I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 1 of 19 **United States Environmental Protection Agency** 

## Office of Air and Radiation Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Air Quality Policy Division Geographic Strategies Group



## INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST **SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.0**  **8 ,**  **RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZ**  **E R EGULATIONS**  

# EPA

Draft April 19 , 2012

EPA # 1813.08I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 2 of 19 This I CR, EPA Form 1813.08, is an update of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 2060

- 0421; EPA Form 1813.07 which expires on October 31, 2012. The current approved collection is for 859 respondents, 31,841 hours per year, and $2,563,000 per year. This renewal requests approval for 35 respondents ( 3 4 s tate agencies, and 1 group of F ederal Land Managers (F LMs) ) , 4,080 hours per year, and $ 198,084 per ye ar
. Table E.1 summarizes the total annual respondent burden for this renewal. No tribes submitted regional haze plans, so there are no burden estimates for them. The change in burden is a program adjustment, reflecting changes in labor rates, changes in the activities conducted due to the normal progression of the program , and the fact that the aggregate initial regional haze state implementation plans ( SI Ps ) and best available retrofit technology ( BART ) determinations w ill have been acted up on by the EPA by

November 2012 and the states will be shifting their focus to development of interim progress reports required by the regional haze rule.
**Table E** 
**- 1**  **Estimated State, Source, and FLM**  **Respondent Burden to Implement**  **Requirements**

**Task Element States**  **Source FLMs** 

**Av erage**  **An nual**  **Hours Av**  **erage**

**An nual**  **Cost ($ )**  **Av erage** 

**An nual**  **Hours Av**  **erage**

**An nual**  **Cost ($ )**  **Av erage** 

**An nual**  **Hours Av**  **erage**

**An nual**  **Cost ($ )**  Total Burden by Respondent 3,173 154 ,049 0 0 907 44 ,035

**Total for Respondent**  **Universe** 4,080 hours; $ 198,084 **Executive Summary**  **Draft 0** **4 /**  **17 /**  **12**I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 3 of 19 This document fulfills the Agency 's requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) with regards to determining the regulatory burden associated with the implementation of the regional haze program (40 CFR 51.308) and requirements related to the Grand Can yon Visibility Transport Commission (40 CFR 51.309). It has been assigned E PA tracking number 1813.08. The title of this Information Collection Request (ICR) is “Information Collection Request Supporting Statement f or E PA I CR Number 1813.0 8 , Renewal o f The I CR for the Regional Haze R egulations .” Subpart P of 40 CFR 51 , Protection of Visibility , also known as the regional haze rule, is the subject of this clearance request. In the next 3 ye ars, activities conducted by the states, Federal Land Managers (FLMs), and the EPA will focus on repo rting requirements in the rule to address the progress of regional haze implementation plans. 40 CFR 51. 308 (g) requires states to develop periodic reports evaluating progress towards the reasonable progress goals for improving visibility in Class Iareas inside the state and in neighboring states . The re are similar reporting requirements under 40 CFR 51. 309 , a section of the regional haze rule in which 3 states (Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico) elected to submit their SIPs. Under section 309, these states a dopted regional haze strategies for the period from 2003 to 2018 for sulfur dioxide emissions. These strategies are based on recommendations from the Grand Can yon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC) for protecting the 16 Class Iareas on the Colorado P lateau area. On June 15, 2005, the EPA finalized amendments to the July 1999 regional haze rule. These amendments apply to the provisions of the regional haze rule that require emission controls known as best available retrofit technology , or BART, for industrial facilities emitting air pollutants that reduce visibility

by causing or contributing to regional haze. The pollutants that reduce visibility

include fine p articulate matter (PM 2.5 ), and compounds which contribute to PM 2.5 formation, such as nitrogen oxides (NO X ), sulfur dioxides (SO 2 ), and under certain conditions volatile organic compounds (VOC) , and ammonia. The BART requirements of the regional haze ru le apply to facilities built between 1962 and 1977 that have the potential to emit more than 250 tons **1 Identification of the Information Collection** 
**1.1 Title** 

