and administer the program 

relates to an air pollutant for which such area has been designated a nonattainment area.

(4) Whenever the Administrator has made a finding under paragraph (1) with 

respect to any State, unless the State has corrected such deficiency within 18 months after 

the date of such finding, the Administrator shall, 2 years after the date of such finding, 

promulgate, administer, and enforce a program under this title for that State. Nothing in 

this paragraph shall be construed to affect the validity of a program which has been 

approved under this title or the authority of any permitting authority acting under such 

program until such time as such program is promulgated by the Administrator under this 

paragraph. [42 U.S.C. 7661a]

SEC. 503. PERMIT APPLICATIONS.

(a) APPLICABLE DATE.-Any source specified in section 502(a) shall become 

subject to a permit program, and required to have a permit, on the later of the following 

dates-

(1) The effective date of a permit program or partial or interim permit program 

applicable to the source; or 

(2) The date such source becomes subject to section 502(a).

(b) COMPLIANCE PLAN.-(1) The regulations required by section 502(b) shall 

include a requirement that the applicant submit with the permit application a 

compliance plan describing how the source will comply with all applicable 

requirements under this Act. The compliance plan shall include a schedule of 

compliance, and a schedule under which the permittee will submit progress reports 

to the permitting authority no less frequently than every 6 months.

(2) The regulations shall further require the permittee to periodically (but no less 

frequently than annually) certify that the facility is in compliance with any applicable 

requirements of the permit, and to promptly report any deviations from permit 

requirements to the permitting authority.

(c) DEADLINE.-Any person required to have a permit shall, not later than 12 

months after the date on which the source becomes subject to a permit program approved 

or promulgated under this title, or such earlier date as the permitting authority may

establish, submit to the permitting authority a compliance plan and an application for a 

permit signed by a responsible official, who shall certify the accuracy of the information 

submitted. The permitting authority shall approve or disapprove a completed application 

(consistent with the procedures established under this title for consideration of such 

applications), and shall issue or deny the permit, within 18 months after the date of receipt 

thereof, except that the permitting authority shall establish a phased schedule for acting on 

permit applications submitted within the first full year after the effective date of a permit 

program (or a partial or interim program). Any such schedule shall assure that at least onethird of such permits will be acted on by such authority annually over a period of not to 

exceed 3 years after such effective date. Such authority shall establish reasonable 
43

procedures to prioritize such approval or disapproval actions in the case of applications for 

construction or modification under the applicable requirements of this Act.

(d) TIMELY AND COMPLETE APPLICATIONS.-Except for sources required to 

have a permit before construction or modification under the applicable requirements of 

this Act, if an applicant has submitted a timely and complete application for a permit 

required by this title (including renewals), but final action has not been taken on such 

application, the source's failure to have a permit shall not be a violation of this Act, unless 

the delay in final action was due to the failure of the applicant timely to submit 

information required or requested to process the application. No source required to have a 

permit under this title shall be in violation of section 502(a) before the date on which the 

source is required to submit an application under subsection (c).

(e) COPIES; AVAILABILITY.-A copy of each permit application, compliance 

plan (including the schedule of compliance), emissions or compliance monitoring report, 

certification, and each permit issued under this title, shall be available to the public. If an 

applicant or permittee is required to submit information entitled to protection from 

disclosure under section 114(c) of this Act, the applicant or permittee may submit such 

information separately. The requirements of section 114(c) shall apply to such 

information. The contents of a permit shall not be entitled to protection under section 

114(c).

SEC. 504. PERMIT REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS.

(a) CONDITIONS.-Each permit issued under this title shall include enforceable 

emission limitations and standards, a schedule of compliance, a requirement that the 

permittee submit to the permitting authority, no less often than every 6 months, the results 

of any required monitoring, and such other conditions as are necessary to assure 

compliance with applicable requirements of this Act, including the requirements of the 

applicable implementation plan.

