SUPPORTING STATEMENT
                                    FOR THE
                            PART 70 STATE OPERATING
                                PERMITS PROGRAM

                                 Jeff Herring
                            Operating Permits Group
                          Air Quality Policy Division
                 Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
                          Office of Air and Radiation
                 United States Environmental Protection Agency
                 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711

                             SUPPORTING STATEMENT
                                    FOR THE
                            PART 70 STATE OPERATING
                                PERMITS PROGRAM

                               TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                           Page

1.	IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION	1
1(a)	Title of the Information Collection Request (ICR)	1
1(b)	Short Characterization/Abstract	1
2.	NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION	2
2(a)	Need/Authority for the Collection	2
2(b)	Practical Utility/Users of the Data	2
2(c)	Caveats and Considerations	2
3.	NON-DUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS AND OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA	3
3(a)	Non-Duplication	3
3(b)	Public Notice Required Prior to ICR Submission to OMB	3
3(c)	Consultations	3
3(d)	Effects of Less Frequent Collection	5
3(e)	General Guidelines	5
3(f)	Confidentiality	5
3(g)	Sensitive Questions	5
4.	THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED	5
4(a)	Respondents/ Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes	5
4(b)	Information Requested	6
4(b)(i) Data items, including recordkeeping requirements	6
4(b)(ii) Respondent activities	6
5.	THE INFORMATION COLLECTED  -  AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT	8
5(a)	Agency Activities	8
5(b)	Collection Methodology and Management	8
5(c)	Small Entity Flexibility	8
5(d)	Collection Schedule	9
6.	ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION	10
6(a)	Estimating Respondent Burden	10
6(b)	Estimating Respondent Costs	11
6(b)(i)	Estimating Labor Costs	11
6(b)(ii)	Estimating Capital and Operating and Maintenance (O&M) Costs	13
6(b)(iii)	Capital/Start-up vs. O&M Costs	13
6(b)(iv)	Annualizing Capital Costs	14
6(c)	Estimating Agency Burden and Cost	14
6(d)	Estimating the Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Costs	15
6(e) 	Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost Tables	21
6(e)(i) Respondent Tally	24
6(e)(ii) The Agency Tally	26
6(e)(iii) Variations in the Annual Bottom Line	26
6(f) Reasons for Change in Burden	27
6(g) Burden Statement	28
Attachment 1:  ASSUMPTIONS FOR PART 70 ICR RENEWAL	30

Attachment 2:  TITLE V OF THE CLEAN AIR ACT, THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR
                         THE RESPONDENT INFORMATION	34

Attachment 3:  ANALYSIS OF PART 70 STATE PROGRAM EVALUTIONS FOR ICR RENEWAL
                        PURPOSES (1587.07)	43

Attachment 4:  FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE	48

                                LIST OF TABLES

	Page

Table 1.	Average Source Burden by Activity	10

Table 2.	Average Permitting Authority Burden by Activity	11

Table 3.	Average EPA Burden by Activity	14

Table 4.	Baseline Burden and Cost of EPA Activities	15

Table 5.	 Identification of Affected Entities and Permit Issuance Schedule	17

Table 6.	Baseline Burden and Cost of Source Activities	19

Table 7.	Baseline Burden and Cost of Permitting Authority Activities	20

Table 8.	Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the FAP Rule for Sources	22

Table 9.	Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the FAP Rule for Permitting Authorities	22

Table 10.	Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the FAP Rule for the EPA	22

Table 11.	Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the GHG Tailoring Rule for Sources	24

Table 12.	Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the GHG Tailoring Rule for Permitting Authorities	24

Table 13.	Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the GHG Tailoring Rule for the EPA	24

Table 14.	Calculation of Bottom Line Average Annual Respondent Burden Hours	25

Table 15.	Calculation of Bottom Line Average Annual Respondent Cost (2011$) 	25

Table 16. Bottom Line Average Annual Respondent Burden and Cost (2012-2015)	26

Table 17.	Calculation of Bottom Line Average Annual Burden Hours and Cost for the EPA	26

Table 18.	Burden Change from 2007 ICR to Current ICR (Hours)	28

Table 19.	Burden Statement (Hours)	29

1.	IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION

1(a)	Title of the Information Collection Request (ICR)

This analysis is titled: "Supporting Statement for the Part 70 State Operating Permits Program." It fulfills the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to determine, report and periodically update the regulatory burden associated with the Operating Permits Program, codified in 40 CFR part 70. This report has been assigned EPA tracking number 1587.12. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number for this ICR is 2060-0243.

1(b)	Short Characterization/Abstract

Title V of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) requires states to develop and implement a program for issuing operating permits to all sources that fall under any CAA definition of "major source" and certain other non-major sources that are subject to federal air quality regulations. The Act further requires the EPA to develop regulations that establish the minimum requirements for those state operating permits programs and to oversee their implementation. The EPA regulations setting forth requirements for the operating permits programs to be implemented by state and local agencies were codified at 40 CFR part 70 on July 21, 1992.

The activities that will occur during the period of this ICR include:
   * Permitting authorities issuing the remaining initial permits;
   * Sources submitting semiannual monitoring and annual compliance certification reports;
   * Permitting authorities reviewing those reports;
   * Sources submitting applications for permit revisions;
   * Permitting authorities processing permit revisions;
   * Sources applying for permit renewal;
   * Permitting authorities renewing permits;
   * Newly subject sources submitting permit applications; and
   * Permitting authorities issuing new initial permits.

All of these data are made available for public review and comment. The activities to carry out these tasks are considered mandatory and necessary for implementation of title V and the proper operation of the part 70 Operating Permits Program. The information will also be available for public inspection at any time in the offices of the permitting authorities.

The EPA anticipates the average annual burden of the part 70 program over the 3 years of the ICR for subject sources to be approximately 4.0 million hours at a cost of $251 million for labor with no capital or start-up costs expected. This represents the burden for 15,940 sources, or approximately 250 hours and $15,700 per source per year. The Agency estimates the average annual burden of the part 70 program over the 3 years of the ICR for permitting authorities to be approximately 1.3 million hours at a cost of $72 million for labor with no capital or start-up costs expected (about 84 hours and $4,500 per source per year). The average annual burden for the federal government, i.e., the EPA, over the 3 years of the ICR will be approximately 36,500 hours and $1.9 million in labor costs (about 2 hours and $120 per source per year).

2.	NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION

2(a)	Need/Authority for the Collection

In implementing title V of the Act and the EPA's part 70 operating permit regulations, state and local permitting authorities must develop programs and submit them to the EPA for approval (section 502(d)). Sources subject to the program must prepare operating permit applications and submit them to the permitting authority within 1 year after approval of the program by the EPA (section 503). Permitting authorities will then issue permits (section 503(c)) and thereafter enforce, revise and renew those permits at no more than 5-year intervals (section 502(b)(5)). Permit applications and proposed permits will be provided to, and are subject to review by, the EPA (section 505(a)). The permit and all information submitted by a source shall be available for public review except for confidential information which will be protected from disclosure (section 503(e)) and the public shall be given public notice of, and an opportunity for comment on, permit actions (section 502(b)(6)). Sources will submit monitoring reports semiannually and compliance certification reports annually, to the permitting authorities (section 503(b)(2)). The EPA has the responsibility to oversee implementation of the program (section 502(c)). Sections 502 through 504 of title V of the Act are included in Attachment 2.

2(b)	Practical Utility/Users of the Data

The burden estimates included in this ICR include the total burden of implementing the part 70 Operating Permits Program. For the 3-year period covered by this ICR, all state programs (including those portions of states for which an operating permits program is being implemented by a local agency) have been submitted to the EPA and have been granted full approval. All permit applications have been submitted to state or local permitting authorities except for sources that will be newly subject to the program.

To carry out the remaining activities of the program (listed above in section 1(b)) permitting authorities must obtain the required information from sources subject to the program and they must then carry out their functions (e.g., permit issuance, renewal, and revision and report review) based on the information.

2(c)	Caveats and Considerations

The information included in this ICR is based upon the best data sources available to the Agency at this time. However, inconsistencies in permitting authority reporting techniques, incomplete data sets and sampling limitations imposed upon the Agency by the PRA necessitated a certain amount of extrapolation and "best-guess" estimations by permitting authority and EPA experts. Consequently, the reader should not consider the conclusions to be an exact representation of the level of burden or cost that will occur during the 3 years of this ICR. Instead, this ICR should be considered a directionally-correct assessment of the impact the part 70 Operating Permits Program will have over the next 3 years.

