Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255-0007
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2008-12-15T05:00Z

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR AN

INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST (ICR)

1.	IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION

1(a)  	Title of the Information Collection

TITLE:  Foreign Purchaser Acknowledgment Statement of Unregistered
Pesticides

OMB No. 2070-0027			EPA No. 0161.11

1(b) 	Short Characterization/Abstract

This information collection program is designed to enable the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide notice to foreign
purchasers of unregistered pesticides exported from the United States
that the pesticide product cannot be sold in the United States.  Section
17(a)(2) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA) (Attachment A) requires an exporter of any pesticide not
registered under FIFRA section 3 or sold under FIFRA section 6(a)(1) to
obtain a signed statement from the foreign purchaser acknowledging that
the purchaser is aware that the pesticide is not registered for use in,
and cannot be sold in, the United States.  A copy of this statement must
be transmitted to an appropriate official of the government in the
importing country.  This information is submitted in the form of annual
or per-shipment statements to the EPA, which maintains original records
and transmits copies thereof to appropriate government officials of the
countries which are importing the pesticide.

The burden for this information collection has been constant since the
implementation of the 1993 pesticide export policy governing the export
of pesticides, devices, and active ingredients used in producing
pesticides.  EPA is including in this renewal of the information
collection request an estimate of the burden imposed by export labeling
requirements, which meet the definition of third-party labeling.

NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION

2(a)	Need/Authority for the Collection

This information is required to be submitted to EPA pursuant to section
17(a)(2) of FIFRA.  Regulations pertaining to exporting pesticides are
contained in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 168,
Subpart D (Attachment B).



2(b)	Practical Utility/Users of the Data

Section 17(a)(2) of FIFRA requires all exporters of unregistered
pesticides to obtain signed statements from their customers
acknowledging that they are aware that their purchased products are not
registered in the United States.  Hence, one use of this collection
activity is in assuring that foreign purchasers of pesticides produced
in the U.S. are aware of the products’ U.S. registration status.

When such statements are submitted to EPA, the Agency is provided with a
record of foreign destinations of domestically produced unregistered
products.  This is important to enable the Agency to assure that such
products, which are produced in the U.S. but cannot be legally sold for
use in the U.S., have been legally distributed.

In addition, such statements are required by statute to be directed
onward to the appropriate government officials in importing countries. 
Officials of foreign governments can use this information to verify how
many shipments of a particular pesticide are being sent to their
country.  This information is extremely useful in countries which do not
have the resources to maintain extensive import records or control
systems.

3.	NON DUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS, AND OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA

3(a)	Non duplication

The submission of purchaser acknowledgment statements is a statutory
provision which must be met before unregistered pesticides may be
exported.  This information is in turn required by statute to be sent to
the governments of importing countries.

With the current system, EPA recognizes that repeated submissions of
purchaser acknowledgment statements involving the same country,
purchase, and chemical would be duplicative, except in regards to
identifying the number of shipments to which they apply.  For this
reason, EPA only requires this statement to be submitted once per year
and that the exporter provides summary information indicating the number
of shipments which apply to each submitted statement.  This eliminates
the redundancy that would be associated with the submission of identical
acknowledgment statements, while still providing EPA and foreign
governments with full information regarding the number of shipments in
the calendar year.

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

In proposing to renew this ICR, EPA published a Federal Register Notice
on July 11, 2008 (73 FR 33081) and provided a 60-day public notice and
comment period.  The Agency received one public comment from an entity
that requested clarification on the scope of the document retention
requirement set forth at 40 C.F.R 40 C.F.R.§ 169.2(h) for Foreign
Purchaser Acknowledgment Statements and other documents related to the
importation of unregistered pesticides under FIFRA Section 17.  This
request for clarification is specific to language contained in
regulatory requirements, and does not specifically address the
supporting statement for this information collection request. 
Additionally, since this public comment did not provide information
related to the burden estimates and did not contest the renewal of this
ICR, no adjustments were made to the ICR based on these comments.  EPA
also engaged in consultation with stakeholders as listed in section 3(c)
of this supporting statement.  This formal public comment is an
attachment (Attachment E) to this supporting statement.