OMD1.2 Description **EPA TRA**  **CKING NUMBER: 1813.08** 

**E -**  **TRA CKING NUMBER:**  **OMB -**  **2060 -**  **0421**

**1.2 Description** I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 4 of 19 per year of visibility

- impairing pollution. Those facilities fall into 26 categories, including utility and industrial boilers, and large industrial plant s such as pulp mills, refineries and smelters. Many of these facilities have not been previousl y subject to f ederal pollution control requirements for these pollutants. Under the 1999 regional haze regulations , states are required to set periodic goals f or improving visibility

in the 156 Federal Class Iareas. As states work to reach these goals, they must develop regional haze implementation plans that contain enforceable measures and strategies for reducing visibility

- impairing pollution. The 2005 amendments include guidelines, known as BART guidelines, for states to use in determining which facilities must install controls and the ty pe of controls the facilities must use. States had to develop their implementation plans by December, 2007. As part of tho se plans, states were required identify the facilities that will have to reduce emissions under BART and then set BART emissions limits for those facilities. The majority

of the states did not submit their SIPs on time, and the EPA is currentl y subject to several consent decrees establishing schedule s for final action s on the SIPs, or promulgation of FIPs, that in the aggregate require the agency

to complete all remaining unfinished actions on the initial regional haze implementation plans b y November 2012. Since that date aligns closel y with the expiration of the currentl y approved ICR (October 31, 2012) and the majority of the effort required to complete the actions on the initial SIPs will have occurred, the primary focus for e stimating burden f or th is 3 year renewal period (October 31, 2012

– October 30, 2015) will apply to the next program milestone which is the 5 year periodic progress report (see 40 CFR 51. 308(g)). The due date for states to submit the progress reports is 5 ye ars from their initial regional haze SIP submittals, and for an estimated 34 states, that due date falls within the date range of this I CR renewal. In the 5 year progress reports, states are required to describe the status of the implementation of measur es needed to achieve reasonable progress goals, report on the emissions reductions achieved, assess visibility

changes, and evaluate whether the current implementation plan is sufficient to meet all established reasonable progress goals.I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 5 of 19 Section 169A of the Clean Air Act (CAA) sets forth a national goal for visibility . The goal is the “prevention of an y future, and the remedyi ng of any existing, impairment in visibility in mandatory Class IFederal areas which impairment results from man

- m ade air pollution.” This section of the CAA also calls for EPA regulations to assure that s tates provide for reasonable progress toward meeting the national goal. The original regulations on protection of visibility in mandatory

Class I Federal areas, deve loped in 1980, addressed visibility that is “reasonably

attributable” to a single source or small group of sources. The r egional h aze r ule, promulgated in 1999, added new sections to the code of federal environmental regulations. These included sections 40 CFR 51.308 and 40 CFR 51.309. This I CR renewal request provides for continued implementation of the regional raze rule. During this clearance period, we anticipate that the reporting requirements under 40 CFR 51.308 (g) will be the major program focus and the similar reporting requirements (see 40 CFR 51.309(d)(10)) for 3 states that submitted regional haze SIPs under 40 CFR 51.309 The data collected from resp ondents include revised state implementation plans. These data confirm progress in assessing visibility impairment and source contribution , and provide the foundation for the establishment of the reasonable progress goals, contr ol strategies, and BART requirements. The information in this ICR is based upon the best data available to the Agency at this time. However, incomplete data and sampling limitations imposed necessitated a certain amount of extrapolation and “best

- guess” estimations. Consequently, the reader should not consider the conclusions to be an exact representation of the level of burden or cost that will occur. Instead, this I CR should be considered a directionally correct assess ment of the impact the programmatic changes included in this rulemaking may have over the next 3 ye ars. Throughout this ICR, the reader will observe estimated values that show accuracy to the single hour or dollar. However, reporting values at the single unit level can be misleading. In most situations, the proper way to present estimated data would be to determine an appropriate level of precision and truncate values accordingl y, usuall y in terms of thousands or millions of units. For instance, a spreads heet generated estimation of $5,456,295 could 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. Consequ ently , to avoid the loss of information through rounding, this ICR **2 Need and Use of the Collection** 
**2.1 Need / A**  **uthority for the Collection** 

