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Supporting Statement

for

Information Collection Request

Control of Evaporative Emissions from New and In-Use 

Portable Gasoline Containers (Renewal)

EPA ICR 2213.04

Compliance and Innovative Strategies Division

Office of Transportation and Air Quality

Office of Air and Radiation

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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PART A OF THE SUPPORTING STATEMENT

1. Identification of the Information Collection

(a) Title and Number of Information Collection.

"Control of Evaporative Emissions from New and In-Use Portable Gasoline Containers 

(Renewal)", ICR 2213.04, OMB 2060-0597. 

(b) Short Characterization.

Under regulations promulgated on February 26, 2007 (72 FR 8428; 40 CFR Part 59, 

Subpart F), manufacturers of new portable gasoline containers from 0.25 to 10.0 gallons in 

capacity are required to obtain certificates of conformity with the Clean Air Act. The rule applies 

to containers manufactured on or after January 1, 2009 (manufacturers and importers were given 

until June 30, 2009 and wholesale distributors until December 31, 2009 to dispose of stocks 

manufactured before January 1, 2009). Certificates are valid from the effective date until the end 

of the production period, with a maximum of five years. This ICR covers the burdens associated 

with the applications for certification and the required annual reports of successful warranty 

claims, based on experience during the first three years of the program. The applications are 

processed by the Compliance Division (CD), Office of Transportation and Air Quality, EPA. In 

essence, an application is in support of an emission limitation of 0.3 grams per gallon per day for 

the mandated five-year useful life of the container. Applicants submit test results conducted in 

accordance with the regulations, maintenance instructions and warranty information given to the 

purchasers, copies of the labels, and other information listed in section 4(b). Applications are 

submitted in no fixed format, although EPA did work with industry informally on application

questions and provided non-confidential versions of acceptable received applications (“FOIA 

applications”) as examples to other potential applicants. Applications are submitted 

electronically as a part of the EPA’s Verify certification information system. 

The current ICR approval is based on an estimated ten respondents for 213.2 hours and 

$20,439 in costs, including $10,519 in capital and O&M costs per year, the rest labor.

The burdens in this ICR are based on experience administering the program from January

1, 2009, through December, 2012. During that period, EPA has issued fifteen certificates to 

seven companies. All certificates were issued for five years. Annual warranty reports were due 

July 1, 2010. The portable fuel container companies have not experienced any emission related 

warranty claims, so no warranty reports have been received to date. The main changes from the 

prior ICR are the following: updating the agency burden estimate, labor costs, and the number of 

respondents and responses, including allowance for carry-over applications. The current request 

estimates eight respondents for 179.4 hours and $23,170 in costs, including $12,552 for capital 

and O&M costs, including the costs of conducting tests.

2. Need for and Use of the Collection

(a) Need/Authority for the Collection. 
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Statutory authority for the portable gasoline container controls is found in Sections 183(e) 

and 111 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. sections 7511b(e) and 7414. The EPA is required under 

Section 183(e) of the Clean Air Act (Act) to regulate Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)

emissions from the use of consumer and commercial products. Pursuant to Section 183(e)(3), 

the EPA published a list of consumer and commercial products and a schedule for their 

regulation on March 23, 1995 (60 FR 15264). Consumer products were included in Group I of 

the list, and standards were promulgated on September 11, 1998. In the Administrator's 

judgment, VOC emissions from the use of consumer products contribute to ground-level ozone 

formation in ozone non-attainment areas. Portable gasoline containers are a consumer product 

which has been shown to be deficient in preventing VOCs in the form of fuel vapors from being 

emitted into the air. The certification program for portable fuel containers was promulgated in 

2007 (72 FR 8533; February 26, 2007). The regulations appear in 40 CFR Part 59, Subpart F (40 

CFR §§ 59.600 - 59.699). 

The information in the application is needed to insure that the emission standard will be 

met during the useful life of the container and that the certified containers comply with the 

labeling, warranty, and other requirements of the regulations. The information is sufficient to 

allow the manufacture to aggregate containers of like design into one emission family. This 

saves the manufacturer the expense of testing models of similar but not identical design. The 

information is also detailed enough to allow subsequent recertification when a certificate has 

expired (“carry over”). 