(b) MONITORING AND ANALYSIS.-The Administrator may by rule prescribe 

procedures and methods for determining compliance and for monitoring and analysis of 

pollutants regulated under this Act, but continuous emissions monitoring need not be 

required if alternative methods are available that provide sufficiently reliable and timely 

information for determining compliance. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

affect any continuous emissions monitoring requirement of title IV, or where required 

elsewhere in this Act.

(c) INSPECTION, ENTRY, MONITORING, CERTIFICATION, AND 

REPORTING.-Each permit issued under this title shall set forth inspection, entry, 

monitoring, compliance certification, and reporting requirements to assure compliance 

with the permit terms and conditions. Such monitoring and reporting requirements shall 

conform to any applicable regulation under subsection (b). Any report required to be 

submitted by a permit issued to a corporation under this title shall be signed by a

responsible corporate official, who shall certify its accuracy.

§70.5(c) Standard applications form and required information. The State program under 

this part shall provide for a standard application form or forms. Information as described 
44

below for each emissions unit at a part 70 source shall be included in the application. The 

Administrator may approve as part of a State program a list of insignificant activities and 

emissions levels which need not be included in permit applications. However, for 

insignificant activities which are exempted because of size or production rate, a list of 

such insignificant activities must be included in the application. An application may not 

omit information needed to determine the applicability of, or to impose, any applicable 

requirement, or to evaluate the fee amount required under the schedule approved pursuant 

to §70.9 of this part. The permitting authority may use discretion in developing application 

forms that best meet program needs and administrative efficiency. The forms and 

attachments chosen, however, shall include the elements specified below:

(1) Identifying information, including company name and address (or plant name 

and address if different from the company name), owner's name and agent, and telephone 

number and names of plant site manager/contact.

(2) A description of the source's processes and products (by Standard Industrial 

Classification Code) including any associated alternative scenario identified by the source.

(3) The following emission related information:

(i) All emissions of pollutants for which the source is major, and all emissions of 

regulated air pollutants. A permit application shall describe all emissions of regulated air 

pollutants emitted from any emissions unit, except where such units are exempted under 

this paragraph (c) of this section. The permitting authority shall require additional 

information related to the emissions of air pollutants sufficient to verify which 

requirements are applicable to the source, and other information necessary to collect any 

permit fees owed under the fee schedule approved pursuant to §70.9(b) of this part.

(ii) Identification and description of all points of emissions described in paragraph 

(c)(3)(i) of this section in sufficient detail to establish the basis for fees and applicability 

of requirements of the Act.

(iii) Emissions rate in tpy and in such terms as are necessary to establish 

compliance consistent with the applicable standard reference test method.

(iv) The following information to the extent it is needed to determine to regulate 

emissions: Fuels, fuel use, raw materials, production rates, and operating schedules.

(v) Identification and description of air pollution control equipment and 

compliance monitoring devices or activities.

(vi) Limitations on source operation affecting emissions or any work practice 

standards, where applicable, for all regulated pollutants at the part 70 source.

(vii) Other information required by any applicable requirement (including 

information related to stack height limitations developed pursuant to section 123 of the 

Act.)

(viii) Calculations on which the information on paragraphs (c)(3)(i) through 

(c)(3)(vii) of this section is based.

(4) The following air pollution control requirements:

(i) Citation and description of all applicable requirements, and

(ii) Description of or reference to any applicable test method for determining 

compliance with each applicable requirement.
45

(5) Other specific information that may be necessary to implement and enforce 

other applicable requirements of the Act or of this part or to determine the applicability of 

such requirements.

(6) An explanation of any proposed exemptions from otherwise applicable 

requirements.

(7) Additional information as determined to be necessary by the permitting 

authority to define alternative operating scenarios identified by the source pursuant to § 

70.6(a)(9) of this part or to define permit terms and conditions implementing § 70.4(b)(12) 

or § 70.6(a)(10) of this part.

(8) A compliance plan for all part 70 sources that contains all the following:

(i) A description of the compliance status of the source with respect to all 

applicable requirements.

