United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Air Quality Policy Division Geographic Strategies Group INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE EPA May, 2006 EPA # 1813.06 INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 2 This ICR, EPA Form 1813.06, is an update of the Office of Management and Budget ( OMB) Control Number 2060 0421; EPA Form 1813.04 which expires on July 31, 2006. The current approved collection is for 205 respondents, 56,605 hours per year, and $ 2,515,383 per year. This renewal requests approval for 860 respondents ( 50 State agencies, 1 Tribe, 1 group of FLMs, and 808 industrial sources), 32,551 hours per year, and $ 1,856,000 per year. Tables E. 1summarizes the total annual respondent burden for this renewal.

The previous annual burden estimate was 56,605 hours and $ 2,513,383. The current estimate represents a decrease in the hour burden estimate of 24,054 hours and in the cost burden of $ 657,383. The change in burden is a program adjustment, reflecting changes in labor rates, changes in the activities conducted due to the normal progression of the program, and better information regarding the numbers of respondents and the fact that the role of industrial respondents is increasing as the program moves from the planning stages to the implementation stages.

Table E 1 Estimated State, Tribal, Source, and FLM Respondent Burden to Implement Requirements States Tribes Source FLMs Task Element Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000)

Total Burden by Respondent 17,132 765 710 32 13,975 1,026 734 33 Total for Respondent Universe 32,551 hours; $ 1,856,000 Executive Summary Draft 05/ 24/ 06 INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 3 This document fulfills the Agency's requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act ( PRA) with regards to determining the regulatory burden associated with the implementation of the Regional Haze program ( 40 CFR 51.308) and requirements related to the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission ( 40 CFR 51.309). It has been assigned EPA tracking number 1813.06. The title of this Information Collection Request ( ICR) is " Information Collection Request Supporting Statement for EPA ICR Number 1813.06, Renewal of The ICR for the Regional Haze Rule."

Subpart P, Protection of Visibility, also known as the Regional Haze Rule, is the subject of this clearance request. In the next 3 years, activities conducted by the States, Tribes, industry, Federal Land Managers ( FLMs), Regional Planning Organizations ( RPOs), and EPA will focus on the two major paths identified in the rule to address regional haze. One path is 40 CFR 51. 308, which requires States and Tribes to develop long term strategies up to and including the year 2064. These strategies must be shown to make reasonable progress in improving visibility in Class I areas inside the State and in neighboring jurisdictions. The second path, 40 CFR 51.309, is an option for nine States, and the 185 Tribes located within those States, to adopt Regional Haze strategies for the period from 2003 to 2018 for sulfur dioxide emissions. These strategies are based on recommendations from the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission ( GCVTC) for protecting the 16 Class I areas on the Colorado Plateau area.

On June 15, 2005, EPA finalized amendments to the July 1999 Regional Haze Rule. These amendments apply to the provisions of the Regional Haze Rule that require emission controls known as best available retrofit technology, or BART, for industrial facilities emitting air pollutants that reduce visibility by causing or contributing to regional haze. The pollutants that reduce visibility include fine particulate matter ( PM2.5), and compounds which contribute to PM2.5 formation, such as nitrogen oxides ( NOx), sulfur dioxides ( SO2), and under certain conditions volatile organic compounds ( VOC), and ammonia.

The BART requirements of the Regional Haze Rule apply to facilities built between 1962 and 1977 that have the potential to emit more than 250 tons a year of visibility impairing pollution. Those facilities fall into 26 categories, including utility and industrial boilers, and large industrial 1 Identification of the Information Collection 1.1 Title OMD1.2 Description EPA TRACKING NUMBER: 1813.06 E TRACKING NUMBER: OMB 2060 0421 1.2 Description INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 4 plants such as pulp mills, refineries and smelters. Many of these facilities have not been previously subject to Federal pollution control requirements for these pollutants.

Under the 1999 Regional Haze Rule, States are required to set periodic goals for improving visibility in the 156 Federal Class I areas. As States work to reach these goals, they must develop regional haze implementation plans that contain enforceable measures and strategies for reducing visibility impairing pollution. The 2005 amendments include guidelines, known as BART guidelines, for States to use in determining which facilities must install controls and the type of controls the facilities must use. States must develop their implementation plans by December, 2007. As part of those plans, States will identify the facilities that will have to reduce emissions under BART and then set BART emissions limits for those facilities. INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 3 Section 169A of the Clean Air Act ( CAA) sets forth a national goal for visibility. The goal is the " prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment in visibility in mandatory Class I Federal areas which impairment results from man made air pollution." This section of the Act also calls for EPA regulations to assure that States provide for reasonable progress toward meeting the national goal. The original regulations on protection of visibility in mandatory Class I Federal areas, developed in 1980, addressed visibility that is " reasonably attributable" to a single source or small group of sources. Actions under those regulations are triggered by a FLM. The Regional Haze Rule, promulgated in 1999, added new sections to the code of federal environmental regulations. These included sections 40 CFR 51.308 and 40 CFR 51.309. This ICR renewal request provides for continued implementation of the Regional Haze Rule. During this clearance period, we anticipate that the 40 CFR 51.308 and 51.309 will be the major program focus.

The data collected from respondents include State and Tribal implementation plans. These data confirm progress in assessing visibility impairment and source contribution. The data provide the foundation for the identification of progress goals, control strategies, and BART requirements. Those goals, strategies, and requirements will be developed during the course of this period ( August 1, 2006   July 31, 2009.)

