Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEI-2002-0013-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2003-02-25T05:00Z

1
SUPPORTING
STATEMENT
1.
IDENTIFICATION
OF
THE
INFORMATION
COLLECTION
(
a)
Oral
and
Written
Purchase
Orders,
EPA
ICR
No.
1037.07,
OMB
Control
no.
2030­
0007.
The
current
ICR
expires
February
28,
2003.

(
b)
When
orally
soliciting
vendors
for
potential
placement
of
a
purchase
order,
using
simplified
acquisition
procedures,
an
EPA
purchasing
agent
contacts
vendors
by
phone
and
requests
information
concerning
their
small
business
status
(
whether
or
not
the
firm
is
a
small
business
in
accordance
with
the
standards
set
forth
by
law),
unit
prices
of
the
items
they
offer,
point
of
delivery
and
delivery
time.
If
the
purchasing
agent
does
not
already
know,
he/
she
will
ask
for
the
vendor's
address
and
a
point
of
contact.
The
purchasing
agent
records
the
information
received
by
hand
or
by
typing
on
EPA
Form
1900­
8
or
1900­
13.
EPA
Form
1900­
8,
when
signed
by
the
contracting
officer,
becomes
a
record
of
the
purchase
order.
The
information
concerning
the
successful
offeror
recorded
on
EPA
Form
1900­
13
must
be
transferred
to
Optional
Form
347
and
signed
by
the
contracting
officer
for
an
official
purchase
order
record.

Information
for
written
quotations
is
requested,
usually
by
mail,
from
vendors
on
Standard
Form
18,
Request
for
Quotations.
Standard
Form
18
is
used
in
accordance
with
Federal
Acquisition
Regulation
(
FAR)
52.215­
1(
a),
as
prescribed
by
the
General
Services
Administration
(
GSA).
Vendors
complete
the
form
and
mail
it
back
to
the
purchasing
agent.
The
successful
offeror's
information
is
transferred
to
Optional
Form
347,
Order
for
Supplies
and
Services,
which
is
used
in
accordance
with
FAR
52.213(
e),
as
prescribed
by
GSA.
In
accordance
with
5
CFR
Part
1320.16
(
a)(
2),
GSA
is
the
agency
responsible
for
submitting
burden
estimates
on
these
forms.

While
copy
2
of
EPA
Form
1900­
8
can
be
used
as
a
purchase
order
for
supplies
or
services,
not
all
orders
awarded
by
EPA
are
recorded
on
this
form.
Optional
Form
347,
addressed
above,
is
the
more
frequently
used
form.
Form
1900­
8
is
used
primarily
for
internal
Agency
procurement
requests.
Vendors
do
not
see
EPA
Form
1900­
8
unless
it
is
used
to
confirm
the
purchase
order
award.
When
the
form
is
used
to
record
a
purchase
order
award,
the
information
provided
by
the
vendor
is
filled
in
by
the
purchasing
agent
and
copy
2
of
the
form
is
provided
to
the
vendor.

2.
NEED
FOR
AND
USE
OF
THE
INFORMATION
(
a)
Need/
Authority
for
the
Collection:

FAR
Subpart
13.307
describes
the
types
of
forms
which
may
be
used
for
simplified
acquisitions.

(
b)
Use/
Users
of
the
Data:
2
Data
collected
for
oral
and
written
orders
will
be
used
to
award
a
purchase
order
using
simplified
acquisition
procedures.
EPA
financial
offices
will
use
the
data
as
a
basis
for
the
payment
of
invoices
submitted
by
the
vendor.

3.
THE
RESPONDENTS
AND
THE
INFORMATION
RECEIVED
(
a)
Respondents/
North
American
Industry
Classification
System
(
NAICS)
Codes
Respondents
are
businesses,
both
profit
and
non­
profit.
They
represent
a
wide
variety
of
NAICS
Codes
depending
on
the
Agency's
requirements.
Typically
this
includes,
but
is
not
limited
to,
422110,
Stationary
Products,
334111,
Computers,
and
421420
Office
Machines.

(
b)
Information
Requested
(
i)
Respondents
are
asked
to
provide
the
price
of
their
products,
small
business
status,
point
of
delivery,
delivery
time,
company
address,
and
point
of
contact.