**2.2 Practical Utility**  **/ Users of the Data** 

**2.3 Caveats and**  **Considerations**I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 6 of 19 reports all values at the single unit level and reminds the reader that there is no implied precision inherent in this style of reporting.I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 7 of 19 This information collection renewal request is re lated to provisions in 40 CFR 51.308(g) and 40 CFR 51.309(d)(10) which require periodic reports describing progress towards the reasonable progress goals. Each state must submit an implementation plan revision evaluating whether improvement in visibility

i s made towards the reasonable progress goal for each mandatory

Class 1 Federal area located within the state and in each mandatory

Class 1 Federal area located outside the state which may be affected b y emissions from within the state. These implementation plans are due 5 ye ars from the submittal of the initial regional haze plan. The reasonable progress implementation plans required by the regional haze rule are unique and do not duplicate other implementation plan requirements. In compliance with the PRA, this draft I CR must solicit public comments for a 60

- day

period prior to submission to OMB.
For an y existing rule, § 3507(g) of the PRA limits how long a Director may take to approve a collection of information to 3 years. The ICR for the regional haze rule was revised last in August 2009

. We solicited public comments on this I CR prior to submitting it to OMB. We issued a Federal Register notice requesting comments on the I CR renewal on August 26, 2009 ( 74 FR 43118 ). No significant comments were received. The EPA consulted with the EPA Region 5 Office for comment, review, and suggestions on this ICR renewal. The point of contact for the regional office is John Summerhays, regional haze coordinator for EPA Region 5, ( 312 ) 886

- 6067 . Mr. Summerhay s had no comments.
We also contacted the s tate of Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) , explained the requirements of the I CR renewal, and solicited comment. The point of contact is Mr. Michael Kiss , Director , Office of Air Quality

Assessments , Richmond, VA , (804) 698

- 4460

. Mr. Kiss had no comments. The information collection requested under this I CR is necessary to ensure implementation of the 40 CFR 51.308 and 40 CFR 51.309 requirements. OMB's general guidelines for information collect ions must be adhered to by all fede ral a gencies for approval of an y rulemaking's collection methodology . In accordance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.5, the Agency believes:
1. The regional haze regulations do not require periodic reporting more frequently

than every

5 years
. **3 Non**  **- Duplication, Consultation, and Other Collection Criteria** 

**3.1 Non**  **- Duplication** 

**3.2 Public Notice**  **Requirements**

**3.3 Consultations** 

**3.4 Less Frequent**  **Collection 3.5**  **General Guidelines** I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 8 of 19 2. The regional haze regulations do not require respondents to participate in an y statistical survey. 3. Written responses to Agency inquiries are not required to be submitted in less than 30 day s. 4. Respondents do not receive remuneration for the preparation of reports required by

the Act or part 51. 5. To the greatest extent possible, the Agency has taken advantage of automated methods of reporting. The recordkeeping and reporting requirements contained in the current regional haze program and the changes proposed in this rulemaking do not exceed an y of the Paperwork Reduction Act guidelines contained in 5 CFR 1320.5, except for the guideline which limits retention of records b y respondents to 3 years. The Act requires both respondents and state or local agencies to ret ain records for a period of 5 ye ars. The justification for this exception is found in 28 U.S.C. 2462, which specifies 5 y ears as the general statute of limitations for f ederal claims in response to violations by regulated entities. The decision in U.S. v. Conoco, Inc. , No. 83