3(c)	Consultations

In addition to the public notice that EPA published in the Federal
Register concerning the renewal of this ICR, the Agency consulted, as
required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), with stakeholders who actively
interact with the Agency through the use of this collection instrument. 
EPA staff contacted four relevant stakeholders and asked them for their
assessment of the regulatory burden estimates expressed by the Agency in
this ICR.  EPA consulted with the following individuals:  

BASF

Wendy Bair-Johnson

919-547-2611

Bedoukian Research, Inc

Joseph Bania

203-830-4000

Dow AgroSciences

Kristi Speheger

317-337-5392

Monsanto

Clyde Livingston

314-694-1538

	Publicly Available Data

	All respondents indicated that the data was not available from any
public source, nor collected by another office at EPA or another agency.
 

	Frequency of Collection

	BASF suggested that it may be less burdensome to report twice (first,
the annual projection, and second, the actual export information). 
Additionally, Dow indicated that allowing the exporter to submit the
Foreign Purchaser Acknowledgement Statements every 30 days (instead of
the required 7 working days after the exporter’s receipt of the
document) could for a more efficient collection and predictable
transmittal of information.

	Clarity of Instructions

	Monsanto indicated that while instructions are fairly clear, there were
several issues related to labeling, annual submission of FPAS during
periods of unintentional noncompliance (delays in shipping, etc), and
formal definition of a “foreign purchaser”.  While unrelated to the
underlying burden and cost estimates, the Agency plans to discuss these
issues with the stakeholder.

	Electronic Reporting and Recordkeeping

	Monsanto, BASF, and Dow AgroSciences are interested in pursuing
electronic reporting, as a more efficient alternative to paper-based
reporting.  Electronic reporting options could include a secure
electronic transmission through the Agency’s Internet site or secure
email message to an Agency contact point.  A separate respondent stated
that due to existing internal procedures, a change to electronic
reporting could incur additional costs.  

	

	Burden and Costs

	The respondents indicated that the burden and labor cost estimates, as
stated in the ICR, were reasonable and accurate.  Several respondent
stated that export policy compliance costs (control points to the order
and shipping process ) and excess labeling requirements per shipping
pallet could be more accurately capture in the estimates.

	The consultation feedback was utilized during the renewal period for
this information collection.  A copy of the general questions
(Attachment F) and record of consultations (Attachment G-J) are included
as attachments to this supporting statement.

3(d)	Effects of Less Frequent Collection

By offering the compliance option of annual reporting, EPA is offering a
less frequent information collection to reduce the burden of
per-shipment reporting.  Further reduction, i.e., to a one-time
submission for the life of the product or otherwise to a frequency of
less than once a year would damage the correlation of statements with
the actual regulatory status of pesticide products, which may change
from year to year.  Unless statements are renewed on an annual basis, it
becomes difficult for the purchaser to know whether the regulatory
status of the product has changed from the previous year, or for foreign
governments to determine whether or not the regulatory status reflected
in the most current statement reflects the actual regulatory status of
the product.

The annual summaries provide EPA with the ability to monitor compliance
with the requirements of section 17(a).  Currently, such records need be
kept for only two years.  Since the summaries are submitted at the end
of an applicable year, less frequent submissions would occasionally
result in the necessary records not being available to validate
submissions.

3(e)	General Guidelines

The following do not apply to this information collection request:

reports of quarterly or greater frequency.

records required to be maintained for more than three years.

statistical surveys.

written responses to this information collection required less than 30
days after receipt.

required specific format.

submission of more than an original and two copies of the information
collected.

remuneration to be received by the respondents for the information
submission.

In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(iii)(E), federal agencies are
required to indicate whether the proposed collection of information
involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and an
explanation of the decision. 

At this time, there are no practicable automated information submission
techniques (e.g., electronic reporting) available under this information
collection activity that can ensure the authenticity and security of an
electronically-signed a foreign purchaser acknowledgment.  Additionally,
there is no mechanism currently in place to ensure that foreign
governments will accept electronic notifications from the United States
demonstrating compliance (including electronic information about the
foreign purchaser acknowledgment, such as the electronic signature) with
40 CFR 168, Subpart D.

3(f)	Confidentiality

Although the EPA urges submitters to minimize the amount of claimed
Confidential Business Information (CBI), all data and/or information
brought to the Agency in conjunction with this rule that may be claimed
as trade secret, commercial or financial information will be protected
from disclosure by EPA under FIFRA section 10 and the associated
regulation as contained in 40 CFR Part 2, Subpart B.  Confidential
business information may be required to be submitted in the case where a
business wishes to export an unregistered research pesticide product.