(
ii)
In
order
to
provide
this
information,
respondents
must
have
a
company
price
list
available,
or
other
method
of
providing
a
firm
price
to
the
purchasing
agent.
Developing,
recording
and
maintaining
a
price
list
is
a
customary
business
practice.
The
following
activities
are
performed
in
responding
to
EPA's
request
for
a
quote:

­
listen
to
questions
set
forth
by
purchasing
agent
­
research
for
specific
prices
­
provide
prices,
orally
and
written,
to
purchasing
agent
4.
THE
INFORMATION
COLLECTED
­
AGENCY
ACTIVITIES,
COLLECTION
METHODOLOGY,
AND
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
(
a)
Purchasing
agents
call
to
request
information
from
the
vendor
and
record
this
information
on
either
EPA
Form
1900­
8
or
1900­
13.
After
the
contracting
officer
has
approved
award
of
the
purchase
order,
he/
she
may
sign
EPA
Form
1900­
8
as
the
award
document
or
the
information
may
be
transferred
to
Optional
Form
347
to
be
used
as
the
award
document.
One
copy
of
the
award
document
will
be
retained
in
the
purchasing
office.
Other
copies
will
be
distributed
to
the
paying
office
and
to
the
vendor.

(
b)
When
the
Agency
uses
oral
solicitation
procedures,
the
vendor
does
not
actually
complete
any
forms.
Instead,
he/
she
provides
information
orally
to
the
purchasing
agent
who
records
it
on
the
EPA
Form
1900­
8.
On
the
other
hand,
the
Agency
uses
the
Standard
Form
18
"
Request
for
Quotations"
for
written
quotes.
The
Standard
Form
18
is
sent
by
mail
to
the
vendors
to
complete
and
mail
back
to
the
purchasing
agent
with
their
written
quote.
The
purchasing
agent
transfers
the
successful
offeror's
information
to
Optional
Form
347,
Order
for
Supplies
and
Services,
to
complete
the
award..
3
(
c)
SMALL
ENTITY
FLEXIBILITY:
Separate
or
further
simplified
requirements
for
small
entities
are
not
practical.
All
responses
are
voluntary,
and
the
information
collection
is
only
the
minimum
necessary
to
ensure
that
the
respondent
has
the
potential
capability
and
desire
to
supply
the
Agency
with
the
requested
goods
or
services.
Because
the
information
required
is
necessary
to
complete
an
award,
an
alternate
collection
of
information
for
small
businesses
is
not
appropriate.

(
d)
This
information
is
collected
on
an
"
as
needed"
basis
when
there
is
an
Agency
requirement
for
a
certain
product
or
service.

5.
NONDUPLICATION,
CONSULTATIONS,
AND
OTHER
COLLECTION
CRITERIA
(
a)
Nonduplication
Optional
Form
347
contains
the
same
information
required
in
the
purchase
order
section
of
EPA
Form
1900­
8.
However,
FAR
13.307
permits
agencies
to
develop
their
own
purchase
order
forms.
EPA
does
not
use
the
Optional
Form
347
if
the
EPA
Form
1900­
8
is
used
as
the
award
document.

(
b)
Consultations
For
the
renewal
of
this
ICR,
the
following
vendors
were
contacted
to
discuss
collection
activities:

Name
Affiliation
Phone
Ms.
Crystal
Joyce
Faxworld
(
703)
532­
4500
Mr.
Nehemiah
Spence
GP
Solutions
(
410)
244­
8548
Mr.
Ken
Strunk
Hawthorne,
Inc.
(
703)
548­
4040
c/
o
Omnifics
The
majority
of
vendor
estimates
for
the
time
to
research
a
response
to
a
request
for
an
oral
quotation
was
15
minutes.
All
individuals
consulted
felt
that
the
information
collected
was
reasonable
and
not
burdensome.

(
c)
Effect
of
Less
Frequent
Collection
Responses
are
only
required
on
a
voluntary
basis
when
an
Agency
need
for
a
product
or
service
arises.

(
d)
General
Guidelines
EPA
Forms
1900­
8
and
1900­
13
adhere
to
all
Office
of
Management
and
Budget
(
OMB)
guidelines
for
information
collection,
with
the
exception
of
requiring
the
same
information
from
4
small
entities
as
other
respondents.

(
e)
Confidentiality
and
Sensitive
Questions
Vendor
responses
become
a
part
of
the
purchase
order
documentation
and
are
not
considered
confidential.
No
sensitive
information
is
required.

(
f)
Public
Notice
Required
Prior
to
ICR
Submission
to
OMB:
The
Federal
Register
document
required
under
5
CFR
1320.8(
d),
soliciting
comments
on
this
collection
of
information
was
published
on
July
26,
2002,
64
FR
35150.
No
comments
were
received.

6.
ESTIMATING
THE
BURDEN
AND
COST
OF
COLLECTION
(
a)
Estimating
Respondent
Burden
(
i)
Labor
costs
Collection
Activity
Minutes
Cost
1.
Listen/
Read
purchasing
agent's
request
5
$
1.60
2.
Research
response
5
1.60
3.
Provide
response
to
purchasing
agent
5
1.60
TOTAL
15
$
4.80
TOTAL
BURDEN:
$
4.80
per
response
x
28,462
responses
=
$
136,618.
TOTAL
BURDEN
HOURS:
15
minutes
per
response
x
28,462
responses/
60
minutes
=
7,116
hours.

