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INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST (ICR) 

OMB-83 SUPPORTING STATEMENT 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

OFFICE OF AIR & RADIATION 

A. JUSTIFICATION 

1. Identification of the Information Collection

a. Title: Recordkeeping and Reporting for Diesel Fuel Produced by Transmix 

Processors. 

EPA Number: 2463.01 

b. Short characterization: 

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

Radiation (OAR) is seeking permission to collect information related to diesel fuel 

produced by transmix processors. “Transmix” is a mixture of finished fuels, such as 

pipeline interface, that no longer meets the specifications for a fuel that can be used or 

sold without further processing. “Pipeline interface” means the mixture of different fuels 

that abut each other during pipeline shipment. The proposed recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements apply to producers of fuels from transmix, as well as parties who take 

custody to these fuels. The associated recordkeeping and reporting requirements are 

proposed to include: 

 Submission of a compliance plan by transmix processors; 

 Submission of necessary updates to that compliance plan; and 

 Initial programming and use of product transfer document (PTD) codes by 

transmix processors and other parties who handle transmix in the distribution 

system. 

 There are no associated registration requirements as a result of this proposal, since 

all known transmix processors are already registered with EPA as “refiners” and are not 

required to take any additional action. Furthermore, as refiners subject to the existing 

diesel regulations, transmix processors are already required to test diesel fuel for sulfur. 

Recordkeeping and reporting associated with that activity has been accounted for under 

EPA’s diesel fuel program ICR, OMB number 2060-0308 (renewal pending). 

 Specifically, EPA is proposing the following amendments are to the following 

sections in 40 CFR Part 80: 

Section Description 

80.511(b)(4) Amended to allow for the production and sale of 500-ppm 
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locomotive and marine (LM) diesel fuel produced from 

transmix past 2014. 

80.513 (entire section) Amended to allow for the production and sale of 500-ppm 

LM diesel fuel produced from transmix past 2014. 

80.572(d) Amended to extend 500ppm LM diesel fuel label past 20121. 

80.597(d)(3)(ii) Amended to include 500-ppm LM diesel fuel in the list of 

fuels that an entity may deliver or receive custody of past 

June 1, 2014. 

 

 

2. Need For, and Use of, the Collection

a. Authority for the Collection 

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

authorize EPA to require recordkeeping and reporting regarding enforcement of the 

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

Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives. 

 

 b. Practical Utility/Uses of the Data 

 The reported data will enable EPA to: 

 1) Process compliance plans from transmix producers. 

 2) Ensure that diesel fuel made from transmix meets the standards required under 

the regulations at 40 CFR Part 80, and that the associated benefits to human health and 

the environment are realized. 

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

 a. Non-duplication 

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

Where possible, information requirements from various organizations within the Agency 

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

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

 b. Public Notice 

 

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 Since EPA regulations dictate labeling language, no information is collected via labels. 
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 EPA will submit the ICR to OMB for review, along with the notice of proposed 

rulemaking. This proposed supporting statement is being docketed in order to permit 

interested parties to fully comment upon the performance-based approach and the 

recordkeeping and reporting costs associated with it. 

 c. Consultations 

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

rule and this proposed supporting statement. We anticipate that the notice of proposed 

rulemaking and the proposed information collection will generate comments from 

interested parties. We will consider these comments in generating a supporting statement 

for submission to OMB in connection with the final rule. 

 d. Effects of Less Frequent Data Collection 

 For most items in this proposed information collection, the frequency of 

response is determined by the submitter. 

 e. General Guidelines 

 This rule does not exceed any of the OMB guidelines. 

 f. Confidentiality 

 EPA informs respondents that they may assert claims of business confidentiality 

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

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

template for qualification that we use for diesel sulfur permits a party to clearly assert a 

claim of business confidentiality on the actual submission. We anticipate developing a 

similar form for this approach when it is finalized. 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 

 

 Individual reporting data may be claimed as sensitive and will be treated as 

confidential information in accordance with the procedures outline in 40 CFR Part 2. 

4. The Respondents and the Information Requested 

 a. Respondents/SIC Codes 

The respondents to this information collection are: 

 Refiners who produce diesel fuel from transmix (i.e., transmix processors) 
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 Parties in the distribution chain who handle diesel fuel made from transmix (e.g., 

distributors, carriers) 

 Recordkeeping and reporting are required by the following industries, with SIC 

Code/2002 NAICS Code indicated in parentheses: refiners (2911/324110), [and 

petroleum marketers and other distributors (5171, 5172/424710, 424720). 

 b. Information Requested 

 In order to qualify a test method, the following information must be 

provided to the Agency 

 A) Reporting: Respondents who produce diesel fuel from transmix 

(i.e., transmix processors) must submit to EPA in order to have a compliance plan 

approved. Other reporting is related to PTDs, which are used in the normal course of 

business by all parties in the petroleum distribution system already. 

 B) Recordkeeping: Under the existing diesel fuel regulations, 

respondents must retain underlying records for five (5) years. This time period is 

consistent with the required record retention for all 40 CFR Part 80 fuels programs. 

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

Information Management 

a. Agency Activities 

 EPA will review compliance plans and updates that are submitted. 

 Data will be stored. 

b. Collection and Methodology and Management 

 Compliance plans will be submitted by transmix producers in accordance with the 

regulations. A common form is not feasible, since the content of the submission may 

vary from respondent to respondent. PTDs are used in the normal course of business. 