Throughout this ICR, the reader will observe estimated values that show accuracy to the single hour or dollar. Because this ICR estimates the expected impact of the part 70 Operating Permits Program, reporting values at the single unit level may be misleading. In most situations, the proper way to present estimated data would be to determine an appropriate level of precision and truncate values accordingly, usually in terms of thousands or millions of units. For instance, a spreadsheet-generated estimation of $5,456,295 would be presented in the text as $5.5 (millions) or $5,456 (thousands). One problem with such an approach is the loss of data richness when the report contains a mixture of very large and very small numbers.  Such was the case with this ICR, where source values are consistently in the millions and federal values in the tens of thousands. Consequently, to avoid the loss of information through rounding, this ICR reports all values at the single unit level and reminds the reader that there is no implied precision inherent in this style of reporting.

3.	NON-DUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS AND OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA

3(a)	Non-Duplication

While much of the information requested under this ICR existed prior to the creation of the part 70 Operating Permits Program, an operating permit is a compilation of existing requirements; the purpose being to bring all requirements applicable to a source into one document. The intent of this compilation is to (1) resolve any questions of applicability at the time of permit issuance, (2) provide certainty to sources as to their obligations and (3) provide the public access to a source's obligations and compliance status. The Agency has no leeway to not require such previously existing information under this ICR since consolidation of the information into the operating permit and providing public access is the whole purpose of the statute. To the extent that similar information was previously collected (e.g., state permits under state implementation plans), the part 70 program may replace those activities thus avoiding duplication of efforts.

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

For any existing rule, section 3507(g) of the PRA limits the length of time for which the Director may approve a collection of information to 3 years. The last ICR renewal (EPA tracking number 1587.07) was granted on September 12, 2007 for the period ending September 30, 2010. On April 22, 2009, the expiration date of the ICR renewal was extended to April 30, 2012 as part of the approval of changes associated with the promulgation of the final Flexible Air Permits rule, EPA tracking number 1587.10.

Except for information collection in notices of proposed rules or those exempted under the emergency processing provisions of 44 U.S.C. § 3507(j), the PRA requires the EPA to solicit comment on each proposed information collection, including the renewal or modification of any existing ICR. On December 14, 2011 (76 FR 77822), the Agency published a notice soliciting comment on an analysis of burden for the part 70 program for the 3-year period of this ICR (i.e., May 1, 2012 to April 30, 2015). A copy of the December 2012 notice is attached as Attachment 4. The EPA received no public comments.

3(c)	Consultations

 In updating this ICR, the EPA relied on the latest information on the number of sources subject to the program and the number of permits issued which is provided to the EPA Regional Offices, semiannually, by permitting authorities within their jurisdictions. Also, we solicited input from the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA), but the organization and its members declined to provide input at this time. However, prior to renewal of the ICR in 2007, the EPA contacted NACAA (then known as the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officers [STAPPA/ALAPCO]), and during a conference call the EPA received input on the draft ICR renewal for part 70 that was released for public comment on February 2, 2007. Consistent with NACAA's input during that consultation, changes were made to burden estimates for certain activities performed by permitting authorities and the EPA. Also, consistent with NACAA's concerns, in section 4(b)(ii), we are providing more detailed descriptions of permitting authority activities. In addition, the burden estimates for specific activities for this ICR renewal continue to rely on consultations conducted for the previous ICRs, as shown below.

 Permitting authorities contacted by the EPA:

   * Tom Micai, New Jersey DEP,<PHONE_NUMBER>
   * Lisa McClung, West Virginia DEP,<PHONE_NUMBER>
   * Wayne Anderson, Mississippi DEQ,<PHONE_NUMBER>
   * Rick McVaigh, San Joaquin UAPCD,<PHONE_NUMBER>

 Geri O. Sullivan of STAPPA/ALAPCO (now NACAA) contacted the following members and provided their responses to the EPA:
   * Jim Ross, Illinois EPA,<PHONE_NUMBER>
   * Brian Fitzgerald, Vermont ANR,<PHONE_NUMBER>
   * Phil Davis, Alabama DEM,<PHONE_NUMBER>
   * Curt Marshall, Regional Air Pollution Control Agency (Dayton, OH),<PHONE_NUMBER>
   * Renee Bashel, Wisconsin DNR,<PHONE_NUMBER>

      In the 2007 ICR renewal, the EPA discussed two other EPA activities that it thought would yield additional title V burden information. One of these activities was a nationwide, comprehensive evaluation of the majority of title V operating permits programs, which was completed September 2006. The second activity was a stakeholder effort to assess all aspects of the title V program, led by the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee. (This effort is known as the Title V Task Force.) The first activity, the state program evaluations, was not specifically designed to provide information for purposes of estimating burdens and cost of title V programs but it did result in information that generally supports the assumptions of the prior ICR, including those based on input from state and local permitting authorities. This resulted in only one assumption for permitting authorities that changed, that is, the frequency that public comments result in changes to draft permits (see Table 2, section 6(a)), which did not lead to significant changes in overall burden for permitting authorities. The second activity, the Title V Task Force, resulted in recommendations on ways that the EPA could improve the effectiveness of the title V programs, such as through rulemaking or the issuance of guidance, but it did not result in any information useful for estimating burdens for this ICR, and no guidance or rulemaking resulting from this effort are effective at this time. (For more on the Title V Taskforce, see http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/permits/taskforce.html.)

Also, Executive Order 13563, "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review," (76 FR 3821, January 18, 2011) requires each federal agency to develop a plan to periodically review its existing significant regulations to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, expanded or repealed so as to make the agency's regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving the regulatory objectives. The EPA published a plan for meeting this order in August 2011. Under the EPA's plan, the title V permit program requirements are identified for early action to potentially simplify and clarify implementation requirements for industry, the public and government agencies. Such regulatory review for title V is likely to include consideration of the recommendations of the Title V Task Force; however, at this time it is too early to speculate on the results of the EPA's review, and thus, too early to take such changes into account for the purpose of this ICR renewal.

3(d)	Effects of Less Frequent Collection

In general, the information collections included in this ICR are one-time submittals per activity (e.g., permit application, permit issuance and permit revision). Exceptions are deviation reports that must be submitted "promptly" and the semiannual monitoring data report and the annual compliance certification. These reports are required by sections 503(b)(1) and (2), respectively, of the Act, and the EPA has no leeway to require less frequent reporting.

3(e)	General Guidelines

The OMB's general guidelines for information collections must be adhered to by all federal agencies for approval of any rulemaking's collection methodology. The recordkeeping and reporting requirements contained in the part 70 operating permits regulations do not exceed any of the OMB guide - lines con - tained in 5 CFR 1320.5, except for the guideline which limits reten - tion of records by respondents to 3 years. Part 70 requires retention of all monitoring data and support information and all permit applications, proposed permits and final permit records for a period of 5 years. These records are necessary to fulfill the intent of title V to assure compliance with applicable requirements. Questions regarding the obligations of a source and its status of compliance can be resolved through such records. In addition, 28 U.S.C. 2462 specifies 5 years as the general statute of limitations for federal claims in response to violations by regu - lated entities. The decision in U.S. v. Conoco, Inc., No. 83-1916-E (W.D. Okla., January 23, 1984) found that the 5-year general statute of limitations applies to the Act.

3(f)	Confidentiality

All information, other than confidential business information, relating to the permitting of sources under this program and related to compliance monitoring are required by section 503(e) of the Act to be subject to public review at all times. Section 70.4(b)(3)(viii) requires the permitting authority to make available to the public any permitting information except that entitled to protection from disclosure under section 114(c) of the Act. Protected information may be required to be submitted directly to the EPA. Such information will be stored in the EPA's Confidential Business Information office.

3(g)	Sensitive Questions

The consideration of sensitive questions (i.e., sexual, religious, personal or other private matters) is not applicable to the part 70 Operating Permits Program. The information gathered for purposes of establishing a part 70 permit for a source do not include personal data on any owner or operator.

