The estimates derived from this methodology are consistent with the results from the various federal manifest ICRs (see Exhibit 3-1) but fall below the range of manifests estimated in the 2005 Final Revisions to the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest Form rule. Most telling, the most recent Hazardous Waste Manifest System ICR only accounts for only federal hazardous waste manifests. Also this survey-derived estimate falls below the range estimated in the 2005 Final Revisions to the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest Form (see Section 3.1); this suggests that these estimates likely understate total manifest numbers, potentially because survey respondents' responses only estimated the number of federal manifests used. It is also potentially possible that the scaling factors are not appropriate for the firms represented here, i.e., these firms are not the largest firms in the industry, or manifest usage accrues to firms in other six-digit NAICS codes. Alternately, manifest usage may simply not scale proportionally to market concentration.

<IP_ADDRESS> Manifest Estimate from Manifest Printer Responses

EPA does not print and distribute copies of the manifest, but authorizes specific companies to print the specialized form. Currently, 13 companies are approved by EPA to print the manifest. Nine of these companies offer manifests for sale, and four are TSDF companies that print manifests for their own use. For this estimate, EPA contacted nine manifest printers and asked them to report the number of manifests they sell annually. Five of these companies responded (see Exhibit 3-5). Respondents sent in figures for single years, multiple years, and averages; Exhibit 3-5 reflects annual averages of manifests sold. Three of the TSDF companies with totals displayed in Exhibit 3-4, Stericycle/PSC, Veolia, and Tradebe, are also registered printers of the manifest.

                                  Exhibit 3-5
             Average Annual Sales Printed of Manifest Paper Forms
                                     Item
                                    Company
               Average Annual Printed Manifest Paper Form Sales
                                       1
JJ Keller
                                                                      1,500,000
                                       2
Flesh Co
                                                                      1,120,400
                                       3
Welsh & Associates
                                                                         60,000
                                       4
Genoa Forms
                                                                        300,000
                                       5
                                                            Subtotal (Printers)
                                                                      2,980,400
                                       6
Stericycle / PSC
                                                                        305,909
                                       7
Veolia
                                                                        100,000
                                       8
Tradebe
                                                                         45,000
                                       9
                 Total (Printers and TSDFs who print for manifests for own use)
                                                                     3,431,309

This combined estimate of manifests printed and sold annually is 3.4 million  -  roughly similar to the 3.3 million manifests estimated in Section 3.2.1 above. This count may overestimate the total number of manifests used, because more manifests are likely sold than used in a given year, which affords generators a buffer to ensure that they do not run out of manifests before purchasing more. This count may underestimate the total number of manifests used because Exhibit 3-6 does not capture four of the nine companies currently selling manifests.

                                  Exhibit 3-6
                  Summary of Annual Manifest Count Estimates
                                     Item
                                    Source
                           Annual Manifest Estimate
                                     Notes
                                       1
EPA Hazardous Waste Manifest System ICRs
                            1,407,016  -  1,887,404
Federal manifests only, 2004-2015
                                       2
Final Revisions to the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest Form rule
                            2,400,000  -  5,100,000
Federal and state manifests, 2005
                                       3
RIA primary estimate
                                   3,307,137
Federal and state manifests
                                       4
Extrapolated estimate from TSDF survey
                            1,339,323  -  1,792,379
May include only federal manifests, 2011-2013
                                       5
Manifest printer responses
                                   3,431,309
Federal and state manifests

The cost impacts and related analyses in the remainder of this RIA rely on the annual manifest count of approximately 3.3 million. Sensitivity analyses considering alternate annual manifest counts are included in Chapter 6. This estimate appears to be similar to an independent assessment of the number of manifests sold by manifest printers annually, and exceeds an estimate from a survey of TSDF manifest users, which may not have included state manifests in their responses.

                                   Chapter 4
Baseline (Paper) Manifest Activities in the Hazardous Waste Management Industry
                          The paper manifest process

A manifest form contains identifying information about a hazardous waste shipment as well as the entities handling the waste, from origin point to final destination. A paper copy must accompany the shipment of hazardous waste. The form contains signature lines for all entities that handle the waste. Under the current paper manifest system:

 Generators that ship hazardous waste off-site initiate a manifest(s) for a shipment, potentially with the assistance of a transporter or receiver TSDF. A generator fills out this six-ply form with facility identification information and waste descriptions (including waste quantity, type, and container descriptions), signs the document, and pulls off and retains a copy.

 The transporter that picks up the hazardous waste shipment from the generator facility must also supply identifying information, sign the form, and retain a copy.

 All waste handlers, including subsequent transporters and the final receiver TSDF receiving the waste also fill out identifying information, sign the manifest, and retain a copy.

 The receiver TSDF ultimately receiving the waste sends a copy of the complete manifest with all signatures back to the original generator. In some states, this TSDF is also responsible for sending a copy of the complete manifest to a state regulatory authority.

 All waste handlers must retain their manifest copies for at least three years. Although the current manifest form is a paper six-ply form, many waste handlers, as well as some states that collect manifest data, also have their own IT systems to store manifest data electronically (e.g., scanned image or XML format). These systems are not currently used to comply with the manifest requirements for hazardous waste under RCRA. However, they may be adaptable to that purpose after the launch of the e-Manifest system.

In the case of discrepancies between the physical waste cargo and the information on the manifest form, shipments of waste may be sent back to the original generator facility.

For a detailed description of the set of activities that constitute the full paper manifest process, see Appendix D.
                          The paper manifest process

A manifest form contains identifying information about a hazardous waste shipment as well as the entities handling the waste, from origin point to final destination. A paper copy must accompany the shipment of hazardous waste. The form contains signature lines for all entities that handle the waste. Under the current paper manifest system:

 Generators that ship hazardous waste off-site initiate a manifest(s) for a shipment, potentially with the assistance of a transporter or receiver TSDF. A generator fills out this six-ply form with facility identification information and waste descriptions (including waste quantity, type, and container descriptions), signs the document, and pulls off and retains a copy.

 The transporter that picks up the hazardous waste shipment from the generator facility must also supply identifying information, sign the form, and retain a copy.

 All waste handlers, including subsequent transporters and the final receiver TSDF receiving the waste also fill out identifying information, sign the manifest, and retain a copy.

 The receiver TSDF ultimately receiving the waste sends a copy of the complete manifest with all signatures back to the original generator. In some states, this TSDF is also responsible for sending a copy of the complete manifest to a state regulatory authority.

 All waste handlers must retain their manifest copies for at least three years. Although the current manifest form is a paper six-ply form, many waste handlers, as well as some states that collect manifest data, also have their own IT systems to store manifest data electronically (e.g., scanned image or XML format). These systems are not currently used to comply with the manifest requirements for hazardous waste under RCRA. However, they may be adaptable to that purpose after the launch of the e-Manifest system.

In the case of discrepancies between the physical waste cargo and the information on the manifest form, shipments of waste may be sent back to the original generator facility.

For a detailed description of the set of activities that constitute the full paper manifest process, see Appendix D.
This chapter characterizes baseline practices associated with the manifest process within the hazardous waste management industry. This chapter addresses the following broad categories of baseline practices and separately characterizes the costs for each:

 Paper manifest costs accruing to industry: federal manifests. This category pertains to the cost to industry to comply with the federally-required paper manifest process, including all aspects of manifest completion, transmittal, discrepancy resolution, and similar activities. For the unit costs associated with these activities, this RIA uses the latest (2015) Information Collection Request (ICR) for the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System (the "HWMS ICR"). This RIA assumes that these costs accrue to the set of 1,531,045 federal manifests described in Chapter 3.

 Paper manifest costs accruing to industry: state-specific manifests. This category pertains to the cost to industry to comply with non-federal (state-specific) paper manifest requirements. Given the degree of variability in state requirements, as a simplifying assumption, this RIA assumes that the unit costs associated with the paper manifest process for federal manifests similarly apply to state-specific manifests. This RIA therefore scales the total costs associated with the 1,531,045 federal manifests to reflect the 1,776,092 state-specific and federally-exempt manifests (see Chapter 3).

 EPA burden to process paper manifests (Agency burden). This category addresses costs that EPA incurs to conduct activities associated with federal paper manifests. Although EPA does not collect or directly process paper manifests in the baseline, the Agency does engage in activities such as reviewing exception reports and receiving discharge notifications from hazardous waste transporters. For the unit costs associated with these activities, this RIA again uses the HWMS ICR. This Agency burden only reflects the activities associated with federal manifests. Under the final rule, EPA will implement and maintain an e-Manifest system that will substantially alter the Agency burden associated with hazardous waste manifest processes.

 Burden accruing to states to process paper manifests (state burden). This category pertains to the costs that states incur to receive, process, and conduct other activities associated with both federal and state-specific manifests. To estimate state burden costs, this RIA collected information on the nature and extent of state activities in collecting and processing manifests. Based on this information, this RIA models the costs of manifest collection and processing for the set of 23 states for which information is available about manifest processing-related activities. While these activities are not directly required by the RCRA statute, it is possible that the final rule's creation of an e-Manifest system will change (and reduce) state burden by transferring these activities to EPA's centralized system.

 Burden accruing to industry to comply with Hazardous Waste Report (Biennial Report, or BR) reporting. This category pertains to the requirements for private facilities to submit reports to EPA or the states at least every two years that document the quantities and nature of hazardous waste generated during a given year and the disposition of these hazardous wastes. For the unit costs and counts associated with these activities, this RIA uses the latest Information Collection Request (ICR) for the RCRA Hazardous Waste Report (the "BR (Biennial Report) ICR"). Because this RIA assumes that the e-Manifest system will reduce industry burden associated with Hazardous Waste Report reporting, the baseline burden associated with these activities is included as a baseline cost.

 Burden accruing to states to comply with Hazardous Waste Report (Biennial Report) reporting. States also engage in a number of activities to collect information associated with industry Hazardous Waste Report reporting, such as assisting respondents, entering report submissions, and performing quality assurance. The BR ICR is similarly used to track unit costs and counts associated with these activities carried out by the states. Because this RIA assumes that the e-Manifest system will reduce the state burden associated with Hazardous Waste Report reporting, the baseline burden associated with these activities is considered in this chapter as a baseline cost.

4.1 Key Assumptions for Baseline Cost Estimation

This RIA makes three overarching assumptions governing the baseline costs estimated in this chapter. This section documents these assumptions.

4.1.1 Exclusion of Baseline Costs Not Impacted by the Final Rule

Hazardous waste management and transport consists of a number of activities, only some of which directly relate to the manifest process. This chapter addresses only costs associated with manifest preparation, not other costs associated with packing and shipping waste.