The record keeping requirements are likewise in support of a demonstration that the

emissions family certified will meet the emission standard in the regulation. The records 

specified are to be provided to EPA upon request. 

The annual warranty reports are needed to assure that the containers survive normal use

and provide EPA important information on the success of its certification program, weaknesses 

therein, or examples or patterns of noncompliance. Cans showing excessive warranty claims 

could be candidates for in-use testing by EPA. Although EPA does not have the authority to 

recall portable fuel containers, the warranty information along with possible in-use testing by 

EPA could be used as grounds to withhold subsequent certification or to enter into enforcement 

action under the Clean Air Act. 

(b) Practical Utility/Users of the Information. 

Agency personnel will use the information collected to:

 Determine if a manufacture’s portable gasoline containers meet the emission standard 

when new;

 Allow the agency to issue a certificate of compliance to the manufacturer so that they can 

market the approved containers;

 Allow the agency to issue carry-over certificates waiving the testing process required for 

a new design;
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 Allow the agency to issue certificates to the manufacturer for containers that are 

substantially similar to the tested prototype and waive the testing process required for a 

new design (“carry across”);

 Provide information to the agency to indicate that the portable gasoline containers are 

meeting the standard in-use; and

 Provide information to the agency that a portable gasoline container design is not meeting 

the standard in-use and provide a basis on which to reject a manufactures application for 

that design in subsequent model years or take other appropriate action.

3. Non-duplication, Consultations, and Other Collection Criteria

(a) Non-duplication.

The information collected includes product and manufacturing specifications, testing

documentation, and successful warranty claims. Similar information is collected by the state of 

California and approximately 13 other states that have adopted the California Portable Fuel 

Container regulation1. However, the California regulation is different in several key areas that 

make the information unsuitable for information collection required for Federal rule. These are 

all due to the following differences in the standards and certification requirements in the two 

rules:

 The test fuel and the temperature cycles used in the Federal program are more in keeping 

with nationwide ambient temperatures and fuels, while those required in the California 

regulation are more suitable to California fuels and ambient conditions. 

 The Federal rule requires the reporting of successful warranty claims concerning fuel 

containers sold as certified under the rule. While the California regulation does require 

that the manufacturer issue warranties, it does not require them to report on the outcomes 

of successful claims against them.

These differences make the California data unsuitable for the Federal rule on fuel containers.

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

An announcement soliciting public comment on this ICR was published in the Federal 

Register on March 8, 2013 (78 FR 15010). A copy of the draft ICR was placed in the docket. No 

comments were received. 

(c) Consultations

For this renewal, EPA will consult the following individual: 

Organization Name Phone Number

 

1

“Certification Procedure for Portable Fuel Containers and Spill-Proof Spouts”, California Air Resources Board 

July 22, 2005
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Scepter USA. Phil Monckton 416-715-9445

For the prior ICR, we consulted the following individuals (Blitz has subseqently gone out 

of business).\: 

Blitz USA Dan Weibel 416-540-5153

No Spill, LLC Tom Cray 913-888-9200

Testing Services Group Andy Meloney 810-245-1600

Their responses were very helpful in developing this request. On the whole they approve of the 

EPA program and express frustration at the areas of the California program that differ from EPA, 

particularly the fuel specifications. Information from TSG on contract costs for testing and 

application preparation were particularly helpful. 

(d) Effects of Less Frequent Collection.

Certificates of conformity are issued for the production period of the models covered in 

the emissions family, not to exceed five years. All certificates to date have been issued for five 

years. However, when a fuel container design is a “carried over” or a new version of a container 

that is substantially similar to a current container (“carry across”), the amount of new 

information required is substantially reduced. Warranty reports are required by regulation to be 

submitted annually.

(e) General Guidelines.

This ICR adheres to the guidelines for Federal data requesters, as provided at 5 CFR 

1320.5(d)(2), with the exception that the regulation requires that records concerning the 

application for certification be maintained for 5 years (except for routine testing data for 1 year). 

The five-year requirement is consistent with the maximum production period and the consequent 

five-year duration of certificates. The retention is necessary to allow the agency to adequately 

monitor compliance. Information on successful warranty claims is required for the preceding 

model by July 1 of the following year. There is no requirement to report unsuccessful claims 

against container warranties. There is no requirement by EPA for the manufactures to retain that 

information beyond the extent necessary to report it annually. 