4.	THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED

4(a)	Respondents/ Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes

Respondents to this information collection come from two groups: permitting authorities and sources required to obtain operating permits.

All states are required by title V to develop a part 70 operating permits program. In many instances, local agencies administer a program in their jurisdictions in lieu of the state and are thereby subject to the same program requirements as states. In total, there are 112 state, territorial and local agencies administering operating permits programs.

Under title V, all major stationary sources must obtain an operating permit. Some non-major sources may also be subject to the program if they are subject to a federal standard such as a New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) pursuant to section 111 of the Act or a National Emissions Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) pursuant to section 112 of the Act. Some of these sources have been exempted from the program. Information provided to the EPA by permitting authorities indicates that 14,988 sources are now subject to the program, representing more than 500 SIC codes. Additional information (including SIC codes) for major sources subject to title V may be found by accessing the following web page: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/data/systems/air/afsmajorsources.pdf.

4(b)	Information Requested

All activities associated with the part 70 Operating Permits Program are considered information collection activities and are reflected in the ICR for part 70. Following are lists of the data items submitted by sources and permitting authorities and program activities performed by permitting authorities and sources.

4(b)(i) Data items, including recordkeeping requirements

 Permitting Authorities (submitted to the EPA)
   * Applications for initial permits, permit revisions and permit renewals
   * Draft/proposed permits, permit revisions or permit renewals
   * Final permit
   * Annual report of enforcement activities

 Sources (submitted to permitting authority)
   * Application for initial permits, permit revisions and permit renewals
   * Deviation reports that must be filed "promptly"
   * Semiannual monitoring report
   * Annual compliance certification report

4(b)(ii) Respondent activities

                        PERMITTING AUTHORITY ACTIVITIES

   * Program administration: Responding to inquiries about the program; developing internal and external program guidance; developing rules, forms and other mechanisms to implement the program; planning; attending program training; permit fee collection; providing source training; attending EPA meetings and conferences; providing public education; and other program-related activities.
   * Permit application review, including discussions with a source concerning the completeness of the permit application, review of applications for completeness and technical approach, and requests for additional information, when necessary.
   * Draft permit preparation, including contact with the source to clarify the specific requirements that apply, drafting the "statement of basis," drafting gap-filling monitoring, when necessary, and drafting permit terms and conditions to reflect existing requirements.
   * Comment period notification: Providing notice to the public, the EPA and affected states of the comment period on a draft permit (for initial permit issuance, permit renewal and significant permit modification). Affected state notification is also required for minor permit modification.
   * Public hearing administration: Administering a public hearing, when appropriate, for initial permit issuance, permit renewal and significant permit modification.
   * Interaction with the EPA on a proposed permit, including negotiations, re-drafting and formal EPA objections (including those attributable to public petitions).
   * Response to public comments: Analyzing public comments and revising the draft permit accordingly, when appropriate.
   * Permit issuance: Formalizing permits, placing copies of final permits on public websites, entering information into the EPA's permit website (Air Facility System) and providing copies to sources.
   * General permits administration (Burden for issuing general permits included with other permit issuance burden).
   * Permit revision: Modifying permits to reflect changes at the source otherwise prohibited by the permit, including public participation and affected state review, when needed.
   * Permit renewal: Updating the permit to reflect changes at the source not captured through permit revision (includes reviewing application, drafting changes, public notice, public hearings (when needed), responding to public comments (when needed) and permit issuance).
   * Monitoring and compliance certification: Reviewing deviation and semiannual monitoring reports and annual compliance certification reports required by part 70, and any enforcement activities related to such reviews.
   * Annual reporting: Preparing and submitting to the EPA annually a report of the state's enforcement activities.

                               SOURCE ACTIVITIES

   * Permit application preparation, including internal meetings, permitting authority discussions, management and legal department involvement, responsible official certification and contractor services.
   * Draft permit development: Interaction with the permitting authority on draft permit development.
   * Gap-filling monitoring development: Development of "periodic" monitoring or reporting, where necessary.
   * Public hearing participation
   * Operate gap-filling periodic monitoring: Operation of monitoring equipment and the taking and keeping of records, where necessary.
   * Monitoring reports: Preparing deviation and semiannual monitoring data reports and annual compliance certifications, including data analysis, responsible official certification and report submission.
   * Permit revisions: Preparing applications for revisions.
   * Permit renewal: Preparing permit renewal applications.
   * Other activities associated with permit renewal, including discussions with permitting authority and public hearing participation.

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

5(a)	Agency Activities

 The EPA's activities under the program are as follows:

   * Review proposed permits and permit revisions to determine if they provide for compliance with all applicable requirements.
   * Review monitoring provisions of proposed permits or permit revisions to see if they contain applicable requirements or to add periodic monitoring if needed.
   * Consult with the permitting authority on any problems detected in the proposed permit or permit revision including interaction related to fact finding on permit petitions.
   * Program oversight including review of program changes, review annual reports of enforcement activities, program evaluation, issuing notices of deficiency, development of formal EPA responses to public petitions and applying sanctions to states, as appropriate.

5(b)	Collection Methodology and Management

The EPA will receive proposed permits or permit revisions in hard copy or electronically, depending on permitting authority capability. Each EPA Regional Office has determined with its permitting authorities the most efficient system to exchange information. Each Regional Office maintains files of permit information only to the extent that the office determines the need for file retention. This will vary depending on factors such as the source (e.g., large, complicated sources vs. small), the type of permit (general vs. full), the number of actions occurring at a source or the record of the source with respect to compliance. There is no need for the EPA to maintain complete files of permit actions for public access since these are maintained by permitting authorities.

5(c)	Small Entity Flexibility

Title V provides few ways to mitigate the effects of operating permit regulations on small entities. Under section 502(a) of the Act, the Agency has exempted or deferred applicability of title V for those non-major source categories for which compliance with title V will be impractical, infeasible or unnecessarily burdensome. For example, we exempted a large number of small sources in a December 19, 2005 final rule (70 FR 75320). The Agency has not analyzed how many of these non-major sources will be small businesses, but believes that a large percentage may fall under that definition.

For industries with a large number of identical sources (e.g., bulk gasoline distribution terminals and gravel mining operations) general permits may be used to meet the requirements of title V (instead of a source-specific permit). General permits can reduce the burden of the program on small businesses.

In accordance with the analytical requirements established under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), the Agency has determined that, because this ICR does not significantly increase burden relative to its predecessor, there are no adverse effects to be identified vis-à-vis small entities and small businesses.

Even though the part 70 Operating Permits Program is not anticipated to have an adverse impact on a significant number of small businesses, measures are in place to assist in those incidental exceptions. Implementation of small business stationary source technical and environmental compliance assistance programs at the federal and state levels, as called for in section 507 of the Act, can reduce the reporting burden of small entities that are subject to part 70 permitting. These programs may significantly alleviate the economic burden on small sources by establishing:  (1) programs to assist small businesses with determining what CAA requirements apply to their sources and when they apply, and (2) guidance on alternative control technology and pollution prevention for small businesses.

5(d)	Collection Schedule

Items identified in section 4(b)(i) are listed below with their schedule for submission.

 Permitting Authorities (submitted to the EPA):
   * Application for permits, permit revision and permit renewal should be submitted to the EPA with the proposed permit or permit revision.
   * Draft/proposed permits, permit revisions or permit renewals should be submitted when the state wants to commence the EPA review period of the proposed permit or permit revision.
   * The final permit should be submitted to the EPA soon after it is issued, but there is no deadline in part 70 for this submission.
   * The annual report of enforcement activities is submitted to the EPA annually, but part 70 does not specify a date.
   * Responding to program evaluation questionnaires.

 Sources (submitted to permitting authority):
   * New permit applications are due within 1 year after a source becomes subject to the program.
   * Permit revision applications are submitted by a source when it wishes to make a change to its permit. There is no schedule for these submissions in that they are at the discretion of the source.
   * Permit renewal applications are due at least 6 months prior to expiration of the permit.
   * The semiannual periodic monitoring report is due to be submitted to the permitting authority twice a year on dates specified by the permitting authority.
   * The annual compliance certification report is due annually on a date specified by the permitting authority.
   * Deviation reports (frequency is defined by permitting authority but at least every 6 months).