The information in this ICR is based upon the best data available to the Agency at this time. However, incomplete data, and sampling limitations imposed necessitated a certain amount of extrapolation and " best guess" estimations. Consequently, the reader should not consider the conclusions to be an exact representation of the level of burden or cost that will occur. Instead, this ICR should be considered a directionally correct assessment of the impact the programmatic changes included in this rulemaking may have over the next 3 years.

Throughout this ICR, the reader will observe estimated values that show accuracy to the single hour or dollar. However, reporting values at the single unit level can 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 could 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. 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. 2 Need and Use of the Collection 2.1 Need / Authority for the Collection 2.2 Practical Utility / Users of the Data 2.3 Caveats and Considerations INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 4 There are two parts of the information collection for this renewal request. One is related to the 40 CFR 51.308 provisions. This includes State submittal of an implementation plan, draft BART regulations, and assessment of alternative progress goals and regional strategies. The other part is related to the SO2 provisions of 40 CFR 51.309 which allow the nine western States and Tribes in those States to adopt Regional Haze strategies to implement the GCVTC recommendations. These States and Tribes may submit separate SO2 implementation plans. The implementation plans required by the Regional Haze Rule are unique and do not duplicate other implementation plan requirements. In the case of the 40 CFR 51.309 plans, they will build upon information gathered in the process of developing the report of the GCVTC, the Annex to that report prepared by the Western Regional Air Partnership ( WRAP), and the initial 2003 submittals.

For any existing rule, § 3507( g) of the PRA limits how long a Director may take to approve a collection of information to 3 years. The ICR for the Regional Haze Rule was revised last in July 2003. We solicited public comments on this ICR prior to submitting it to OMB. We issued a Federal Register notice requesting comments on the ICR renewal on March 13, 2006 ( 71 FR 12696). No significant comments were received.

The EPA consulted with non EPA persons on the anticipated policy, organization, and technical responsibilities while developing the Regional Haze Rule, most recently in developing the 2005 final amendments. These persons included representatives of RPOs, FLMs, and stakeholders. These consultations facilitate implementation of the Regional Haze Rule.

More specifically, we consulted with the EPA Regional Offices, and through them, the RPOs in developing the list of activities expected to occur during this ICR clearance period.

The information collection requested under this ICR is necessary to ensure implementation of the 40 CFR 51.308 and 40 CFR 51.309 requirements.

OMB's general guidelines for information collections must be adhered to by all Federal Agencies for approval of any rulemaking's collection methodology. In accordance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.5, the Agency believes:

1. The Regional Haze regulations do not require periodic reporting more frequently than annually. 2. The Regional Haze regulations do not require respondents to participate in any statistical survey. 3. Written responses to Agency inquiries are not required to be submitted in less than 30 days. 3 Non Duplication, Consultation, and Other Collection Criteria 3.1 Non Duplication 3.2 Public Notice Requirements 3.3 Consultations 3.4 Less Frequent Collection 3.5 General Guidelines INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 5 4. Respondents do not receive remuneration for the preparation of reports required by the Act or part 51. 5. To the greatest extent possible, the Agency has taken advantage of automated methods of reporting.

The recordkeeping and reporting requirements contained in the current Regional Haze program and the changes proposed in this rulemaking do not exceed any of the Paperwork Reduction Act guidelines contained in 5 CFR 1320.5, except for the guideline which limits retention of records by respondents to 3 years. The Act requires both respondents and State or local agencies to retain records for a period of 5 years. The justification for this exception is found in 28 U. S. C. 2462, which specifies 5 years as the general statute of limitations for Federal claims in response to violations by regulated 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 applied to the Clean Air Act.

Confidentiality is not an issue for this rulemaking. In accordance with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, any monitoring information to be submitted by sources as a part of their BART determination is a matter of public record. To the extent that the information required is proprietary, confidential, or of a nature that could impair the ability of the source to maintain its market position, that information is collected and handled subject to the requirements of § 503( e) and § 114( c) of the Act. Information received and identified by owners or operators as confidential business information ( CBI) and approved as CBI by EPA, in accordance with Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 2, Subpart B, shall be maintained appropriately ( see 40 CFR 2; 41 FR 36902, September 1, 1976; amended by 43 FR 39999, September 8, 1978; 43 FR 42251, September 28, 1978; 44 FR 17674, March 23, 1979).

The consideration of sensitive questions, ( i. e., sexual, religious, personal or other private matters), is not applicable to this rulemaking. The information gathered to develop an implementation plan and make BART determinations does not include personal data on any owner or operator.

The President's priorities in promoting environmental justice ( EJ) are contained in Executive Order # 12898. Because the Regional Haze program operates nation wide and across 26 different industry classifications, the Agency does not believe there is a disproportionate EJ effect in the Regional Haze program. 3.6 Confidentiality 3.7 Sensitive Questions 3.8 Environmental Justice Considerations INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 6 The major categories of respondents directly affected include the States, Tribes, and FLMs. The States and, if they so choose, the Tribes will develop an implementation plan under 40 CFR 51.308. In addition Western States have the option of developing Regional Haze strategies for SO2 emissions under 40 CFR 51.309.

In addition, during this ICR renewal period, other entities, at the discretion of the States and Tribes, may respond to a request of the States or Tribes to fulfill obligations of the 1999 Regional Haze Rule. For example, there may be private sector respondents in particular Standard Industrial Classification ( SIC) and North American Industrial Classification System ( NAICS) Codes and production process categories that are asked to assess and determine if they are BART eligible sources and make a preliminary BART determination. 1 These source categories and their corresponding SIC and NAICS codes are listed in Table 4.1.

