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SUPPORTING STATEMENT 

NATIONAL EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS 

EMISSIONS: GROUP I POLYMERS AND RESINS 

PART A

1.0 Identification of the Information Collection

(a) Title and Number of the Information Collection. 

This information collection request (ICR) is entitled "Reporting and Recordkeeping 

Requirements for National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions: Group I 

Polymers and Resins." The EPA tracking number is 1746.XX, and the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) number is 2060-0356. 

 (b) Short Characterization. 

 This ICR was prepared for a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking 

developed under authority of section 112 of the Clean Air Act (the CAA). The proposed 

rulemaking would amend title 40, chapter I, part 63 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 

Subpart U National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Group I Polymers and 

Resins, hereafter, this subpart is referred to as the "Polymers & Resins I NESHAP". The 

Polymers & Resins I NESHAP includes standards for major sources of hazardous air pollutants 

(HAP). Respondents are owners or operators of processes that produce butyl rubber, 

epichlorohydrin, ethylene-propylene rubber, Hypalon TM, neoprene rubber, nitrile butadiene 

rubber and latex, polybutadiene rubber, polysulfide rubber, and styrene-butadiene rubber and 

latex. 

 All existing major sources were in compliance with the existing requirements of the 

Polymers & Resins I NESHAP within three years of the effective date (promulgation date) of 

standards. All new or reconstructed affected sources must be in compliance with the 

requirements of the Polymers & Resins I NESHAP on the date of startup or the effective date, 

whichever is later. 

 The information collection requirements for existing and new Polymers & Resins I 

manufacturing sources are listed in Attachment 1. 
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2. Need For and Use of the Collection 

(a) Need/Authority for the Collection. 

 Section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires EPA to establish NESHAP for both 

major and area sources of HAP that are listed for regulation under CAA section 112(c). A major 

source is a stationary source that has the potential to emit more than 10 tons per year [tpy] of any 

single HAP and more than 25 tpy of any combination of HAP. The Polymers & Resins I source 

category contains major sources of HAP emissions and is included on EPA’s list of categories 

for regulation. The Polymers & Resins I NESHAP are based on maximum achievable control 

technology (MACT). 

 Certain records and reports are necessary for the Administrator to confirm the 

compliance status of major sources, identify any new or reconstructed sources subject to the 

standards, and confirm that the standards are being achieved on a continuous basis. These 

recordkeeping and reporting requirements are specifically authorized by section 114 of the Clean 

Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7414) and set out in the part 63 NESHAP General Provisions. The 

recordkeeping and reporting requirements for title V permits are contained in 40 CFR 70.6 and 

40 CFR 71.6. Under parts 63 and 70 or 71, the owner or operator must keep each record for 5 

years following the date of each occurrence, measurement, maintenance, corrective action, 

report, or record. 

 (b) Use/Users of the Data.

 The information will be used by the delegated authority (state agency, or Regional 

Administrator if there is no delegated state agency) to ensure that the standards and other 

requirements are being achieved. Based on review of the recorded information at the site and the 

reported information, the delegated permitting authority can identify facilities that may not be in 

compliance and decide which facilities, records, or processes may need inspection. 
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3. Nonduplication, Consultations, and Other Collection Criteria

(a) Nonduplication.

A computer search of our existing standards and ongoing ICRs revealed no duplication of 

information gathering efforts. These regulations supersede the applicable provisions in Subpart I 

of the Hazardous Organic NESHAP (HON) for sources that are also subject to Subpart I. 

However, certain reports required by State or local agencies may duplicate information required 

by the standards. In such cases, a copy of the report submitted to the State or local agency can 

be provided to the Administrator in lieu of the required report. 

 (b) Public Notice Required Prior to ICR Submission to OMB. 

On September 10, 2008 (73 FR 52652), EPA published a notice announcing its intention 

to submit this ICR to the OMB and the availability of the draft supporting statement. The 

comment period ended on November 10, 2008 and no comments were received. 

(c) Consultations. 

The original rule was developed in consultation with numerous representatives of the 

elastomers and synthetic resins industry, environmental organizations, and state/local air 

pollution control agencies. The key non-EPA persons consulted on the information collection 

activities during the original rule development are identified in Table 1. No consultations have 

occurred in the subsequent time periods.