(ii) A description as follows:

(A) For applicable requirements with which the source is in compliance, a 

statement that the source will continue to comply with such requirements.

(B) For applicable requirements that will become effective during the permit term, 

a statement that the source will meet such requirements on a timely basis.

(C) For requirements for which the source is not in compliance at the time or 

permit issuance, a narrative description of how the source will achieve compliance with 

such requirements.

(iii) A compliance schedule as follows:

(A) For applicable requirements with which the source is in compliance, a 

statement that the source will continue to comply with such requirements.

(B) For applicable requirements that will become effective during the permit term, 

a statement that the source will meet such requirements on a timely basis. A statement that 

the source will meet in a timely manner applicable requirements that become effective 

during the permit term shall satisfy this provision, unless a more detailed schedule is 

expressly required by the applicable requirement.

(C) A schedule of compliance for sources that are not in compliance with all 

applicable requirements at the time of permit issuance. Such a schedule shall include a 

schedule of remedial measures, including an enforceable sequence of actions with 

milestones, leading to compliance with any applicable requirements for which the source 

will be in noncompliance at the time of permit issuance. This compliance schedule shall 

resemble and be at least as stringent as that contained in any judicial consent decree or 

administrative order to which the source is subject. Any such schedule of compliance shall 

be supplemental to and shall not sanction noncompliance with, the applicable 

requirements on which it is based.

(iv) A schedule for submission of certified progress reports no less frequently than 

every 6 months for sources required to have a schedule of compliance to remedy a

violation.

(v) The compliance plan content requirements specified in this paragraph shall 

apply and be included in the acid rain portion of a compliance plan for an affected source, 

except as specifically superseded by regulations promulgated under title IV of the Act 

with regard to the schedule and method(s) the source will use to achieve compliance with 

the acid rain emissions limitations.
46

(9) Requirements for compliance certification, including the following:

(i) A certification of compliance with all applicable requirements by a responsible 

official consistent with paragraph (d) of this section and section 114(a)(3) of the Act;

(ii) A statement of methods used for determining compliance, including a 

description of monitoring, record keeping, and reporting requirements and test methods;

(iii) A schedule for submission of compliance certifications during the permit

term, to be submitted no less frequently than annually, or more frequently if specified by

the underlying applicable requirement or by the permitting authority; and

(iv) A statement indicating the source's compliance status with any applicable 

enhanced monitoring and compliance certification requirements of the Act.

(10) The use of nationally-standardized forms for acid rain portions of permit 

applications and compliance plans, as required by regulations promulgated under title IV 

of the Act.

(d) Any application form, report, or compliance certification submitted pursuant to 

these regulations shall contain certification by a responsible official of truth, accuracy, and 

completeness. This certification and any other certification required under this part shall 

state that, based on information and belief formed after reasonable inquiry, the statements 

and information in the document are true, accurate, and complete.
47

ATTACHMENT 3

ANALYSIS OF PART 70 STATE PROGRAM EVALUATIONS FOR ICR 

RENEWAL PURPOSES (1587.07)

Background

 Representative sample of State Evaluations selected (below) for review.

 List of State/local agencies reviewed is similar to list of States that initially

responded to surveys for earlier ICRs.

o Previous ICR estimates based on responses from: New Jersey, West 

Virginia, Mississippi, San Joaquin, Illinois, Vermont, Alabama, Dayton 

Ohio, Wisconsin.

o Audit analysis based on same list, except for Dayton, Ohio and San 

Joaquin, where audits are not available for review.

o State of Ohio was substituted for Dayton, Ohio because Dayton is a field 

office of the Ohio program, not a separate program.

 State program evaluations not designed primarily for ICR purposes – designed for 

programs oversight purposes instead – thus, results only partially appropriate for 

ICR purposes. 

 State evaluations reports did not typically address totals burdens hours or costs for 

individual activities, sources or States, nor did they address average burden hours 

or average costs per permit, per source, or per permitting authority.