The FLMs will work as partners with the RPOs from the perspective of Class I area land managers. Their policy focus will be on prescribed fire policy, and quantification of reasonable progress goals. On the technical side, they will assess air quality monitoring data and work with the RPOs and EPA to determine impacts on visibility in their Class I areas and natural background conditions.

1 Sources that are part of categories listed in the Clean Air Act ( Section 169A) and emitting more than 250 tons per year and constructed during the August 1962 to August 1977 time period are BART eligible. 4 The Respondents and the Information Requested 4.1 Respondents/ SIC and NAICS Codes INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 7 Table 4.1 Categories and Corresponding SIC/ NAICS Codes for Potentially Affected Respondents Industry Group SIC NAICS Fossil Fuel Steam Electric Plants > 250 million BTUs 4911 221112 Coal Clean Plants Thermal Dryers ( assumed to be part of the coal mining industry) 1221, 1222, 1231 21211 Kraft Pulp Mills ( assumed part of pulp, paper, and paperboard mills) 2611 32211 Portland Cement Plants 3241 327310 Primary Zinc Smelters 3339 331419 Iron & Steel Plants 3312 331111 Primary Aluminum Ore Reduction Plants 3334 331312 Primary Copper Smelter 3331 331411 Municipal Incinerators Capable of Charging > 50tpd refuse 4953 562219 Hydrofluoric Acid Plants 2819 325188 Sulfuric Acid Plants 2819 325199 Nitric Acid Plants 2819 325199 Petroleum Refineries 2911 324110 Lime Plants 3274 327410 Phosphate Rock Processing Plants 1475 212392 Coke Oven Batteries 3312 324199 Sulfur Recovery Plant ( assumed to be part of natural gas processing operations) 2819 211112 Carbon Black Plants Furnace Process 2816 325182 Primary Lead Smelters 3339 331419 Fuel Conversion Plants ( none are known to exist) n. a. n. a.

Sintering Plants 3312 331314, 331423, 331492 Chemical Process Plants ( this is a 2 digit SIC) 28 Fossil Fuel Boilers of > 250 BTUs/ hour heat input ( industrial boilers; this encompasses many SICs & NAICS)

Petroleum Storage and Transfer Facilities cap.> 300,000 bbls 5150 422710 Taconite Ore Processing Facilities 1011 21210 Glass Fiber Processing Plants ( assumed to not include container plants) 3229 327212 Charcoal Production Facilities ( assumed to not include activated charcoal manufacture) 2861 325191 The information required under this ICR renewal provides for a continuation of the process initiated with previous ICRs for the Regional Haze Rule. In this stage of the process, the States and Tribes are working toward establishment of progress goals and strategies that will be part of the August 1, 2006 to July 31, 2009 reporting period. 4.2 Information Requested INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 8 The information that is requested under this renewal period under the 40 CFR 51.308 provisions includes:

Develop and Submit Regional Haze Implementation Plan   Develop RH implementation plan template   Conduct 2002 Baseline Visibility Modeling   Calculate natural visibility conditions   Conduct 2018 baseline modeling   Prepare attribution of haze report   Identify reasonable progress goals   Develop long term strategies   Submit monitoring strategy Most of this information has been largely completed by the RPOs and States. The States are working to prepare and submit implementation plans by the December 2007 deadline.

Make BART Determinations   Identify BART eligible sources   Identify BART exempt sources   Make BART determinations   Consult with FLMs   Identify BART controls   Determine degree of visibility improvement Activities required to make the source specific BART determinations are well underway as well. The States may request sources to provide information to help make these determinations and identify BART controls.

Report Annual Emissions. By the third year of the clearance period, sources with BART determinations will be required to report annual emissions to the States in order to track progress. The States will then prepare an annual emissions report for EPA.

The information that is requested under this renewal period under 40 CFR 51.309 provisions includes:

Prepare Revised SIP for SO2 Western Backstop Trading Program. Under Section 309 of the federal Regional Haze Rule, nine western States and Tribes within those States have the option of submitting plans to reduce regional haze emissions that impair visibility at 16 Class I national parks and wilderness areas on the Colorado Plateau. Five states   Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming   have previously submitted INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 9 plans to EPA, but due to a recent Court decisions, these plans must be resubmitted by December 2007. We believe the five States will resubmit, making minor revisions to their existing plans.

Report Annual SO2 Emissions. In each year of the clearance period, sources with BART determinations will be required to report annual SO2 emissions to the States in order to track progress. The States will then prepare an annual emissions report for EPA.

Section 51.309 contains a number of provisions related to the backstop trading program that States must have in place in case a regional SO2 milestone is exceeded. The Agency does not provide any burden estimates for implementing the backstop trading program. This omission is appropriate because there is no indication that the milestone will be exceeded during the clearance period. INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 10 EPA. EPA will work in the policy and technical area. With respect to policy, the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards ( OAQPS) will provide direction and facilitate resolution of major issues. The lead EPA region will work with the RPOs to identify issues and provide recommendations. In the technical area, OAQPS will deliver data, tools, and training to the RPOs. EPA will review the implementation plans submitted by participating State and Tribal governments.