Furthermore, not all activities described in the RCRA HWMS ICR will be directly impacted by the final rule. Specifically, the HWMS ICR includes two substantial components that are separate from the items included in this chapter:

 Reading the regulations. While hazardous waste shippers, transporters, and receivers may need to read new regulations associated with changes to the manifest process, this RIA assumes that they have already read the current regulations and are not doing so regularly. Correspondingly, this activity is not included in the assessment of baseline costs in this chapter.

 Costs accruing to registrant organizations (manifest printers). A distinct group of actors associated with the manifest process are the registrant organizations that apply to, and are authorized by, EPA to print hazardous waste manifests. Because paper manifests will still be available even in the post-rule scenario where the e-Manifest system has been enacted, this RIA does not assume that the final rule will have any impact on registrant organizations. Correspondingly, baseline costs associated with registrant organization activities are not included in the assessment of baseline costs in this chapter. Note that given the low magnitude of costs associated with registrant organization activities per the HWMS ICR (under $3,000 per year), this assumption does not substantially impact the calculus for baseline or post-rule costs associated with the final rule.

Additionally, the BR ICR estimates costs to EPA to compile the Hazardous Waste Report. While these costs are minor, this RIA does not expect these costs to be substantially altered by the propose rule's creation of an e-Manifest system; correspondingly, these costs are not included as baseline Agency burden costs in this chapter.

Finally, there are a handful of activities included, but not burdened, in the HWMS ICR. These activities pertain to compliance with state, rather than federal, manifest program requirements. As the HWMS ICR ascribes no burden to these activities, this chapter similarly does not include them.

4.1.2 State-Specific Manifest Activity Costs Accruing to Industry

As mentioned above, this RIA assumes that industry's unit costs for the paper manifest process from the HWMS ICR are equally applicable to federal manifests (those directly addressed in the HWMS ICR) and state-specific manifests. In reality, state-specific manifests may have fewer requirements than federal manifests, or additional requirements not captured within the HWMS ICR. Also, many industry burden costs in the HWMS ICR rely on calculations or assumptions regarding the proportion of the manifest or shipment universe that meet certain criteria (e.g., the proportion of hazardous waste shipments made by water or rail, or the proportion of manifests where the receiving TSDF assists the generator with manifest completion) that may not be equivalent across federal manifests and state-specific manifests.

However, given the absence of available unit cost information on industry compliance with state-specific manifest regulations, this RIA assumes that both the unit costs and proportions from the HWMS ICR are applicable to both federal and state-specific manifests. The impact of this uncertainty is unclear. To the extent that state-specific manifests have fewer requirements for completion than federal manifests, this assumption may overstate baseline costs; it may understate baseline costs where state-specific manifests have more and/or costlier compliance requirements than federal manifests.

4.1.3 Complete Use of Paper Manifests in the Baseline

A central assumption of this RIA is that, in the baseline, all manifests are completed in accordance with the complete set of activities listed in the HWMS ICR. That is, this baseline analysis assumes that each shipment is accompanied by a fully-completed paper manifest. This is consistent with current regulations pertaining to hazardous waste transport and management.

While some larger generators and receivers may use electronic or proprietary systems to internally manage manifest-related workflow or data, they are still required to use and complete paper manifests. This RIA does not consider the capital and operating costs of electronic systems to be a required baseline cost, nor does it consider any baseline differences in unit costs associated with manifest completion in these systems. EPA does not know whether or how many businesses will continue to or cease to operate such electronic systems after the implementation of the final rule. It seems possible that some businesses will be able to rely on the e-Manifest system to replace internal electronic systems. Due to the voluntary nature of these systems, and that EPA has no data on how many will continue to or cease to use these systems, this RIA does not estimate a change in costs associated with use of these systems due to the final rule.
Correspondingly, this chapter captures the baseline costs in the scenario that all manifests are fully completed in paper form, consistent with the assumptions made in the latest Hazardous Waste Manifest System ICR.

4.2 Baseline Costs Accruing to Industry  -  Federal Manifests

The 2015 HWMS ICR provides a comprehensive set of unit costs and frequencies associated with the activities required to complete a federal paper manifest. These activities include both basic tasks (e.g., signing and dating the manifest) as well as responses to issues or discrepancies (e.g., preparing exception reports, contacting generators for further instructions in instances of undeliverable shipments, etc.).

Five distinct entity types develop and use federal manifests: three generator types (LQGs, non-LQG TSDF shippers, and SQGs), transporters, and TSDF receivers. The burden (cost) differs across entity types. For example, TSDF receivers bear the greatest costs associated with manifest completion activities, while transporters incur the highest costs associated with undeliverable shipments.

Exhibit 4-1 summarizes baseline costs accruing to industry for federal manifests by entity type as well as a broad activity category. While the HWMS ICR included a variety of specific activities associated with each aspect of the manifest process, these are condensed for illustrative purposes. For a detailed walkthrough of costs by individual activity included in the HWMS ICR as calculated for this RIA, see Appendix D. All unit costs and other proportional assumptions (e.g., the proportion of shipments involving rejected wastes, etc.) used to generate the figures in Exhibit 4-1 are taken from the HWMS ICR, though the costs are presented on the basis of 1,531,045 federal manifests, as indicated in Chapter 3.

                                  Exhibit 4-1
Baseline Costs Accruing to Industry for Activities Associated with Federal Manifests
                     (2017$, millions of $, annual costs)
                                     Item
                                       A
                                       B
                                       C
                                       D
                                       E
                                       F
                                       G

                               Activity Category
                                  Entity Type
                                     Total

                           Generators who Ship Waste
                                 Transporters
                                TSDF Receivers

                                     LQGs
                                 Non-LQG TSDFs
                                     SQGs

                                       1
Manifest completion, transmittal, and recordkeeping
                                                                         $19.31
                                                                          $0.34
                                                                          $4.38
                                                                         $17.85
                                                                         $44.30
                                                                         $86.16
                                       2
Discrepancy / exception reports
                                                                          $1.44
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                        $0.0687
                                      N/A
                                                                          $2.13
                                                                          $3.65
                                       3
Undeliverable shipments
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                     < $0.01
                                      N/A
                                                                        $0.0135
                                       4
Rejected shipments
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                        $0.0193
                                                                          $1.43
                                                                          $1.45
                                       5
Notifications of discharge[a]
                                      N/A
                                      N/A
                                      N/A
                                                                        $0.0517
                                      N/A
                                                                        $0.0517
                                       6
                                                                          Total
                                                                          $20.8
                                                                          $0.34
                                                                          $4.45
                                                                          $17.9
                                                                          $47.9
                                                                          $91.3
Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Sources: Unit costs and proportions: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 801.20 Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System. April 30, 2015. Manifest counts: see Chapter 3, manifest counts at maximum shipping frequencies assumed to be weekly for LQGs and non-LQG TSDF shippers and monthly for all other entity types, including generators of State-specific hazardous wastes. Specifically, per Chapter 3, this RIA uses estimates of 1,107,080 LQG and non-LQG TSDF shipper-originated manifests, and 423,965 SQG-originated manifests; these entities are the only ones originating federal manifests. See Exhibits 3-2 and 3-3, respectively.
a This activity category applies only to transporters because discharges at shipping or receiving facilities would not be directly manifest-related and paperwork burdens associated with those discharges would fall under requirements associated with other aspects of RCRA.

Per Exhibit 4-1, total baseline industry burden costs associated with federal manifests are approximately $91 million (2017$) annually. The majority of these costs, approximately 94 percent, accrue to activities associated with manifest completion, transmittal, and recordkeeping. This result is intuitive because all manifests have associated completion, transmittal, and recordkeeping requirements; the remaining six percent of industry burden costs accrue to those activities which only occur intermittently. For example, per the HWMS ICR, fewer than two percent of LQG shipper-originated manifests require the LQG shipper to develop an exception report, and less than one percent of manifests received by receiver TSDFs require a full-fledged discrepancy report filing.

The majority of the costs (approximately 52 percent) in Exhibit 4-1 accrue to TSDF receivers. A substantial proportion of these costs (approximately 36 percent of overall TSDF receiver costs) are driven by instances where a "designated" TSDF assists a generator with manifest completion. This scenario, which occurs for 42 percent of LQG-originated manifests and 80 percent of SQG-originated manifests per the HWMS ICR, apportions a high degree of burden onto designated TSDF receivers; if these designated TSDFs did not assist LQGs and SQGs with manifest completion, the majority of costs would accrue to LQG, non-LQG TSDF, and SQG shippers that originate waste shipments instead. Note that the $91 million total estimated for the final rule baseline is similar to the approximately $86 million total included on Exhibit 18 of the HWMS ICR. The slight differential occurs for the following reasons:

 The HWMS ICR calculates total industry burden on the basis of 1,407,016 federal manifests. This figure is approximately nine percent lower than the RIA's basis of 1,531,045 federal manifests. This increases the RIA's costs in the baseline scenario accruing to federal manifests relative to costs in the HWMS ICR. (Another difference is that the HWMS ICR does not include costs associated with state-specific manifests, which are addressed in Section 4.3.)

 This RIA does not include costs to registrant organizations (manifest printers) or costs associated with reading the regulations, as described in Section 4.1 above. This decreases the RIA's costs relative to costs in the HWMS ICR; the HWMS ICR includes over $4 million in costs associated with these items.

4.2.1 Baseline Capital Costs  -  Federal Manifests

In addition to the costs in Exhibit 4-1, which are based on unit costs for labor hours and operations and maintenance (O&M) expenses, the HWMS ICR also includes an estimate of capital costs associated with the manifest process. These baseline capital costs specifically address the acquisition of file cabinets to store manifests and other reports required by the regulations.

This RIA applies a similar methodology to estimate baseline capital costs, but revises one assumption in the HWMS ICR. Specifically, the HWMS ICR assumes (p. 34) that the purchase price of a file cabinet should be annualized over the "three-year effective life of this ICR." However, the effective life of a file cabinet is likely longer than three years; this RIA therefore amortizes the purchase price of a file cabinet over seven years, consistent with the Internal Revenue Service's guidelines for  useful life of "office furniture, fixtures, and equipment" assets.