(d) Effects of Less Frequent Collection.

 If the relevant information were collected less frequently, the delegated permitting 

authority (State or EPA) will not be reasonably assured that a facility is in compliance with the 

standards. In addition, the EPA's authority to take administrative action would be significantly 

reduced; section l13(d) of the CAA limits the assessment of administrative penalties to violations 

which occur no more than 12 months before initiation of the administrative proceeding. Since 

administrative proceedings are less costly and require use of fewer resources than judicial 

proceedings, both the EPA and the regulated community benefit from preservation of the EPA's 

administrative powers. 
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TABLE 1. PERSONS CONSULTED ON THE INFORMATION COLLECTION ACTIVITIES 

Contact Title Company 

C.J. Jankowski Managing Director International Institute of 

Synthetic Rubber Producers, Inc. 

Alan Rautio Director Styrene Butadiene Latex 

Manufacturers Council 

R.D. Hembree Staff Engineer Exxon Chemical 

George M. Ladzun Corporate director of 

Engineering and Operations 

Support 

Zeon Chemicals USA, Inc. 

Thomas D. 

Gentner 

Manager, Environmental 

Affairs 

Morton International, Inc. 

Jonathon D. Miller Air Emissions Specialist DuPont Elastomers 

Dave Berkebile Principal Engineer, Corporate 

Engineering 

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber 

Co. 

David Gustafson Environmental Air Issues 

Manager 

Dow Chemical 

Lloyd J. Tabary Environmental Manager DSM Copolymer 

 (e) General Guidelines. 

 Except for some equipment leaks provisions that only require 2-year retention, the 

Polymers & Resins I NESHAP requires that facility owners or operators retain records for a 

period of 5 years, which exceeds the 3-year retention period contained in the guidelines in 5 CFR 

1320.6. The 5-year retention period is consistent with the subpart A General Provisions of 40 

CFR part 63 and the retention requirement in the operating permit program under Title V of the 

CAA. All subsequent general guidelines have been followed and do not violate any of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act guidelines contained in 5 CFR 1320.6. 

(f) Confidentiality.

 All information submitted to the Agency for which a claim of confidentiality is made will 

be safeguarded according to the Agency policies set forth in Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 2, Subpart 

B--Confidentiality of Business Information (see 40 CFR 2; 41 FR 36902, September 1, 1976; 

amended by 43 FR 39999, September 28, 1978; 43 FR 42251, September 28, 1978; 44 FR 

17674, March 23, 1979).
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(g) Sensitive Questions. 

 This section is not applicable because this ICR does not involve matters of a sensitive 

nature. 

4. The Respondents and the Information Requested

(a) Respondents/NAICS Codes. 

Potential respondents under Subpart U are owners or operators of any existing or new 

Polymers & Resins I manufacturing facility that is a major source of HAP emissions. The source 

category and affected sources regulated by the Polymers & Resins I NESHAP are classified 

under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 2822, for synthetic rubber 

manufacturing. The corresponding North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 

code is 325212, for synthetic rubber manufacturing. 

 According to information included in recent Federal Register notices related to Residual 

Risk analyses1

, the Polymers & Resins I source category is estimated to consist of 19 existing 

facilities nationwide, all of which are major sources and would be subject to the major source 

provisions specified under the Polymers & Resins I NESHAP. No new major sources are 

projected during the 3-year period of this ICR. 

(b) Information Requested.

(i) Data Items, Including Recordkeeping Requirements. The rule contains a marketbased provision, "emissions averaging," that allows facilities flexibility to choose certain 

emissions points to control in order to achieve the required emissions reductions in the most cost 

effective manner possible. Attachment 1, Information Requirements, summarizes the data items, 

including recordkeeping and reporting requirements, for the Polymers & Resins I source 

category. 

(ii) Respondent Activities. The respondent activities that are required by the Polymers & 

Resins I NESHAP are identified in Table 2 (located at the end of this supporting statement) and 

are introduced in section 6(a). 

 

1 72 FR 70543, December 12, 2007; and 73 FR 60432, October 10, 2008.
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5. The Information Collected–Agency Activities, Collection Methodology, and 

Information Management

(a) Agency Activities.