This section discusses the development of burden estimates and their conversion into costs, which are separated into burden costs and capital and O& M costs. According to the latest guidance for ICRs ( EPA 2/ 99), capital and O& M costs display the cost of any new capital equipment the respondent may have to purchase solely for information collection, assimilation, and storage purposes. For example, if a source had to purchase a new mini computer to store and manipulate data, that computer would be a cost of administration subject to reporting in the ICR. In addition, the latest guidance instructs the Agency to differentiate the burden associated with a source's labor and that which it hires through outside contractors. To the extent a source contracts out for administrative purposes ( e. g., employing consultants to perform visibility modeling), the burden associated with those contracted tasks are not a burden to the source  but they still remain a cost. The reader should read this section with the following considerations in mind:

  The Agency believes the time necessary to perform a task is independent of the origins of its labor. In other words, if a source would employ 20 hours of burden to fully perform a function, then a contractor hired by the source would also take 20 hours to perform that same task. Furthermore, the Agency assumes no economies or diseconomies of scale. The linear combination of any amount of contractor and source effort will also sum to 20. Therefore, the burden estimates in this ICR act as an accurate assessment of the total burden to respondents.   For some burden categories, the Agency believes the hours assigned to them will be divided between the source and outside contractors. For these categories, the Agency established a composite cost per hour by developing a weighted average of the source and contractor wages, with the weight defined by the percentage of total effort each burden source applied. Consequently, the cost developed in this ICR should be interpreted as an upper bound on the actual cost of administration by the source. The methodology for determining cost per hour can be found in greater detail in section 6.2, below. 5 The Information Collected  Agency Activities, Collection Methodologies, and Information Management 5.2 Collection Methodology and Management 5.1 Agency Activities INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 11 The section 308 implementation plans prepared by participating States and Tribes will set forth the specifics regarding the actual methodology and management. The plans must include the following elements:

  Procedures by which monitoring data and other information are used in determining the contribution of emissions from within the State to regional haze visibility impairment at mandatory Class I Federal areas both within and outside the State.   For a State with no mandatory Class I Federal areas, procedures by which monitoring data and other information are used in determining the contribution of emissions from within the State to regional haze visibility impairment at mandatory Class I Federal areas in other States.   Reporting of all visibility monitoring data to the Administrator at least annually for each mandatory Class I Federal area in the State. To the extent possible, the State should report visibility monitoring data electronically.   A statewide inventory of emissions of pollutants that are reasonably anticipated to cause or contribute to visibility impairment in any mandatory Class I Federal area. The inventory must include emissions for a baseline year, emissions for the most recent year for which data are available, and estimates of future projected emissions. The State must also include a commitment to update the inventory periodically.

Other elements, including reporting, recordkeeping, and other measures, necessary to assess and report on visibility.

In addition, for State and Tribes submitting under 40 CFR 51.309, provisions are made for adjustments in view of changes in emissions monitoring or calculation methods, flow rate measurement methods, adjustments for illegal emissions, adjustment based upon program audits, adjustments for sources opting into the program, documentation of emission calculation methods, record keeping, completion and submission of emissions reports, exceptions reports, and annual comparison of emissions to milestones.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act ( RFA) requires regulatory agencies, upon regulatory action, to assess that action's potential impact on small entities ( businesses, governments, and small non governmental organizations) and report the results of the assessments in ( 1) an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis ( IRFA), ( 2) a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis ( FRFA), and ( 3) a Certification. For ICR approval, the Agency must demonstrate that it " has taken all practicable steps to develop separate and simplified requirements for small businesses and other small entities" ( 5 CFR 5.3 Small Entity Flexibility INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 12 1320.6( h)). In addition, the agencies must assure through various mechanisms that small entities are given an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process.

EPA has determined that it is not necessary to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis in connection with the Regional Haze rule ( July 6, 2005, 70 FR 39104). After considering the economic impacts of the final rule on small entities, EPA has concluded that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This final rule will not impose any direct requirements on small entities. The rule would apply to States, not to small entities.

BART requirements in the Regional Haze Rule require BART determinations for a select list of major stationary sources defined by section 169A( g)( 7) of the CAA. However, as noted in the proposed and final Regional Haze Rules, the State's determination of BART for regional haze involves some State discretion in considering a number of factors set forth in section 169A( g)( 2), including the costs of compliance. Further, the Regional Haze Rule allows States to adopt alternative measures in lieu of requiring the installation and operation of BART at these major stationary sources. As a result, the potential consequences of the BART provisions of the regional haze rule at specific sources are speculative. Any requirements for BART will be established by State rulemakings. The States would accordingly exercise substantial intervening discretion in implementing the BART requirements of the Regional Haze Rule and BART guidelines.

States and Tribes are required to submit their implementation plans by December 2007. In addition, the Western States have the option of submitting their SO2 Regional Haze Strategies by this date. Sources in these States must report their annual emissions and the RPO will submit annual emissions reports. 5.4 Collection Schedule INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 13 Burden means the total time, effort, of financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The burden estimate should be composed of ( 1) a total capital and start up cost component annualized over its useful life; ( 2) a total operation, maintenance and purchases of services component. Each component should be divided into burden borne directly by the respondent and any services that are contracted out.

Although there have been regulatory changes to the Regional Haze program since the 2003 renewal, these changes were largely clarification and do not significantly change the burden associated with developing an implementation plan. Most of the activities associated with making BART determinations have been conducted under the previous collection periods. Table 6.1 summarizes the results for each of the major categories of respondents.

Develop and Submit Regional Haze Implementation Plan. Based on a review of the previous ICR we believe that an estimate of 400 hours per State to complete the Regional Haze SIP is reasonable. Based on discussion with EPA and RPO staff, we believe that the majority of the SIP development effort will be complete by the time this clearance period takes effect. We have also assumed that one Tribe will accept delegation of the 40 CFR 51.308 program and will prepare and submit a Regional Haze SIP for an estimated burden of 400 hours.

