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SUPPORTING STATEMENTPART A

 

PRODUCTION OUTLOOK REPORTS FOR UN-REGISTERED 

RENEWABLE FUELS PRODUCERS

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Identification of the Information Collection

a. Title: Production Outlook Reports for Un-Registered Renewable Fuels 

Producers; EPA ICR No. 2409.02; OMB Control Number 2060-0640

b. Short characterization:

With this information collection request (ICR), we are seeking permission to 

accept production outlook reports from domestic or foreign renewable fuel producers 

who are not currently regulated parties under the RFS2 program. The respondents for 

this ICR are not regulated parties under the RFS2 program and are therefore, not required 

to register or report under the RFS2 regulations. Submission of production outlook 

information to EPA under this ICR will be on a voluntary basis. 

The information that respondents provide will allow EPA to more accurately 

project cellulosic biofuel volumes for the following calendar year, and these volume 

projections will form the basis of the percentage standards EPA sets under the RFS2 

program. Without information from these respondents, EPA's volume projections are 

more likely to fall below actual projection volumes. Under such circumstances, actual 

supply for cellulosic biofuel will exceed the demand created by the standards EPA sets, 

and the value of cellulosic biofuel Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) will fall. 

RINs are marketable credits that correspond to a given volume of renewable fuel. Since 

RIN market price directly affects the economic viability of cellulosic biofuel production, 

low RIN prices could present economic difficulties to producers. Thus, it is in the 

interests of these respondents to provide this information to EPA, as doing so could 

ensure that the market price of RINs appropriately reflects the value of their cellulosic 

biofuel. This information also serves a more general program purpose, because it will 

assist EPA in setting the annual RFS2 standards more accurately for biomass-based 

diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel. Compiling this information may also 

assist respondents with their planning and compliance activities. We believe that many 

parties would wish to submit this information in order to receive better assistance in 

understanding and complying with the RFS2 regulations.

We anticipate that approximately 2 parties will elect to participate in this 

information collection. The format for submitting the production outlook information to 

EPA would follow the “RFS2 Production Outlook Form, Report Form ID: RFS0900, 

EPA external number 5900-283.” Reporting by regulated parties is covered under the 

RFS2 ICR, OMB Control No. 2060-0640. A copy of the current RFS0900 form and its 

instructions are available at:
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 Instructions: www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/rfs0900.pdf

 Form: www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/rfs0900.xls

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2. Need For, and Use of, the Collection

a. Authority for the Collection

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

authorize EPA to require recordkeeping and reporting regarding enforcement of the 

provisions of Title II of the CAA. This voluntary collection of information is related to 

the RFS2 program. 

b. Practical Utility/Uses of the Data

As discussed above in “Short Characterization,” collection of this information 

will assist EPA in setting accurate annual standards under the RFS2 rule and will assist 

respondents with their planning and compliance activities. 

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

a. Non-duplication

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

b. Public Notice

EPA sought comment on reporting requirements via notice February 6, 2014 (78 

FR 02571). EPA received no comments in the docket after the 60 day comment period. 

c. Consultations

We have drawn upon our experience with RFS2, and with similar fuels 

regulations to develop the estimates in this supporting statement. DCFUEL database 

was consulted for the number of reports collected over the three year collection period for 

this ICR. Upon review, only 2 distinct companies have submitted either a RFS0900 or 

RFS0901 report under the ID number ‘9999. EPA is concluding that the estimates from 

the last reporting collection were overstated. To better reflect the activity for report 

collection, the number of reports will be changed to 2 per year. EPA has made an 

asserted effort to seek industry comment for this ICR. EPA contacted Lindsay 

Fitzgerald, Director of Regulatory Affairs at the National Biodiesel Board and 

Can be contacted on (202) 737-8801 and by e-mail lfitzgerald@biodiesel.org who 

believed that the cost to the industry was reasonable and fair. 
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d. Effects of Less Frequent Data Collection

This is a voluntary information collection. If EPA could not collect this 

information, then both the respondent and the Agency would be disadvantaged. EPA 

would base its RFS2 standard setting on incomplete information, and this in turn would 

have a negative effect upon the respondents. Collecting this information would allow 

EPA to assist the respondents in compliance, as the respondents would be subject to the 

RFS2 regulations in the future.

e. General Guidelines 

This rule does exceed the OMB guidelines. EPA requests an exception to the 

OMB guidelines that agencies may only require records to be maintained for no more 

than three years. Records can be kept either electronically or on paper. EPA needs to 

make sure regulated parties keep records long enough to be evaluated for compliance 

during this time period. Section 40 CFR Part 80.1454(l) requires record retention for five 

years from the date the records were created. 

f. Confidentiality

We will inform respondents that they may assert claims of business 

confidentiality (CBI) for information they submit. Any information claimed as 

confidential will be treated in accordance with 40 CFR Part 2 and established Agency 

procedures. Information that is received without a claim of confidentiality may be made 

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

g. Sensitive Information

This information collection does not require submission of any sensitive 

information.

