**ENVIRONMENT AL**  **PROTECTION AGENCY**  **[EP A**  **- HQ** 

**– OAR**  **- 2005**  **- 0161; FRL**  **- ]**  **Pr oposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request**  ; **Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) Pr**  **ogram AGENCY** **:** Environmental Protection Agency (EP A). **ACTION:** Notice. **SUMMAR**

**Y:** The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), “Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) Program” (EP A ICR No. 23 33
. 03 , OMB Control No. 2060
- 06 40 ) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq .). Before doing so, EP A is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a “RENEW AL ” of the ICR, which is currently ap proved through June 31, 2013. An 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
. **DA TES:**  Comments must be submitted on or before [ insert dat e 60 day s after publication in the Federal Register ]. **ADDRESSES:** Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EP A
- HQ
- OAR
- 2005
- 0161 online using www .regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air Docket in the EP A Docket Center in Wa shington, DC (EP

A/DC). The docket is located in the EP A We st Building, 1301 Constitution Av enue, NW

, Room 3334, and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday

, excluding legal holiday s, or by mail to: EP

A Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency , Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Av e., NW , W ashington, DC 20460
. EP A's policy

is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change including an y personal information provided, unless the comment include s profanity , threats,information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose

disclosure is restricted b y statute. **FOR FUR**

**THER INFORMA**

**TION CONT**

**ACT :**  Geanetta Heard, Environmental Protection Specialist, Fuels Complianc e Center , 6406J E nvironmental Protection Agency , 1200 Pennsylvania A

ve., NW , W ashington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202
- 343
- 9017 fax number: 202
- 343
- 2800; email address: heard.geanetta@epa.gov
. **SUPPLEMENT**

**AR Y**  **INF ORMA** 

**TION:** Supporting documents which expl ain in detail the information that the EP A will be collecting are available in the public docket for this I CR. The docket can be viewed online at
www .regulations.gov or in person at the EP A Docket Center, EP

A We st, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Av e., NW , W ashington, DC. The telephone number for the Docket Center is 202
- 566
- 1744. For additional information about EP A’ s public docket, visit http://www .epa.gov/dockets. Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, EP A is soliciting comments and information to enable it to: (i) evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency , including whether the information will have practical utility ; (ii) evaluate the accuracy of the Agency 's est imate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology

and assumptions used; (iii) enhance the quality , utility , and clarity

of the information to be collected; and (iv) minimize the burden of the collectio n of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology , e.g., permitting electronic submission of respon ses. EP A will consider the comments received and amend the IC R as appropriate. The final I CR package will then be submitted to OMB for review and approval. At that time, EP

A will issue another Federal Register notice to announce the submission of the I CR to OMB and the opportunity to submit additional comments to OMB.Abstract : EP

A would like to continue to collect annual compliance reports from the obligated party , quarterl y reports for all EMTS users , generation and assignment of RINs quarterl y reports from biofuels producers and importers and third part y disclosure reports from biofuel feedstock producers by way of the Agency ’s CDX
. The recordkeeping and reporting of this regulation will allow EP A to monitor compliance with the RFS program. W e inform respondents that they may assert claims of business confidentiality

(CBI) for information they submit in accordance with 40 CFR 

### § Part 2203. Form Numbers: RFS0103: RFS2 Q1 2012 Activity Report RFS0104: RFS2 Activity Report RFS0201: RFS1 RI

N T ransaction Report (onl y if RFS1 RI Ns were bought, sold, retired, or reinstated) RFS0600: RFS2 Renewable Fuel Producer Supplemental Report (if appli cable) RFS0701: RFS2 Renewable Fuel Producer Co
- products Report RFS0801: RFS2 Renewable Biomass Report RFS0901: RFS2 Production Outlook Report EMTS: RFS2 RIN Transaction Report EMTS: RFS2 RIN Generation Report (Equivalent to RFS0400) RFS0301: RFS2 2010 Annual Compliance Report RFS0302: RFS2 201 1 Annual Compliance Report EMTS: RFS2 RIN Transaction Report Respondents/affected entities: Producers of Renewable Fuels, Importers, Obligated Parties, Parties who own RI NS (including foreign RIN owners) Respond ent’ s obligation to r

espond: mandatory

Sections 1 14 and 208 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 7414 and 7542 Estimated number of r

espondents: 2,092,731 Fr equency of r

esponse: Quarterl y To tal estimated bur

den: 6,379,263 hours (per ye ar). Burden is d efined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b) T otal estimated cost: $ 60,459,623 (per ye ar), includes $ 320 annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.Changes in Estimates: At the onset of the RFS2 program, EMTS for RINs were not a feature of RFS1.

For the new EM TS sy stem, all parties who owned RI Ns were required to re
- submit their application, disclose feedstock sources, prepare quarterl y reports on RI N activity and submit annual compliance reports (obligated part y only). Re
- submittal provisions are no longer re quired which will cause a decrease in total responses for this I CR. EMTS users will not be burdened to submit more reports in this information collection, unlike the previous. The total responses for industry dropped from 4,525,625 to 2,092,731 a dif ference of 2,432894 , now that the final rule is no longer requiring re
submissions or quarterly

reports for certain part y members. T o date, biofuels producers and importers
are required to submit quarterl y reports along with their third part y disclosur e on feedstock producers to EP A. All users of the EMTS sy stem are required to submit quarterly RIN reports. The number of respondents or users of the EMTS sy stem has more than doubled from 1,059,326 to 2,092,731 an increase of 1,639,992, caused b y the additional response burden for mapping foreign and domestic plantation/forest land owners and foreign biofuel feedstock producers which was not reflected in the previous I CR reporting period. Wi th an increase of respondents, total burden hours have incre ased by

more than 4 million costing the industry $60,459,623 a decreased of $47,882,366. Th e reduction in the total cost for th is renewal is due to the fact that the EMTS sy stem’ s automation structure helps users to prepare reports instantly , lessening th e amount of time and cost needed to respond , even with more than a million added users. This notable factor increased the industry burden hours but, will lower the total cost of this information collection request i f renewed
. Dated: ____________________ _________________

___________________________________________ By ron Bunker, Director Tr ansportat i on and Regional Programs Division