Make BART Determinations. We believe 80 hours per BART eligible category is a reasonable estimate of State agency burden to make a BART determination. Once again, a lot of this work has been done previously in the form of control guidance, emissions analysis for inventory projections, etc. Based on information found in the draft list of BART eligible sources for two RPOs ( Midwest RPO and WRAP), there are on average 7.42 BART categories represented in each State. Therefore we have assumed an average of 594 hours per State to make BART determinations. For the single Tribe we have assumed that will take delegation of the 40 CFR 51.309 program, we have assumed there are two BART categories represented, for a total of 160 hours. Because some States may request 6 Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection 6.1 Estimating Respondent Burden INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 14 sources to conduct visibility modeling or provide other information, we have included an estimate for 40 hours per source.

Report Calendar Year Emissions. In the third year of this clearance period, we estimate that sources with BART determinations will be reporting their calendar year emissions. Most States currently require reporting of sources that are 100 tons/ year or greater. However, the recently signed consolidated and emissions and reporting rule relaxes Federal requirements for those sources to 2500 tons/ year. Whether the States will adjust their reporting accordingly is unknown; we assume they do. Hence, there is an estimate of incremental reporting burden for those sources that emit > 100 and < 2500 tons/ year. Examples of non complex sources include industrial boilers, lime kilns, cement plants, and natural gas plants. The complex sources include refineries, smelters and other metallurgical operations, and Kraft pulp mills. At these sources, there may be a variety of operations emitting sulfur dioxide. Hence, the higher estimate of burden hours. We estimate non complex sources will spend 4 hours/ year generating their emission reports and complex sources will spend 16 hours/ year. We believe that these sources will already have much if not all of the needed information available to them because of other reporting requirements, including Title V permits.

Using the list of BART eligible sources, an assumption that 90 percent of the sources will ultimately be determined to be BART eligible, and the percentages of emissions categories represented by the WRAP States as indicative of the nation as a whole, we estimate there will be 326 " complex" sources and 422 " noncomplex" sources reporting emissions in 2008. As described in Table 6.1, the States also will be required to prepare and submit annual emissions reports to EPA. We believe the States will have an automated system in place to generate these reports and the estimated burden for this activity is 20 hours/ State/ year.

Prepare Revised SIP for SO2 Western Backstop Trading Program. The Section 309 burdens are based on the previous renewal, except that the burden associated with developing a Regional Haze Strategy is reduced because the States are expected only to update their previous submittals.

Report Calendar Year SO2 Emissions. As described in Table 6.1, sources will also be required to report calendar year emissions in the ICR clearance period. Based on the emissions information provided on the WRAP's list of BART eligible sources and our assumption that 90 percent of these will actually be determined to be BART eligible in the final analysis, we estimate that there will be 127 " complex" sources and 167 " noncomplex" sources emitting less than 2,500 tons/ year. As described above, we estimate non complex sources will spend 4 hours/ year INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 15 generating their emission reports and complex sources will spend 16 hours/ year. We believe that these sources will already have much if not all of the needed information available to them because of other reporting requirements, including Title V permits. Also the four WRAP States will generate annual SO2 emissions report for an estimated burden of 20/ hours/ State/ year.

Table 6.1. Estimated Respondent Burden to Implement Requirements Task Element Hours/ State Hours/ Tribe Hours/ Source Total Hours for FLMs Year Incurred 40 CFR 51.308 Requirements Develop and submit § 308 Implementation Plan 400 400 0 2000 2006  2007 Make BART determinations 594 160 40 0 2006  2007 Report calendar year emissions n/ a n/ a 0 for > 2500 tons/ year sources; 4 for non complex sources, 16 for complex sources n/ a 2008 Prepare and submit emissions reports 20 20 0 0 2008 40 CFR 51.309 Requirements Develop and submit § 309 Regional Haze strategies 80 0 0 200 2006  2007 Report calendar year emissions n/ a n/ a 0 for > 2500 tons/ year sources; 4 for non complex sources, 16 for complex sources n/ a 2006  2008 Prepare and submit annual emissions reports 60 0 0 0 2006  2008 This ICR uses the most recently available wage values with the wage rate methods established in the New Source Review ( NSR) ICRs, which use standard methods based in the Federal Operating Permit Programs ICRs.

We estimated industry labor costs using a two step process. First, we calculated an estimated in house labor rate using the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics ( BLS). We then calculated an industrial respondent's labor rate reflecting a division between in house technical staff and contractor staff.

The labor rate used to calculate the industrial respondent's labor cost is $ 73.40/ hr and reflects a division of labor between in house technical staff 6.2 Estimating Respondent Costs 6.2.1 Estimating Labor Costs <IP_ADDRESS> Industrial Labor Rates INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 16 and managerial staff, and the involvement of outside consultants. The following steps detail the estimated industrial respondent labor rates:

1. To calculate the in house labor rate, $ 62.20/ hr, we have used a graded approach in calculating labor cost as recommended in the ICR handbook. We used wage rates for industry respondents retrieved from the BLS. Because of the breadth of industry categories that could be affected, we used average industry rates for Engineering Mangers ( management), Environmental Engineers ( technical), and Correspondence Clerks ( clerical). Based on current BLS data for private sector benefits compensation, we used 28.8 percent of the total compensation to estimate benefits. 2 We calculated the overhead rate as 50 percent of the total compensation rate ( i. e. salary plus benefits). The addition of benefits and overhead to the hourly rate produces a pay rate that reflects the true cost to employ an industry sector worker. Table 6.2 summarizes this result.