(f) Confidentiality.

Any information submitted to EPA for which a claim of confidentiality is made will be 

safeguarded according to EPA regulations at 40 CFR 2.201 Part 2, as stated explicitly in the 

regulations (40 CFR §59.695). The section sets fort how to make confidentiality claims and how 

documents raising confidentiality issues will be handled. 

(g) Sensitive Questions. 

This collection does not involve matters of a sensitive nature.
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4. The Respondents and the Information Requested

(a) Respondents/SIC and NAICS Codes. 

Respondents to this information collection are manufacturers of portable fuel containers. 

They fall within standard industrial classification (SIC) 3411 and within the North American 

Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code of 332431 (metal can manufacturing) or SIC 

3089, NAICS 326199 (all other plastic product manufacturing).

(b) Information Requested.

(i) Data items. 

The required data items are specifically enumerated in the regulations (40 CFR §59.623):

(a) Describe the emission family's specifications and other basic parameters of the 

emission controls. List each distinguishable configuration in the emission family. 

Include descriptions and part numbers for all detachable components such as 

spouts and caps.

(b) Describe and explain the method of emission control.

(c) Describe the products you selected for testing and the reasons for selecting 

them.

(d) Describe the test equipment and procedures that you used, including any

special or alternate test procedures you used (see §59.650).

(e) List the specifications of the test fuel to show that it falls within the required 

ranges specified in §59.650.

(f) Include the maintenance and use instructions and warranty information you 

will give to the ultimate purchaser of each new portable fuel container (see 

§59.613).

(g) Describe your emission control information label (see §59.615).

(h) State that your product was tested as described in the application (including 

the test procedures, test parameters, and test fuels) to show you meet the 

requirements of this subpart.

(i) Present emission data to show your products meet the applicable emission 

standards. Where applicable, §§59.626 and 59.627 may allow you to submit an 

application in certain cases without new emission data.

(j) Report all test results, including those from invalid tests or from any other 

tests, whether or not they were conducted according to the test procedures of 

§§59.650 through 59.653. We may ask you to send other information to confirm 

that your tests were valid under the requirements of this subpart.
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(k) Unconditionally certify that all the products in the emission family comply 

with the requirements of this subpart, other referenced parts of the CFR, and the 

Clean Air Act.

(l) Include estimates of U.S.-directed production volumes.

(m) Include the information required by other sections of this subpart.

(n) Include other relevant information, including any additional information 

requested by EPA.

(o) Name an agent for service located in the United States. Service on this agent 

constitutes service on you or any of your officers or employees for any action by 

EPA or otherwise by the United States related to the requirements of this subpart.

An additional reporting requirement is listed in 40 CFR §59.628(e):

(e) Send us an annual warranty report summarizing successful warranty claims by

emission family under §59.612, including the reason for the claim. You must 

submit the report by July 1 for the preceding calendar year.

There is also a one-to-one correspondence between the recordkeeping requirements and the 

requirements listed in the regulations (40 CFR §59.628):

(a) Organize and maintain the following records:

(1) A copy of all applications and any other information you send us.

(2) Any of the information we specify in §59.623 that you were not required to 

include in your application.

(3) A detailed history of each emission-data unit. For each emission-data unit, 

include all of the following:

(i) The emission-data unit's construction, including its origin and buildup, steps 

you took to ensure that it represents production containers, any components you 

built specially for it, and all the components you include in your application for 

certification.

(ii) All your emission tests, including documentation on routine and standard 

tests, as specified in §§59.650 through 59.653, and the date and purpose of each 

test.

(iii) All tests to diagnose emission-control performance, giving the date and time 

of each and the reasons for the test.

(iv) Any other relevant events or information.
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(4) Production figures for each emission family divided by assembly plant.

(5) If you identify your portable fuel containers by lot number or other 

identification numbers, keep a record of these numbers for all the containers you 

produce under each certificate of conformity.

(b) Keep data from routine emission tests (such as test cell temperatures and 

relative humidity readings) for one year after we issue the associated certificate of 

conformity. Keep all other information specified in paragraph (a) of this section 

for five years after we issue your certificate.