 Data for ICR renewal also provided by EPA’s internal TOPS part 70 tracking 

system – a system where EPA Regional offices provide tracking data on a 6-

month basis for each approved part 70 program (some 3-month data also available 

for historical purposes).

o TOPS data not summarized below, but independently included in 

assumptions included in ICR (i.e., source universe subject to permitting, 

number of initial permits issued, number of renewal permits issued, 

Number of significant modification issued, number of general permits (also 

interpreted as number of sources subject to general permitting).

 Since the last ICR renewal (30 months ago), the Title V Taskforce under the Clean 

Act Advisory Committee has undertaken a review of the title V program (this was 

mentioned briefly in the current ICR, section 3,3). This effort resulted in a list of 

recommendations for changes to policy and rulemakings to make the programs 

amore effective, but no data useful for ICR renewal purposes was generated. 

 For the record, the previous ICR assumed the following:

o General permits are 1/5 of the total.

o Public notification occurs for every draft permit.

o Public comments cause draft permits to be revised 10% of the time.

o Public hearings are held for 2% of permits. 

o Gap-filling monitoring (or recordkeeping which serves the same purpose) 

is required in 1⁄2 of permits, including general permits.
48

o Significant permit revisions occur in 1/10 of issued single permits (does not 

include general permits) on an annual basis (30% over 3 years)

o Minor permit modifications occur in 1⁄2 of single permits each year (150% 

of permits over 3 years)

o Administrative amendments occurs in 1⁄2 of single permits each year (150% 

of permits over 3 years)

o Permit renewals occur roughly at the same rate as the initial permits expire 

and that any backlog of renewals is reduced over the 3-year period of the 

ICR.

o Applying for a permit renewal is about 1/2 the burden of applying for an 

initial permit, while for States, permit renewals are about 1/3 the burden of 

initial permits.

o 100% of compliance reports reviewed by States.

Note that all of these State programs have been effective, with at least interim approval,

which allowed them to begin issuing permits, for over 10 years at present.

Results of Evaluations

 No major changes to assumptions for ICR renewal supported by this review –

information within evaluation reports generally consistent with past EPA 

assumptions.

 The State evaluations generally lack quantitative data, but they provide general 

support that the assumptions of the ICR are a directionally correct assessment of 

the frequency that certain activities occur.

 One minor change is in the number of sources that are expected to get regulatory

relief through the use of general permits. The evaluations are not convincing on 

this point but tracking data shows that 16% of permits are general permits.

 Another minor change is in the percentage of public comments that lead to changes 

to the draft permits. The evaluations suggests that such changes are rare, 

consistent with the frequency that public hearings occur, since the standard for 

changing the permit and for holding a public hearing are similar. Thus, we are 

changing the frequency for finalizing drafts permit with public comment to 2% 

from 10% within the burden estimates for permitting authorities.

State Summaries

New Jersey (410 Permits)

1. No General permits

2. “Perform Gap-filling exercise on every permit” (didn’t answer question directly)

3. Public comments on less than 2% of draft permits, all changed in response

4. Public hearing requested occasionally, public attendance low

5. Significant modifications: 1-2% (TOPS shows 46 over life of program)

6. Minor Modifications: 90% (TOPS only addresses significant modifications)
49

7. Admin Amendments: 10%

8. Review 100% of compliance reports

9. Renewals easier to process because applications focus on changes at sources since 

permit issued. Renewals not a high priority at this time

West Virginia (171 Permits)

1. 1 general permit (certain units at natural gas compressor facilities), 26 sources 

fully implemented (13% of sources)

2. “Some sort” of gap-filling recordkeeping or monitoring in “most, if not all 

permits.” (Didn’t say how many units in these permits had such M&R). 