Table 6.2 Calculated In house Weighted Hourly Labor Rates Labor Type Base Salary, Hourly Rate Benefit Hourly Rate a Overhead Hourly Rate b Adjusted Hourly Rate In house Weighting (%) In house Weighted Hourly Rate Management 50.10 c 14.43 32.26 96.79 5% 4.84 Technical 33.27 d 9.58 21.43 64.28 85% 54.64 Clerical 14.10 e 4.06 9.08 27.24 10% 2.72 Total 100% $ 62.20 a Benefits are 28.8% of Base Salary Hourly Rate based on Nov 2004 data from the Dept of Labor: Bureau of Labor and Statistics http:// data. bls. gov/ cgi bin/ dsrv b Overhead rate is 50% of Base Salary Hourly Rate plus Benefit Hourly Rate.

c Dept of Labor: Bureau of Labor and Statistics http:// www. bls. gov/ oes/ current/ oes119041. htm, November 2004 d Dept of Labor: Bureau of Labor and Statistics http:// www. bls. gov/ oes/ current/ oes172081. htm, November 2004 e Dept of Labor: Bureau of Labor and Statistics http:// www. bls. gov/ oes/ current/ oes434021. htm, November 2004 2. The fully loaded weighted consultant rate was calculated using the 1997 NSR ICR which was estimated to be 60 percent higher than the loaded in house rate. Therefore, we have estimated the current fully loaded weighted consultant rate to be $ 99.52 ($ 62.20 × 1.60 = $ 99.52). 3. The industrial respondent's labor rate is calculated by taking 70% of the 2006 in house rate ($ 62.20 × 0.70 = $ 43.54). This is derived using fully loaded weighted technical, clerical, and managerial staff wages.

2 U. S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics: Bureau of Labor Statistics Data. http:// data. bls. gov/ cgi bin/ drsv Accessed April 2006. INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 17 4. This number is added to 30% of the 2006 fully loaded weighted consultant rate for technical, clerical, and managerial staff ($ 99.52 × 0.30 = $ 29.86). 5. The resultant industrial respondent's labor rate equals $ 73.40/ hr ($ 43.54 + $ 29.52 = $ 73.40).

The labor rate used to calculate the State and local respondents' and FLMs' labor cost is $ 44.63/ hr. This rate is the result of inserting 2006 Federal government pay schedule wage rates for clerical, technical, and managerial staff into the weighting system developed in the 1997 renewal ICR and described in the November 2002 parts 51 & 52 ICR update. 3 For this ICR, the Agency employed the same methodology to determine 2006 Federal burden costs. Table 6.3 summarizes this result.

Table 6.3 Determination of Federal and State Wage Rates Annual Salary of Permit Staff, GS 11 Step 3 ( FY 06 Schedule)* $ 49,269.00 Annual Cost of Supervisory Staff, GS 13 Step 3 ( FY 06 Schedule)* $ 70,220.00 Factor ( 1/ 11) 0.09 $ 6,319.80 $ 32,765.00 Annual Cost of Support Staff, GS 6 Step 6 ( FY 06 Schedule)* Factor ( 1/ 8) 0.13 $ 4,259.45 Annual Applicable Salary of Permit Staff $ 59,848.25 Benefits ( at 16%) $ 9,575.72 Sick Leave / Vacation ( at 10%) $ 5,984.83 General Overhead $ 17,413.37 Total Cost Per FTE $ 92,822.17 Total Hourly Cost ( Total Per FTE divided by 2,080 hours per year) $ 44.63 a http:// www. opm. gov/ oca/ 06tables/ html/ gs. asp April 2006 All of the sources subject to these requirements are existing and should have most, and perhaps all, of the equipment needed to respond to State requests ( for example, the computers and basic software) will be part of the source's business operation inventory. Furthermore, much of the data and regulatory and policy information for estimating emissions and visibility impact are available in electronic form from several different EPA bulletin boards for just the communication charges, which are typically absorbed in routine business overhead expenses.

3 U. S., Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, DRAFT INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST FOR CHANGES TO THE 40 CFR PART 51 AND 52 PREVENTION OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATION AND NEW SOURCE REVIEW APPLICABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING SOURCES, November, 2002, p. 29. 6.2.2 Estimating Capital and Operations and Maintenance Costs including Purchase of Services <IP_ADDRESS> State and Local Respondent Labor Rates INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 18 Since the purchase of capital equipment is believed to be an insignificant factor in responding to State requests, EPA assumes the operation, maintenance, or services for same are negligible.

Typically annualized capital cost would be derived from a discounted net present value of the stream of costs that would occur over the life of the activity, or the ICR, whichever is shorter. We anticipate there may be monitoring costs associated with the final BART determinations as sources take steps to ensure they will be in compliance with the BART requirements. However we do not anticipate these expenses will be incurred during this clearance period.

The Agency Burden is divided between the EPA Regional Offices, who perform the primary review of State submittals, and EPA Headquarters staff, who provide oversight. In addition, EPA funds five RPOs, who address regional haze and related issues. These organizations have provided key support in evaluating technical information to better understand how their States and Tribes impact national park and wilderness areas ( Class I areas) across the country. They also have developed key implementation tools that they and the States and Tribes are using to develop the pending implementation plans to reduce emissions of particulate matter and other pollutants leading to regional haze. In the previous ICR ( 1813.04), the burden associated with RPO activities was excluded because their activities were funded by EPA grants. However, for this ICR, we have decided that it is appropriate to include some burden for their activities as part of the overall Agency burden. We recognize that the States also contribute substantial RPO support, in terms of staff hours. We assume this support is reflected in the overall State burden estimates presented earlier in this ICR.