This RIA estimates that approximately 5.9 million manifests and reports will need to be filed and retained by industry each year; this figure is calculated by considering the sum of manifest-related paperwork and records that must be retained by industry as required by the regulations. Applying the proportion of federal manifests to total manifests estimated in Chapter 3 yields approximately 2.8 million federal manifests and federal manifest-related reports that must be stored in accordance with manifest requirements. However, because each report must be kept for three years, the total storage requirement is three times the annual figure (or 8.3 million manifests). The HWMS ICR assumes that approximately 517 standard-size, five-drawer, lateral file cabinets (holding 16,000 documents each) will meet the capacity required, at a cost approximately $863 each. The corresponding total cost for 517 such cabinets is approximately $446,000. However, amortized over seven years under a seven percent discount rate, the annual cost of this storage requirement for federal manifests is approximately $83,000. This estimate is conservative in that it does not account for the value of office space occupied by the file cabinets.

4.2.2 Additional Costs Associated with Reclamation Agreements

As discussed in Chapter 2, some SQG shippers of hazardous waste are exempt from most manifest requirements if their waste is shipped under a reclamation agreement. While formal manifests are not required for these shipments, these SQG shippers must retain copies of the reclamation agreements, while the transporters that take on these shipments must still record the information, carry a record of the shipment, and retain the record.

Per Chapter 2, this RIA estimates that ten percent of all SQGs, or approximately 5,300 SQGs, ship hazardous waste under a reclamation agreement. Assuming that each such SQG sends one shipment monthly, this entails approximately 63,000 such shipments annually. However, as shown in Exhibit 2-10, approximately 450 of these SQGs are located in states where SQGs shipping hazardous waste under reclamation agreements are not exempt from manifest requirements.  This RIA therefore estimates that approximately 4,800 SQGs and 58,000 annual shipments are under reclamation agreements to which a limited set of manifest costs (as opposed to the complete set of manifest costs for other federal manifests) apply. The remaining 5,400 manifests are state-specific manifested shipments (see Section 4.3).

Exhibit 4-2 summarizes these additional baseline costs associated with shipments made under reclamation agreements, which total approximately $3 million annually. Note that the majority of these costs accrue to transporters, who must, according to the HWMS ICR, record the waste information in addition to transporting and retaining the record. SQGs must retain a copy of the reclamation agreement (a relatively low-burden activity).

                                  Exhibit 4-2
Baseline Costs Accruing to Industry for Activities Associated with Reclamation Agreements
                     (2017$, millions of $, annual costs)
                                     Item
                                       A
                                       B
                                       C
                                       D
                                       E

                               Activity Category
                                  Entity Type
                                     Total

                       Generators who Ship Waste (SQGs)
                                 Transporters
                                   Receivers

                                       1
Reclamation agreement-specific recordkeeping activities
                                                                         $0.135
                                                                          $3.31
                                      N/A
                                                                          $3.45
Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Sources: Unit costs and proportions: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 801.20 Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System. April 30, 2015. Values adjusted to 2017$ using the CPI-U. Manifest counts: see Chapter 3, manifest counts at maximum shipping frequencies assumed to be monthly.

4.3 Baseline Costs Accruing to Industry  -  State Manifests

As described at the beginning of this chapter, this RIA assumes that industry activities described in the HWMS ICR are applicable to both federal manifests and state-specific manifests. This RIA therefore calculates baseline costs accruing to industry for state manifest requirements by scaling the costs estimated in Exhibit 4-1. Specifically, as seen in Chapter 3 (specifically Exhibit 3-3), this RIA estimates that 1,531,045 federal manifests and 1,776,092 manifests for state wastes (i.e., state-specific manifests) are generated annually.[,] This means that for every federal manifest, approximately 1.16 state-specific manifests incur similar unit costs.

Exhibit 4-3 provides the calculations associated with applying federal manifest unit costs and assumptions in the HWMS ICR to the 1,776,092 state manifests. Note that because the definitions of LQGs, SQGs, and TSDF shippers specifically apply to generators of federal hazardous waste, Exhibit 4-3 aggregates all shippers together for illustrative purposes, rather than speculating regarding the extent to which state-specific manifests originate from different classes of facilities.

                                  Exhibit 4-3
Baseline Costs Accruing to Industry for Activities Associated with State-Specific Manifests
                     (2017$, millions of $, annual costs)
                                     Item
                                       A
                                       B
                                       C
                                       D
                                       E

                               Activity Category
                                  Entity Type
                                     Total

                           Generators who Ship Waste
                                 Transporters
                                   Receivers

                                       1
Manifest completion, transmittal, and recordkeeping
                                                                          $27.9
                                                                          $20.7
                                                                          $51.4
                                                                           $100
                                       2
Discrepancy / exception reports
                                                                          $1.76
                                      N/A
                                                                          $2.47
                                                                          $4.23
                                       3
Undeliverable shipments
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                     < $0.01
                                      N/A
                                                                        $0.0156
                                       4
Rejected shipments
                                                                     < $0.01
                                                                        $0.0224
                                                                          $1.65
                                                                          $1.68
                                       5
Notifications of discharge[a]
                                      N/A
                                                                        $0.0600
                                      N/A
                                                                        $0.0600
                                       6
                                                                          Total
                                                                          $29.6
                                                                          $20.8
                                                                          $55.5
                                                                           $106
Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Sources: Unit costs and proportions: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 801.20 Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System. April 30, 2015. Values adjusted to 2017$ using the CPI-U. Manifest counts: see Chapter 3 manifest counts at maximum shipping frequencies assumed to be weekly for LQGs and non-LQG TSDF shippers and monthly for all other entity types, including generators of state-specific hazardous wastes. Figures above reflect figures from Exhibit 4-1 multiplied by 1.16, which is the ratio of state manifests to federal manifests (1,776,092 / 1,531,045).
a This activity category applies only to transporters because discharges at shipping or receiving facilities would not be directly manifest-related and paperwork burdens associated with those discharges would fall under separate RCRA requirements.

The relative magnitudes of the individual values within Exhibit 4-3 are consistent with those in Exhibit 4-1, reflecting the extrapolation. Overall, baseline industry costs associated with state-specific manifests are estimated at approximately $106 million annually. Thus, baseline labor and O&M-related costs adding together federal and state-specific manifests accruing to industry total approximately $197 million annually. The inclusion of state-specific manifests leads to baseline costs substantially higher than the approximately $86 million estimated in the HWMS ICR, which included only federal manifests.

4.3.1 Baseline Capital Costs  -  State Manifests

Similarly to baseline capital costs for federal manifests, this RIA also calculates comparable costs for state manifests by scaling the capital costs for federal manifests by the same factor of approximately 1.16.

This RIA estimates that approximately 5.9 million total manifests and reports will need to be kept by industry, annually (see Section 4.2.1). Applying the proportion of state-specific manifests to total manifests estimated in Chapter 3 yields approximately 3.2 million state-specific manifests and associated reports that must be stored as part of the manifest system requirements. However, because each report must be kept for three years, annual storage requirements are three times this figure. The number of individual documents stored annually is therefore approximately 9.6 million. Per the HWMS ICR's assumptions that a standard-size, five-drawer, lateral file cabinet holds 16,000 documents, approximately 585 such cabinets will be required to meet the capacity required at a price of $863 apiece. Using the same assumptions as for federal manifests (Section 4.2.1) the amortized annual cost of this storage requirement for state-specific manifests is approximately $94,000.

4.4 Baseline Costs Accruing to EPA

The RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System ICR accrues relatively few costs to EPA. This is because the current regulations require states, rather than EPA, to collect hazardous waste manifests. (Baseline state burden is considered in Section 4.5 below). The HWMS ICR details only the following EPA activities associated with the manifest process:

 Review of exception reports from generators;
 Receipt of notifications of discharge from transporters; and
 Receipt of import manifests, discrepancy reports, and unmanifested waste reports from receiver TSDFs.

In addition, each of the above activities pertains only to exceptions that do not regularly occur in the manifest system. The HWMS ICR estimates that exception reports occur to fewer than two percent of manifests originating at LQG shippers. Correspondingly, this RIA estimates total baseline Agency burden of approximately $1.04 million annually (Exhibit 4-4). Approximately two-thirds of this burden reflects review of exception reports.

                                  Exhibit 4-4
        Baseline Costs Accruing to EPA for Manifest-Related Activities
                     (2017$, millions of $, annual costs)
                                     Item
                                   Activity
                             Estimated Cost to EPA
                                       1
Review of exception reports from generators
                                                                         $0.711
                                       2
Receive notifications of discharge from transporters
                                                                        $0.0456
                                       3
Receive import manifests from receiver TSDFs
                                                                        $0.0874
                                       4
Review discrepancy reports from receiver TSDFs
                                                                         $0.189
                                       5
Review unmanifested waste reports from receiver TSDFs
                                                                     < $0.01
                                       6
                                                                          Total
                                                                          $1.04
Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Sources: Unit costs and proportions: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 801.20 Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System. April 30, 2015. Values adjusted to 2017$ using the CPI-U. Manifest counts: see Chapter 3, manifest counts at maximum shipping frequencies assumed to be weekly for LQGs and TSDF shippers and monthly for all other entity types, including generators of state-specific hazardous wastes.

4.5 Baseline Costs Accruing to States

In the baseline, states that operate hazardous waste programs under RCRA incur a range of costs associated if they engage in activities related to collecting and processing manifests. These baseline activities are separate from the state-specific manifest requirements for generators, transporters, and receiver TSDFs (Section 2.2). This section focuses on the cost (burden) to states of processing and reviewing hazardous waste manifests if they do so in the baseline.
The e-Manifest system anticipated in the final rule will substantially impact the baseline state burden of collecting and processing manifests. Chapter 5 describes in more detail the e-Manifest system that will eliminate the need for state manifest collection and processing activities.

A full description of the method through which this RIA estimates the baseline costs associated with state manifest collection and processing activities is available in Appendix E. The remainder of this section provides a summary of the key assumptions and calculations.

To calculate baseline costs accruing to states, this RIA:

 Estimates the total number of manifests processed by states in the baseline;
 Estimates the burden, per hour, required by state staff to process and analyze manifests, and extrapolates that to all manifests processed by states; and
 Monetizes the burden by applying labor rates from the Biennial Report ICR (see Section 4.7), for consistency with other calculations in this chapter.

4.5.1 Number of Manifests Processed by States in the Baseline

Per Chapter 3, this RIA estimates that a total of approximately 3.3 million manifests are created, filled out, and submitted annually. Of those, this RIA estimates that approximately 1.8 million are state-specific manifests, while approximately 1.5 million are federal manifests.

In 2014, EPA conducted several analyses to identify current (baseline) state manifest processing practices and activities. Data were gathered and analyzed through review of state programs and meetings and conference calls with state representatives. A total of 23 states provided information to EPA documenting their manifest processing activities. These analyses also revealed that states have varying approaches to receiving, reviewing, analyzing, and correcting manifests. Some states identified specific practices for manifest receipt, data entry, and follow-up for identified errors, while other states provided more general information.