6.	ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION

6(a)	Estimating Respondent Burden

The estimated burden associated with the each of the activities listed above in section 4(b)(ii) for sources and permitting authorities is presented below in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. We derived the estimates in Tables 1 and 2 based on previous consultations with fewer than nine respondents from the regulated community on the burdens and costs of the permit programs; data collected by the EPA from permitting authorities on the numbers of permits issued, renewed and modified in the course of program administration; and our analysis of data submitted within the context of state and local permitting program evaluations. The assumptions in Tables 1 and 2 are unchanged from the 2007 ICR renewal. In addition, there are several new activities or changes in activity levels compared to the 2007 ICR renewal that are related to the Flexible Air Permits and GHG Tailoring rules but, for the sake of clarity, we discuss those later in this document.

                  Table 1. Average Source Burden by Activity

                                   Activity
Burden per Source or Permit (Hours)
Prepare Application
                                      300
Draft Permits Interaction
                                      40
Gap-filling Monitoring Development (50% of permits)
                                      40
Public Hearing Participation (2% of permits)
                                      10
Operate Gap-filling Monitoring (50% of permits)
                                      200
Prepare Monitoring Reports
                                      80
Permits Revisions
   Significant Permit Modifications (10% of Permits)
   Minor Permit Modifications (50% of Permits)
   Administrative Amendments (50% of Permits)

                                      80
                                      40
                                       8
Re-application for General Permit
                                       2
Permit Renewal for Single-source Permit
                                      200
Other Activities
                                      20

           Table 2. Average Permitting Authority Burden by Activity

                                   Activity
                     Burden Per Permit or Program (Hours)
Program Administration
                                  3,500 / PA
Permit Application Review
                                 100 / permit
Draft Permit Preparation
                                 150 / permit
Comment Period Notification
                                  10 / permit
Hold Public Hearings (2% of permits)
                                 100 / hearing
Interaction with the EPA
                                  20 / permit
Analyze Public Comments and Prepare Final Permit (2% of permits)
                                  40 / permit
Permit Issuance
                                  8 / permit
General Permits
                                    80 / PA
Permit Revision
   Significant Permit Modification (10% of Permits)
   Minor Permit Modification (50% of Permits)
   Administrative Amendment (50% of Permits)

                                  90/ permit
                                  30 / permit
                                  5 / permit
Permits Renewal
                                  90 / permit
Renew General Permits
                                  10 / permit
Review Monitoring and Compliance Certification Reports (total 3 reports/permit/year)
                                  5 / report
Annual Enforcement Activity Reporting
                                    40 / PA

6(b)	Estimating Respondent Costs

6(b)(i)	Estimating Labor Costs

In order to improve the accuracy of burden estimates, this ICR renewal updates the respondent labor rates to values in 2011 dollars based on recent publications by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In recent ICR renewals, we updated the labor rate for sources using the BLS Employment Cost Index (ECI) applied to the rate used in the previous renewal. However, we could no longer reproduce the methodology used to derive the source labor rate in the original ICR for the program, and the value used in the most recent renewal appeared to be unrealistically low. For permitting authorities, in recent ICR renewals we used the same labor rate that we calculated for the EPA based on federal wage tables. For this ICR renewal we have changed the methodology for permitting authorities, as discussed further below.

The labor rate used to calculate sources' labor cost for this ICR renewal is $63/hr. This source labor rate was calculated on the assumption that, while most of the labor for sources will be performed by Environmental Engineers, approximately 50 percent of the labor hours expended for two of the activities listed above in Table 1 will be carried out by Environmental Engineering Technicians. Specifically, we assumed that Environmental Engineering Technicians will expend half of the labor hours to "Operate Gap-filling Monitoring" and "Prepare Monitoring Reports."

To derive this composite labor rate, we obtained the mean hourly wage for Environmental Engineers of $39.98 from the most recent BLS Occupational Employment Statistics, which gives wages as of May 2010. Similarly, we obtained the May 2010 mean hourly wage for Environmental Engineering Technicians of $22.51. In each case, we escalated the hourly wages to December 2011 using the BLS ECI for private industry workers, resulting in hourly wages of $40.98 for Environmental Engineers and hourly wages of $23.07 for Environmental Engineering Technicians. An example escalation calculation for Environmental Engineers is as follows:

WageDec2011=WageMay2010xECIDec2011ECIJune2010

$39.98x114.7111.9=$40.98

We then calculated a weighted average hourly wage for sources using the total hours projected for sources over the 3 years of this ICR, as shown later in this document in Table 6, apportioned between Environmental Engineers and Environmental Engineering Technicians as discussed above. This calculation results in a weighted average hourly wage of $34.97. Finally, to determine the total labor rate, we assumed an 80 percent factor to account for benefits and overhead, which we believe to be representative. The resultant rate was rounded to the nearest dollar, yielding $63/hr in 2011 dollars. This labor rate was applied to all source burden hours to calculate the sources' labor costs.

The updated labor rate used for permitting authority respondents in this ICR renewal of $54/hr was determined similarly. For permitting authorities, we assumed that permit engineers are all Environmental Engineers, but experience tells us that these positions are typically filled by younger engineers, early in their careers. For this reason, we selected the 25[th] percentile hourly wage of $29.57 for Environmental Engineers from the same recent BLS Occupational Employment Statistics publication that we used for sources. We escalated this May 2010 hourly wage to December 2011 as discussed above using the ECI for state and local government workers, resulting in hourly wages of $29.96. As above, we assumed an 80 percent factor to account for benefits and overhead and rounded the resultant rate to the nearest dollar, yielding $54/hr in 2011 dollars.

6(b)(ii)	Estimating Capital and Operating and Maintenance (O&M) Costs

The EPA believes that sources will incur little or no capital cost to comply with part 70 requirements. Even if a part 70 permit applicant is a brand new company and the prospective source is a "greenfield" source (the EPA estimates less than 1 percent of sources fit that description) most, and perhaps all, of the equipment needed to prepare permit applications (for example, the computers and basic software) will be part of the source's business operation inventory. Monitoring can require capital expenditures for new sources or new operations at existing sources, but these expenditures generally are accounted for in the ICRs for the applicable requirements under which they are required (e.g., NSPS or NESHAP). The one exception to this is the part 70 requirement to develop and operated gap-filling monitoring in certain, limited situations where the applicable requirements do not require monitoring. However, such gap-filling monitoring typically consists of periodically monitoring and recording operating conditions or other parameters that the source already monitors for operational purposes. Thus, we believe that capital costs are negligible for sources.

Permitting authorities similarly incur negligible capital costs. As with sources, we believe that most, and perhaps all, of the computers and other office equipment needed to administer the part 70 program will be part of the permitting authority's office inventory. In any case, all the permitting authorities operate mature part 70 programs, so there is no need for initial equipment purchases to outfit a new program office.

Since the purchase of capital equipment is believed to be an insignificant factor under part 70, the EPA assumes the operation, maintenance or services for same are negligible. Further, once a permit is issued, there is minimal O&M cost associated with it. It remains unaltered unless it must be revised, and such revisions are accounted for as burden hours in section 6(a) above. As noted previously, part 70 requires sources to submit deviation reports, semiannual reports of monitoring and annual compliance certification reports, but these reports generally are coordinated with similar reports that are required under the source's applicable requirements. The O&M costs (e.g., photocopying and postage) for the reports required under the applicable requirements are included in the ICRs for those rules, and we believe that it would constitute double counting to include such costs here as well. In addition, electronic reporting by sources is increasingly prevalent, with no associated O&M costs. Accordingly, we include no O&M costs in this ICR for sources. For parallel reasons, we believe that O&M costs for permitting authorities will be minimal, and none are included in this ICR.

6(b)(iii)	Capital/Start-up vs. O&M Costs

Capital/start-up and O&M costs are non-labor related costs. One-time capital/start-up costs are incurred with the purchase of durable goods needed to provide information. According to the PRA, capital/start-up cost should include, among other items, preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and software, monitoring, sampling, drilling and testing equipment. As a practical matter, most these costs are not typical of the costs associated with preparing a part 70 permit application. As discussed in the previous section, we believe that the gap-filling monitoring required of some sources under part 70 will not involve capital spending. For the same reason, the O&M costs associated with start-up capital equipment are zero for this ICR. In addition, we believe that overlapping reporting accounted for in other ICRs and electronic reporting result in zero O&M costs for this ICR.