 The Agency activities associated with the Polymers & Resins I NESHAP are provided in 

Table 4 (located at the end of this supporting statement) and are introduced in section 6(c). 

(b) Collection Methodology and Management. 

 Data and records maintained by the respondents are tabulated and published for use in 

compliance and enforcement programs of the delegated permitting authority. The applications 

for construction or reconstruction, notifications, precompliance reports, emissions averaging 

plans, descriptions of planned recordkeeping procedures, periodic reports, operating permit 

applications, performance test notifications and reports, and reports of startups, shutdowns, and 

malfunctions required under the final rule are used for problem identification, as a check on 

source operation and maintenance, and for compliance determinations. EPA is the permitting 

authority until the state agency is delegated authority to implement the rule. Therefore, 

information contained in the reports submitted to the Regional Administrator will be entered into 

the Air Facility System (AFS), which is operated and maintained by EPA’s Office of 

Compliance. AFS is EPA’s database for the collection, maintenance, and retrieval of 

compliance data for approximately 125,000 industrial and government-owned facilities. EPA 

uses the AFS for tracking air pollution compliance and enforcement by local and state regulatory 

agencies, EPA regional offices and EPA headquarters. EPA and its delegated authorities can 

edit, store, retrieve and analyze the data. 

(c) Small Entity Flexibility. 

The Small Business Administration defines a small entity as one that meets the Small 

Business Administration size standards for small businesses found at 13 CFR 121.201 (less than 

1000 employees for NAICS 325212). The preamble to the original final rule states that, at the 

time of the original promulgation, there were three Polymers & Resins I Manufacturing firms 

which qualified as small entities. At that time, EPA determined that annual compliance costs as 

a percentage of sales were less than one percent for all of the small entities affected by the 

regulation. Accordingly, the rule does not impose significant economic impact on a substantial 

number of small businesses, and small business considerations do not apply. 
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(d) Collection Schedule. 

 The specific frequency for each information collection activity within this request is 

shown in Table 2 for the Polymers & Resins I source category. 

6. Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection

(a) Estimating Respondent Burden.

 The annual burden estimates for the Polymers & Resins I NESHAP are shown in Table 2. 

These numbers were derived from estimates based on EPA’s experience with other standards. 

No burden estimates are provided for new sources because no new facilities are expected to 

become affected sources during the 3-year period of this ICR. 

(b) Estimating Respondent Costs.

 The information collection activities for the Polymers & Resins I NESHAP are presented 

in Table 2. Because the facilities are already in compliance with the rule, and no new sources 

are expected within the next 3 years, no respondent development costs are associated with the 

information collection activities. 

 Information collection requirements for one-time-only reports are not included in the 

burden calculations, because no new facilities are expected within the three-year ICR period. 

The estimates of total technical-hours per year per source and the number of activities per 

respondent per year listed in each table are based upon experience with similar information 

collection requirements in the HON and on the number of emission points in each source. 

(i) Estimating Labor Costs. Labor rates and associated costs are based on Bureau of 

Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Technical, management, and clerical average hourly rates for 

private industry workers were taken from United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 

Statistics for NAICS 325200, May 2009 information, available at 

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_325200.htm. Wages for technical labor are based on 

"Production occupations: Chemical Equipment Operators & Tenders" with a total compensation 

of $23.38/hour. Wages for management labor are taken from "Production occupations: Firstline supervisors/managers of production and operating workers" with a total compensation of 

$31.20/hour. Wages for clerical labor are based on "Office and administrative support 

occupations: Office clerks general" with a total compensation of $14.22/hour. These rates 

represent salaries plus fringe benefits and do not include the cost of overhead. An overhead rate 
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of 110 percent is used to account for these costs. The fully-burdened hourly wage rates used to 

represent respondent labor costs are: technical at $49.10, management at $65.52, and clerical at 

$29.86 Table 3 presents the labor rates used in the cost analysis. 