- 1916

- E (W.D. Okla., January

23, 1984) found that the 5

- year general statute of limitations applied to the CAA. Confidentiality

is not an issue for this rulemaking. In accordance with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, any monitoring information to be submitted by

sources is a matter of public record. To the extent that the information required is proprietary , confidential, or of a nature that could impair the ability

of the source to maintain its market positi on, that information is collected and handled subject to the requirements of §503(e) and §114(c) of the Act. Information received and identified by owners or operators as confidential business information (CBI) and approved as CBI by EPA, in accordance with Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 2, Subpart B, shall be maintained appropriately (see 40 CFR 2; 41 FR 36902, September 1, 1976; amended b y 43 FR 39999, September 8, 1978; 43 FR 42251, September 28, 1978; 44 FR 17674, March 23, 1979). The consideration of sensitive questions, (i.e., sexual, religious, personal or other private matters), is not applicable to this rulemaking. The information gathered to develop an implementation plan does not include personal data on any owner o r operator. Because the regional haze program operates nation

- wide and across numerous industry

classifications, the Agency does not believe there is a disproportionate EJ effect in the regional haze program. **3.6 Confidentiality** 

**3.7 Sensitive**  **Questions**

**3.8 Environmental**  **Justice Considerations** I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 9 of 19 The major categories of respondents dire ctl y affected during this ICR period of October 31, 2012 through October 15, 2015 include the states and FLMs. The s tates are d evelop ing implementation plan s under 40 CFR 51.308 (g) and 40 CFR 51.309(d)(10) evaluating progress towards the reasonable progress goal for each mandatory Class IF ederal area located within the s tate and in each mandatory Class I Federal area located outside the s t ate which may

be affected b y emissions from within the s tate

. The FLMs will evaluat e the SIP revision s and provid e comments to the states. The states are required to consult with the FLMs and explain how they address the FLMs comments in their final SIP s. The information required under this I CR renewal provides for a continuation of the process initiated with previous I CRs for the regional haze rule. In this stage of the process, the states are revising their SIPs to report on progress made towards reaching their long term visibility goals. For 34 states, the progress reports will be due during the October 31, 2012 to October 30, 2015 ICR period. The information that is requested under this rene wal period under the regional haze rule requirements includes : **Submittal of Requirements for Periodic Reports Describing Progress Towards the Reasonable Progress Goals** 

 D escription of status of control measures

 Summary

of emission reductions

 Calculat ion o f visibility conditions and changes

 Calculation of 5 year progress
 Assessment of contributing emissions

 Assessment of reasonable progress goals

 Review monitoring strategy and note changes

 Submit 5 year progress report

 Determine degree of visibility improvement

 Consult with FLMs The first progress reports must be in the form of implementation plan revisions that comply

with procedural requirements of 40 CFR 51.102 and 40 CFR 51.103. The reports are due 5 years after the initial r egional h aze plan submission. **4 The Respondents and the Information Requested** 
**4.1 Re**  **s pond**  **e nts/** 

**4.2 Information**  **Requested**I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 10 of 19 **EPA.** Each EPA regional office is responsible for reviewing and approving the SIPs and promulgating FIPs when n ecessary . For this I CR renewal period, the EPA will primarily be reviewing the SIP revisions required under 308(g) and 309(d)(10) , which are the periodic progress reports. The 10 EPA regional offices as well as the EPA headquarters offices will provide dir ection and facilitate resolution of major issues, and deliver data, tools, and training to the states as needed. Each regional office must address public comments before approving the SIPs or promulgating FIPs.
**FLMs.** The FLMs will be reviewing the SIP revisions and offering comments as part of the public comment process. This section discusses the development of burden estimates and their conversion into costs, which are separated into burden costs and capital and O&M costs. According to the latest guidance for ICRs (EPA 11 / 05 ), capital and O&M costs display

the cost of any

new capital equipment the respondent may

have to purchase solel y for information collection, assi milation, and storage purposes. For example, if a source had to purchase a new mini

- computer to store and manipulate data, that computer would be a cost of administration subject to reporting in the ICR. In addition, the latest guidance instructs the Agenc y to differentiate the burden associated with a source’s labor and that which it hires through outside contractors. To the extent a source contracts out for administrative purposes (e.g., emplo yi ng consultants to perform visibility modeling ), the burden as sociated with those contracted tasks are not a burden to the source