6(b)(iv)	Annualizing Capital Costs

Typically, annualized capital cost would be derived from a discounted net present value of the stream of capital costs that would occur over the life of the permit, or the ICR, whichever is shorter. However, in the case of the part 70 Operating Permits Program, there are only labor costs for preparing and processing permit applications, conducting gap-filling monitoring, and preparing and reviewing reports. Labor costs are expensed when incurred and not amortized. Therefore, the annualized capital costs for this program are zero.

6(c)	Estimating Agency Burden and Cost

The estimated burden associated with the each of the activities listed above in section 5(a) for the EPA is presented below in Table 3. These activities remain unchanged from the 2007 ICR renewal. While there are several new activities or changes in activity levels compared to the 2007 ICR renewal that are related to the Flexible Air Permits and GHG Tailoring rules, for the sake of clarity we discuss those later in this document.

                    Table 3. Average EPA Burden by Activity

                                   Activity
                     Burden Per Permit or Program (Hours)
Review Proposed Permits*
   New Permits
   Significant Permit Modifications
   Minor Permit Modifications

                                  20 / permit
                                 8 / revision
                                 1 / revision
Consultation
   New Permits (25%)
   Significant Permit Modifications (25%)
   Minor Permit Modifications (25%)

                                  8 / permit
                                  8 / permit
                                  1 / permit
Program Oversight
                              50 / program / year
Review the Annual Enforcement Activity Reports
                                  10 / report
 	      * Includes the burden for review of periodic monitoring, when required

The estimated EPA labor rate for this ICR is $52/hr. The rate reflects the assumption that the EPA personnel overseeing the part 70 Operating Permits Program are classified as Grade 12, Step 5. The corresponding salary is loaded with benefits at the standard rate of 60 percent.

The baseline burden and costs for EPA activities are presented below in Table 4. The table lists the burden categories, the number of estimated permits or programs involved, and the expected cost for each, based on the burden estimations from Table 3. As seen in the table, the baseline annual average burden to the EPA is estimated at 33,864 hours at a cost of $1,760,928.

Table 4 closely follows the analysis of the 2007 ICR renewal without accounting for changes due to the Flexible Air Permits or GHG Tailoring rules. We refer to this as the "baseline" analysis because it allows the reader to see the effects of this ICR update relative to the 2007 ICR renewal baseline. We later show the changes due to the Flexible Air Permits and GHG Tailoring rules relative to the baseline in the section 6(e), the "bottom line" section, where we show the totals taking everything into account.

              Table 4. Baseline Burden and Cost of EPA Activities

                                   Activity
                                 Burden Hours
                         Affected Permits or Programs
                             Total Burden (Hours)
                              Total Cost (2012$)
Review Permits and Revisions

New Permits
                                                                             20
                                                                            276
                                                                          5,520
                                                                      $287,040
Renewals
                                                                             20
                                                                            558
                                                                         11,160
                                                                      $580,320

Significant Permit Modifications
                                                                              8

Year 1

                                                                          1,246
                                                                          9,968
                                                                      $518,336
Year 2

                                                                          1,283
                                                                         10,264
                                                                      $533,728
Year 3

                                                                          1,320
                                                                         10,560
                                                                      $549,120

                                                                          3,849
                                                                         30,792
                                                                    $1,601,184
Minor Permit Modifications
                                                                              1

Year 1

                                                                          6,231
                                                                          6,231
                                                                      $324,012
Year 2

                                                                          6,415
                                                                          6,415
                                                                      $333,580
Year 3

                                                                          6,599
                                                                          6,599
                                                                      $343,148

                                                                         19,245
                                                                         19,245
                                                                       $657,592
Consult with PA

New Permits
                                                                              8
                                                                            276
                                                                          2,208
                                                                      $114,816

Significant Permit Modifications
                                                                              8

Year 1

                                                                            311
                                                                         2,488
                                                                      $129,376
Year 2

                                                                            321
                                                                         2,568
                                                                      $133,536
Year 3

                                                                            330
                                                                          2,640
                                                                      $137,280

                                                                            962
                                                                          7,696
                                                                      $400,192
Minor Permit Modifications
                                                                              1

Year 1

                                                                         1,558
                                                                          1,558
                                                                       $81,016
Year 2

                                                                         1,603
                                                                          1,603
                                                                       $83,356
Year 3

                                                                         1,650
                                                                          1,650
                                                                       $85,800

                                                                         4,811
                                                                         4,811
                                                                      $250,172
Program Oversight
                                                                             50
                                                                            112
                                                                         16,800
                                                                      $873,600
(per program, per year)

Review the Annual Report
                                                                             10
                                                                           112
                                                                         3,360
                                                                      $174,720
(per program, per year)

Totals                                           3-year

                                                                        101,592
                                                                     $5,282,784
                                                                         Annual

                                                                         33,864
                                                                     $1,760,928

6(d)	Estimating the Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Costs

There are 112 permitting authorities acting within the United States for the purposes of the part 70 Operating Permits Program. Forty-nine states operate as permitting authorities, with California employing 34 local air quality management organizations in lieu of a statewide permitting authority. Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Washington D.C. all have operating permits programs, and there are 26 county or regional permitting authorities within states that operate in a manner similar to that of California.

As of July 2011, the Agency identified 14,988 sources subject to permitting under part 70, 14,650 of which have already received permits, representing a backlog of 338 sources. We consider sources who have not yet received initial permits to be in the backlog if the deadline for the permitting authority to act on the application has passed and a permit has not been issued. Also, between May 2011 and April 2012, the EPA estimates that 100 new sources will become subject to permitting, and that an additional 185 permits will be issued (i.e., comprised of 100 new sources and 85 backlogged sources). Thus, at the beginning of the period covered by this analysis, the EPA estimates there will be a source population of 15,088 sources, 14,835 issued permits and a backlog of 253 permits. In addition, during the 3 years of this ICR we assume that the backlog of initial permits will be reduced in equal amount each year, eliminating the backlog by the end of the period of analysis. Also, 300 sources will become newly subject to permitting during the period of the analysis as a normal consequence of economic growth and 552 sources will become newly subject because they trigger permitting requirements for GHGs pollutants under the GHG Tailoring rule. Table 5 summarizes the number of permitting authorities and the number of permits to be issued during the period of this ICR renewal.

In the original 1992 RIA and ICR for the Operating Permits Regulations, the Agency anticipated 34,324 sources would be required to obtain operating permits. Since that time, the Agency has offered additional regulatory relief to sources by providing a vehicle through which sources defined as major based upon their potential to emit can, by enforceably limiting operations, reduce their potential to emit to under the major source threshold (generally 100 tons per year of a criteria pollutant, 25 tons of a mixture of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), or 10 tons of a single HAP). The success of this "synthetic minor" program can readily be seen by the significant drop (over 16,000 sources) in the number of affected major sources.

Another example of regulatory relief incorporated into the operating permits program is the general permit, which allows large numbers of homogenous major sources of pollution to receive the same permit. This program has been successful in allowing approximately 16 percent of all part 70 sources (more than 2,300 sources) a cost-effective alternative to single-source permitting. The EPA estimates that by April 2012 (when the period of this ICR begins), the total population of part 70 sources will have grown to 15,088, of which 14,835 will have received permits, and that 16 percent of these permitted sources (2,374 sources) will have received general permits. Because general permits are typically relatively easy to issue, the Agency assumes that all existing sources eligible for general permits will have received them by May 2012 and that none of the 253 backlogged sources will be issued general permits during the 3 years of this ICR. We further assume that none of the estimated 852 newly subject sources will receive general permits during the period of this ICR.