EPA recognizes that the chemical identity of the product may require
protection as confidential business information, but believes that it is
essential that the Agency nevertheless be able to accurately identify
the nature of the product, both for domestic compliance monitoring and
to meet possible future requirements under the Rotterdam Convention on
the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. The name of the foreign
purchaser is generally afforded CBI treatment in the United States, but,
according to statute, must be reported to the government of the
importing country.  EPA is aware that foreign governments consider the
name of the purchaser in their country to be the most useful information
transmitted with the export notice.

Aside from the name and address of the foreign purchaser, no information
required to be submitted in purchaser acknowledgment statements is
considered to be confidential.  EPA has -specifically stated that
certain information which could be considered confidential is not
included in the statements.  Specifically, the identity of a product
under research and development may be identified by use of
identification codes which protect proprietary information.   EPA also
is not requiring that the acknowledgment statements, the estimates, or
the annual summaries indicate the amount of product shipped or to be
shipped, since this information may be confidential.  The actual fact
that shipments occur is not considered to be confidential since the
statute clearly requires that such submission be made to EPA, and that
such statements be transmitted to foreign governments, where it is not
possible for EPA to protect confidentiality.

3(g)	Sensitive Questions

No information of a sensitive nature is required to be submitted.

4. 	 THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

4(a)      Respondents - NAICS Codes

Respondents affected by the collection activities under this ICR are
individuals or entities who either manufacture and export or who
reformulate or repackage and export unregistered pesticides.  The North
American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to the
parties responding to this information is as follows: 

Category	

NAICS code	

Examples of potentially 

affected entities

Pesticide and other agricultural chemical manufacturing

	

325320	

Individuals or entities engaged in activities related to the
registration of a pesticide product.

4(b)	Information Requested

There are no forms for this activity.  In preparing the statement, the
exporter is free to format the document in any manner as long as it
includes all of the required information.  The exporter must obtain the
signed statement from the foreign purchaser before the pesticide can be
shipped.

(i)	Data items, including record keeping requirements

Foreign Purchaser Acknowledgment Statement (FPAS)

The respondent must ascertain the registration status of the product
that is being produced for export.  After determining that an exported
product is not registered in the Untied States, the exporter must obtain
a statement of the type described in item 3(b)(i) from the foreign
purchaser of the pesticide product.  This will normally require that the
exporter provide the purchaser with a prepared statement for signature
or with instructions that are adequate to ensure that the purchaser can
prepare the statement.

If the exporter anticipates making more than one shipment of the product
to the purchaser in a given year, the exporter may elect to notify EPA
only at the time of the first shipment and to choose to comply with the
annual reporting option, which requires the submission of an annual
summary of shipments of pesticides shipped to each purchaser.

The FPAS must contain the following information:

Name and address of exporter.

Name and address of foreign purchaser.

Name of product and active ingredient.

Statement that foreign purchaser is aware that the product is not
registered for use in the United States and cannot be sold for use in
the United States.

If known, country of final destination of the exported shipment if
different from country of import.

Signature of foreign purchaser.

Date that purchaser acknowledgment statement is signed by foreign
purchaser.

Certification that shipment did not occur prior to receipt of Purchaser
Acknowledgment Statement 

Exporter’s signature.

Third Party Notification Requirements; Export Labeling

The following information must be included on the labels or labeling of
exported pesticides:

EPA pesticide producing establishment number.

Warning or caution statements.

The statement “Not Registered for Use in the United States of
America.”  The labels of all pesticides, devices, and active
ingredients which are not registered for use in the United States under
FIFRA section 3 must include this statement.

The ingredient statement.

Identity of parties.

Weight or measure.

Additional warning for highly toxic pesticides.

Use classification statement.

Multilingual labeling requirement

The following labeling information must be multilingual:

Warning and caution statements.

Where applicable, the statement “Not registered for use in the United
States of America.”

Ingredient statement

If the pesticide, device or active ingredient is highly toxic to humans,
the skull and crossbones, the word “Poison,” and a statement of
practical treatment must appear on the label.  The word “Poison” and
the statement of practical treatment shall be in English and in an
acceptable language of the country of import, and in an acceptable
language in the country of final destination, if known or reasonably
ascertainable.