- but they still remain a cost. The reader should read this section with the following considerations in mind:

 The Agency

believes the time necessary to perform a task is independent of the origins of its labor. For example , if a source would employ 20 hours of burden to full y perform a function, then a contractor hired b y the source would also take 20 hours to perform that same task. Furthermore, the Agency assumes no economies or d iseconomies of scale. The linear combination of any amount of contractor and source effort will also sum to 20 hours

. Therefore, the burden estimates in this I CR act as an accurate assessment of the total burden to respondents

.  For some burden categories, the Agency believes the hours assigned to them will be divided between the source and outside contractors. For these categories, the Agency established a composite cost per hour by developing a weighted average of the source and contractor wages, with the weight defined by the percentage of total effort each burden source applied. Consequently , the cost developed in this I CR should be interpreted as an upper bound on the actual cost **5 The Information Collected**  **- Ag**  **ency A**  **ctivities, Collection Methodologies, and Information Managemen**  **t**

**5.2 Collection**  **Methodology and**  **Management 5.1**  **Ag ency**  **Ac tiv**  **ities**I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 11 of 19 of administration by

the source. The methodology for determining cost per hour can be found in greater detail in section 6.2, below.

 While this I CR renewal estimates burden to federal and state agencies, it does not include costs estimates to the industrial sources. This is because the effort for this ICR renewal period, October 31, 2012 through October 31, 2015 mainly involves preparation and review of the progress reports required under 308(g) and 309(d)(10) of the regional haze rule. Sources, for the most part, will not be involved in preparation of these reports. The impleme ntation plans prepared b y the s tates are periodic progress reports which are due five years after the state submits its comprehensive regional haze SIP . The plans must at a minimum include the following elements :

 A description of the status of all measure s included in the regional haze implementation plan for achieving reasonable progress.

 A summary

of the emissions reductions achieved throughout the state through implementation of the measures.

 An assessment of the following visibility conditions and chan ges for each mandatory

Class 1 Federal area within the state with values for most impaired and least impaired day s expressed in terms of 5

- ye ar averages of the annual values : current visibility conditions for the most impaired and least impaired day s; the difference between current visibility

conditions for the most impaired and least impaired day s and baseline visibility conditions; and the change in visibility impairment for the most impaired and least impaired day s over the past 5 ye ars
.  An anal ys is trac king the change over the past 5 years in emissions of pollutants contributing to visibility impairment from all sources and activities within the state

.  An assessment of an y significant changes in anthropogenic emissions within or outside the state that have occurred over the past 5 years that have limited or impeded progress in reducing pollutant emissions and improving visibility

.  An assessment of whether the current regional haze implementation plan elements and strategies are sufficient to enable the st ate, or other states with mandatory Class 1 Federal areas affected by emissions from the state, to meet all established reasonable progress goals.

 A review of the state’s visibility monitoring strategy

and any modifications to the strategy as necessary
.  Other elements, including reporting, record keeping, and other measures, necessary

to assess and report on visibility

.I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 12 of 19 The Regulatory

Flexibility

Act (RFA) requires regulatory agencies, upon regulatory

action, to assess that action ’ s potential impact on small entities (businesses, governments, and small non

- governmental organizations) and report the results of the assessments in (1) an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analy sis (IRFA), (2) a Final Regulatory Flexibility

Anal ys is (FRFA), and (3) a Certification. For ICR approval, the Agency must demonstrate that it "has taken all practicable steps to develop separate and simplified requirements for small businesses and other small entities" (5 CFR 1320.6(h)). In addition, the agencies must assure through various mechanisms that small entities are given an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process.
The E PA determined that it was not necessary to prepare a regulatory flexibility anal ys is in connection with the r egional h aze r ule ( July 6, 2005, 70 FR 39104 ) because the rule did not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Similarly, this ICR renewal will not impose any

direct requirements on small entities and will apply primarily to states which are developing the SIP revisions