  Table 5. Identification of Affected Entities and Permit Issuance Schedule

                            Permitting Authorities
                                    Sources
State Permitting Authorities
  PLUS: California Local Authorities
  PLUS: Territories and Possessions
  PLUS: District of Columbia
  PLUS: Other Local PAs
Total Permitting Authorities
                                                                             49

                                                                             34

                                                                              2
                                                                              1
                                                                             26
                                                                            112
Total Population of Part 70 Sources as of June 2011
 Less: Sources Permitted Before June 2011
 Less: Sources Permitted July 2011 through April 2012
 Total Sources Expected to Be Permitted through April 2012
 Plus: Newly Subjected Sources through April 2012
Sources remaining to Be Permitted as of May 2012

Percent of Sources Expected to Be Covered by General Permits
Existing Sources Expected to Be Covered
 Less: Sources Covered through April 2012
Existing Sources Issued General Permits During this ICR

Plus New Subject Sources During ICR Period (3 years)

Total Permits to be Issued in Year 1
 Less: New Sources Covered by General Permits
Single-source Permits to be Issued in Year 1

Total Permits to be Issued in Year 2
 Less: New Sources Covered by General Permits
Single-source Permits to be Issued in Year 2

Total Permits to be Issued in Year 3
 Less: New Sources Covered by General Permits
Single-source Permits to Be Issued in Year 3

Total (single) Permits Expected to Be Issued During This ICR

                                           14,650
                                                           185
                                                        14,835

                                                100

                                      14,988

                                                                            253

                                                                        16%

          2,374
       2,374
                                    0

                                                                            852

                                                                            369
                                                                              0
                                                                            369

                                                                            368
                                                                              0
                                                                            368

                                                                            368
                                                      0
                                                                           368

                                                                          1,105

Data collected by the EPA suggests a renewal backlog of 3,335 permits as of July 2011. These permits will need to be renewed during the 3-year ICR period in order to eliminate the backlog. Additional permits will become subject to renewal during the ICR period because their initial or previous renewal permits are expiring. Thus, the total number of permits projected to be renewed during the ICR period is 13,295. The EPA assumes that the total number of permits to be renewed in each year of the ICR will be one third of the backlog plus whatever permits would normally come up for review because their permits are at the end of their 5-year term, or 4,431 the first year, 4,432 the second year, and 4,432 the third year. This analysis also assumes that 84 percent of renewal permits will be issued as single-source permits and 16 percent as general permits.

Table 6 lists the burden categories for respondent sources, the number of estimated occurrences for each item and the expected cost for each, based on the burden estimations from Table 1. Table 7 lists the burden categories for respondent permitting authorities, the expected number of permits or programs involved and the expected cost for each, based on the burden estimations from Table 2.

Tables 6 and 7 closely follow the analysis of the 2007 ICR renewal without accounting for changes due to the Flexible Air Permits or GHG Tailoring rules. As noted previously, we refer to this as the "baseline" analysis because it allows the reader to see the effects of this ICR update relative to the 2007 ICR renewal baseline. We later show the changes due to the Flexible Air Permits and GHG Tailoring rules relative to the baseline in section 6(e), the "bottom line" section, where we show the totals taking everything into account.
            Table 6. Baseline Burden and Cost of Source Activities

                                   Activity
                            Burden Hours per Permit
                               Affected Permits
                             Total Burden (Hours)
                              Total Cost  (2011$)
Prepare Application
                                                                            300
                                                                            852
                                                                        255,600
                                                                   $16,102,800
Draft Permit
                                                                             40
                                                                          1,105
                                                                         44,200
                                                                    $2,784,600
Gap Filling Monitoring Development
                                                                             40
                                                                            553
                                                                         22,120
                                                                    $1,393,560
Public Hearing Participation
                                                                             10
                                                                             22
                                                                            220
                                                                       $13,860
Operate Gap Filling Monitoring
                                                                            200

 Year 1

                                                                          7,418
                                                                      1,483,600
                                                                   $93,466,800
 Year 2

                                                                          7,602
                                                                      1,520,400
                                                                   $95,785,200
 Year 3

                                                                          7,786
                                                                      1,557,200
                                                                   $98,103,600

                                                                      4,561,200
                                                                   $287,355,600
Prepare Monitoring Reports
                                                                             80

 Year 1

                                                                         14,835
                                                                      1,186,800
                                                                   $74,768,400
 Year 2

                                                                         15,204
                                                                      1,216,320
                                                                   $76,628,160
 Year 3

                                                                         15,572
                                                                      1,245,760
                                                                   $78,482,880

                                                                      3,648,880
                                                                   $229,879,440
Permit Revisions

 Significant Permit Modifications
                                                                             80

   Year 1

                                                                          1,246
                                                                         99,680
                                                                    $6,279,840
   Year 2

                                                                          1,283
                                                                        102,640
                                                                    $6,466,320
   Year 3

                                                                          1,320
                                                                        105,600
                                                                    $6,652,800

                                                                          3,849
                                                                        307,920
                                                                    $19,398,960
 Minor Permit Modifications
                                                                             40

   Year 1

                                                                          6,231
                                                                        249,240
                                                                   $15,702,120
   Year 2

                                                                          6,415
                                                                        256,600
                                                                   $16,165,800
   Year 3

                                                                          6,599
                                                                        263,960
                                                                   $16,629,480

                                                                         19,245
                                                                        769,800
                                                                    $48,497,400
 Administrative Amendments
                                                                              8

   Year 1

                                                                          6,231
                                                                         49,848
                                                                    $3,140,424
   Year 2

                                                                          6,415
                                                                         51,320
                                                                    $3,233,160
   Year 3

                                                                          6,599
                                                                         52,792
                                                                     $3,325,896

                                                                         19,245
                                                                        153,960
                                                                     $9,699,480
General Permit Renewal
                                                                              2
                                                                          2,127
                                                                          4,254
                                                                      $268,002
Permit Renewal
                                                                            200
                                                                         11,168
                                                                      2,233,600
                                                                  $140,716,800
Other Activities
                                                                             20
                                                                         11,168
                                                                        223,360
                                                                   $14,071,680
Totals                                         3-year

                                                                     12,225,114
                                                                   $770,182,182
                                                                         Annual

                                                                      4,075,038
                                                                   $256,727,394

     Table 7. Baseline Burden and Cost of Permitting Authority Activities

                                   Activity
                                 Burden Hours
                         Affected Permits or Programs
                             Total Burden (Hours)
                              Total Cost (2011$)
Program Administration
                                                                          3,500
                                                                            112
                                                                      1,176,000
                                                                   $63,504,000
(per program, per year)

Permit Application Review
                                                                            100
                                                                            852
                                                                         85,200
                                                                    $4,600,800
Draft Permit Preparation
                                                                            150
                                                                          1,105
                                                                        165,750
                                                                    $8,950,500
Comment Period Notification
                                                                             10
                                                                          1,105
                                                                         11,050
                                                                      $596,700
Public Hearing
                                                                            100
                                                                             22
                                                                          2,200
                                                                      $118,800
Interaction with the EPA
                                                                             20
                                                                          1,105
                                                                         22,100
                                                                    $1,193,400
Analyzing Public Comments
                                                                             40
                                                                             22
                                                                            880
                                                                       $47,520
Permit Issuance
                                                                              8
                                                                          1,105
                                                                          8,840
                                                                      $477,360
General Permits Administration
                                                                             80
                                                                            112
                                                                         26,880
                                                                    $1,451,520
(per program, per year)

Permit Revisions

Significant Permit Modifications
                                                                             90

Year 1

                                                                          1,246
                                                                        112,140
                                                                    $6,055,560
Year 2

                                                                          1,283
                                                                        115,470
                                                                    $6,235,380
Year 3

                                                                          1,320
                                                                        118,800
                                                                    $6,415,200

                                                                          3,849
                                                                        346,410
                                                                   $18,706,140
Minor Permit Modifications
                                                                             30

Year 1

                                                                          6,231
                                                                        186,930
                                                                   $10,094,220
Year 2

                                                                          6,415
                                                                        192,450
                                                                   $10,392,300
Year 3

                                                                          6,599
                                                                        197,970
                                                                   $10,690,380

                                                                         19,245
                                                                        577,350
                                                                   $31,176,900
Administrative Amendments
                                                                              5

Year 1

                                                                          6,231
                                                                         31,155
                                                                    $1,682,370
Year 2

                                                                          6,415
                                                                         32,075
                                                                    $1,732,050
Year 3

                                                                          6,599
                                                                         32,995
                                                                    $1,781,730

                                                                         19,245
                                                                         96,225
                                                                    $5,196,150
Permit Renewals
                                                                             90
                                                                         11,168
                                                                      1,005,120
                                                                   $54,276,480
Review General Permits
                                                                             10
                                                                          2,127
                                                                         21,270
                                                                    $1,148,580
Review Monitoring and Compliance Certification Reports
                                                                             15

Year 1

                                                                         14,835
                                                                        222,525
                                                                   $12,016,350
Year 2

                                                                         15,204
                                                                        228,060
                                                                   $12,315,240
Year 3

                                                                         15,572
                                                                        233,580
                                                                   $12,613,320

                                                                         45,611
                                                                        684,165
                                                                   $36,944,910
Annual Enforcement Activity Reporting (per program, per year)
                                                                             40
                                                                            112
                                                                         13,440
                                                                      $725,760
Totals                                       3-year

                                                                      4,242,880
                                                                  $229,115,520
                                                                         Annual

                                                                     1,414,293
                                                                   $76,371,840

6(e) 	Bottom Line Burden Hours and Cost Tables

Since the approval of the 2007 ICR renewal, the EPA has promulgated two rules that have affected the burden and cost of the part 70 Operating Permits Program, the Flexible Air Permits (FAP) rule and the GHG Tailoring rule. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved ICR change requests for both of these rules, EPA tracking numbers 1587.10 and 1587.11, respectively; however, this is the first ICR renewal that addresses the two provisions at the same time and updates them to reflect current implementation experience.

