[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45924-45925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18198]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161; FRL 9534-4]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS 2) Program 
(Renewal)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), ``Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS 2) 
Program (Renewal)'' (EPA ICR No. 2333.03, OMB Control No. 2060-0640) to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 
This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved 
through July 31, 2013. Public comments were previously requested via 
the Federal Register (78 FR 11870) on February 20, 2013 during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments. A fuller description of the ICR is given below, including its 
estimated burden and cost to the public. An Agency may not conduct or 
sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before August 29, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2005-0161 to (1) EPA online using www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), by email to [email protected], or by mail to: 
EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB via email 
to [email protected]. Address comments to OMB Desk Officer 
for EPA.
    EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes profanity, threats, information 
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Geanetta Heard, Fuel Compliance 
Center, 6406J, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. 
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone

[[Page 45925]]

number: 202-343-9017; fax number: 202-343-2800; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents which explain in detail 
the information that EPA will be collecting are available in the public 
docket for this ICR. The docket can be viewed online at 
www.regulations.gov or in person at the EPA Docket Center, EPA West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The telephone 
number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Abstract: EPA would like to continue to collect annual compliance 
reports from obligated parties, quarterly reports for all EPA Moderated 
Transaction System (EMTS) users, generation and assignment of Renewable 
Identification Numbers (RINs) quarterly reports from biofuels producers 
and importers, and third party disclosure reports from biofuel 
feedstock producers by way of the Agency's Central Data Exchange (CDX). 
The recordkeeping and reporting will allow EPA to monitor compliance 
with the RFS program. EPA informs respondents that they may assert 
claims of business confidentially for information they submit in 
accordance with 40 CFR 2.203.
    Form Numbers: 5900-275 (RFSA101--RFS2 2011 Activity Report); 5900-
276 (RFS0101--RFS2 2010 Activity Report); 5900-277 (RFG 1300--VOC 
Average Report); 5900-278 (RFS0901--RFS2 Production Outlook Report); 
5900-279 (RFS0100 RFS Activity Report); 5900-280 (EMTS: RFS2 RIN 
Generation Report (Equivalent to RSF0400)); 5900-281 (RFS0201--RFS 1 
Transaction Report); 5900-282 (RFS0301--RFS2 2010 Annual Compliance 
Report); 5900-283 (RFS0900--RFS2 Production Outlook Report); 5900-284 
(RFS0200--RIN Transaction Report); 5900-285 (RFS0700--RFS2 Renewable 
Fuel Producer Co-Products); 5900-286 (RFS2 EMTS RIN Transaction 
Report); 5900-287 (RFS0103--RFS 2012 Q1 Activity Report); 5900-288 
(RFS0104--RFS2 Activity Report); 5900-289 (RFS0701--RFS2 Renewable Fuel 
Producer Co-Producer); 5900-290 (RFS0601--RFS2 Renewable Fuel Producer 
Supplemental); 5900-291 (RFS0300--RFS2 Obligated Party Annual 
Compliance Report); 5900-292 (RFS0800--RFS2 Renewable Biomass Report); 
5900-293 (RFS0801--RFS2 Renewable Biomass Report); 5900-294 (RFS0102--
RFS2 2011 Activity Report); 5900-295 (RFS2 EPA Cellulosic Biofuel 
Waiver Credit Form); 5900-296 (RFS0303--RFS2 Annual Compliance Report).
    Respondents/affected entities: Producers of renewable fuels, 
Importers, Obligated party, Parties who own RINs and Foreign Refiners.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (42 U.S.C. 7414 and 
7542).
    Estimated number of respondents: 2,092,731 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annually, Quarterly & Daily.
    Total estimated burden: 608,220 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
    Total estimated cost: $69,337,137 (per year), which includes no 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is a decrease of 812,913 hours in 
the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently 
approved by OMB. This decrease is due to adjustments to the estimates. 
At the onset of the RFS2 program, EMTS for RINs were not a feature of 
RFS1. For the new EMTS system, all parties who owned RINs were required 
to re-submit their application, disclose feedstock sources, prepare 
quarterly reports on RIN activity and submit annual compliance reports 
(obligated party only). Re-submittal provisions are no longer required, 
which will cause a decrease in total responses for this ICR. EMTS users 
will not be burdened to submit more reports in this information 
collection, unlike the previous. The total responses for industry 
decreased now that the final rule is no longer requiring re-submissions 
or quarterly reports for certain party members. To date, biofuels 
producers and importers are required to submit quarterly reports along 
with their third party disclosure on feedstock producers to EPA. All 
users of the EMTS system are required to submit quarterly RIN reports.
    The number of respondents or users of the EMTS system has more than 
doubled due to the additional response burden for mapping foreign and 
domestic plantation/forest land owners and foreign biofuels feedstock 
producers, which was not reflected in the previous ICR reporting 
period. With an increase of respondents, total burden hours have 
decreased from 1,421,133 to 608,220 hours. The reduction is due to the 
fact that the EMTS system's automation structure helps users to prepare 
reports instantly, lessening the amount of time and cost needed to 
respond, even with more than a million added users.

John Moses,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 2013-18198 Filed 7-29-13; 8:45 am]
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