Table 3. 2009 LOADED LABOR RATES 

Labor Category 

Hourly 

earnings 

[$2009] Overhead Loaded 

Chemical Equipment Operators & 

Tenders 23.38 2.10 49.10 

First-line supervisors/managers 31.20 2.10 65.52 

Office clerks 14.22 2.10 29.86 

 

 (ii) Estimating Capital and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Costs. Because the 

existing facilities are already in compliance with the existing rule, and no new sources are 

expected within the next 3 years, there are no estimated capital costs or O&M costs associated 

with the information collection requirements of the existing provisions of the Polymers & 

Resins I Manufacture NESHAP. The proposed standards would require that 7 monitoring 

devices be purchased, installed, and operated at three facilities. The total cost for these capital 

expenditures is estimated to be $25,340, which is $8,447/year for the 3 year period. Operation 

and maintenance (O&M) costs associated with the cost of operating these monitoring systems is 

estimated to be $1,031/year. 

(iii) Annualizing Capital Costs. Annualized costs are calculated by multiplying the 

capital recovery factor by the capital cost. The capital recovery factor is 0.1098 based on an 

interest rate of 7 percent and an assumed equipment life of 15 years. The total annualized capital 

cost is $2,782.

(c) Estimating Agency Burden and Cost. 

 Because the information collection requirements were developed as an incidental part of 

standards development, no costs can be attributed to the development of the information 

collection requirements. Because reporting and recordkeeping requirements on the part of the 

respondents are required under the operating permits rules in 40 CFR part 70 or part 71 and the 

part 63 NESHAP General Provisions, no operational costs will be incurred by the Federal 

Government. Publication and distribution of the information are part of the Compliance Data 
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System, with the result that no Federal costs can be directly attributed to the ICR. Examination 

of records to be maintained by the respondents will occur incidentally as part of the periodic 

inspection of sources that is part of EPA’s overall compliance and enforcement program, and, 

therefore, is not attributable to the ICR. The only costs that the Federal government will incur 

are user costs associated with the analysis of the reported information, as presented in Table 4. 

 The Agency labor rates are from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 2009 

General Schedule which excludes locality rates of pay. These rates can be obtained from Salary 

Table 2009-GS available on the OPM website,

http://www.opm.gov/flsa/oca/09tables/html/gs_h.asp. The government employee labor rates are 

$15.40/hour for clerical (GS-6, Step 3), $28.45 for technical (GS-12, Step 1), and $38.35/hr for 

management (GS-13, Step 5). These rates were increased by 60 percent to include fringe 

benefits and overhead. The fully-burdened wage rates used to represent Agency labor costs are: 

clerical at $24.64; technical at $45.52, and management at $61.36. 

(d) Estimating the Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Costs. 

 There are an estimated 19 existing facilities that will be subject to the Polymers & Resins 

I NESHAP, and will conduct all monitoring, inspection, recordkeeping, and reporting (MIRR) 

requirements, including testing activities. No new sources are expected during the next 3 years. 

Consequently, the average annual number of Polymers & Resins I manufacturing facilities 

during the 3-year period of this ICR is 19. 

For the Polymers & Resins I NESHAP, the components of the total annual responses 

attributable to this ICR are assumed to be five responses per respondent per year. For each 

respondent, this represents two semiannual periodic reports, two semiannual leak detection and 

repair reports, and one other report per year. An example of this other report is a quarterly 

periodic report in cases where a respondent did not qualify for semiannual reporting. The 

number of total annual responses for subpart U is estimated as: 101. 
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(e) Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost Tables.

(i) Respondent tally. The bottom line respondent burden hours and costs, presented in 

Table 2 are calculated by adding person-hours per year down each column for technical, 

managerial, and clerical staff, and by adding down the cost column. The annual burden for the 

recordkeeping and reporting requirements in subpart U for the 19 existing facilities subject to the 

Polymers & Resins I Manufacturing NESHAP is 26,963 person-hours, with an annual labor cost 

of $1,153,540 and annualized capital costs of $5,992. 

(ii) The Agency tally. The average annual Federal Government cost is $47,707 for 1,075 

hours for subpart U. The bottom line Agency burden hours and costs presented in Table 4 

(located at the end of this supporting statement) are calculated by adding person-hours per year 

down each column for technical, managerial, and clerical staff, and by adding down the cost 

column. 

(iii) Variations in the annual bottom line. This section does not apply since no 

significant variation is anticipated. 

(f) Reasons for Change in Burden.

 This is a reinstatement of an expired collection. It also reflects the burden associated 

with proposed amendments. Overall, burden has decreased since the last approved collection. 

