1 SUPPORTING STATEMENT PART A 1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION 1(a) TIT LE AND NUMBER OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION Alternative Affirmative Defense Requirements for Ultra

- low Sulfur Diesel

. The current OMB control number is 2060

- 0639 . The EPA number for this proposed information collection request (ICR) renewal is 2364.0 3

. (b) SHORT CHARACTERIZATION/ABSTRACT The highway

diesel program regulations require most motor vehicle (highway) diesel fuel sold at retail stations to contain 1 5 parts per million (ppm) sulfur or less (hereafter referred to as ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, or UL SD) beginning October, 2006. General r ecordkeeping and reporting related to diesel fuel regulations for on

- road, non

- road and performance

- based test metho ds are included in EPA I CR 1718.08 (OMB Control Number 2060

- 0277). Under the regulation, wh ere a violation of the 15 ppm sulfur standard is identified at a retail outlet, the retailer responsible for dispensing the noncompliant fuel is deemed liable, as w ell as the refiner(s), importer(s) and distributor(s) of such fuel. The highway diesel regulations further provide, however, that any person deemed liable can rebut this presumption by establishing an affirmative defense that includes, among other things, showing that it conducted a quality assurance sampling and testing program as prescribed by the regulations. This I CR covers burdens and costs associated with provisions that allow refiners and importers of ULSD an alternative means of meeting the affirmative defense requirements in the diesel sulfur regulations by

participating in a nationwide diesel fuel sampling and testing program. The reporting burden covered by this proposed ICR related to reports that refiners, importers and distributors, have to s ubmit in the event they have a non - compl yi ng sulfur test result. (See 40 CFR § 80.613. ) The authority citation for the direct final rule and the association information collection is for the following Clean Air Act sections: 42 United States Code §§ 7414 , 7542, 7545, and 7601(a). 2. NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION (a) NEED/AUTHORITY FOR THE COLLECTION The basic need and authority for the collection of information have been established in the I CR for the highway

diesel final rule. The rule establis hed specific recordkeeping and reporting requirements in order to enforce compliance with the 15 ppm sulfur standard for highway diesel fuel. (b) PRACTI CAL UTILITY/USERS OF THE DATA The alternative affirmative defense (survey) provisions are designed to grant flexibility to2

refiners and importers b y permitting them to conduct activities normally conducted on a facility basis on a nationwide basis. The burden described in this I CR only affects parties who receive a test result that indicates non

- complianc e. The EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance and EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Transportation and Air Quality , will be the governmental users of the information contained in this proposed information collection. 3. NONDUPLICATION, CONSUL TATIONS, AND OTHER COLLECTION CRI TERIA (a) NONDUPLICATION This proposed I CR is not unnecessarily duplicative of information otherwise reasonabl y accessible to the Agency . Wherever possible, we have designed the proposed regulatio n to make sure that there is no unnecessary duplication. (b) PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIRED PRIOR TO ICR SUBMI SSI ON TO OMB A cop y of th is supporting statement, the accompanyingFederal Register notice announcing our proposal to renew this ICR is available in the public docket. We received no public comments. (c) CONSULTAT IONS
We encourage all interest ed parties to submit comments. We contacted two representatives from companies that may be affected by

this ICR. Please see section 6(a). (d) EFFECTS OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION Less frequent reporting would make discovery and correction of violations take too long to discover from the date of violation, and would give non

- complying parties a competitive advantage for long periods of time. A lesser r ecordkeeping burden would make verification of compliance extremel y difficult.
(e) GENERAL GUIDELINES The general guidelines for the collection of information pursuant to the highway diesel rule are approved in the ICR for the final highway diesel rule. The record retention requirements specified is five (5) ye ars. This proposed I CR also specifies five (5) y ears as the retention period. (f) CONFIDENTIALITY AND SENSITIVE QUESTI ONS (i) Confidentiality3

Any information submitted to EPA for which a claim of confidentiality is made will be safeguarded according to EPA regulations at 40 C.F.R. 2.201 et seq. (ii) Sensitive Questions This section is not applicable as this proposed ICR does not involve matters of a sensitive nature. 4. THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED (a) RESPONDENTS/NAICS and SIC CODES Recordkeeping and, in some cases, reporting affects the following respondents: refiners (2911/324110), importers (5172/424720), marketers and other distributors (5171 /424710 and 5172/424720). (b) INFORMATION REQUESTED (i) Data Items, Including Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements Knowledge of the following definitions at 40 CFR 80.2 is important for a thorough understanding of the rep orting and recordkeeping requirements: “Motor Vehicle Diesel Fuel” means an y diesel fuel or other distillate fuel sold in any State (State means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Is lands) that is used, intended for use in, or made available for use in for use in motor vehicles or motor vehicle engines. “Refiner” means an y person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises a refinery

. “Importer” me ans a person who imports diesel fuel from a foreign country into the United States (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands). There is a respondent burden associated with refine rs, importers and distributors preparing a report for EPA explaining the circumstances behind and root causes for an y noncompliant UL SD samples. There is also an Agency burden associated with reviewing each report. This burden is estimated below under “ E STI MATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION ”. The following sections describe respondent and Agency activities.
(ii) Respondent Activities The following may

be required in the event of a non

- complying sample :4

 Read and comprehend the regulations.
 Gather and organize the information.
 Report the information to EPA, as specified in the regulations.
5. THE INFORMATION COLLECTED

-- AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT (a) AGENCY ACTIVITIES The following are required:
 Respond to inquiries.
 Provide access to the regulations and guidance documents.
 Review the submitted information.
 Contact the respondent when the information has not been submitted properly and provide guidance on correction of the problem.
 Perform data anal ys is and identify violations. (b) COLLECTION METHODOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT The information collection has been developed b y EPA offices that have planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected, including the processing of the information in a manner which will enhance the utility of the information for the Agency and the public. The information collection, to the maximum extent practicable, uses appropriate information technology t o reduce burden and improve data quality , Agency

efficiency , and responsiveness to the public. The information is carefully reviewed for compliance with the requirements. No changes to the collection methodologies in the existing I CR for the diesel rul e are anticipated as a result of this proposed I CR modification. (c) SMALL BUSINESS FLEXIBILITY The alternative affirmative defense rule grant s flexibility to all affected parties, regardless of size. The recordkeeping and reporting burden has been desi gned to be minimal for respondents of all business sizes. (d) COLLECTION SCHEDULE Response is only

required in the case of a non

- complying sample

. 6. ESTI MATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION (a) ESTIMAT ING THE RESPONDENT BURDEN5

We drew upo n consultation with industry and our own experience implementing similar regulations to estimate the burden associated with this IC R

. We contacted representatives from two companies that may

be affected from this I CR; one responded. The responding represe ntative indicated that his company (ExxonMobil) believes the burden estimates in this ICR to be reasonable. (b) ESTIMATING THE RESPONDENT COST Three labor categories are involved: managerial (includes legal and professional review), technical, and clerical. The estimates use Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Employ er Costs for Employ ee Compensation

- Table 12

- Private Industry , Manufacturing, and Non

- Manufacturing Industries b y Occupational Group (December 2003), with a 3% inflation factor applied to br ing the values to present dollars. Using this method, the following wages and benefits appl y b y category : Wages and Benefits Managerial $53.87 per hour Technical $35.29 per hour Clerical $24.56 per hour Doubling for compan y overhead bey ond wages and b enefits, and for convenience, rounding up to the dollar, gives the following rates for this I CR: Total Employ er Cost Managerial $108 per hour Technical $71 per hour Clerical $49 per hour The labor mix for the activities estimated will be about the same for each and is consistent with prior I CRs in this series. It is assumed that for each hour of activity the mix will be about 0.1 hour managerial, 0.7 hour technical, and 0.2 hour clerical. This gives an average labor cost of $71 per hour, which will be used in this I CR modification.
(c ) ESTIMATING THE RESPONDENT UNIVERSE We were able to estimate the number of regulated entities by drawing upon our experience regulating the same entities. Respondents for this action may include refiners, importers, and distributors. Based on history and enforcement experience, we expect that approximately

20 instances of non

- compliance will result in 20 reports to be submitted each ye ar.6 Annual Respondent Burden Hours & Costs (Including Non
- Postage "Other Costs") Collection Activity # of

Respondents # of Re ports per

Respondent Total # of

Re ports # of Hours

per Report Total

Hours Submit report for each exceedance 20 1 20 16 320

The estimated respondent burden for reviewing each report for a noncompliant sample is 16 hours, or $1,136 per response, so the total respondent burden for evaluating 20 reports per ye ar would be $22,7 2 0. (d ) ESTIMATING AGENCY BURDEN AND COST The annual Agency

burden is determined using the 2009 OPM hourly pay table applicable for the Washington DC area, 1 with values multiplied by 1.6, the standard government benefits multiplier. The hourly

wage rates are as follows, rounded up to the nearest five dollars: EPA Manager (GS

- 15, step one) = $93 Technical Staff (GS

- 13 , step one) = $67 Clerical Staff (GS

- 5, step one) = $26 The total annual Agency

burden hours are estimated as follows: Activity # of

Responses Manager

Hours per Response Technical

Hours per Response Clerical

Hours per Response Total

Agency Hours Review report for each exceedance 20 0 2 0 40

Based on historical experience, we expect to find approximately 20 noncompliant samples per ye ar. The estimated Agency burden for reviewing each report for a noncompliant sample is 2 hours, or $134 per response, so the total Agency burden for evaluating 20 reports per ye ar would be $2,680. (e) BOTTOM LINE BURDEN HOURS AND COSTS The annual estimates in burden hours and costs associated with this rule are as follows:

1 See “Salary Table 2009

– DCB,” US Office of Personnel Management, accessed July 16, 2009 at http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/html/dcb.asp

.7

TOTALS FROM THE TABLE S : TOTAL NO. OF REPORTS: 20 TOTAL BURDEN HOURS: 320 TOTAL COST: $22,7 2 0 (f) REASON FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN There is no change in burden. (g) BURDEN STATEMENT The average respondent burden in hours per response for this I CR is estimated at 16 hours

. 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 sy stems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verify ing information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing way s to comply with an y previously

applicable in structions 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 spo nsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it display s 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 I CR under Doc ket ID Number EPA

- HQ

- OAR

- 2007

- 1158 , which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air Docket 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 holiday s. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566

- 1744, and the telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566

- 1742 . An electronic ver sion 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 el ectronicall y. When in the system, select “search,” then key

in the Docket ID Number identified above. Also, y ou can send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID Number EPA

- HQ

- OAR

- 2007

- 1158 and OMB Control Number 2060

- 0639 in an y correspondence.
B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATI STI CALMETHODS This section is not applicable because statistical methods are not used in the data8

collection associated with the diesel fuel regulations.