EPA may ask to review a party’s PTDs, but does not routinely collect them. 

 

c. Small Entity Flexibility 

 This collection will not adversely affect small entities. 

d. Collection Schedule 

 The collection schedule for this information collection is largely driven by the 

respondent. Refiners are required to submit a compliance plan only if they wish to 

produce diesel fuel from transmix. PTDs are used by parties in the distribution chain in 

the normal course of business; the frequency of PTDs indicating diesel-from-transmix 
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has been estimated for this ICR, but the actual frequency will be driven by the parties and 

by demand for the product. 

6. Estimating the Burden and Cost of Collection

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

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

that 25 refiners will produce diesel fuel from transmix and will be required to submit 

compliance plans. We estimate that 150 additional parties (e.g., distributors, carriers) 

will handle the product and be subject to the PTD requirements. Of these 150 additional 

parties who distribute and carry the fuel, we estimate that 45% of the volume 

distributed/carried will be by barge, 45% will be by rail, and 10% will be by truck. 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wages and Benefits

Managerial $53.87 per hour 

Technical $35.29 per hour 

Clerical $24.56 per hour 

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

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

Total Employer Cost

Managerial $108 per hour 

Technical $71 per hour 

Clerical $49 per hour 

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

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

which will be used in this ICR. Note that the figures in this table are rounded to the next 

whole number, wherever possible. We estimate the following burden: 

Table I – Transmix Processors (Refiners) 
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Collection 

Activity 

Total 

Number 

of 

Respondents 

Number of 

Responses 

per 

Respondent

Total 

Number 

of 

Responses

Hours 

Per 

Response

Total 

Hours 

Total 

Cost 

$ 

Submission 

of 

Compliance 

Plan 

25 1 25 8 (24 

total 

hours for 

one 

report 

divided 

by 3 

years to 

yield 

annual 

burden) 

200 $14,200 

 Annual 

updates to 

compliance 

plan 

25 2 50 

6 hours 

per 

report 

300 $21,300 

Programming 

of PTD 

Codes (one 

time cost) 

25 1 25 8 (24 

hours 

total for 

one 

programming 

instance 

divided 

by 3 to 

yield 

annual 

burden) 

200 $14,200 

Application 

of PTD 

Codes to 

batches 

25 364 9,104 .0003 (1 

second 

per 

instance 

of 

reporting 

3 $213 

TOTAL 9,204 703 $49,913.00

 Table II – Product Transfer Documents for Parties Downstream of the Transmix 

Processor 

Collection 

Activity 

Total 

Number 

Number of 

Responses 

Total 

Number 

Hours 

Per 

Total 

Hours 

Total 

Cost 
7

of 

Respondents 

per 

Respondent

of 

Responses

Response $ 

Programming 

of Code 

150 1 150 8 (24 

hours 

total for 

one 

programming 

instance 

divided 

by 3 to 

yield 

annual 

burden) 

1200 $85,200 

 Application 

of Code 

150 61 9,104 .0003 (1 

second 

per 

instance 

of 

reporting 

3 $213 

TOTAL 9,254 1203 $85,413.00
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c. Estimating the Agency Burden and Cost 

 The Agency burden consists of one GS-13 engineer (estimated at $161,000 

including overhead to review compliance plans and compliance plan updates. We 

estimate that this employee will Spend 5% of his/her time engaged in such review. This 

yields an Agency cost of $8,050. 

d. Estimating the Respondent Universe 

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

experience regulating the same entities. 

e. Bottom Line Annual Burden Hours and Costs 

 For transmix producers, we estimate 25 respondents, and a total annual reporting 

burden of 703 hours and $49,913.00. For other parties in the distribution system, we 

estimate 150 respondents, and a total annual reporting burden of 1,203 hours and 

$85,413. Considering all respondents who would be subject to this information collection 

yields an annual total of 175 respondents, 1,906 hours, and $135,326. We do not 

anticipate any additional recordkeeping burden, since diesel PTDs are normally kept in 

the course of business. 

f. Reason for Change in Burden 

 This proposed supporting statement has been prepared in anticipation of EPA’s 

future submission of a proposed, new collection to OMB. 

g. Burden Statement 

 

 We estimate an annual reporting burden of 28 hours per respondent who is a 

transmix producer. We estimate an annual reporting burden of 8 hours for all other 

respondents. Considering all respondents (transmix producers and other parties) who 

would be subject to this proposed information collection, the annual reporting burden, per 

respondent, would is estimated to be 11 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 the instructions; develop, acquire, install, and 

utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying 

information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing 

information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable 

instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of 

information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and 

transit or otherwise disclose the information. 
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 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. 

 Interested parties are urged to comment on the Agency's need for this information 

collection, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for 

minimizing respondent burden, including the use of automated collection technique. 

To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the 

provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent 

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

Submit any comments related to the ICR to EPA and OMB. Send comments to OMB at 

the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 

725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for EPA. Since 

OMB is required to make a decision concerning the ICR between 30 and 60 days after 

publication in the Federal Register, a comment to OMB is best assured of having its full 

effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. The final rule will respond to 

any OMB or public comments on the information collection requirements contained in 

this proposal. 

Part B of the Supporting Statement

This part of the supporting statement is not applicable.