(c) Store these records in any format and on any media, as long as you can 

promptly send us organized, written records in English if we ask for them. You 

must keep these records readily available. We may review them at any time.

(d) Send us copies of any maintenance instructions or explanations if we ask for 

them.

By implication, the annual report of successful warranty claims includes a requirement to 

keep records of such claims on a yearly basis until July 1 of the following year. 

(ii) Respondent Activities. 

The applications are in no set format but generally follow the enumerated application 

requirements specified in §59.623 (see 4(b)(i) above). The respondent will have to document 

fuel container specifications in detail, such as physical size, shapes, materials, quality of 

component fit, and production methods, in submitting its application(s) for certification. The

respondent will also perform tests and keep records on them. The respondent must collect and 

keep information on successful warranty claims for annual reporting. The respondent must also 

retain records on the units produced, apply serial numbers to individual containers, and track the 

serial numbers to their certificates of conformity. Many of these activities are performed in the 

production of any modern consumer product, but clearly some of the information is uniquely

required by the fuel container regulation. 

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

Information Management.

(a) Agency Activities.

During the renewal period the most significant portion of EPA’s activity for the fuel 

container regulation will be spent reviewing new applications and renewal applications. Other 

activities include processing exceptions and answering questions concerning details of the testing 

and certification requirements, including researching the answers and communicating by email 

and telephone. Running change submissions must also be reviewed for possible impacts and 

manufacturers’ evaluations thereof. A part of this process involves determining if “carry over” or 

“carry across” of data from a previous model year or addition of a new container model to an 

existing emissions family is appropriate or instead that new testing will be required. EPA has the 

right to select a number of containers for testing to confirm that the cans are indeed meeting the 
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emissions standards, but no confirmatory testing burden is anticipated in this estimate. EPA will 

also be reviewing the annual submissions of successful warranty claims and processing 

exemption requests.

(b) Collection Methodology and Management.

Applicants submit their applications for certification in the document module of EPA’s 

Verify information system. All Verify users go through an initial registration process that 

includes submission of basic information and assignment of a manufacturer code. It is 

anticipated that warranty reports will also be submitted through the Verify document module, 

with no set format.

(c) Small Entity Flexibility.

There are several provisions for small entity flexibility in the regulations. Hardship 

deadline extensions for compliance with the standard are available where, due to circumstances

neither foreseeable nor preventable, compliance would jeopardize the solvency of the company. 

Exemptions are for up to one year and are renewable. There are also exemptions for containers 

intended only for export, used for the sole purpose of testing, or for national security. As with 

other certification programs, small as well as larger manufacturers have recourse to carry over 

and carry across. They may also request to use alternative testing methods or emissions data 

already collected using other procedures. The portable fuel container program currently collects 

no certification fees. 

(d) Collection Schedule.

The portable fuel container regulation applies to all fuel containers as defined in the 

regulations manufactured on or after January 1, 2009. Information collections are on a 

production period basis, five years in all cases so far. Warranty reports are on a calendar year 

basis, with reports due July 1 for the previous calendar year. 

6. Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection

These estimates represent the average annual burden that will be incurred by the affected 

industry during the three-year period beginning on September 30, 2013, with a margin for error. 

(a) Estimating Respondent Burden.

The previous ICR, 2213.03, estimated 213.2 hours and $9,920 in labor hours and labor 

costs and $10,519 in startup capital and O&M costs, for a total of $20,439 per year for ten 

estimated respondents, assuming a total of two applications per year. 

This ICR estimates 179.4 labor hours from eight manufacturers. This figure primarily 

reflects the following adjustments: we conservatively ask authorization to cover five applications 

per year, half of which are counted as carry-over applications (a conservative figure, as the actual 

figure is quite likely to be higher), and because warranty violations have not been reported so far, 

the labor associated with annual warranty reports is decreased. In addition, the number of 

manufacturers covered is reduced to 8. 
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This ICR does not include the costs of developing products that comply with the Clean 

Air Act, only the burdens of making the showing to EPA that they do. TSG, which does nearly 

all of the contract work, states that it charges under $2,000 for application preparation and 

submission and under $5,000 for testing work. Because the facility does a wide variety of testing, 

including for these clients, it is difficult to allocate these contracted costs among labor, capital, 

and O&M. 