. States are required to submit their periodic progress reports, in the form of a SIP revision, 5 years after the initial regional haze plan submission

. Table 5.1 shows when these reports are due for each of the states. Note that some states have reports which are due outside of this renewal period, beyond October 31, 2012. Accordingl y, we have estimated burden onl y for the 3 4 states with due dates that f all in 2015 or earlier.
**Table 5.1 Due Dates for the 5 Year Progress Reports**  **1** Initial Regional Haze Submittal Year 5 Year Progress Report Due Date State
2007 2012 NC, SC 2008 2013 AL , AR , DE, KY, LA, MS, MO, TN, UT, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County NM 2 2009 2014 CA, CT, KS, MN, NV, NJ, RI , TX, VT 2010 2015 District of Columbia ,

1 The EPA is developing FIPs for Hawaii, Montana, and the Virgin Islands and due dates for the progress reports will be based on the dates of the FIP promulgation 2 Albuquerque/Bernalillo County in New Mexico must also submit a regional haze SIP to complet ely

satisfy the requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D) (i)(II) of the CAA for the entire State of Ne w Mexico under the New Mexico Air Quality Control Act (section 74

- 2

- 4). **5.4 Collection**  **Schedule 5.3**  **Small Entity Flexibility** I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 13 of 19 FL, GA, ID, ME, MI ,

NH, NY, ND, OK, OR, PA, VA 2011 2016 AK, AZ, CO, IN, NE, NM, OH, SD, WA, WY 2012 2017 MA, MDI NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 14 of 19 Burden means the total time, effort, o r financial resources expended b y person s to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or p rovide information to or for a f ederal agency . This include s the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and s ys tems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the way s to compl y with an y previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The burden estimate should be composed of (1) the total capital and start

- up cost component annualized over its useful life; (2) the total operation, maintenance and purchases of services component. Each component should be divided into burden borne directl y b y the respondent and an y services that are contracted out.
This I CR renewal will apply primaril y to 34 states which are developing 5

- ye ar progress reports in the form of SI P revisions to satisfy the requirements of the regional haze rule

. Table 5.1 above shows when these reports are due for each of the states and the estimated due date for the SIPs. The FLMs will review and comment on those plans. For this renewal period, the burden for industrial sources will be negligible as the reports are required from the states

. F or three states (Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico) which submitted their regional haze SIPs under section 309 of the regional haze rule , there are also 5

- ye ar periodic reporting requirements that are essentiall y the sam e as the requirements under section 308(g). Table 6.1 summarizes the results for each of the major categories of respondents with details discussed in the narrative below

. **Develop and Submit 5** 
**- Year Progress Reports as required under the**  **Regional Haze Rule**
**.** Based on the elements that are required for the report, which are described in section 5.2 above, we believe that an estimate of 2 8 0 hours per s tate to complete the report is reasonable. Much of the anal ys is for the report will entail the states assess ing changes in their emission inventories for the reporting period and reporting on changes in visibility based on available monitoring data. This burden estimate does not include an y hours for preparation and finalization of the emission inventories becau se it is assumed that the EPA will provide an approved inventory , with appropriate forward projections of future visibility conditions, which the states may use for their analy ses
. For each individual state, w e believe that approximately 1 6 0 hours on average is needed to anal yz e, evaluate, and summarize changes in the inventory and monitoring data over the reporting period, and another 80 hours is sufficient to prepare the report in the form of a SIP revision. These estimates are based on **6 Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection** 

**6.1 Estimating**  **Respondent Burden**  **5.4 Collection**  **Sch edule** I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 15 of 19 informal c onversations with state and the EPA ’s technical staff. Finall y, we assumed that states would need approximately 40 additional hours to address and respond to any public comments received on its SIP revision

. We assumed the FLMs would spend 80 hours, on av erage, reviewing and formally commenting on each of the SIP revisions.