For this ICR, we have assumed the following number of offices will be involved in implementing the Regional Haze requirements.

EPA Regional Offices. We assume that all 10 EPA Regional Offices will be responsible for reviewing implementation plans from the States in their jurisdiction. We assume that 4 Regional Offices ( 6, 8, 9, 10) will review 40 CFR 51.309 submittals from 5 States ( Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming).

EPA Headquarters. The EPA Headquarters staff will provide oversight and review for Regional Haze submittals.

RPOs. All 5 RPOs will be involved in developing Regional Haze rule submittals. In addition, the WRAP will be involved in helping the 5 western States develop 40 CFR 51.309 submittals. 6.2.3 Annualized Capital Costs 6.3 Estimating Agency Burden and Cost INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 19 Table 6.4 presents our estimate of the Agency burden in the ICR clearance period. In developing these estimates, we considered previous estimates for similar activities as well as the fact that much of the development work has already been performed ( e. g., inventories, monitoring strategy, control option assessments, etc.).

Table 6.5 summarizes the total annual average burden to the Agency, which is 2,443 hours and $ 111,000 during the 3 year clearance period. This annual burden is calculated by taking the total burden from Table 6.4 ( years 1   3, combined), dividing it by three and multiplying by the number of respondents. As described in section <IP_ADDRESS>, we calculated Federal labor rates using the weighting developed in the 1997 NSR ICR renewal and subsequent updates. The estimated labor rate is $ 44.63/ hr.

Table 6.4. Estimated Agency Burden to Implement Requirements Task Element Hours/ EPA Regional Office Hours/ Headquarters Hours/ RPO Year Incurred 40 CFR 51.308 Requirements Develop, submit, and/ or review § 308 Implementation Plan 200 80 160 2006  2007 Make or Review BART determinations 240 40 240 2006  2007 Report or review calendar year emissions report 8 0 8 2008 40 CFR 51.309 Requirements Develop, submit, and / or review § 309 Regional Haze strategies 20 10 160 2006  2007 Report or review calendar year emissions report 24 0 24 2006   2008 TOTAL 484 130 584 INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 20 Table 6.5 Estimated Total Annual Burden to Agency EPA Regional Office Headquarters RPOs Task Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000)

40 CFR 51.308 Requirements Develop, submit, and/ or review § 308 Implementation Plan ( 200* 10)/ 3 = 667 30 80/ 3 = 27 1 ( 160* 5)/ 3 = 267 12 Make or review BART determinations ( 240* 10)/ 3 = 800 36 40/ 3 = 13 1 ( 240* 5)/ 3 = 400 18 Report or review calendar year emissions report ( 8* 50)/ 3 = 133 6 0 0 ( 8* 5)/ 3 = 13 1 40 CFR 51.309 Requirements Develop, submit, and / or review § 309 Regional Haze strategies ( 20* 4)/ 3 = 27 1 10/ 3 = 3 0.1 160/ 3 = 53 2 Report or review calendar year emissions report ( 24* 4)/ 3 = 32 1 0 0 24/ 3 = 8 0.3 Total Annual Burden by Agency 1,659 76 43 2 741 33 Total for Agency 2,443 hours; $ 111,000 For the purpose of estimating burden in this ICR, the respondent universe is determined as follows.

States. We assume that all 50 States will be affected by the 40 CFR 51.308 requirements. Five States will submit 40 CFR 51.309 strategies ( Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming).

Tribes. We assume that 1 Tribe will opt to develop implement the 40 CFR a Regional Haze plan.

Industry. Using the lists of potential BART eligible sources developed by the RPOs, we compiled a list of 1,107 potential sources. Sixty three percent of these facilities ( 698) are located in States subject to the Clean Air Interstate Rule ( CAIR). The CAIR requires reductions in emissions of SO2 and NOx from electricity generating units ( EGUs) in 28 eastern States and the District of Columbia. When fully implemented, CAIR will reduce SO2 emissions in these states by over 70 percent and NOx emissions by over 60 percent from 2003 levels. The CAIR establishes an EPAadministered cap and trade program for EGUs in which States may participate as a means to meet these requirements. In the BART rule, EPA 6.4 Estimating the Respondent Universe INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 21 presents the results of an analysis showing that controls for EGUs subject to CAIR will result in more visibility improvement in natural areas than BART would have provided. States that adopt the CAIR cap and trade program for SO2 and NOx are allowed to apply CAIR controls as a substitute for controls required under BART because our analysis concluded that CAIR controls are " better than BART" for EGUs in the states subject to CAIR.

Using the list of BART eligible sources, we determined that approximately 30 percent of them ( 209) are EGUs or fossil fuel fired steam electric plants that are potentially subject to the CAIR. For purposes of this ICR, we have assumed that 90 percent of the remaining sources in the CAIR States ( 440) and 90 percent of the sources in the non CAIR States ( 368) sources will be subject to the BART determination process for a total of 808 sources. We applied the 90 percent factor to account for the fact that the lists of BART eligible sources is not final in all cases and we expect that the final totals will be somewhat less as the States and sources review the draft lists..

FLMs. The burden hours for FLMs are estimated for the group as a whole.