Experience is causing NSR permits to be written better, so that less gap-filing will 

be necessary in title V permits in future

3. Public comments are “rare,” or“0 to 3%,” and change due to comments occur 

similarly

4. No Public hearings have ever been held

5. 191 modifications to date (over life of program)

6. Significant Modifications: 11% (TOPS shows 0 over life of program)

7. Minor Modifications: 30.9%

8. Admin Amendments: 46.1%

9. Renewals easier to process, but we have only processed a few (Did not elaborate 

further)

10. Review 100% of compliance reports

Mississippi (317 Permits)

1. No general permits. Will consider general permits for MACT area sources not 

exempted from Title V

2. Said in “some cases” gap-filling has lead to new control devices. Also, did not 

specify how often gap-filling recordkeeping or monitoring added other than to say

that they did so when the underlying standards are inadequate

3. Has not received many public comments, most on high profile sources on Gulf 

Coast. Also said comments during public comment period are “rare”

4. Did not specify that any public hearings have occurred

5. 384 revisions during life of program

6. Significant Modifications: 85 out of 384 or 22% (TOPS says 138)

7. Minor Modifications: 24 out of 384 or 6%

8. Admin Amendments: 33 out of 384 or 9% also they said 502(B)(10) changes were 

242 out of 384 or 63% (these are similar in burden to admin. amendments because 

no public process required)

9. Renewals not easier to-date, but streamlined renewal applications coming, so may

be easier in future

10. Review 100% of compliance reports

Alabama (251 Permits)

1. No general permits issued
50

2. Periodic monitoring added for “most units subject to a regulation that do not 

contain underlying monitoring requirements” 

3. Public comments: Said they have not received many and that most were not 

relevant to title V

4. Did not state that any hearings had ever been held, only stated that they have

procedures in place to hold hearings

5. TOPS says 54 significant revisions to date (no response to these questions in audit)

6. Renewals easier than initial issuance because of staff experience

7. Review 100% of compliance reports

Vermont (20 permits)

1. No general permits

2. They said they have added monitoring when necessary, but not how often

3. Public comments very few, perhaps 5% (1 comment)

4. State has had 1 public hearing

5. Significant Modifications: 55.3% (TOPS says 6 over life of program)

6. Minor Modifications: 20%

7. Admin Amendments: 26.7%

8. Renewals easier to process, application much better, review focuses on changes 

and CAM

9. Review 100% of compliance reports

Wisconsin (148 Permits)

1. General permits for non-metallic minerals processing plants, small heating units, 

hospital sterilizers, and printing presses; about 5% of sources

2. They say they have added monitoring but not how often

3. Public comments on 10% of permits, 5% change due to comment

4. Did not say how often public hearings held

5. Significant Modifications: 80% (TOPS says 136 life of program)

6. Minor Modifications: 5%

7. Admin Amendments: 15%

8. Just plainly said easier to renew

9. Review 100% of compliance reports

Illinois (728 Permits)

1. No general permits

2. No universal approach as to when gap-filing added. Much recordkeeping added 

but monitoring only typically for utility sources; monitoring may be added for 

other source categories based on case-by-case determination

3. Public comments on 5-7% of draft permits; most result in changes to the permit to 

some extent

4. Did not specify has often public hearings have occurred. EPA notes that State’s 

website for public hearing did not contain any public hearing records for title V 

permits within the last 6 months

5. Significant Modifications: 15% (TOPS says 41)
51

6. Minor Modifications: 40%

7. Admin Amendments: 45%

8. Renewals easier because most requirements already established in permits, 

requirements do not typically need to change, and renewal application much more 

complete than applications for initial permits

9. Review 100% of compliance reports

Ohio (755 Permits)

1. No general permits

2. “Gap-filling as appropriate based on regulations and DAPC Engineering Guide 

#65”. Also said “routinely” added to permits 

3. Public comments on less than 5% of draft permits; changes due to comments less 

than 1%

4. 8 public hearings have occurred during life of program

5. Significant Modifications: 10% (TOPS says 18)

6. Minor Modifications: 4%

7. Admin Amendments: 86%

8. Very much easier because just updating what already done

9. Review 100% of compliance reports
52

ATTACHMENT 4

Date FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE

TO be added after first ICR notice issued for this renewal ICR, about December 2011.