EPA's data collection effort did not identify the number of manifests processed by each of the responding state programs. Correspondingly, this RIA estimates this number as follows:

 The 2011 Biennial RCRA Report provides state-by-state estimates for the amount of hazardous waste received in each state; from this the RIA calculates the share of hazardous waste received nationally accruing to the 23 states identified as engaging in manifest processing. This calculation makes two assumptions: 1) states with manifest processing programs process both federal and state-specific manifests; and, 2) the number of manifests processed by a state is directly proportional to the hazardous waste tonnage received by that state. The 23 states examined represent approximately 44 percent of national hazardous waste tonnage received.

 This RIA conducts a similar calculation for state manifests but considers a universe of 31 states (the 23 states already identified, and eight additional states identified as requiring manifests for state hazardous wastes in Exhibit 2-12). This RIA assumes that these 31 states are the only ones with any state-specific manifests and are the only ones who engage in any processing of manifests.

Separately, EPA received manifest processing count estimates from two states, Michigan and New York. These estimates are 290,000 manifests processed annually by Michigan, and 70,000 manifests processed annually by New York. This RIA uses these estimates in lieu of extrapolated manifest processing estimates for these two states. By removing these two states from the proportions of hazardous waste received by the subset of 23 states, this RIA uses a proportion of approximately 39 percent of federal manifests and 52 percent state-specific manifests processed by the 21 states for which this RIA had no specific estimates of manifest count. As a validation of this RIA's method, the non-extrapolated manifest counts for New York and Michigan are slightly higher than their extrapolated estimates would be. Specifically, Michigan's self-reported manifest count is approximately five percent higher than an extrapolated total of manifests for the state based on hazardous waste tonnage received; New York's self-reported manifest count is approximately 27 percent higher. If a similar relationship holds for the remaining 21 states, this RIA's estimation of baseline state costs may underestimate the total number of manifests processed by states in the baseline (and therefore the potential cost savings associated with changing to e-Manifest).

In total, this RIA estimates that the 23 manifest-processing states process approximately 1.7 million manifests annually, or 52 percent of the annual manifests estimated in Chapter 3 (Exhibit 4-5).

                                  Exhibit 4-5
     Estimate of Manifests Processed by Annually by States in the Baseline
                                     Item
                                Geographic Unit
                              Federal Manifests
                           State-Specific Manifests
                                Total Manifests
                                       1
National
                                                                      1,531,045
                                                                      1,776,092
                                                                      3,307,137
                                       2
National Share
                                      46%
                                      54%
                                     100%
                                       3
New York[a]
                                                                         32,407
                                                                         37,593
                                                                         70,000
                                       4
Michigan[a]
                                                                        132,590
                                                                        153,812
                                                                        286,402
                                       5
Remaining National [1  -  3  -  4]
                                                                      1,366,048
                                                                      1,584,687
                                                                      2,950,735
                                       6
Share of manifests in other 21 states
                                      39%
                                      52%
                                      N/A
                                       7
Other 21 states processing manifests [2 x 6][b]
                                                                        529,030
                                                                        825,211
                                                                      1,354,241
                                       8
                                          Total Manifests Processed [3 + 4 + 7]
                                                                        694,027
                                                                      1,016,616
                                                                      1,710,643
[a] State Government Annual Costs for Collecting & Processing Completed Hazardous Waste Paper Manifests: Summary of Cost Data from Two Case Studies Supplied to Office of Solid Waste in 2007. Summarized by Mark Eads, economist, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, May 5, 2009.
[b] "State Manifest Program Summary BAH 3-28-14," prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton for U.S. EPA, March 28, 2014, and  notes from an April 23, 2014 meeting with state program representatives, prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton for U.S. EPA. The former data source identified 23 states with manifest programs and an additional 15 states without a manifest program; data were not collected on the remaining 12 states, which are assumed to lack a state-specific manifest program.

Approximately one million of the 1.7 million manifests are for state-specific wastes; this represents approximately 57 percent of all state-specific manifests estimated in Chapter 3. This RIA assumes that the remaining manifests (23 percent of all manifests; 43 percent of state-specific manifests) are not processed or reviewed in any way, and does not burden any costs to states associated with these collection or receipt activities.

4.5.2 Per-Manifest Burden for States in the Baseline

In 2014, EPA developed a paper processing cost model to estimate the potential costs to EPA associated with processing paper manifests; this section applies the methodology of that model to estimate state manifest processing costs in the baseline. The details of this model are discussed in Appendix E. This model identifies ten distinct activities in the manifest receipt and processing process (e.g., preparation: sorting mail and separating supplemental documents, corrections, scanning of manifest documents, electronic archiving, etc.) and five "failure scenarios" necessitating additional follow-up (e.g., invalid identifying information for generator, transporter, or TSDF receiver, unresolved corrections, etc.), and assigns hourly cost estimates to each activity and failure scenario. Not every activity and failure scenario applies to every manifest: for example, the model assumes that only six percent of manifests have supplemental documentation requiring additional effort (see Appendix E for additional information).

Because state information on processing activities and costs was incomplete, this RIA applies a basic set of processing assumptions for the approximately 1.7 million manifests estimated to be processed by states in the baseline. While some states may engage in more or fewer activities than estimated by EPA's model, given an absence of complete state-specific information, this RIA applies the model's standard estimates across all affected manifests. In other words, this RIA assumes that state manifest processing activities in the baseline are roughly comparable to EPA manifest processing activities estimated within its paper processing cost model.

EPA's paper processing cost model assigns all standard manifest processing steps to a basic level of program staff; this RIA assumes that clerical labor will complete these tasks. Similarly, the model assumes that activities associated with failure scenarios require more expensive analyst staff to investigate and resolve issues; this RIA assumes that technical labor will complete these tasks. Based on the paper processing cost model's assumptions, this RIA assumes that approximately 0.26 hours (approximately 16 minutes) are currently required to process each manifest, with an additional burden of 0.096 hours (approximately six minutes) to investigate and resolve failure scenarios. Note that both of these estimates are meant to reflect the average amount of time needed to complete a given task: in reality, especially for failure scenarios, most manifests will require no analyst time to investigate and resolve issues, while a minority of manifests may require considerably more than six minutes of analyst time to be fully processed with all issues resolved.

As described in more detail in Appendix E, the paper processing cost model indicates that the majority of time associated with manifest processing activities accrues to data entry. Of non-failure scenario-related activities, the model estimates that over half of total manifest processing burden accrues to data entry tasks, as opposed to other activities such as billing, validating, correcting, or archiving manifests. Similarly, the model estimates that over half of the total processing burden for analysts accrues to the scenario where billing information (for state-specific manifest and/or hazardous waste fees) is not included along with manifest transmission.

4.5.3 Total Burden for State Manifest Processing

For consistency with additional calculations in this chapter (see Section 4.7), this RIA applies labor rates from the 2017 Hazardous Waste Permitting ICR for state employees to monetize the total baseline costs associated with state manifest processing activities: clerical staff ($22.94per hour) for basic activities and technical staff ($35.96 per hour) for response to problems. On a per-manifest basis, manifest processing activities accrue approximately $6.00 in costs, and failure scenario-related activities accrue approximately $3.46 in costs, or a total of $9.46 in state costs for processing a given manifest, on average.

This yields a total baseline cost to states for manifest processing of approximately $16 million ($9.46 x approximately 1.7 million manifests from Exhibit 4-5).

4.6 Baseline Costs to Industry  -  Hazardous Waste Reporting

RCRA requires that hazardous waste generators and TSDFs submit reports to EPA or the states at least every two years documenting the quantities and nature of hazardous waste generated during a given year, as well as the disposition of these hazardous wastes. The information from these reports is published by EPA online, and for years 2011 and earlier, in the National Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report. EPA anticipates that the e-Manifest system will reduce the industry burden associated with Biennial Report reporting; the baseline burden associated with these activities is therefore considered in this chapter.

The 2015 BR ICR re-estimated the total burden to industry associated with collecting and submitting Biennial Report information. This ICR estimates both the number of facilities expected to engage in each hazardous waste reporting activity, as well as the unit costs associated with each activity. This RIA uses the BR ICR estimates of burden hours and entity counts but uses industry labor rates from the HWMS ICR for consistency with other baseline costs (Section 4.2). These labor rates differ in slight ways: for example, the BR ICR's hourly labor rate for clerical labor is $34.39 compared with $22.40 from the HWMS ICR (both in 2014$); meanwhile, BR ICR applies $76.73 hourly for managerial labor while the HWMS ICR uses $81.73 (in 2014$). This RIA uses the HWMS ICR labor rates, adjusted for inflation using the CPI-U.

In total, baseline industry costs for contributing to the Biennial Report are approximately $11 million annually (Exhibit 4-6). The largest individual activity is the preparation of Form WR (waste received from off-site); other activities, such as report submission and recordkeeping, are less burdensome.
                                  Exhibit 4-6
 Baseline Costs Accruing to Industry for Hazardous Waste Reporting Activities
                     (2017$, millions of $, annual costs)
                                     Item
                                   Activity
                          Estimated Cost to Industry
                                       1
Read Hazardous Waste Report instructions
                                                                          $1.67
                                       2
Revise data systems to include new data items not part of facility's general business operations
                                                                         $0.141
                                       3
Prepare Site ID Form
                                                                         $0.134
                                       4
Prepare Form GM
                                                                          $2.35
                                       5
Prepare Form WR
                                                                          $4.87
                                       6
Prepare Form OI[a]
                                      N/A
                                       7
Submit report to the state or EPA Regional Office
                                                                         $0.971
                                       8
Maintain a copy of each form for three years
                                                                         $0.686
                                       9
                                                                          Total
                                                                          $10.8
Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Sources: Unit costs and activity counts: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 0976.17 2015 Hazardous Waste Report, Notification of Regulated Waste Activity, and Part A Hazardous Waste Permit Application and Modification. January 22, 2015. Labor rates: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 801.20 Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System. April 30, 2015, adjusted for inflation to 2017$ using the CPI-U.
a Per the BR ICR, Form OI is a state-optional form that is not expected to be submitted by any entities.

Because of the different labor rates used and inflation adjustments, this $11 million annual industry burden estimate for Biennial Report preparation is lower than the BR ICR estimate of roughly $12 million.

4.7 Baseline Costs to States  -  Hazardous Waste Reporting

States must also engage in a number of activities to collect Biennial Report information, and the e-Manifest system anticipated under the final rule will reduce these costs.