(ii)	Respondent Activities

A. 	Submission of Foreign Purchaser Acknowledgment Statement

The exporter is required to send a copy of the purchaser acknowledgment
statement to EPA within 7 days of having shipped the pesticide, along
with a signed statement that the shipment did not occur prior to receipt
of the purchaser acknowledgment statement.  In addition, if the exporter
chooses the annual reporting option, he or she must include a statement
that the FPAS is for the first shipment of a pesticide to a particular
purchaser in a specific country, and that the exporter will report this
information annually.  Where an exporter chooses to comply with the
annual summary reporting option, a summary must be sent after the end or
the calendar year which lists all shipments of a particular pesticide
shipped to a particular foreign purchaser.  It is not required for the
statement to be shipped in time for EPA to notify the importing country
prior to arrival of the pesticide.

Submission of a purchaser acknowledgment statement does not require the
maintenance of any records unique to this section.  All records needed
to ensure and verify compliance with this requirement are required under
section 8 of FIFRA.  The recordkeeping burden related to this
requirement is covered under another ICR.

B.	Exemption of research and development pesticides

Records supporting research and development status must include
information regarding research intent of the shipment as well as
information indicating knowledge that the quantity being shipped is
consistent with research intent.  Persons claiming an exemption from the
FPAS requirement for the export of research and development products
must maintain records which support the R&D claim for each shipment so
claimed.  In its policy, EPA has limited research claims only to
shipments where it is unlikely that the quantity shipped could have a
significant commercial use.  Thus the records must be sufficient to
support the claim that the quantity shipped is only sufficient for use
within the limits of the policy.  This can be done either in the form of
communications received from the purchaser before or on the date of
export or in the form of instructions sent to the purchaser before or on
the date of export.

Alternatively, the exporter may retain records which indicate that the
quantity shipped is compatible with the claim that the amount can only
be used as provided in the policy.  Such information could include test
results, literature citations, or other information which supports the
claim.

At the time of shipment, the exporter must produce a record of the
identity, amount, and date that the pesticide was shipped, the
destination and purchaser, and the intended research use.  Most of this
information is provided in copies of or original invoice/shipping
records normally maintained for such products.  Note that records of
shipment of pesticides are already required to be maintained under FIFRA
section 8.  Other documentation supporting research use is generally
available as typical business practice and should not impose additional
burden to maintain with shipping records.  Records of shipment and
confirmation of research intent must be maintained and made available
for inspection and copying by EPA for two years following the
exportation of the pesticide.

C.	Export labeling

Every exported pesticide, device, and active ingredient used in
producing a pesticide must bear a label or labeling which meets the
requirements of FIFRA section 17(a)(1).  This requirement applies to all
such pesticides, devices, or active ingredients, regardless of whether
the export is for commercial or research and development use.

The specific requirements for the labeling of exported pesticides are
described above.  The required label statements may be met through
either immediate container labels, or accompanying supplemental
labeling, or through a combination of the two.  EPA included
supplemental labeling as an option to ease the compliance burden of this
requirement.  Rather than prepare individual product labels with the
necessary information, the exporter can attach a paper to the shipping
container, e.g., attaching a paper to the shrink wrap around multiple
containers on a shipping pallet.

Exporters are also required to keep records of the product labeling
used, including the EPA registered labeling, any foreign labeling on or
attached to the product when shipped, and as applicable, any
supplemental labeling used.  The records shall be maintained in a manner
that shows exactly which labels and labeling accompanied each shipment
of a pesticide product to a foreign country.

5.	THE INFORMATION COLLECTED -- AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION
METHODOLOGY, AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

5(a)	Agency Activities

EPA is required to perform the following activities:

Respond to questions submitted by respondents

Receive submissions of acknowledgment statements, certification
statements, notifications of shipments and summaries of shipments

Review submissions for completeness

Transmit submissions of acknowledgment statements, notifications and
summaries of shipments to appropriate government officials of importing
countries

Maintain a file of all submissions

Respond to requests for the information

5(b)	Collection Methodology and Management

EPA maintains a file of all submitted acknowledgment statements.  This
file includes the following for each submitted statement: 

Copy of the purchaser acknowledgment statement and certification that
shipment did not occur before receipt of statement by exporter; 

Copy of the delivery receipt and the date that the statement was signed
and delivered to EPA; 

Date that the statement was forwarded to the appropriate government
official and agency of the importing country; and 

Copy of the estimate summary of the number of shipments to be made in
association with that statement.