The FAP rule, promulgated during the term of the last ICR renewal, revised part 70 to provide for permits that allow for upfront approval for changes to processes, equipment, raw materials and end products at a facility, in such a way as to avoid formal submittal and processing of significant permit modifications (SPM) and minor permit modifications (MPM) during the term of the permit. The FAP rule did not increase the number of sources subject to title V permitting, and it only applies to a relatively small number of new and existing sources that would need to get a permit anyway. While there is typically an increased burden to put the flexible provisions in the permit, once added, they allow the source to avoid permit modifications on a recurring, open-ended basis, resulting in an overall decrease in burden over the long term.

The EPA estimated in the FAP rule ICR that 5 percent of the total number of existing sources subject to part 70 would obtain a comprehensive flexible permit (a "Tier 1" permit) and that an additional 10 percent of all existing sources and new sources subject to part 70 would seek simpler flexible permits ("Tier 2" permits). The FAP rule ICR assumed all existing part 70 sources would be issued Tier 1 and 2 permits during the period of that ICR, and that there would be no new Tier 1 permits needed after that period ended. Thus, for this ICR period, we assume that only new Tier 2 permits will be issued, and they will comprise 10 percent of new permits issued during the period.

Table 8 lists the burden categories for respondent sources, the number of affected permits for each activity, and the expected incremental burden hours and costs for each, based on the burden estimations made in the previous OMB-approved ICR change worksheet for the FAP rule. The table shows incremental burden increases for issuing new Tier 2 permits and burden decreases for avoided permit modifications for all Tier 1 and 2 permits. Tables 9 and 10 present the same analysis for permitting authorities and the EPA, respectively. Note that our assumptions for the mix of activities expected to occur under the FAP rule have changed compared to the OMB-approved change worksheet due to the normal evolution of the program (i.e., by May 2012, the beginning of this ICR renewal period, all eligible existing permits have been changed to add Tier 1 and 2 flexibility and only new Tier 2 permits will need to add such flexibility during the term of the ICR renewal). Also, the number of affected permits has changed because our assumptions concerning the number of existing permits over the period (discussed previously) have changed since the FAP rule ICR.

 Table 8. Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the FAP Rule for Sources

                                   Activity
                            Burden Hours per Permit
                               Affected Permits
                              Total 3-Year Burden
                                    (Hours)
                               Total 3-Year Cost
                                    (2011$)
Tier 1  -  5 MPM Avoided per year
                                                                            -40
                                                                            797
                                                                       -478,200
                                                                   -$30,126,600
Tier 1  -  1 SPM Avoided every 5 years
                                                                            -80
                                                                            797
                                                                        -38,240
                                                                    -$2,409,120
Tier 2  -  New Permit
                                                                             60
                                                                            111
                                                                          6,660
                                                                       $419,580
Tier 2  -  1 MPM Avoided per year
                                                                            -40
                                                                          1,594
                                                                       -191,280
                                                                   -$12,050,640
Total                                           3-year

                                                                       -701,060
                                                                   -$44,166,780
                                                                         Annual

                                                                       -233,687
                                                                   -$14,722,260

Table 9. Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the FAP Rule for Permitting Authorities

                                   Activity
                            Burden Hours per Permit
                               Affected Permits
                              Total 3-Year Burden
                                    (Hours)
                               Total 3-Year Cost
                                    (2011$)
Tier 1  -  5 MPM Avoided per year
                                                                            -30
                                                                            797
                                                                       -358,650
                                                                   -$19,367,100
Tier 1  -  1 SPM Avoided every 5 years
                                                                            -90
                                                                            797
                                                                        -43,020
                                                                    -$2,323,080
Tier 2  -  New Permit
                                                                             45
                                                                            111
                                                                          4,995
                                                                       $269,730
Tier 2  -  1 MPM Avoided per year
                                                                            -30
                                                                          1,594
                                                                       -143,460
                                                                    -$7,746,840
Total                                           3-year

                                                                       -540,135
                                                                   -$29,167,290
                                                                         Annual

                                                                       -180,045
                                                                    -$9,722,430

Table 10. Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the FAP Rule for the EPA

                                   Activity
                            Burden Hours per Permit
                               Affected Permits
                              Total 3-Year Burden
                                    (Hours)
                               Total 3-Year Cost
                                    (2011$)
Tier 1  -  5 MPM Avoided per year
                                                                             -1
                                                                            797
                                                                        -11,955
                                                                      -$621,660
Tier 1  -  1 SPM Avoided every 5 years
                                                                             -8
                                                                            797
                                                                         -3,824
                                                                      -$198,848
Tier 2  -  New Permit
                                                                              8
                                                                            111
                                                                            888
                                                                        $46,176
Tier 2  -  1 MPM Avoided per year
                                                                             -1
                                                                          1,594
                                                                         -4,782
                                                                      -$248,664
Total                                           3-year

                                                                        -19,673
                                                                    -$1,022,996
                                                                         Annual

                                                                         -6,558
                                                                      -$340,999

The GHG Tailoring rule, also promulgated during the term of the last ICR renewal, "tailors" the requirements of the Act to limit the number of facilities that would otherwise be required to obtain title V permits solely due to their emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). As a result of actions to regulate GHGs under other CAA programs, GHGs are now required to be addressed under the title V program. The GHG Tailoring rule is necessary because the statutory definitions that have been used for other air pollutants to determine which sources are "major sources" subject to title V permitting, if implemented immediately for GHGs, would bring so many sources into the programs as to overwhelm the capabilities of permitting authorities to issue permits. Accordingly, the EPA adopted the GHG Tailoring rule to phase in coverage of GHG-emitting sources under the title V program. We are currently in Step 2 of the implementation schedule of the GHG Tailoring rule, and the EPA assumes that there will be about 552 GHG sources subject to part 70 solely due to GHG emissions during the 3-year period of this ICR renewal, and that all of these sources will be issued single-source permits (i.e., not general permits).

The baseline burden associated with permitting sources subject to part 70 is shown above in Tables 4, 6 and 7 for the EPA, sources and permitting authorities, respectively. The burden for each activity in these tables is based on the assumptions of the 2007 ICR renewal. The 552 additional GHG sources are included in those tables as well. The baseline burden tables, however, do not include the incremental burden for addressing GHG emissions in permits that apply to both GHG and non-GHG subject sources. The incremental GHG burden is shown below in Tables 11, 12 and 13 for sources, permitting authorities and the EPA. Note that the EPA assumes the burden for issuing new GHG permits is the same as non-GHG permits, so there is no incremental burden for new permit issuance included in the tables below (it is included in Tables 4, 6 and 7 instead).

Specifically, included in the tables below is the incremental burden for sources and permitting authorities alike to address GHG in all new non-GHG permits (including backlog sources), the burden of permit modifications solely related to GHG (based on the number of NSR actions involving GHG in the NSR program ICR), the burden of addressing GHG in all existing non-GHG permits when they undergo minor permit or significant modification procedures, and the burden of addressing GHG in 80 percent of all permit renewals. For the EPA, the additional incremental burden is for reviewing and consulting with permitting authorities on minor and significant modifications that occur solely due to GHG.