This ICR uses $7,500 per application cost for new applications, allocated approximately

one third to labor and two thirds to the contractor’s remaining O&M costs, following the 

Regulatory Impact Analysis and the prior ICR. Carry-over applications only require labor costs, 

with no testing (O&M) costs. .

(b) Estimating Respondent Costs.

(i) Estimating Labor Costs

Rates for managers, mechanical engineer technicians, and administrative staff are from 

the May 2011 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates 

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_326100.htm , accessed January 8, 2013). With a overhead 

multiplier of 1.6, these are $85.44, $42.37, and $26.26, respectively. Applying these figures to 

the application, warranty, and record keeping labor totals above, the total labor cost is $9,116.

(ii) Estimating Capital and Operations and Maintenance Costs

The prior ICR included a one-time startup cost estimate of $519 per year for ten new 

manufacturer applicants. The current ICR assumes one new manufacturer with the startup cost 

allocated proportionately. We assume the same $5,000 in O&M costs, for testing, for 2.5 new 

applications per year, for a total O&M cost of $12,500 per year for the industry. 

(c) Estimating Agency Burden and Cost.

The program is now in place and the considerable startup efforts are in the past. One

hour per application by a GS 13, Step 10, EPA employee is estimated for review of the portable 

fuel container certifications. There are no secretarial or database management costs, as these too 

small to differentiate from the very much larger Verify baseline as part of the motor vehicle 

certification IC. The EPA employee cost is $86.96 per certification review. The EPA labor 

estimate is based on Office of Personnel Management SALARY TABLE 2009-DET

(http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/pdf/salhr.pdf ). For five applications per year the estimated 

annual Agency burden is $434.80. We anticipate nominal effort in eliciting and reviewing 

warranty action reports, which to date have included only notice of no warranty actions, 

estimated at an average of one hour for each of a maximum of 8 report per year for a total of 

$695.68. The current estimate includes no new hardship and national security exemption 

determinations. The agency total is therefore ten hours and $1,130.48. 

(d) Estimating the Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Costs 
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The following assumptions were used to estimate the respondent universe and total 

burden and costs for industry to comply with the various requirements of the rule.

 The estimated ten manufactures of fuel containers for the domestic market from 

the prior ICR is reduced to eight. So far seven manufacturers have applied for 

certificates, one has gone out of the business, and four are currently active, with 

one new entry expected. 

 . We conservatively anticipate 25 applications in the next five years, or five 

applications a year. 

 We conservatively expect half the applications over the next five years to be 

carry-over applications requiring no testing. As many as 90 percent of 

applications could be carry-over, which would reduce the testing O&M costs from 

those presented in this estimate. 

 Manufactures will continue to contract for testing services and most certificate 

application preparation.

(e) Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost Tables.

(i) Respondent Tally 

RESPONDENTS 8

BURDEN HOURS 179.4

LABOR COST $9,116

OPERATING COST $12,500

CAPITALIZED COST $ 52

TOTAL COST $21,668

(ii) Agency Tally 

EMPLOYEES 1

STARTUP $0

LABOR HOURS 13

LABOR COST $ 1,130

(f) Reasons for Change in Burden. 

The program is now mature and startup costs have largely already been incurred, except 

for one new expected entrant. Similarly, at least half of the certification applications are expected 

to be carry-overs. No warranty violation report has been received, so warranty report 

applications are expected to be less time consuming. The number of manufacturers is reduced 

from ten to eight. These reductions are partially offset by an increase from two to five in the 

number of applications per year covered by this authorization, to provide a margin of error for 

fluctuations in the small number of manufacturers and certifications in this industry. 
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(g) Burden Statement

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

is estimated to average 14 hours respondent. 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 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 No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0118, which is available for online viewing at 

www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information 

Center Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue, 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 and Radiation 

Docket and Information Center is (202) 566-1742. An electronic version of the public docket is 

available at www.regulations.gov . Use this site 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. Once in the system, 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, NW, Washington, 

DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID No. EPA-HQOAR-2013-0118 and OMB Control Number 2060-0597 in any correspondence.