EPA reviews its files annually for completeness, following the
submission of annual summaries of shipments, by referencing
establishment reporting records for apparent discrepancies.  EPA targets
inspections based on such apparent discrepancies to determine whether a
violation under FIFRA has occurred.

5(c)	Small Entity Flexibility

Under this reporting requirement, small entities must follow the same
collection procedures as large companies. However, EPA provides
flexibility in the formatting of submissions which will reduce the
proportionately higher burden which would be placed on occasional
submitters by strict requirements.  In addition, the Agency allows
respondents to determine the method of obtaining the purchaser
acknowledgment statement.  Finally, respondents are allowed flexibility
in choosing between annual estimates and summaries or per-shipment
statements.



5(d)	Collection Schedule

Not applicable.  The activity is conducted only as purchaser
acknowledgment statements are received.  There is no set schedule for
the collection of this information.

6.	ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION

6(a)	Estimating Respondent Burden

The overall respondent burden hours associated with this collection
total 24,492 hours per year.  This figure shows a decrease of 208 burden
hours from the previous ICR. The difference is due to a decrease in
average number of respondents per calendar year from 2005-2007. 

The requirements to be fulfilled under this ICR consist of two parts:
submission of the Foreign Purchaser Acknowledgment Statements (FPAS);
and the third party notification export labeling requirement.  The third
party labeling requirement is further subdivided into labeling
requirements for unregistered exported pesticide products and
multilingual labeling for registered exported pesticide products.  

(i)	Estimating the Respondent Burden of the FPAS Requirement

This ICR renewal includes a respondent burden estimate of 2,242 hours
for the FPAS requirement.  This figure is based on the average of 2,304
notices received annually, pursuant to the export policy, from
2005-2007.  Table 1 presents the expected labor mix required and a
breakdown of the FPAS collection activities per respondent.  The
clarifications regarding record keeping ensure compliance will not
result in additional burden since all such records are either already
required to be kept under FIFRA Section 8 or are maintained in the
normal course of business.  Exporters who feel that per-shipment
submissions represent undue burden may choose to report annually.  The
per-shipment notification and annual summary requirements of this option
are based on records of production and shipment records already required
by regulations under FIFRA Section 8, so such information will be
readily available to exporters, who may submit it without reformatting
or special preparation.  These annual submissions may be included as
part of the annual submission of acknowledgment statements and thus
would result in minimal burden.

Table 1.	Respondent Burden/Cost: Submission of FPAS

Collection Activity	

Burden Hours (per year)	

Total

	

Mgmt

$103.62/hr	

Technical

$67.05/hr	

Clerical

$33.85/hr	

Hours	

Cost ($)

Read Regulations	

0.08	

0.00	

0.00	

0.08	

8.29

Plan Activities	

0.00	

0.08	

0.00	

0.08	

5.36

Gather Information	

0.00	

0.08	

0.00	

0.08	

5.36

Process, compile and reveal information	

0.00	

0.16	

0.00	

0.16	

10.73

Complete paperwork	

0.00	

0.25	

0.25	

0.50	

25.23

Record, disclose & display information	

0.00	

0.00	

0.08	

0.08	

2.71

Store, maintain and file information	

0.00	

0.00	

0.08	

0.08	

2.71

TOTAL	

0.08	

0.57	

0.41	

1.06	

60.39

ANNUAL BURDEN:	1.06 hrs (64 minutes) X 2,304 respondents = 2442 hours
per year

ANNUAL COSTS: $60.39 X 2,304 respondents = $139,139 per year

(ii)	Estimating the Respondent Burden of the Third Party Notification
Export Labeling Requirement

It is estimated that one-quarter of the pesticides exported from the
U.S. are not registered for use in the United States.  Approximately 900
unregistered pesticide products are exported annually.  To estimate the
total number of registered pesticides exported from the U.S. annually,
EPA multiplied by four the number of unregistered pesticide products. 
Multiplying this by four gives an estimated total of 3,600 pesticide
products (registered and unregistered) exported annually.

As discussed above, certain information must be included on the labels
or labeling of exported pesticides.  The labeling requirements may be
met by supplemental labeling attached to either the product container or
the shipping container.