The estimated burden has decreased by 102,264 hours from 126,227 to 23,963 hours because the 

number of sources subject to the rule has decreased, and because all the sources subject to the 

rule are existing sources which no longer incur the one-time burdens associated with initial 

implementation of the rule. The values for the previously approved burden listed in this 

supporting statement (215 annual responses and 126,227 hours annually) are calculated from 

estimates of annual responses and labor values in Table 2 of the original Polymers & Resins I 

supporting statement (ICR No. 1746.01). 

 (g) Burden Statement 

 The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 237 hours per response. The average annual respondent burden for the 

Polymers & Resins I Manufacturing NESHAP is estimated at 1,261 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 
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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 in 40 CFR part 63 are listed in 40 CFR part 9. 

 To comment on the Agency’s need for this information the accuracy of the provided 

burden estimates, and any suggestions for minimizing respondent burden, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under 

Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0453, which is available for online viewing at 

http://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 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 holidays. 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 version of the public docket is available at 

http://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 one of 

the Docket ID Numbers 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, DC 20503, Attention Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the relevant Docket ID 

Number (EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0453) in any correspondence. 

PART B

 This section is not applicable because statistical methods are not used in data collection 

associated with the rule. 
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ATTACHMENT 1. INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS--NESHAP FOR POLYMERS AND RESINS I MANUFACTURING 

Requirement Citation for existing sources Citation for new sources General Provisions 

Notifications 

Notification of applicability N/A N/A 40 CFR 63.9(b)(2) Notification of construction/reconstruction §63.493(b)(2) §63.493(b)(2) 40 CFR 63.5 Notification of special compliance requirements N/A N/A N/A Notification of Anticipated date of initial starup §63.493(b)(2) §63.493(b)(2) N/A Notification of actual date of initial startup §63.493(b)(2) §63.493(b)(2) N/A Notification of performance test N/A N/A N/A Notification of opacity/VE observations N/A N/A N/A Additional CMS notifications N/A N/A N/A Notification of compliance status N/A N/A N/A Notification of changes in information N/A N/A N/A

Plans 

SSM plan §63.506(b)(1) §63.506(b)(1) 40 CFR 63.6(e)(3) Performance test plan N/A N/A 40 CFR 63.7(c)(2)(i) Bag leak detection system monitoring plan N/A N/A N/A CMS quality control plan N/A N/A N/A CMS performance evaluation test plan N/A N/A N/A 

Records 

Records of notifications §63.506(e) §63.506(e) 40 CFR 63.10 Records that demonstrate continuous compliance §63.506(d) §63.506(d) 40 CFR 63.10 Monitoring information §63.506(d) §63.506(d) 40 CFR 63.10 

Reports 

Reports of exceedences §63.493(e)(6) §63.493(e)(6) N/A Semiannual monitoring reports N/A N/A N/A Initial/repeat performance tests §683.486-6, 683.487-6, 487-7(e), 

63.491(i) 

§683.486-6, 683.487-6, 487-7(e), 63.491(i) 

40 CFR 63.7(g) 

Quality assurance test plan N/A N/A 40 CFR 63.7(c) CMS performance evaluation/report N/A N/A 40 CFR 63.8(e)(5) SSM reports N/A N/A 40 CFR 63.6(e)(3) Excess emissions reports N/A N/A 40 CFR 63.10(e)(3) Precompliance report §63.493(e)(3) §63.493(e)(3) N/A Emissions averaging plan §63.493(e)(4) §63.493(e)(4) N/A Statement of compliance/noncompliance §63.493(e)(5) §63.493(e)(5) N/A Exceedences of parameter boundaries §63.493(e)(7) §63.493(e)(7) N/A Changes in equipment or process increasing emissions above Standard requirements 

§63.493(e)(7) §63.493(e)(7) N/A 

Report of malfunction §63.493(e)(6) §63.493(e)(6) N/A Back-end process vents recordkeeping §63.487-5 §63.487-5 N/A Back-end process vents monitoring §63.486-3 §63.486-3 N/A Batch front-end process vents recordkeeping §63.486-5 §63.486-5 N/A Batch front-end process vents monitoring §63.487-4 §63.487-4 N/A