4. The Respondents and the Information Requested

a. Respondents/with NAICS and SIC Codes

The respondents to this information collection are renewable fuel producers who 

are expected to fall under the general category of petroleum refineries (324110/2911), 

ethyl alcohol manufacturers (325193/2869), and/or other basic organic chemical 

manufacturing (325199/2869). We expect that 2 parties per year will elect to participate 

in this information collection. (Since this information collection is voluntary in nature, 

the actual number is determined by the respondents themselves.)

b. Information Requested
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The information requested includes the information collected on the RFS0900 

form. Parties may submit some, or all, of the information and submission of the 

information is voluntary. Parties do not have to use the form, but we plan to provide it as 

a convenience for those who wish to use it. 

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

Information Management

a. Agency Activities

The Agency may contact respondents if there is a question about their submission. 

We already perform this activity for required reports submitted under the RFS2 program 

and do not anticipate that this will add any significant burden.

b. Collection and Methodology and Management

We anticipate accepting this information in various formats, including 

electronically. Information claimed as CBI will be stored in appropriately controlled 

areas.

c. Small Entity Flexibility

This collection will not adversely affect small entities. This collection is a 

voluntary collection and there will be no adverse consequences if a party elects not to 

submit the information. 

d. Collection Schedule

This would be a voluntary collection and, as result, this collection is not subject to 

any set collection schedule. Respondents may submit all, or some, of the information on 

the production outlook report at will.

6. ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION

(a) ESTIMATING THE RESPONDENT BURDEN 

We drew upon experience implementing similar regulations among the same entities to 

develop estimates of the burden associated with this collection. 

b. Estimating the Respondent Burden and Cost

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

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

from "National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment & Wage Estimate 

“Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing” (May 2011), with a 3% annual inflation 
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factor applied to bring the values to the present. Using this method, the following wages 

and benefits apply by category:

Wages and Benefits

Managerial $67.44 per hour

Technical $65.56 per hour

Clerical $22.17 per hour

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

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

Total Employer Cost

Managerial $135.00 per hour

Technical $132.00 per hour

Clerical $ 45.00 per hour

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

managerial, 0.7 hour technical, and 0.2 hour clerical. This gives an average labor cost of 

$115 per hour rounded up, which will be used in this ICR. The Agency estimates that it 

will take 12 hours to complete 1 report and estimates no more than 2 notifications with an 

annual burden of 24 burden hours per year and for three years 72 burden hours. This 

collection includes no annualized capital or operation and maintenance cost.

Number of 

Respondents

Number of 

Reports per 

Respondent

Annual 

Hours per 

Response*

Cost per 

Response

@ $115/hr.

Total 

Hours/Year

Total Cost

In 

Dollars/Year

($)

2 1 12 $1380 24 $2,760

* We believe that each report would take up to 12 hours to complete at $115/hour to determine the 

annual burden covered by this ICR.

c. Estimating the Agency Burden and Cost 

This is a voluntary information collection. This activity will present no 

significant, quantifiable burden to the Agency. We have drawn upon our experiences 

with the Renewable Fuel program and estimate no more than 2 notifications with an 

annual burden of 4 burden hours per year and for three years, 12 burden hours. We have 

one full-time GS-13 technical worker working two hours per response.

The Agency burden consists of a GS-13 technical worker costs at $89.94 an hour 

including overhead, for an Agency burden of $89.94 per response. The agency’s annual 

burden cost for this collection is $360 rounded to the nearest dollar.

These estimates are derived from "OPM Salary Table 2014-DCB," effective 

January 2014. This table may be found at http://www.opm.gov/policy-dataoversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2014/DCB.pdf. The extreme of step 
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10 was assumed for all categories. All values were multiplied by 1.6 (which is a common 

factor utilized in ICRs to account for overhead costs). We rounded the resulting dollar 

value to the nearest tenth. 

d. Estimating the Respondent Universe

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

experience regulating the same or similar entities and the number of reports submitted in 

DCFUELS during the last collection period. Only 2 distinct companies have submitted 

either a RFS0900 or RFS0901 report under the ID number ‘9999. EPA is concluding that 

the estimates from the last reporting collection were overstated and assuming for this 

collection 2 reports per year.

e. Bottom Line Burden Hours and Costs

From “Estimating the Respondent Burden and Cost,” we estimate the following 

totals:

TOTAL NO. OF RESPONDENTS: 2

TOTAL NO. OF RESPONSES: 2

TOTAL ANNUAL HOURS: 24

TOTAL ANNUAL COST: $ 2,760

f. Reason for Change in Burden

There is an increase of hours per response from 4 to 12, an increase of 8 in the 

total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. 

The respondent universe decreased due to the comparison of reported number of 

submissions in the DCFUEL database. The actual number is determined by the 

respondents themselves choosing to participate in voluntary reporting. The number of

respondents decreased by 33 per year lowering the total number of reports collected. 

These decreases have lowered cost to the industry by $7,180 per year even though the 

cost to report per response has risen due to better numbers used to calculate the industry 

burden and to account for inflation.

g. Burden Statement 

The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of 

information is estimated to be 12 hours per response. Burden means the total time, effort, 

or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 

provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review 

instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes 

of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining 

information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to 

comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to 

be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and 
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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-2005-0161, which is 

available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air 

Docket in the EPA Docket Center in Washington, DC (EPA/DC). The docket is located 

in the EPA West Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 3334, and is open 

from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday, excluding 

legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 

telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742. 

You may use www.regulations.gov 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 EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161. Also, you can send 

comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 

and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for 

EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161 and OMB 

Control Number 2060-0640 in any correspondence.