Table 2.  	Respondent Burden/Cost: Unregistered Exported Pesticide
Product Labeling

Collection Activity	

Burden Hours (per year)	

Total

	

Mgmt

$103.62/hr	

Technical

$67.05/hr	

Clerical

$33.85/hr	

Hours	

Cost ($)

Read Regulations	

0.50	

0.00	

0.00	

0.50	

51.81

Design Labels	

0.00	

2.00	

0.00	

2.00	

134.10

Translate Labels	

0.00	

5.00	

0.00	

5.00	

335.25

Complete Paperwork and Store Information	

0.00	

0.00	

0.50	

0.50	

16.93

TOTAL	

0.50	

7.00	

0.50	

8.00	

538.09

ANNUAL BURDEN:	8 hours x 900 unregistered products = 7,200 hours

ANNUAL COSTS: $538.09 x 900 unregistered products = $484,281

	

	Certain information must be provided in the languages of the country or
countries of final destination.  EPA estimates that it will take
respondents approximately 5.5 hours to meet the multilingual labeling
requirement for each product.  EPA estimates that to prepare one label
in one language would take approximately one hour.  In reviewing the
major destinations of export shipments, EPA estimates that most labels
would be in one or more of the following languages: French, Spanish,
German, Taiwanese, and Portuguese.

Table 3.  Respondent Burden/Cost: Multilingual Product Labeling,
Registered Pesticide Product Exports

Collection Activity	

Burden Hours (per year)	

Total

	

Mgmt

$103.62/hr	

Technical

$67.05/hr	

Clerical

$33.85/hr	

Hours	

Cost ($)

Translate Labels	

0.00	

5.00	

0.00	

5.00	

335.25

Complete Paperwork and Store Information	

0.00	

0.00	

0.50	

0.50	

16.93

TOTAL	

0.00	

5.00	

0.50	

5.50	

352.18

ANNUAL BURDEN:	 5.5 hours x 2700 exported registered products = 14,850
hours

ANNUAL COSTS:  $352.18 x 2700 exported registered products = $950,886

6(b)	Estimating Respondent Cost

	When estimating labor rates for OPP ICR renewals in recent years, the
Agency generally adjusted the labor rate estimates used in the previous
renewals by using methods such as the NASA Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Deflator Inflation Calculator to index the labor cost for a particular
year.  However, for this ICR renewal, Agency economists developed
completely new estimates of wages, benefits and overhead for all labor
categories for affected industries, state government, and EPA employees.
 The goal is to use a transparent, consistent methodology and current,
publicly-available data, to provide more accurate estimates and allow
easy replication of the estimates.

	Methodology:	The methodology uses data on each sector and labor type
for an Unloaded wage rate (hourly wage rate), and calculates the Loaded
wage rate (unloaded wage rate + benefits), and the Fully loaded wage
rate (loaded wage rate + overhead).  Fully loaded wage rates are used to
calculate respondent costs.  This renewal uses 2006 base data.

	Unloaded Wage Rate:  Wages are estimated for labor types (management,
technical, and clerical) within applicable sectors. The Agency uses
average wage data for the relevant sectors available in the National
Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at   HYPERLINK
"http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm" 
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm .  

	Sectors: The specific North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) code and website for each sector is included in that sector’s
wage rate table.  Within each sector, the wage data are provided by
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).  The SOC system is used by
Federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational
categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating
data (see   HYPERLINK "http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm" 
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm  ).  

	Loaded Wage Rate: Unless stated otherwise, all benefits represent 43%
of unloaded wage rates, based on benefits for all civilian non-farm
workers, from   HYPERLINK "http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm"
 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm . However, if other
sectors are listed for which 43% is not applicable; the applicable
percentage will be stated.

	Fully Loaded Wage Rate: We multiply the loaded wage rate by 50% (EPA
guidelines 20-70%) to get overhead costs.

A copy of the formula work sheets used to re-estimate the labor rates
and to derive the fully loaded rates and overhead costs for this all of
the respondents (registrants) and the Agency for this ICR renewal are
listed in Attachment D.

The total annual respondent cost for this ICR is estimated to be
$1,574,306.  This estimate is composed of the following costs:  $139,139
for the FPAS requirement, $484,281 for labeling of unregistered
pesticides, and $950,886 for labeling of registered pesticides.