To estimate baseline state costs associated with Biennial Report activities, this RIA again relies on the BR ICR used to estimate unit burden and associated costs for specific activities. However, in this case this RIA also uses state government labor rates from the BR ICR (p. 48).

Total baseline costs accruing to states associated with Biennial Report activities are approximately $9 million (Exhibit 4-7). Quality assurance constitutes the largest individual activity and over 90 percent of overall baseline state burden associated with Hazardous Waste Reporting activities.

                                  Exhibit 4-7
  Baseline Costs Accruing to States for Hazardous Waste Reporting Activities
                     (2017$, millions of $, annual costs)
                                     Item
                                   Activity
                           Estimated Cost to States
                                       1
Distribute Hazardous Waste Report forms and instructions
                                                                         $0.250
                                       2
Assist respondents
                                                                         $0.236
                                       3
Key entry of report submissions
                                                                        $0.0965
                                       4
Perform quality assurance
                                                                          $8.51
                                       5
                                                                          Total
                                                                          $9.09
Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Sources: Unit costs and activity counts: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 0976.17 2015 Hazardous Waste Report, Notification of Regulated Waste Activity, and Part A Hazardous Waste Permit Application and Modification. January 22, 2015. Labor rates: Supporting Statement for Information Collection Request (ICR) Number 801.20 Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System. April 30, 2015, adjusted for inflation to 2017$ using the CPI-U.

a Per the BR ICR, Form OI is a state-optional form that is not expected to be submitted by any entities.

As discussed in Section 4.1, this RIA does not include baseline costs associated with EPA's Agency burden pertaining to Hazardous Waste Report activities. These activities are not expected to be impacted by the rule's creation of an e-Manifest system, and are thus not burdened or estimated in this chapter.

4.8 Summary of Baseline Costs

Exhibit 4-8 below summarizes the various cost components discussed in this chapter. Overall, this RIA estimates baseline costs of $238 million annually.

                                  Exhibit 4-8
                           Summary of Baseline Costs
                     (2017$, millions of $, annual costs)
                                     Item
                                 Cost Category
                                     Cost
                              Source within Ch. 4
                                       1
Industry  -  manifest activities for federal manifests, including capital costs
                                                                          $91.4
Exhibit 4-1 and Section 4.2.1
                                       2
Industry  -  reclamation agreement-specific recordkeeping activities
                                                                          $3.45
Exhibit 4-2
                                       3
Industry  -  manifest activities for state-specific manifests
                                                                        $106.04
Exhibit 4-3 and Section 4.3.1
                                       4
EPA  -  agency burden for receipt/review of federal manifests
                                                                          $1.04
Exhibit 4-4
                                       5
States  -  burden for processing manifests
                                                                          $16.2
Section 4.5.3
                                       6
Industry  -  hazardous waste reporting
                                                                          $10.8
Exhibit 4-6
                                       7
States  -  hazardous waste reporting
                                                                          $9.09
Exhibit 4-7
                                       8
                                            Total  -  Industry [1 + 2 + 3 + 6]
                                                                           $212

                                       9
                                                       Total  -  States [5 + 7]
                                                                          $25.3

                                      10
                                                              Total  -  EPA [4]
                                                                          $1.04

                                      11
                                                                    Grand Total
                                                                           $238

Totals may not sum due to rounding.
[a] These costs represent costs to industry entities shipping under BFRAs that are not exempt from manifest requirements due to state-specific regulations. See Section 4.2.2 for additional information.

                                   Chapter 5
                Costs and Cost Savings of the e-Manifest System
               Electronic manifests under the e-Manifest system

An electronic manifest will contain the same information fields as a paper form. Hazardous waste shipments with an electronic manifest created through the e-Manifest system will still need to be accompanied by a printed paper copy to comply with DoT requirements. Under the e-Manifest system:

 Generators that ship hazardous waste off-site initiate a manifest through the e-Manifest system for a shipment, potentially in coordination with any transporters or receiver TSDFs that conduct business using the e-Manifest system. An electronic record is created with facility identification information and waste descriptions (including waste quantity, type, and container descriptions). Upon shipment, the generator attaches their electronic signature to the record. The live electronic manifest is housed within the e-Manifest system, and can be accessed online.

 The transporter that picks up the hazardous waste shipment from the generator facility will open the electronic manifest, supply identifying information, and attach their electronic signature to it. To fulfill DoT requirements, a current printed paper copy of the manifest record must accompany the shipment throughout the journey.

 All waste handlers, including subsequent transporters and the final receiver TSDF receiving the waste also fill out identifying information and electronically sign the manifest.

 The receiver TSDF ultimately receiving the waste attaches a CROMERR-compliant signature to the electronic manifest. The closed manifest, with completed shipment information, is housed within the e-Manifest system. Waste handlers, states, and EPA can access manifest data through the e-Manifest system without additional data entry.

Receiver TSDFs will send completed, signed manifests created outside of the e-Manifest system directly to EPA. EPA will process these non-electronic manifests and incorporate their manifest data into the e-Manifest system.
               Electronic manifests under the e-Manifest system

An electronic manifest will contain the same information fields as a paper form. Hazardous waste shipments with an electronic manifest created through the e-Manifest system will still need to be accompanied by a printed paper copy to comply with DoT requirements. Under the e-Manifest system:

 Generators that ship hazardous waste off-site initiate a manifest through the e-Manifest system for a shipment, potentially in coordination with any transporters or receiver TSDFs that conduct business using the e-Manifest system. An electronic record is created with facility identification information and waste descriptions (including waste quantity, type, and container descriptions). Upon shipment, the generator attaches their electronic signature to the record. The live electronic manifest is housed within the e-Manifest system, and can be accessed online.

 The transporter that picks up the hazardous waste shipment from the generator facility will open the electronic manifest, supply identifying information, and attach their electronic signature to it. To fulfill DoT requirements, a current printed paper copy of the manifest record must accompany the shipment throughout the journey.

 All waste handlers, including subsequent transporters and the final receiver TSDF receiving the waste also fill out identifying information and electronically sign the manifest.

 The receiver TSDF ultimately receiving the waste attaches a CROMERR-compliant signature to the electronic manifest. The closed manifest, with completed shipment information, is housed within the e-Manifest system. Waste handlers, states, and EPA can access manifest data through the e-Manifest system without additional data entry.

Receiver TSDFs will send completed, signed manifests created outside of the e-Manifest system directly to EPA. EPA will process these non-electronic manifests and incorporate their manifest data into the e-Manifest system.

This chapter characterizes the costs and costs savings associated with the final rule's creation of an e-Manifest system. In establishing an e-Manifest system that will serve as a clearinghouse, on a going-forward basis, for all federal and state manifests, the final rule will impose costs for creating the system, and will result in cost savings from reduced burden relative to the baseline system of paper manifest creation, processing, recordkeeping and hazardous waste reporting.

Specifically, this chapter considers the following sources of costs:

 The cost of developing and maintaining the e-Manifest system (EPA). A majority of the costs associated with the final rule correspond to EPA's development costs for the e-Manifest system. These costs include expenses for both initial system creation and ongoing maintenance, as well as additional costs for activities such as running a help desk to assist users of the system, and certain Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR)-based requirements associated with the system's use.

 The cost of collecting and processing manifests (EPA). In addition to the development, operations, and maintenance costs associated with the e-Manifest system, EPA will also collect and process manifests within the e-Manifest system. These costs apply specifically to manifests submitted non-electronically; these manifests must undergo additional processing and data entry tasks before their information can be uploaded to the system and stored in a format akin to those manifests submitted electronically through the e-Manifest system.

 Manifest fees (industry). To recoup e-Manifest system development and maintenance costs, the final rule will apply fees, on a per-manifest basis, to the hazardous waste industry. Effectively, these fees are equivalent to the sum of EPA's system development and maintenance costs (above) and represent a transfer of those costs to industry. Associated with these fees are additional costs to EPA for payment collection; these costs are imputed into the overall system development and maintenance costs recouped through fees to industry.

This RIA also considers costs associated with CROMERR requirements for the hazardous waste industry.

Additionally, this chapter includes the following sources of cost savings:

 Time and materials savings to industry. The e-Manifest system will allow manifests to be created and submitted through electronic means, rather than with the current paper form that must be printed (or purchased), completed, transmitted, submitted, and stored in the baseline. This RIA estimates that manifest activities done through the e-Manifest system result in substantial time and materials savings relative to these activities being performed with paper manifests.

 Cost savings accruing to states. The e-Manifest system will obviate the need for states to collect and process manifests. While states may still wish to do so to meet their own regulatory, enforcement, or data needs, manifest collection and processing activities will be conducted for all manifests by EPA through the e-Manifest system (and ancillary systems to handle non-electronic manifests received on a going-forward basis). The burden reduction associated with reduced state-level manifest collection and processing represents a cost savings to these states.

 Cost savings associated with Biennial Report burden. As described in Chapter 4, the hazardous waste industry currently undertakes a number of recordkeeping and reporting activities associated with the RCRA Biennial Report. The e-Manifest system will reduce this burden by automatically collecting some information through manifests submitted to the system; this represents a cost savings both to industry and states which currently receive and process this reported information in the baseline.

5.1 Key Assumptions for e-Manifest System Cost and Cost Savings Estimation

The cost analyses in this chapter rely on a handful of key assumptions that pertain to the universe affected by the final rule, the types of electronic manifest submission methods modeled in this chapter, and the adoption rate of the e-Manifest system and other electronic submission methods by industry after the  rule goes into effect.

5.1.1 Universe Impacts of the Final Rule

This RIA assumes that the final rule and the creation of an e-Manifest system do not impact:

 the number of entities currently functioning in the hazardous waste management industry, or
 the number of manifests currently used by this industry.

Specifically, this RIA does not estimate or otherwise model any changes to the affected universe of hazardous waste generating, transporting, and receiving entities stemming from the e-Manifest system, or any changes to hazardous waste shipping patterns or quantities.

The e-Manifest system pertains to the manner in which manifests are created, transmitted, submitted, and processed. It does not address industrial processes or storage requirements, and it does not affect the number of hazardous waste shipments that must be made. The extent to which manifest fees associated with the e-Manifest system may impact small entities is assessed in Chapter 7; this analysis does not predict any market exits as a result of the final rule. This RIA therefore assumes that the number of manifests used annually remains consistent with the estimates in Chapter 3.

5.1.2 Manifest Creation and Submission Methods

Chapter 4's estimate of baseline burden of manifest creation, completion, and transmittal activities models all manifest activities as handled in a uniform, paper-based process, consistent with the activities described in the Hazardous Waste Manifest System ICR. This scenario reflects the standardized requirements related to manifests under RCRA.