Hours
to
complete
response
are
based
on
established
times
provided
by
the
firms
consulted
in
section
5
and
Agency
experience.
The
hours
identified
include
written
and
verbal
responses
to
agency
requests
for
quotes.
An
average
salary
for
vendor
/
salesperson
is
estimated
to
be
$
16.04
an
hour.
This
is
based
on
the
rate
used
in
the
previous
clearance
($
15.57)
multiplied
by
a
factor
of
3%
per
year
to
reflect
wage
increases
since
1999.
The
total
number
of
responses
is
derived
from
doubling
the
total
number
of
purchase
orders
issued
by
the
Agency
in
the
preceding
12
month
period
to
reflect
the
historical
average
of
receiving
at
least
two
responses
per
oral
and
written
purchase
order.
Normally,
at
least
three
vendors
are
contacted,
but
depending
upon
dollar
value,
an
average
of
two
information
collections
per
award
has
been
estimated.

(
ii)
Capital/
Start­
up
Costs
5
Because
it
will
not
be
necessary
for
respondents
to
acquire
any
capital
goods
to
provide
the
requested
information,
EPA
estimated
no
incurred
capital/
start­
up
costs.

(
iii)
Operating
and
Maintenance
Costs
Operating
and
maintenance
costs,
which
include
such
items
as
file
storage,
photocopying,
and
postage,
are
negligible.

(
b)
Estimating
Government
Burden
(
i)
Labor
Costs
Collection
Activity
Minutes
Rate
Cost
1.
Request
response
from
vendor
5
$
19.85
$
1.65
2.
Fill­
in
response
on
form
15
19.85
4.96
3.
Review/
signature
5
35.21
2.93
4.
Distribute/
file
5
19.85
1.65
TOTAL
30
$
11.19
TOTAL
BURDEN:
$
11.19
per
response
x
28,462
responses
=
$
318,490
TOTAL
BURDEN
HOURS:
30
minutes
per
response
x
28,462
responses/
60
minutes
=
14,231
hours.

Burden
estimates
are
based
on
current
use
of
the
form.
A
purchasing
agent,
GS­
07,
completes
steps
1,
2,
and
4.
The
hourly
rate
for
a
purchasing
agent
was
calculated
using
the
Office
of
Personal
Management's
hourly
salary
table
for
general
schedule
employees
for
2002.
The
median
hourly
rate
for
a
GS­
07
($
17.11)
was
multiplied
by
a
factor
of
1.16
for
benefits
to
yield
a
rate
of
$
19.85.
A
contracting
officer
completes
step
3
above,
review
and
signature
of
the
form.
To
determine
the
hourly
rate,
the
median
hourly
rate
for
a
GS­
12
($
30.35)
was
multiplied
by
the
benefits
factor
of
1.16
for
an
hourly
rate
of
$
35.21.
The
total
number
of
responses
is
derived
from
doubling
the
total
number
of
purchase
orders
issued
by
the
Agency
in
the
preceding
12
month
period
to
reflect
the
historical
average
of
receiving
at
least
two
responses
per
oral
and
written
purchase
order.
Normally,
at
least
three
vendors
are
contacted,
but
depending
upon
dollar
value,
an
average
of
two
information
collections
per
award
has
been
estimated.

(
c)
Reasons
for
Changes
in
Burden
In
the
last
OMB
clearance,
respondent
burden
hours
were
was
estimated
at
9,373
6
hours.
The
current
estimate
is
7,116
hours
for
an
overall
decrease
of
2,257
hours.
Below
is
a
comparison
of
the
last
OMB
approval
to
the
present
request.

Prior
Approval
Present
Request
18,746
purchase
orders
14,231
purchase
orders
37,492
responses
28,462
responses
15
minutes
per
response
15
minutes
per
response
The
number
of
purchase
orders
issued
per
year
has
decreased
over
the
past
three
years
by
4,515
purchase
orders.
This
decrease
is
attributed
to
processing
micropurchases
(
under
$
2,500)
by
use
of
the
Government­
wide
Commercial
Purchase
Cards.

7.
BURDEN
STATEMENT
The
annual
public
reporting
and
recordkeeping
burden
for
this
collection
of
information
is
estimated
to
average
15
minutes
per
response.
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.

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.
OEI­
2002­
0013,
which
is
available
for
public
viewing
at
the
Office
of
Environmental
Information
(
OEI)
Docket
in
the
EPA
Docket
Center
(
EPA/
DC),
EPA
West,
Room
B102,
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
OEI
Docket
is
(
202)
566­
1752.
An
electronic
version
of
the
public
docket
is
available
through
EPA
Dockets
(
EDOCKET)
at
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
edocket.
Use
EDOCKET
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.
OEI­
2002­
0013
and
OMB
Control
Number
2030­
0007
in
any
correspondence.