Document ID: EPA-HQ-RCRA-2011-1014-0004
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2012-03-15T04:00Z

Summary of Regulatory Flexibility Analyses
                      Conducted in Coordination with the
           Economic Impacts Assessment for Proposed Revisions to the
             Export Provisions of the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Rule
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                 Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery
                 Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
                     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

 
Regulatory Flexibility Act Requirements

      The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), requires EPA to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for any rule that will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (i.e., small businesses, small governments, and small non-profit organizations).  However, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required if the Administrator certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.  SBREFA further requires EPA to provide a statement of the factual basis for certifying that a rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
      
Summary Discussion of Analyses and Results
      
      The Agency has examined the final rule's potential effects on small entities as required by the RFA/SBREFA.  We have determined that the rule will not result in a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.  This determination was made by comparing annual compliance costs under the rule to the relative average annual sales of small businesses in the industrial sectors most likely to be affected by the rule.  According to the U.S. Small Business Administration's small business size standards, firms in most of these industry sectors are classified as a "small business" if they have fewer than 750 employees.  However, for purposes of this analysis, we determined that this threshold may be too high and could mask the potential effects on the smallest, most vulnerable firms.  Therefore, the Agency relied upon a far more conservative approach and selected a threshold for firms with fewer than 20 employees instead of the official standard of 750.  
      
      As summarized in the Executive Summary of the Economic Impact Assessment conducted in Nov. 2011 for the proposed revisions to the Export Provisions of the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Rule, the estimated costs of the rule are very minor.  Our analyses found that only approximately 138 CRT Exporters would be affected by the proposed revisions (including roughly 12 whom export CRTs for recycling with the remaining 126 exporting CRTs for purposes of reuse).  The proposed revisions vary for those exporters that recycle vs. those that reuse CRTs.  Annual compliance costs for all CRTs exporters (including both those that export for purposes of recycling and/or reuse) ranged from $2,286 to $4,453 in the baseline.  Then, there is an additional total annual cost of approximately $2,500 for just those 12 firms that export CRTs for recycling. Lastly, the one-time cost expected to be incurred by all exporters to familiarize themselves with the rule totals $39,000.  When annualized and considered on a per facility basis, the costs for "CRT Reusers" ranges from $57.54 to $72.51 per facility, while that for "CRT Recyclers" ranges from $265.87 to $280.84.  As reflected in Exhibit 1, when considered together this results in costs as low as $57.54 and as high as $280.84 (depending on the type of exports).  
      
      Further displayed in Exhibit 1 are typical numbers of facilities in 4 specific industrial sectors viewed to be most representative of CRT Exporters.  The numbers shown reflect estimates of the numbers of facilities with less than 20 employees, as well as their Annual Sales.  As shown in Exhibit 1, for firms with fewer than 20 employees, the annual compliance cost as a percentage of annual sales is less than 0.1 percent. Therefore, the final rule will not have a significant economic impact on these firms. Based on the above, the Agency has determined that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 

                                          Exhibit 1
                   Evaluation of the Economic Impacts on Small Businesses
                                       
                                Industry Sector
                                  NAICS Code
                 Number of Firms with Fewer than 20 Employees
                     Annual Sales Per Facility (2007$) [a]
     Range of Annual Compliance Costs for both CRT Recyclers & Reusers
                                    ($) [b]
                Annual Compliance Cost as a Percentage of Sales
CRT Rule 
 
 
 
                                      Low
                                     High

                        Recyclable Material Wholesaler 
                                    423930 
                                     5133 
                                  2,636,310 
                                     57.54
                                    280.84
                              0.002%  to  0.01% 

                        Materials Recovery Facilities 
                                    562920 
                                     621 
                                   971,543 
                                     57.54
                                    280.84
                              0.006%  to  0.03% 

       Recyclable Material Collection Services, Solid Waste Collection 
                                    562111 
                                     5620 
                                  1,014,036 
                                     57.54
                                    280.84
                              0.006%  to  0.03% 

                            Other Waste Collection 
                                    562119 
                                     457 
                                   423,059 
                                     57.54
                                    280.84
                              0.015%  to  0.07% 

      [a]  Based on 2002 U.S. Census Bureau data, updated to 2007 dollars using the GDP Implicit Price Deflator (1.15) .
      [b]   Based on an annual compliance cost calculated as the aggregate annual costs incurred by all CRT exporters, importers and transporters, divided by the total number of affected entities.  First year costs were annualized over 10 years using a discount factor of seven percent.