In addition to meeting these requirements, however, many TSDFs have implemented electronic systems for initiating, tracking, and reporting shipments of waste that support their manifest requirements. While these systems are separate from baseline requirements and costs, the e-Manifest system and the post-rule scenario in this RIA address the fact that manifest generators opt to continue this baseline practice (i.e., continue to use a paper system), or may create, complete, and transmit manifests directly through the e-Manifest system. In addition, EPA's final rule allows for several "alternative paper submissions" that allow entities in the hazardous waste management industry (primarily receiver TSDFs, who have the final responsibility for transmitting the manifest to the regulator) to use their current systems to submit "paper" manifests in an electronic, less burdensome way. This RIA therefore considers the relative costs and cost savings of several alternative "paper" submissions, including submission of scanned images of manifests along with the paper manifest, and submission of manifest data electronically in addition to the paper manifest.

However, the final rule requires that for all manifests not directly associated with the e-Manifest system, all activities applicable to paper manifests in the baseline continue to apply. In other words, if a manifest is not submitted through the e-Manifest system, all requirements applicable to and required for paper manifests continue to apply, even if the manifest in question is created and handled in a way that is different from a wholly paper manifest system (e.g., through a TSDF's proprietary internal electronic system). For any manifest that is not created and managed through the e-Manifest system, all hazardous waste industry entities continue to incur the burden associated with the paper manifest as detailed in the HWMS ICR, regardless of the files that constitute the final submission (i.e., a paper manifest, or a paper manifest with additional, non-required documentation). Correspondingly, the suite of manifest activities and submission options considered in this RIA, and specifically this chapter, is as follows:

 Paper manifest creation, completion, and submission  -  "paper" variant. Under this variant, all manifest activities accrue as described in the HWMS ICR. There are no time and materials burden reductions associated with this variant, as it is identical to the manifest activities modeled in the baseline. This includes the manifest processing cost associated with received manifests, which is consistent with the per-manifest processing burden described in Section 4.5. In other words, this RIA models manifests under this variant as identical to those considered in the baseline scenario, with the exception of any applicable manifest fees associated with the e-Manifest system.

 Manifest submission via scanned manifest image  -  "image" variant. This variant is similar to the paper variant above, but manifest submittal is accompanied by an electronically-transmitted scanned image of the manifest. Because the final rule requires that for all manifests not directly associated with the e-Manifest system, all activities applicable to paper manifests continue to apply regardless of submission method, there are no time and materials burden reductions associated with this variant that accrue to industry. This RIA correspondingly models manifests under this variant as identical to those considered in the baseline scenario, with the exception of any applicable manifest fees associated with the e-Manifest system. Specifically, some TSDFs may already manage manifests in ways that involve creating electronic images of manifests by scanning them. Submitting an electronic image does not change costs to TSDFs, but reduces EPA's processing burden, as this RIA assumes that EPA will scan all paper manifests, and this step will not be necessary if TSDFs submit scanned images. Therefore, relative to the paper variant, manifests submitted with accompanying scanned images have reduced processing burdens as they require slightly fewer processing activities by EPA.

 Manifest submission via Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema  -  "XML" variant. This variant is similar to the paper and image variants above, but manifest submittal is accompanied by an electronically-transmitted XML schema which contains the relevant and appropriate manifest information. Again, the RIA models manifests under this variant as identical to those considered in the baseline scenario, with the exception of any applicable manifest fees associated with the e-Manifest system. However, relative to the paper and image variants, manifests submitted with accompanying scanned images have reduced processing burdens as they require fewer processing activities. Specifically, manifests submitted with accompanying XML schema do not require data entry activities associated with manifest processing, which constitute a substantial portion of the overall processing burden.

 Manifests through the e-Manifest system  -  "electronic" variant. This variant consists of manifest creation, completion, and submission through the e-Manifest system. While the specifics of the system and its functionality have not yet been determined, this RIA assumes that manifest activities in this variant will be easily accessible through a simple user interface, akin to a web-enabled application. This RIA assumes that manifest activities associated with this variant result in time and materials burden reductions relative to the other variants, as certain manual tasks (e.g., filling in specific information on the manifest) will be expedited or automated via the system, and materials costs (e.g., mailing costs and postage fees) will no longer be required. Fees associated with the e-Manifest system will apply to this variant; manifest processing associated with this variant is considered in aggregate with e-Manifest system operations.

For the remainder of this chapter and this RIA, manifests created and submitted under these variants are referred to as paper, image, XML, and electronic manifests, respectively.

5.1.3 Adoption Rate

To estimate the costs and especially cost savings associated with the final rule over time, this RIA assumes a specific adoption rate of the e-Manifest system and other manifest submission methods that changes over the first few years after the creation of the e-Manifest system. This RIA considers the effects of other potential adoption rates on costs and cost savings in Chapter 6.

The adoption rates illustrated in this section are based on responses to a 2014 EPA survey of large TSDFs (see Section <IP_ADDRESS>) and insights from conversations between EPA and the Environmental Technology Council (ETC), an industry trade group which represents many firms with TSDF facilities. The organizing principles of these adoption rates include:

 The assumption that industry entities will prioritize eliminating paper manifests in favor of XML, image, or electronic manifests;

 The assumption that industry adopts electronic manifests gradually over a four-year period, with slow initial adoption; and

 The assumption that a minority of paper manifests may continue to exist for the foreseeable future.

In addition, to operationalize these assumptions, this RIA applies the following:

 A proportion of the industry currently has the capacity to provide XML schema submissions in the baseline, based on the presence of sophisticated electronic systems currently in place and used by TSDFs, including the respondents to EPA's 2014 survey. These industry entities may be handling manifests in an XML export-ready framework in the baseline; this RIA assumes that this proportion of the industry will either continue to handle manifests in this manner and submit XML-variant manifests, or adopt electronic manifests starting in the second year after the creation of the e-Manifest system. Since these entities have invested in technology capable of delivering XML submissions, we assume that it will be most cost effective for these entities to use XML or electronic manifests following the implementation of the final rule.

 Some entities using paper manifests in the baseline will move towards the use of image manifests after the implementation of the final rule. However, entities with the capacity to use XML manifests in the baseline will not scan manifests prior to submission, as this would increase their costs.

Exhibit 5-1 summarizes the adoption rates used for the remainder of this chapter across the four manifest variants described in Section 5.1.2 in a tabular format. Exhibit 5-2 displays these adoption rates visually, both in terms of all four manifest variants, and in terms of electronic manifests (i.e., use of the e-Manifest system) relative to all other manifest types (i.e., paper manifests potentially accompanied by image or XML schema submission). Note that for consistency with EPA's projected development timeline for the e-Manifest system, adoption rates are shown for a six-year period; however, this RIA assumes that adoption stabilizes in the fourth year following implementation of the final rule.

For the purposes of this RIA, development of the e-Manifest system is expected to occur over the 2016-2018 period, with the system going live and accessible to users in 2018. Correspondingly, Year 1 in Exhibits 5-1 and 5-2 refers to 2018, the first year that the e-Manifest system will be fully in place and ready for use. This convention holds throughout the rest of this chapter.

Exhibit 5-1
Adoption Rates of Manifest Creation and Submission Systems  -  Tabular Summary
                                     Item
                                       A
                                       B
                                       C
                                       D
                                       E
                                       F
                                       G
                                       H

                               Manifest Variant
                     Baseline (Year 0, pre-implementation)
                 Year (following implementation of final rule)

                                    Year 1
                                    Year 2
                                    Year 3
                                    Year 4
                                    Year 5
                                    Year 6
                                       1
Paper Manifest Process
Paper submission
                                    100.00%
                                    52.75%
                                    37.50%
                                    11.25%
                                     1.25%
                                     1.25%
                                     1.25%
                                       2

Scanned image submission
                                     0.00%
                                     4.75%
                                    18.75%
                                    11.25%
                                     1.25%
                                     1.25%
                                     1.25%
                                       3

XML schema submission
                                     0%[a]
                                    37.50%
                                    18.75%
                                    22.50%
                                     2.50%
                                     2.50%
                                     2.50%
                                       4
e-Manifest System Process (electronic manifest)
                                      N/A
                                     5.00%
                                    25.00%
                                    55.00%
                                    95.00%
                                    95.00%
                                    95.00%
[a] As indicated in Section 4.1.3, this RIA assumes complete use of paper manifests in the baseline. However, responses to EPA's 2014 survey of TSDFs and EPA's conversations with an industry trade group suggest that approximately 40 percent of hazardous waste generators and receiver TSDFs may already have and use electronic and/or proprietary systems to internally manage manifest-related workflow or data, and are capable of submitting manifests in the XML schema format. Per current RCRA requirements, these entities may not do so and must use paper manifests in the baseline, but are modeled as submitting XML variant manifests once they are allowed to do so following implementation of the final rule. Note that this RIA also assumes that the proportion of the industry with these systems in place will continue to handle manifests in this manner or adopt electronic manifests, rather than switching to handling manifests in paper or scanned image formats.

                                  Exhibit 5-2
 Adoption Rates of Manifest Creation and Submission Systems  -  Visual Summary

The remainder of this chapter presents annual costs for Years 1 through 6 after e-Manifest system launch, as well as annualized costs estimates over this period, where relevant. This period captures all variability in costs and cost savings as introduced through the various parameters and assumptions relied upon throughout this chapter. Specifically, this period captures both the stabilization of the adoption rates shown in Exhibits 5-1 and 5-2 and covers periods both before and after all system development costs incurred by EPA have been recouped via manifest fees (see below).

5.2 e-Manifest System Costs to EPA  -  Development and Operations

This section details this RIA's estimation of the development and maintenance costs associated with the e-Manifest system. The estimates in this section rely primarily on EPA estimates of system development costs, though some components are estimated through other estimates from Chapters 2, 3, and 4.

This section considers two types of system costs. Setup costs pertain to activities undertaken and costs incurred prior to the launch of the e-Manifest system; operations costs pertain to activities undertaken while the system is functional. While this distinction is not directly salient for the discussion of EPA costs that proceeds throughout this section, this RIA distinguishes these two costs because they have differing effects on the manifest fees that will be applied to the hazardous waste industry to recoup these costs. Specifically, all setup costs will be considered on a lump-sum basis and recouped over a designated payback period after system launch, while the fees will aim to recoup all operations costs on an annual basis (i.e., the fee in a given year is structured such that it will recoup all operations costs incurred by EPA in that year).