**T able 6.1** 
**. Estimated Respondent Burden to Implement Requirements**  **Task Element Hours/State**  **Hours/Source FLM** 

**– hours/state**  **SIP Year** 

**Incurred**
Develop and submit §308(g) or 309(d)(10) Implementation Plan

– 5

- year periodic reports 2 4 0 0 80 2012

- 2015

This IC R uses the most recentl y available wage values with the wage rate metho ds established in the New Source Review (NSR) IC Rs 3

. For this renewal period, the burden for industrial sources will be negligible as the reports are required from the states with review being done b y the EPA and the FLMs. Consistent with methodologies for previous NSR ICRs, the labor rate used to calculate federal, state, and local respondents’ labor costs is approximated from the 2012 f ederal government pay

schedule. Managerial rates are accounted for by multiplying the hourl y rate b y 9%; the clerical support rates are multiplied by 1 3 %. 4 The hourly

rate is $ 48.55 , and the calculation is shown in Table 6.3

**Table 6. 3**  **Determination of Federal , State, and Local**  **Wage Rates** Annual Salary of Technical Staff, GS 11 Step 3 (FY 12 Schedule)* $ 53,639 .00 Annual Cost of Supervisory Staff, GS 13 Step 3 (FY 12 Schedule)* $ 76,452 .00 Factor (1/11) 0.09 $ 6,880.68 Annual Cost of Support Staff, GS 6 Step 6 (FY 12 Schedule)* Factor (1/8) $3 5,672 .00 0.13 $4, 637.36 Annual Applicable Salary of Technical Staff $ 65,157.04

3 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST FOR CHANGES TO PREVENTION OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATION AND NONATTAINMENT NEW SOURCE REVIEW: EMISSIONS TEST FOR ELECTRIC GENERATING UNITS, August 2006, p. 20

4 Ibid. **6.2 Estimating**  **Respondent Costs** I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 16 of 19 Benefits (at 16%) $10,425.13

Sick Leave / Vacation (at 10%) $ 6,515.70 General Overhead (at 29%) $ 18,895.54 Total Cost Per FTE $100,993.41 Total Hourly Cost (Total Per FTE divided by 2,080 hours per year) $48.55
* http://www.opm.gov/oca/12tables/html/gs.asp February 2012 Since the purchase of capital equipment is believed to be an insignificant factor in meeting the requirements associated with this I CR renewal , the EPA assumes the operation, maintenance, or servi ces are negligible Most of the data and other guidance for estimating emissions and visibility impacts are available in electronic form and an y equipment needed to respond to requests will be part of the respondent’s operating inventory

. Ty pically annualized capital cost would be derived from a discounted net present value of the stream of costs that would occur over the life of the activity , or the IC R, whichever is shorter. However we do not anticipate these ty pes of expenses will be incurred during this clearance period.
For this I CR, we have assumed the following number of offices will be involved in implementing the Regional Haze requirements. **EPA Regional Offices.** We as sume that all 10 EPA Regional Offices will be responsible for reviewing implementation plans from the s tates in their jurisdiction , responding to public comments, and preparing f ederal r egister notices in taking final action on the SIPs

. **EPA Headquarters.**  The EPA Headquarters staff will provide oversight and review of the submittals. Table 6.4 presents our estimate of the Agency burden in the I CR clearance period which is the average to review one state plan . In developing these estimates, w e considered previous estimates for similar activities , particularl y related to the time necessary to review SIPs and prepare federal register notices and respond to public comments. The SIP revisions for this renewal period are anticipated to be much abbr eviated compared to the comprehensive regional haze SIP submittals which are required to be submitted every

10 years. This results in a reduced burden relative to the previous I CR renewals as there are no modeling, emission inventory , or control strategy

analy ses due during the 2012

– 2015 collection period.
Summ ing the total hours from Table 6.4 (400 hours) and multiplying by 34 total plans yields a total estimate of 13,600 hours. Using the calculated labor rate of $48.55/hr , from Table 6.3, multiplied by the 13,600 hours **6.2.3 An**  **nualiz ed**  **Capital Costs**