6(c)	Estimating Agency Burden and Cost

Agency costs for this information collection activity are minimal, and
include only the record keeping associated with the receipt of the
acknowledgment statements and costs associated with the transmittal of
acknowledgment statements to the appropriate government official in the
importing country.  EPA estimated hourly burden at .57 hours (around 35
minutes) per statement. 

Table 4.	Agency Processing Burden for FPAS Requirement

Collection Activity	

Hours	

Annual Cost ($)

	Technical

$66.88/hr

	

Receive, review acknowledgment statements for completeness, and enter in
log book	

0.08	

5.35

Data entry of information in acknowledgment statements	

0.25	

16.72

Make necessary copies and transmit submission to appropriate government
officials of importing countries	

0.16	

10.70

Maintain a file of all submissions	

0.08	

5.35

TOTAL	

0.57	

38.12

ANNUAL BURDEN:	2,304 statements x 0.57 hours = 1,313 hours 

ANNUAL COSTS: 2,304 statements x $38.12 = $87,829

6(d) 	Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost

(i)  Respondent Burden

					

FPAS     						2,442 Hours

Labeling						7,200 Hours

Multilingual Labeling	         		          14,850 Hours

Total Annual Respondent Burden	          24,492 Hours

(ii)       Agency Burden

The distribution of this burden for specific tasks is described in the
table describing the Agency tally in Table 4 above.

Table 5.	Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost

	

	TOTAL

	

	Hours	

	Costs

Respondent Burden Estimate	

24,492	

$1,574,306

Agency Burden Estimate	

 1,313	

$87,829

6(e)	Reason for Changes in Burden

The annual reporting and recordkeeping burden expressed in this renewal
ICR is 24,492 hours.  This estimate reflects a decrease of 208
respondent burden hours under the number of hours in the currently
approved information collection.  The adjustment reflects the decrease
in average annual number of respondents per calendar year from
2005-2007.  The decrease in annual reporting and recordkeeping cost is
an adjustment that reflects the Agency’s new estimates of wages,
benefits and overhead for all labor categories for affected industries,
state government, and EPA employees.

6(f)	Burden Statement

Annual respondent burden for this collection of FPAS information
requirements is estimated to average 1.06 hours (around 65 minutes) per
response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection
of information.  The 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 Agency has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255, which is available for online viewing at  
HYPERLINK "http://www.regulations.gov"  www.regulations.gov , or in
person viewing at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One
Potomac Yard (South Building), 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. 
This docket facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays.  The docket telephone number is (703)
305-5805.  You may submit comments regarding 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.  

Comments may be submitted to EPA electronically through
http://www.regulations.gov or by mail addressed to Director, Collection
Strategies Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2822T), 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20460.  You can also 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.  Include docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255 and OMB control number 2070-0027 in any
correspondence.  

	Attachments to the Supporting Statement

Attachment A	FIFRA section 17 - Imports and Exports - This attachment
can be accessed via the Internet at:
http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/regulating/fifra.pdf

Attachment B		40 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 168, Subpart D
-Section 168.75 Procedures for exporting unregistered pesticides --
purchaser acknowledgment statements - This attachment can be accessed
via the Internet at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/40cfr168_04.html

Attachment C	Display Related to OMB Control #2070-0027 - Listing of
Related Regulations in 40 CFR Part 9.1 - this attachment is available as
part of the electronic docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

Attachment D	Work Sheets to Calculate Industry and EPA Labor Costs -
this 	attachment 

	is available as part of the electronic docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

Attachment E	Public Comment - this attachment is available as part of
the electronic 

	docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

Attachment F	Consultation:  List of Standard Questions - this attachment
is available as 	

	part of the electronic docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

Attachment G	Consultation:  BASF - this attachment is available as part
of the electronic 

	docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

Attachment H	Consultation:  Bedoukian Research, Inc. - this attachment
is available as

	part of the electronic docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

Attachment I	Consultation:  Dow AgroSciences - this attachment is
available as part of

	the electronic docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

Attachment J	Consultation:  Monsanto - this attachment is available as
part of the 

	electronic docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0255.

 However, most research and development shipments are exempt from the
requirement.

 OMB Control No. 2070-0028; EPA ICR 0143.10 Recordkeeping Requirements
for Producers of Pesticides under section 8 of the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)

April 30, 2008

September 16, 2008

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