5.2.1 System Development Costs

This cost category directly pertains to the activities involved in developing and deploying the e-Manifest electronic system. The primary activities associated with this cost category include planning, design, construction, testing, integration, and piloting of the e-Manifest system. Costs will also be incurred for the integration of Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) requirements with the e-Manifest system, the development of a processing center to handle manifests submitted without use of the e-Manifest system, and the development of a help desk to assist users with the e-Manifest system.

EPA recently estimated that over a five-year development period, costs would be $1.2 million in the first and second development years, $4.0 million in the third development year, $4.3 in the fourth development year, and $6.8 million in the fifth, and final, year of development (all costs in 2014 dollars). This RIA inflates these costs to 2017 dollars to arrive at a total 2017 dollar-denominated estimate of approximately $18.2 million in system development costs.[,]

5.2.2 Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Costs

EPA also recently estimated the costs associated with operating and maintaining the system. This estimate accounts for both the physical materials associated with keeping the system operational (e.g., hardware, servers, office space) as well as program-related and technical/information technology-related support for the system. These costs range from approximately $487,000 to $798,000 annually for the e-Manifest system (2014 dollars). Applying the same calculations to this estimate as to the system development costs yields a 2017 dollar-denominated cost of $507,000 to $831,000 annually in e-Manifest system O&M costs, for a total cost of approximately $3.44 million across the first six years of system operation. System O&M costs decrease over time; this RIA applies the approximately $507,000 annual cost in Years 4 through 6 of system operation, as well as in perpetuity thereafter.

5.2.3 Paper Manifest Processing-related Costs

The e-Manifest system will require some capacity to receive and process manifests submitted under the paper process, including paper manifests, image manifests, and XML manifests, as described above. This RIA estimates a $1 million annual cost to manage specific considerations pertaining to these manifests. Note that this figure pertains to non-labor costs to process manifests submitted through formats other than the e-Manifest system, such as necessary capital and equipment costs, storage space, utility and lease costs for the physical location where the paper manifest processing will occur, and so on; this RIA estimates the direct costs (i.e., labor) associated with processing manifests submitted under the baseline paper process in Section 5.3. This RIA applies this cost in perpetuity, beginning with the year of system launch.

5.2.4 e-Manifest System Call Center Costs

As part of e-Manifest system functionality, EPA will staff and operate a call center to assist users. This RIA estimates that these call center costs scale to some extent with the proportion of the universe actively using the e-Manifest system. Appendix E, EPA's Technical Architecture Helpdesk Operations document, provides additional detail on the specific call center costs used in this RIA. Specifically, this RIA estimates approximately $820,000 in fixed costs associated with the call center, which recur annually regardless of system usage. Additionally, this RIA estimates that each additional percentage point of e-Manifest system usage in a given year (e.g., five percent of manifests are created and submitted via the e-Manifest system in 2018, etc.) results in approximately $17,000 in additional call center costs in that year. This RIA therefore estimates costs of between approximately $900,000 and $2.5 million for the call center in a given year, based on the proportion of the universe adopting the e-Manifest system for the first time in a given year, consistent with the adoption rates displayed in Exhibit 5-1. This RIA applies this cost in perpetuity, beginning with the year of system launch, though costs in a given year vary based on the proportion of the universe that has adopted use of the e-Manifest system in that year. After e-Manifest adoption plateaus, this RIA estimates the call center cost at approximately $2.6 million annually.

5.2.5 e-Manifest System CROMERR-Related Costs

The e-Manifest system will require industry entities to comply with Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) standards when submitting information to EPA. These standards require users to obtain and use user-specific accounts when submitting information, a process which EPA manages (these requirements, as they apply to industry, are covered in greater detail in Section 5.4.2). Entities that will use the e-Manifest system following the implementation of the final rule represent an influx of new users to the CROMERR system; the e-Manifest system will therefore result in higher EPA costs due to the additional burden of managing an additional set of CROMERR registrations and user actions.

In 2004, EPA analyzed the costs of CROMERR-related activities as part of a broader cost-benefit activities of CROMERR and its standards. These standards identified four specific EPA CROMERR-related activities that scale with the number of CROMERR-registered users (or facilities) that this RIA considers in estimating CROMERR-related costs associated with use of the e-Manifest system:

 Receipt, processing, review, approval, and filing of CROMERR subscriber agreements (i.e., user registrations)  -  this activity varies with the number of unique users registering with the CROMERR system;

 Identification and resolution of CROMERR-related, facility-specific problems  -  this activity varies with the number of unique facilities registered with the CROMERR system;

 Response to CROMERR-related information requests posed to EPA from registered CROMERR users  -  this activity varies with the number of unique users registered with the CROMERR system; and

 Operation of the CROMERR help desk, which assists users with difficulties they may encounter during registration or other activities  -  this activity varies with the number of unique users registered with the CROMERR system.

To assess additional CROMERR-related costs to EPA resulting from the addition of users to the CROMERR system, this RIA assigns costs to these activities as described below.

Broadly, this RIA assumes that CROMERR-related requirements will apply to receiver TSDFs and transporters, who will be legally able to sign the manifest on behalf of their generator customers so long as documentation of a contractual relationship between the TSDF and generator company exists, and will not be imposed on the complete suite of generators that generate hazardous waste for off-site shipment. Therefore, CROMERR costs accrue only to a limited set of industry entities and their employees. This RIA assumes that each receiver TSDF will seek CROMERR registrations for five employees, while each truck engaged in shipping hazardous waste is operated by two drivers, each of whom will require a CROMERR registration to complete manifest activities through the e-Manifest system. The total set of users considered in the calculations below is therefore approximately 28,000: five employees at each of 420 federal receiver TSDFs and 1,117 state waste-only TSDFs receivers plus two drivers at each of 9,947 trucks (see Chapter 2). Due to the relatively low number of receiver TSDFs, truck drivers make up the majority of the new CROMERR user registrations required. For simplicity, this RIA assumes that each facility operates its own hazardous waste shipping truck. This may be a conservative (i.e., high-cost) assumption if multiple trucks are aggregated at a single establishment or facility; in that case, the EPA costs of CROMERR activities due to the final rule may be overstated.

This RIA assesses the costs under alternative assumptions governing CROMERR, such as scenarios where CROMERR is required for generators in addition to TSDF receivers and transporters, in Chapter 6.

<IP_ADDRESS> CROMERR User Registration Costs to EPA

The CROMERR Cost Benefit Analysis estimated approximately 10 minutes (0.17 hours) for EPA to process a single CROMERR user registration. However, user registrations will be required not only for users at facilities adopting use of the e-Manifest system in a given year, but also for a proportion of new users at facilities that had already adopted the e-Manifest system (i.e., as a result of user turnover) and for a proportion of new facilities that did not previously operate in the market (i.e., as a result of facility turnover). As a conservative (high-cost) assumption, this RIA assumes that 25 percent of facilities turn over each year. This assumption is most applicable to trucks, as they may enter or leave the hazardous waste shipment market with relatively few barriers. This RIA further assumes that 20 percent of employees at existing facilities (i.e., drivers at an existing set of trucks) turn over every year, and will also require new CROMERR registrations.

Correspondingly, the cost of CROMERR user registrations in a given year can be expressed as:

 The cost to register new users at new facilities adopting use of the e-Manifest system in that year; plus
 The cost to register users at new facilities (i.e., those that just entered the market) in a given year, assuming the same proportion of these facilities use the e-Manifest system as the remainder of the universe (i.e., existing facilities); plus
 The cost to register new users at existing facilities in that year.

For example, in the first year of the e-Manifest system, this RIA assumes five percent adoption of the system (see Exhibit 5-1). Per the fully-loaded labor rates from the HWMS ICR, 0.17 hours of technical labor equals $9.71 multiplying this figure by approximately 28,000 new CROMERR registrations required across the universe, and then by five percent, yields approximately $13,000 in first-year CROMERR user registration costs to EPA.

Similarly, in the second year, new user registrations apply to 20 percent of facilities (25 percent adoption per Exhibit 5-1 less the five percent of facilities with users registered in the previous year). This equals approximately $53,000 (28,000 total possible registrations x 20 percent x $9.71). Additionally, 25 percent of facilities with previously-registered users turn over and must fully register new users, for a cost of approximately $3,000 (five percent of the universe of previous year facilities x 25 percent facilities turnover x $9.71 x 28,000 total possible registrations). Lastly, 20 percent of the users at the facilities with previously-registered users turn over and must be replaced with new registrations for new users, for a cost of approximately $2,000 (five percent of the universe of previous year facilities x 75 percent facilities non-turnover x 20 percent user turnover x $9.71 x 28,000 total possible registrations). The total cost of CROMERR user registrations in the second year is therefore approximately $59,000.

Per the CROMERR Cost Benefit Analysis, users who remain registered for three years must renew their CROMERR registration in the third year. These re-registration costs apply only to users at existing facilities, two years after those facilities are estimated to have adopted the e-Manifest system. Correspondingly, these registration renewal costs apply only beginning in the third year after system implementation.

This RIA applies the same process to all other years. CROMERR costs associated with user registrations range from approximately $13,000 in the first year to approximately $224,000 in the sixth year after system implementation (95 percent adoption), and remain constant at $188,000 annually thereafter.

<IP_ADDRESS> Cost to EPA of Resolving CROMERR Facility Registration Issues

The CROMERR Cost Benefit Analysis estimated approximately one hour for EPA to directly engage facilities to investigate facility-specific registration issues, and indicated that such activities would apply only for three percent of facilities each year. Correspondingly, this RIA estimates costs for this activity in a given year as total facilities/trucks x three percent x the adoption rate in that year x $57.11 (the cost for one hour of EPA technical labor per the HWMS ICR, inflated to 2017$). Costs range from approximately $1,000 to approximately $19,000 as the adoption rate increases over time, and remain constant at approximately $20,000 annually thereafter.

The costs associated with this activity are especially sensitive to the assumption that each truck is its own facility; however, as costs associated with this activity are low even under this conservative (high-cost) assumption, altering it is unlikely to result in substantial cost impacts.

<IP_ADDRESS> Cost to EPA for Information Request Responses

The CROMERR Cost Benefit Analysis estimated that the CROMERR system responds to requests, inquiries, budget updates, and similar queries from both internal (EPA-originated) and external (industry-originated) sources, and indicated that such activities were expected to apply to three percent of registered users in a given year. The RIA estimates costs for this activity similarly to those for facility registration issues, with the key differences being that this item applies on a per-user basis, rather than a per-facility basis, and that the CROMERR Cost Benefit Analysis estimated 1.5 hours to respond to each request, rather than one hour to investigate and resolve facility registration issues.