**6.3 Estimating**  **Ag ency** **Burden and Cost** I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 17 of 19 gives an estimated cost of $660,280, which when averaged over the 3 ye ar collection period is $220,093 per year as the Agency’s burden estimate.
**Table 6.4. Estimated Agency Burden to Implement Requirements**  **Task Element Hours/EPA**  **Regional Office Hours/**  **EPA**

**Headquarters Year Incurred** 

Review Periodic Progress Reports from States 160 80 20 12

- 20 15

Respond to Public Comments and Prepare Federal Register Notices 120 40 20 12

– 20 15

TOTAL 280 120

For the purpose of estimating burden in this ICR, the respondent universe is determined as follows.
**States**

. We assume that 34 states, including Bernalillo County in New Mexico, will be affected by the regional haze rule reporting requirements.
**Tribes.** No tribes have elected to develop and implement the regional haze plan. **Industry.** The sole regional haze requirement for this reporting period is for the states to submit periodic progress reports, and thus there is no anticipated burden for industrial sources.
**FLMs.** The burden hours for FLMs are estimated for the group as a whole , and are estimated to be 80 hours for each SIP revision . For 34 total SIPs, the total hours would be 2,720. Multiplying by the labor rate of $48.55/hr equates to a cost of $132,056, or $44,019 per ye ar for each of the 3 ye ars. Tables 6.6 summarizes the total annual respondent burden which is 4,080 hours per ye ar and $ 198 ,000 per year. As described in section 6.2. 2 and 6.2. 3, there are no operation and maintenance costs or capital costs associated with activities to be conducted during this 3

- ye ar clearance period. The total number of respondents is 35 ( 34 s tate agencies and 1 group of FLMs.) **6.5 Bottom Line**  **Burden and Cost 6.4**  **Estimating the Respondent**  **Universe**I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 18 of 19 **Table 6. 6**  **Estimated Annual**  **Respondent Burden to Implement Requirements** 

**Task Element States**  **FLMs**

**Av erage**  **An nual**  **Hours Av**  **erage**

**An nual Cost**  **($ )**  **Av erage** 

**An nual Hours**  **Av erage** 

**An nual Cost**  **($ )**  Develop and submit §308(g) or 309(d)(10) Implementation Plan

– 5

- year periodic reports 3,173

Calculation: ( 280 hours per plan x 34 plan s )/3 years = 3,173 hr /yr 15 4 ,049

Calculation: ( 3,173 hrs per yr x labor rate of $ 48.55 ) 0 0

Review and Comment on Reports 0 0 907 Calculation: ( 80 hours per plan x 34 plans )/3 years = 907 hr /yr 44 ,035

Calculation: ( 907 hrs per yr x labor rate of $48.55 )

**Total Burden by**  **Respondent** 3, 173 154 ,049 907 44 ,035

**Total for Respondent**  **Universe 4,080 hours; $198,0**  **84**

The burden estimates for this I CR renewal period cover different task elements than those for the previous renewal (1813.0 7 ). These differences reflect the requirements of the final r egional h aze r ule with respect to the scheduled events and activities in the implementation process. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended b y persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or p rovide information to or for a f ederal agency . This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and s ys tems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifyinginformation, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust ing the existing way s to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train ing personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search ing data sources; complet ing and review ing the collection of information; and transmitting or otherwise disclos ing the information. The Agency may not conduct or sponsor, 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 the EPA’s regulations are listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. **6.6 Reasons for**  **Change in Burden** 

**6.7 Burden**  **Statement**I NFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA I CR RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE REGULATIONS Page 19 of 19 To comment on the Agency ’s need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and an y suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of automated collection techniques, the EPA has established a public docket for this I CR under Docket ID No. OAR

- 2003

- 0162 , that is available for public viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC. 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 electroni c version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the publ ic docket that are available electronically . Once in the s ys tem, 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, N.W., Washington D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID No. (OAR

- 2003

- 0162 ) in any correspondence.