Table 11 lists the burden categories for respondent sources, the number of affected permits for each activity, and the expected incremental burden hours and costs for each, based on the burden estimations made in the previous OMB-approved ICR change worksheet for the GHG Tailoring rule. Compared to the change worksheet for this rule, these tables have been updated to reflect the number of affected permits and the mix of activities expected to occur due to the maturity of the program. Tables 12 and 13 present the same analysis for permitting authorities and the EPA, respectively.

Table 11. Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the GHG Tailoring Rule for Sources

                                   Activity
                            Burden Hours per Permit
                               Affected Permits
                                     Total
                             3-Year Burden (Hours)
                               Total 3-Year Cost
                                    (2011$)
Prepare Application (add GHG to non-GHG permit)
                                                                             34
                                                                            553
                                                                         18,802
                                                                     $1,184,526
Modification due to GHG
                                                                             43
                                                                          2,745
                                                                        118,035
                                                                     $7,436,205
Modification to address GHG in non-GHG permit
                                                                              4
                                                                         23,094
                                                                         92,376
                                                                     $5,819,688
Address GHG at Renewal
                                                                             20
                                                                          8,934
                                                                        178,680
                                                                    $11,256,840
Total                                                              3-year

                                                                        407,893
                                                                    $25,697,259
                                                                         Annual

                                                                        135,964
                                                                     $8,565,753

Table 12. Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the GHG Tailoring Rule for Permitting Authorities

                                   Activity
                            Burden Hours per Permit
                               Affected Permits
                          Total 3-Year Burden (Hours)
                               Total 3-Year Cost
                                    (2011$)
Prepare Application (add GHG to non-GHG permit)
                                                                             43
                                                                            553
                                                                         23,779
                                                                     $1,284,066
Modification due to GHG
                                                                             40
                                                                          2,745
                                                                        109,800
                                                                     $5,929,200
Modification to address GHG in non-GHG permit
                                                                              4
                                                                         23,094
                                                                         92,376
                                                                     $4,988,304
Address GHG at Renewal
                                                                              9
                                                                          8,934
                                                                         80,410
                                                                     $4,342,118
Total                                                              3-year

                                                                        306,365
                                                                    $16,543,688
                                                                         Annual

                                                                        102,122
                                                                     $5,514,563

Table 13. Three-Year and Annual Incremental Burden of the GHG Tailoring Rule for the EPA

                                   Activity
                            Burden Hours per Permit
                               Affected Permits
                          Total 3-Year Burden (Hours)
                               Total 3-Year Cost
                                    (2011$)
Review Modification due to GHG
                                                                              8
                                                                          2,745
                                                                         21,960
                                                                     $1,141,920
Consult on Modification due to GHG
                                                                              8
                                                                            686
                                                                          5,488
                                                                       $285,376
Total                                                      3-year

                                                                         27,448
                                                                     $1,427,296
                                                                         Annual

                                                                          9,149
                                                                       $475,765

6(e)(i) Respondent Tally

Tables 1 and 2 above display the activities of the part 70 program carried out by sources and permitting authorities, respectively. Section 6(b)(i) explains the derivation of the hourly cost of labor for sources and permitting authorities. Tables 6 and 7 summarize the expected baseline burden and costs (in 2011 dollars) over the 3-year period of this ICR renewal for sources and permitting authorities. The baseline burden and costs, which are based on the methodology of the previous ICR renewal, do not account for changes to the approved burden from the FAP rule and the GHG Tailoring rule. The incremental burden and costs attributable to the FAP rule are shown in Tables 8 and 9 for sources and permitting authorities, respectively, and that attributable to the GHG Tailoring rule is shown in Tables 11 and 12. In table 14 we show the calculation of the average annual burden for sources and permitting authorities, and in Table 15 the calculation of the average annual cost, adjusted for the FAP and GHG Tailoring rules.

  Table 14. Calculation of Bottom Line Average Annual Respondent Burden Hours

                                  Respondent
                                   Baseline
                           Flexible Air Permit Rule
                                     GHG
                                Tailoring Rule
                                     Total
Sources
                                                                      4,075,038
                                                                       -233,687
                                                                        135,964
                                                                      3,977,316
Permitting Authorities
                                                                      1,414,293
                                                                       -180,045
                                                                        102,122
                                                                      1,336,370
Total
                                                                      5,489,331
                                                                       -413,732
                                                                        238,086
                                                                      5,313,686

  Table 15. Calculation of Bottom Line Average Annual Respondent Cost (2011$)

                                  Respondent
                                   Baseline
                           Flexible Air Permit Rule
                                     GHG
                                Tailoring Rule
                                     Total

Sources
                                                                   $256,727,394
                                                                   -$14,722,260
                                                                     $8,565,753
                                                                   $250,570,887
Permitting Authorities
                                                                    $76,371,840
                                                                    -$9,722,430
                                                                     $5,514,563
                                                                    $72,163,973
Total
                                                                   $333,099,234
                                                                   -$24,444,690
                                                                    $14,080,316
                                                                   $322,734,860

Table 16 shows the bottom line average annual burden and cost for the source and permitting authority respondents under this ICR renewal for implementation of the part 70 Operating Permits Program between May 2012 and April 2015. Of the 5.3 million hours the Agency anticipates it will take to perform all the functions required by title V, about 3/4 of the burden applies to sources. However, the magnitude of the total expected burden can be misleading, due to the number of permitted sources. For the 15,940 sources included in this analysis, the average expected burden is relatively small  -  just over 6 weeks of a full time employee's time. Likewise, the cost associated with that burden is also small  -  under $16,000.

Permitting authorities incur the remaining 25 percent of the burden in Table 16, with the total burden spread between a significantly smaller number of entities than for sources. On average, the Agency estimates the permitting authority burden associated with the part 70 Operating Permits Program will be about 11,900 hours per year. However, for some permitting authorities with relatively fewer sources (Connecticut, Wyoming, etc.), this average burden will exceed their actual burden; and, for permitting authorities with more than the average number of sources (Louisiana, Texas, etc.), the average burden will be too low. A better measure of the effect of title V regulations on permitting authorities would be to divide the total estimated hours by the number of operating permits. On average, each permitting authority can expect to spend about 84 hours per year managing and overseeing each permit in its jurisdiction, at a cost of approximately $4,500 per permit. However, this cost cannot be considered an Unfunded Mandate from the federal government, because the net cost to permitting authorities for their management of an operating permits program must, by law, be passed on to sources in the form of permit fees of sufficient magnitude to fully offset all permit management costs. Therefore, the true annual cost to permitting authorities under title V is zero, and the true annual cost to sources is $323 million, or approximately $20,250 per permit.

  Table 16. Bottom Line Average Annual Respondent Burden and Cost (2012-2015)

                              Type of Respondent
                          Number of Affected Entities
                         Average Annual Burden (Hours)
                 Average Annual Burden per Respondent (Hours)
                   Average Annual Burden per Source (Hours)
                          Average Annual Cost (2011$)
                  Average Annual Cost per Respondent (2011$)
                    Average Annual Cost per Source (2011$)

                                    Sources
                                                                         15,940
                                                                      3,977,316
                                                                            250
                                                                            250
                                                                  $250,570,887
                                                                       $15,720
                                                                       $15,720
                            Permitting Authorities
                                                                            112
                                                                      1,336,370
                                                                         11,932
                                                                             84
                                                                   $72,163,973
                                                                      $644,321
                                                                        $4,527
                                     Total
                                                                         16,052
                                                                      5,313,686
                                      NA
                                      NA
                                                                  $322,734,860
                                      NA
                                      NA

6(e)(ii) The Agency Tally

Table 3 above displays the activities undertaken by the federal government (EPA) for the part 70 program. Section 6(c) gives the derivation of hourly costs for the EPA, and Table 4 gives expected baseline burden and costs (in 2012 dollars) for the EPA. The incremental burden and costs attributable to the FAP rule are shown in Table 10 for the EPA, and that attributable to the GHG Tailoring rule is shown in Table 13. In table 17 we show the calculation of the average annual burden and cost for the EPA, adjusted for the FAP and GHG Tailoring rules.

Table 17. Calculation of Bottom Line Average Annual Burden Hours and Cost for the EPA

                                   Baseline
                           Flexible Air Permit Rule
                              GHG Tailoring Rule
                                     Total
Hours