This RIA estimates that costs for this activity in a given year equal total possible registered users (approximately 28,000) x three percent x the adoption rate in that year x $85.66 (the cost for 1.5 hours of EPA technical labor per the HWMS ICR). Costs range from approximately $3,500 to approximately $67,000 as the adoption rate increases over time, and remain constant at approximately $71,000 annually thereafter.

<IP_ADDRESS> Cost to EPA for CROMERR Help Desk Calls Related to e-Manifest

The CROMERR Cost Benefit Analysis estimated approximately eight minutes (0.13 hours) for EPA to respond to a single help desk call, on average. It also assumed that such calls would specifically be related to registration, and that, on average, each registering user would make one such call to the CROMERR help desk in the course of registration. Because of facility and user turnover, this cost applies to more than just the set of users at facilities newly-adopting the e-Manifest system in a given year. The calculations for this cost item are similar to that for user registrations, but use 0.13 hours of EPA technical labor rather than 0.17 hours per instance. Correspondingly, CROMERR costs associated with the help desk range from approximately $10,000 in the first year to approximately $78,000 in the sixth year after system implementation (95 percent adoption), with higher costs in some interim years to account for large numbers of first-time user registrations in those years. The annual costs for this activity total approximately $82,000 after e-Manifest adoption plateaus.

<IP_ADDRESS> Summary of CROMERR-Related Costs to EPA

Exhibit 5-3 summarizes the CROMERR-related costs accruing to EPA estimated by this RIA as a result of the implementation of the e-Manifest system. The cumulative e-Manifest system adoption rate drives these costs, but the fourth year of system operation results in the highest costs in this period due to a large increase in e-Manifest adoption between this year and the previous year. Overall, CROMERR-related costs range from approximately $28,000 to approximately $420,000, depending on the cumulative and incremental adoption rates of e-Manifest in a given year. This RIA applies these costs in perpetuity, beginning with the year of system launch and reaching a final constant cost of approximately $360,000 after Year 6. However, costs in a given year vary based on the proportion of the universe that has adopted use of the e-Manifest system in that year and previous years, as shown in Exhibit 5-3.

                                  Exhibit 5-3
                         CROMERR-Related Costs to EPA
                     (2017$, thousands of $, undiscounted)
                                     Item
                                       A
                                       B
                                       C
                                       D
                                       E
                                       F
                                       G
                                       H

                         CROMERR-Related Cost Category
               Year (following e-Manifest system implementation)
                           Total (Years 1 through 6)

                                    Year 1
                                    Year 2
                                    Year 3
                                    Year 4
                                    Year 5
                                    Year 6

                                       1
e-Manifest System Adoption Rate
                                      5%
                                      25%
                                      55%
                                      95%
                                      95%
                                      95%
                                      N/A
                                       2
User Registration Costs
                                                                         $13.4
                                                                         $58.9
                                                                          $117
                                                                          $206
                                                                          $172
                                                                          $224
                                                                          $791
                                       3
Facility Registration Issue Costs
                                                                        $0.984
                                                                         $4.92
                                                                         $10.8
                                                                         $18.7
                                                                         $18.7
                                                                         $18.7
                                                                         $72.8
                                       4
Information Request Response Costs
                                                                         $3.54
                                                                         $17.7
                                                                         $39.0
                                                                         $67.3
                                                                         $67.3
                                                                         $67.3
                                                                          $262
                                       5
Help Desk Costs
                                                                         $10.2
                                                                         $45.0
                                                                         $81.9
                                                                          $127
                                                                         $77.8
                                                                         $77.8
                                                                          $420
                                                                          Total
                                                                          $28.2
                                                                           $127
                                                                          $249
                                                                          $419
                                                                          $336
                                                                          $388
                                                                        $1,550

5.2.6 e-Manifest System Billing Costs

To recoup the e-Manifest system costs described in Section 5.2, the final rule will apply fees, on a per-manifest basis, to the hazardous waste industry. In addition to the fees themselves, EPA must also undertake a set of billing and invoicing activities to collect the fees. The costs to collect these manifest fees are part of the set of costs that is recovered through the fees. In other words, the fees applied by the final rule reflect the costs of collecting these fees from industry.

This RIA assumes that the final rule will require TSDF receivers to pay for each manifest submitted. It is likely that TSDFs will pass through all or part of the fee to generators and/or transporters as part of the waste management and disposition services they provide more efficiently than any fee-collection system that would require thousands of generators to submit payment.

All manifests will be subject to fees under the final rule; the fee will vary according to the type of manifest submitted, reflecting the different costs associated with processing paper and electronically-submitted manifests, but billing and payment collection activities are not expected to differ across types of manifests submitted.

EPA's costs for billing TSDFs for manifest fees reflect four distinct activities:

 Generate a list of operating TSDFs that have submitted manifests with contact information for invoicing;

 Generate an invoice for each TSDF;

 Send each TSDF a unique access code (in the form of a PIN or password) that allows for each TSDF to view their bill; and

 After payment has been processed through pay.gov, send each TSDF a receipt confirming that payment has been accepted and processed.

To estimate billing costs to EPA, this RIA uses EPA labor rates from the HWMS ICR and burden hours from the Pesticide Registration Fees Program (PRFP) ICR from 2010, which details a set of activities similar to those that will be required to collect payments from TSDFs.

Correspondingly, this RIA estimates total EPA costs associated with billing and payment collection of manifest fees under the final rule as described below.

Per Chapter 2, this RIA estimates that a universe of 1,537 active receiver TSDFs (420 federal receiver TSDFs and an estimated 1,117 state waste-only TSDFs) will be invoiced. Using fully-loaded EPA labor rates from the HWMS ICR, this RIA estimates annual listing generation costs of approximately $850 (16 hours of clerical labor at $24.37 and eight hours of technical labor at $57.11), approximately $527,000 in invoicing costs (0.5 hours of technical labor x 1,537 TSDFs x 12 monthly instances of invoicing in a year), and approximately $90,000 each in costs to send access codes and receipts to TSDFs (0.2 hours of clerical labor x 1,537 TSDFs x 12 monthly instances of sending access codes or receipts). Total billing and payment collection costs are approximately $680,000 annually. This RIA applies this cost in perpetuity, beginning with the year of system launch.

5.2.7 EPA Additional Program Costs

This RIA estimates that EPA will incur an annual cost of approximately $2.8 million to manage aspects of the e-Manifest system not otherwise covered by the six cost categories discussed above. These costs occur only during the active life of the e-Manifest system. This RIA applies the program costs occurring following system launch in perpetuity, beginning with the year of system launch, treating them as operations costs.

Following system launch, these costs include compiling necessary reports for the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the EPA Inspector General (IG), and Congress, as well as designing any necessary upgrades to the e-Manifest system.

5.2.8 EPA Additional Indirect Costs

EPA will incur indirect costs on and above the direct program activities performed by e-Manifest system staff and the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR). Other EPA offices and Regions will incur costs relating to promulgation of the e-Manifest and e-Manifest fee rules, participating in the e-Manifest advisory board and assisting with the operations and maintenance of the e-Manifest system in a broad capacity.

Indirect costs can be difficult to track because they are incurred as part of the normal course of operations at many offices across EPA. Additionally, the level of e-Manifest system-related costs incurred by a particular EPA office may change over time as the program develops and its needs change. For these reasons, this RIA accounts for indirect costs using an indirect cost factor proportionate to other EPA system costs. This factor is based on EPA's Office of Financial Management (OFM) indirect cost methodology, as required by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board's Statements of Federal Financial Accounting Standards #4: Managerial Cost Accounting Standards and Concepts. OFM publishes, on an annual basis, an indirect cost rate for each of the Regional Offices and Program Offices within EPA; this RIA uses the indirect cost factor of 33.22 percent for EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM), the highest-level program office within which ORCR resides. This factor is applied to the sum of operations costs incurred in a given year.
5.2.9 Summary of EPA Costs

Exhibits 5-4 and 5-5 summarize the costs to EPA associated with the e-Manifest system. Exhibit 5-4 pertains to the setup costs incurred prior to system launch; Exhibit 5-5 details the operations costs incurred following system launch over a six-year time horizon.

                                  Exhibit 5-4
                Summary of e-Manifest System Setup Costs to EPA
                     (2017$, millions of $, undiscounted)
                                     Item
                                       A
                                       B
                                       C
                                       D
                                       E
                                       F
                                       G

                           e-Manifest Cost Category
                                    Year -4
                                    Year -3
                                     Year
                                      -2
                                     Year
                                       -1
                            Year 1 (system launch)
                               Total Setup Costs
                                       1
System development
                                     $1.27
                                     $1.27
                                                                          $4.19
                                                                          $4.43
                                                                          $7.05
                                                                          $18.2
                                       2
                                                                       Total[a]
                                                                          $18.2
System development costs based on EPA's most recent system architecture designs and related operations information.

Setup costs total approximately $18 million.

                                  Exhibit 5-5
             Summary of e-Manifest System Operations Costs to EPA
                     (2017$, millions of $, undiscounted)
                                     Item
                                       A
                                       B
                                       C
                                       D
                                       E
                                       F
                                       G
                                       H

                           e-Manifest Cost Category
                                     Year
                                       1
                                     Year
                                       2
                                     Year
                                       3
                                     Year
                                       4
                                     Year
                                       5
                                     Year
                                       6
                                    Total
                              (Years 1 through 6)
                                       1
Operations and maintenance
                                                                         $0.829
                                                                         $0.567
                                                                         $0.524
                                                                         $0.506
                                                                         $0.506
                                                                         $0.506
                                                                          $3.44
                                       2
Paper manifest processing O&M
                                                                          $1.04
                                                                          $1.04
                                                                          $1.04
                                                                          $1.04
                                                                          $1.04
                                                                          $1.04
                                                                          $6.24
                                       3
Call center
                                                                         $0.938
                                                                          $1.30
                                                                          $1.84
                                                                          $2.56
                                                                          $2.56
                                                                          $2.56
                                                                          $11.7
                                       4
CROMERR-related costs
                                                                         $0.028
                                                                         $0.127
                                                                         $0.249
                                                                         $0.419
                                                                         $0.336
                                                                         $0.388
                                                                          $1.55
                                       5
Billing
                                                                         $0.707
                                                                         $0.707
                                                                         $0.707
                                                                         $0.707
                                                                         $0.707
                                                                         $0.707
                                                                          $4.24
                                       6
Additional program costs
                                                                          $2.76
                                                                          $2.76
                                                                          $2.76
                                                                          $2.76
                                                                          $2.76
                                                                          $2.76
                                                                          $16.5
                                       7
Subtotal  -  direct EPA costs