[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56319-56320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24655]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0599; FRL-9985-43-OEI]


Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and 
Approval; Comment Request; Renewable Fuel Standard Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted an 
information collection request (ICR), Renewable Fuel Standard Program 
(EPA ICR No. 2546.01, OMB Control No. 2060-NEW) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. This is a request for approval of an ICR 
that consolidates several existing collections. Public comments were 
previously requested via the Federal Register on December 8, 2017 
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. 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 December 13, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2017-0599, 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: Anne-Marie Pastorkovich, Office of Air 
and Radiation/Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, (6405A), Washington, DC 
20460; telephone number: 202-343-9623; 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, WJC West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The telephone 
number for the Docket Center is 202-566-1744. For information about 
EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Abstract: This information collection request (ICR) consolidates 
and updates recordkeeping and reporting burden and cost estimates 
related to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program into one, 
consistent, and easy-to-understand format. This consolidation will 
assist interested parties in better understanding all the information 
collection activities associated with RFS.
    Under the RFS program, a certain volume of renewable fuel is 
required to replace or reduce the quantity of petroleum-based 
transportation fuel, heating oil or jet fuel. Obligated parties under 
the RFS program are refiners or importers of gasoline or diesel fuel. 
Obligated parties, and exporters of renewable fuel, must meet an annual 
Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO). Parties meet their RVO by blending 
renewable fuels into transportation fuel or by obtaining credits called 
Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). EPA calculates and establishes 
RVOs every year through rulemaking, based on the CAA volume 
requirements and projections of gasoline and diesel production for the 
coming year. The standards are converted into a percentage and 
obligated parties must demonstrate compliance annually. RINs are used 
to demonstrate compliance with the standard and are generated by 
producers and importers of renewable fuels and traded by various 
parties. To track compliance with the RFS program, various parties 
involved with the production and blending of renewable fuels, and who 
generate, trade or use RINs, must register with EPA and submit various 
types of compliance

[[Page 56320]]

reports related to the activity they engage in under the program. 
Recordkeeping requirements under the RFS program include product 
transfer documents (PTDs) and retention of records.
    Recordkeeping and reporting are based upon the activity the party 
engages in under the regulations. A party may be registered in more 
than one activity. For example, a single party may be both an obligated 
party and a RIN generator. Such a party would register once, but would 
submit registration information describing both activities they plan to 
engage in under the program. The party would then submit reports based 
upon which activities they actually engaged in during the compliance 
(calendar) year. Basing the recordkeeping and reporting upon a party's 
activities ensures that parties must sustain only the recordkeeping and 
reporting burden necessary to implement the RFS program.
    This ICR will supersede and replace several existing ICRs, 
including: RFS2 Voluntary RIN Quality Assurance Program, OMB Control 
Number 2060-0688; Cellulosic Production Volume Projections and 
Efficient Producer Reporting, OMB Control Number 2060-0707; Renewable 
Fuels Standard Program (RFS2-Supplemental), OMB Control Number 2060-
0637; Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) Program, OMB Control Number 2060-
0640; Regulation of Fuel and Fuel Additives: 2011 Renewable Fuel 
Standards--Petition for International Aggregate Compliance Approach, 
OMB Control Number 2060-0655; and Production Outlook Report for 
Unregistered Renewable Fuels Producers, OMB Control Number 2060-0660.
    Form Numbers: RFS0104: RFS Activity Report, RFS0303: RFS Annual 
Compliance Report, RFS0601: RFS Renewable Fuel Producer Supplemental 
Report, RFS0701: RFS Renewable Fuel Producer Co-Products Report, 
RFS0801: RFS Renewable Biomass Report, RFS0901: RFS Production Outlook 
Report, RFS1400: Reporting Fuels under 80.1451(b)(1)(ii)(T), RFS1500: 
Reporting Fuels under 80.1451(b)(1)(ii)(T)--Finished Fuel Blending, 
RFS1600: Reporting Fuels under 80.1451(b)(1)(ii)(T)--Blender Contact, 
RFS2000: Batch Verification, RFS2100: Aggregate RIN Verification, 
RFS2200: On-Site Audit Report, RFS2300: List of Potentially Invalid 
RINs, RFS2400: Mass Balance, RFS2500: RFS Efficient Producer Data 
Report, and RFS2700: RFS Cellulosic Biofuel Producer Questionnaire.
    Respondents/affected entities: RIN Generators (producers and 
importers of renewable fuels), Obligated Parties (refiners and 
importers of gasoline and diesel transportation fuels), RIN Owners, 
Renewable Fuel Exporters, QAP Providers, and petitioners under the 
international aggregate compliance approach.
    Respondent's obligation to respond: The RFS program assigns 
mandatory reporting that is based upon activity.
    Estimated number of respondents: 19,542.
    Frequency of response: On occasion, quarterly, annual.
    Total estimated burden: 566,665 hours (per year). Burden is defined 
at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $57,457,330 (per year), which includes $0 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.

Courtney Kerwin,
Director, Regulatory Support Division.
[FR Doc. 2018-24655 Filed 11-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P