Tables 6.6 summarizes the total annual respondent burden, which is 32,551 hours per year and $ 1,856,000 per year. As described in section 6.2.2 and 6.2.3, there are no operation and maintenance costs or capital costs associated with activities to be conducted during this 3 year clearance period. The total number of respondents is 860 ( 50 State agencies, 1 Tribe, 1 group of FLMs, and 808 industrial sources.) 6.5 Bottom Line Burden and Cost INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 22 Table 6.6 Estimated Annual Respondent Burden to Implement Requirements States Tribes Source FLMs Task Element Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000) Average Annual Hours Average Annual Cost ($ 1000)

40 CFR 51.308 Requirements Develop and submit § 308 Implementation Plan ( 400* 50)/ 3= 6,666 298 400/ 3 = 133 6 0 0 2000/ 3= 667 30 Make BART determinations ( 594* 50)/ 3= 9,900 442 1600/ 3 = 533 24 ( 40* 808)/ 3 = 10,773 791 0 0 Report calendar year emissions 0 0 0 0 ( 4* 422)/ 3 = 563 ( 16* 326)/ 3 = 1,739 169 0 0 Prepare and submit emissions reports ( 20* 50)/ 3 = 333 15 20/ 3 = 7 0.3 0 0 0 0 40 CFR 51.309 Requirements Develop and submit § 309 Regional Haze strategies ( 80* 5)/ 3= 133 6 0 0 0 0 200/ 3 = 67 3 Report Calendar Year Emissions 0 0 0 0 ( 4* 167)/ 3 = 223 ( 16* 127)/ 3 = 677 66 0 0 Prepare and submit annual emissions reports ( 60* 5)/ 3= 100 4 110/ 3= 37 2 0 0 0 0 Total Burden by Respondent 17,132 765 710 32 13,975 1,026 734 33 Total for Respondent Universe 32,551 hours; $ 1,856,000 The burden estimates for this ICR renewal period cover different task elements than those for the previous renewal ( 1813.04). These differences reflect the requirements of the final Regional Haze Rule with respect to the scheduled events and activities in the implementation process. 6.6 Reasons for Change in Burden INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR EPA ICR NUMBER 1813.06, RENEWAL OF THE ICR FOR THE REGIONAL HAZE RULE Page 23 Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15.

To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of automated collection techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No. OAR 2003 0162, that is available for public viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, in the EPA Docket Center ( EPA/ DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8: 30 a. m. to 4: 30 p. m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is ( 202) 566 1744, and the telephone number for the Air Docket is ( 202) 566 1742. An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA Dockets ( EDOCKET) at http:// www. epa. gov/ edocket. Use EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select " search," then key in the docket ID number identified above. Also, you can send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, N. W., Washington D. C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID No. ( OAR 2003 0162) in any correspondence. 6.7 Burden Statement


[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 248 (Thursday, December 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61661-61662]
[FR Doc No: 2017-28007]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket Number DOT-NHTSA-2017-0104]

Notice and Request for Comments

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments
about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval to renew an information collection. Before a Federal
agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under
procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before
seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on
proposed collections of information, including extensions and
reinstatement of previously approved collections.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 26, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments [identified by Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-
20XX-XXXX] through one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except on Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary R. Toth, Office of Data
Acquisitions (NSA-0100), Room W53-505, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Toth's telephone number is<PHONE_NUMBER>.
Please identify the relevant collection of information by referring to
its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Crash Investigation Sampling System (CISS).
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0706.
    Type of Request: Collection of motor vehicle crash data.
    Abstract: The collection of crash data that support the
establishment and enforcement of motor vehicle regulations that reduce
the severity of injury and property damage caused by motor vehicle
crashes is authorized under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle
Safety Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89-563, Title 1, Sec. 106, 108, and 112).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been
investigating high severity crashes and collecting crash data through
its National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) Crashworthiness Data
System (NASS-CDS) and Special Crash Investigation (SCI) programs. The
NASS was designed in the 1970's to collect data. Due to population
shifts and vehicle transformation, among many other changes since NASS
was established, the crash population has changed in the country. At
the same time, the data needs of the transportation community have
significantly increased over the last three decades. The scope of
traffic safety studies has also been expanding. For example, the
primary focus of the original NASS design was to enhance
crashworthiness by providing detailed information about crush damage,
restraint system performance and injury mechanisms. In recent years,
however, the transportation community has been increasingly more
interested in adding data elements related to what happens before a
crash and related crash avoidance safety countermeasures.
    Recognizing the importance as well as the limitations of the past
NASS system, NHTSA has undertaken a modernization effort to upgrade our
data systems by improving the information technology infrastructure,
updating the data we collect and reexamining the sample sites. The goal
of this overall modernization effort was to develop a new crash data
system that meets current and future data needs. The newly redesigned
investigation-based acquisition system is a nationally-representative
sample of passenger vehicle crashes. This newly-designed system, the
Crash Investigation Sampling System (CISS), will focus on detailed
investigation of passenger vehicle crashes. CISS was implemented

in 2015 with a goal of thirty-two (32) sites fully operational by July
of 2018.
    For the investigation-based acquisition process, once a crash has
been selected for investigation, crash technicians locate, visit,
measure, and photograph the crash scene; locate, inspect, and
photograph vehicles; conduct a telephone or personal interview with the
involved individuals or surrogate; and obtain and record injury
information received from various medical data sources. These data are
used to describe and analyze circumstances, mechanisms, and
consequences of serious motor vehicle crashes in the United States. The
collection of interview data aids in this effort.
    Affected Public: Passenger Motor Vehicle Operators.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 9,450.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 5,605 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $140,125.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the Department's
performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the
Department to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the
information collection; and (d) ways that the burden could be minimized
without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency
will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's
clearance of this information collection.

    Authority:  The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1:48.

Terry T. Shelton,
Associate Administrator, National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2017-28007 Filed 12-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P