[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 87 (Friday, May 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24615-24616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09684]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0546; FRL-10022-43-OAR]


Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; 
Aircraft Engines--Supplemental Information Related to Exhaust Emissions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to 
submit an information collection request (ICR), ``Aircraft Engines--
Supplemental Information Related to Exhaust Emissions (Renewal)'' (EPA 
ICR No. 2427.06, OMB Control No. 2060-0680), to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public 
comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as 
described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is 
currently approved through December 31, 2021. 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: Comments must be submitted on or before July 6, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2016-0546, 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.
    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: Cullen Leggett, Office of 
Transportation and Air Quality, Office of Air and Radiation, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: (734) 214-4514; fax number: (734) 214-4816; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supporting documents which explain in detail 
the information that the 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 additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, EPA is soliciting 
comments and information to enable it to: (i) Evaluate whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (ii) evaluate the accuracy of 
the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (iii) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (iv) minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses. EPA 
will consider the comments received and amend the ICR as appropriate. 
The final ICR package will then be submitted to OMB for review and 
approval. At that time, EPA will issue another Federal Register notice 
to announce the submission of the ICR to OMB and the opportunity to 
submit additional comments to OMB.
    Abstract: This information collection is being conducted by the 
United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office 
of Air and Radiation (OAR) pursuant to section 114 of the Clean Air 
Act, as amended (CAA or the Act), to assist the Administrator of EPA in 
developing emissions standards and/or to inform future policy making 
decisions for aircraft gas turbine engines pursuant to section 231 of 
the Act.
    Under CAA section 231, the EPA is responsible for establishing 
standards for emissions from aircraft engines, and under CAA section 
232, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for 
enforcing these standards. The EPA and the FAA traditionally work 
within the standard-setting process of the International Civil Aviation 
Organization (ICAO) to establish international emission standards and 
related requirements, which individual nations later adopt into 
domestic law in fulfillment of their obligations under the Convention 
on

[[Page 24616]]

International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).\1\ Historically, 
international emission standards have first been adopted by ICAO, and 
subsequently the EPA has initiated rulemakings under CAA section 231 to 
establish domestic standards that are at least as stringent as ICAO's 
standards. The renewal of this ICR will ensure all the necessary 
information is gathered for in-production engines in order to support 
and inform any possible future policy making decisions.
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    \1\ ICAO, 2006: Convention on International Civil Aviation, 
Ninth Edition, Document 7300/9, 114 pp. Available at: http://www.icao.int/publications/Documents/7300_9ed.pdf (last accessed 
March 31, 2021).
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    The EPA is not proposing to collect any additional data or apply 
this reporting to any additional respondents. However, the EPA is 
expanding the scope of this ICR to include supersonic aircraft engines 
in addition to subsonic aircraft engines. When this ICR was established 
and previously renewed, the only aircraft engines that were in 
production, in development, or in use were subsonic engines. Thus, the 
EPA only included subsonic engines and only referred to subsonic test 
procedures. Yet, standards in 40 CFR part 87 (Control of Air Pollution 
from Aircraft and Aircraft Engines) apply to both subsonic and 
supersonic aircraft engines.
    Recently, there has been significant renewed interest in the 
development of supersonic aircraft and engines. Thus, the EPA is 
expanding this ICR to apply equally to all engines (subsonic and 
supersonic aircraft engines) that are required to meet standards under 
Part 87. The EPA is not expecting any supersonic engines to be 
certified by the FAA in the next three years, but the EPA wants to 
ensure it has access to this new emissions information in an 
expeditious manner so that the agency can understand the environmental 
impacts and inform any appropriate future standard setting activities 
under CAA section 231. The inclusion of supersonic engines would not 
expand the number of respondents; nor would it place any additional 
burden on the manufactures because the EPA is only requesting data 
related to standards under Part 87.
    Form Numbers: EPA Form 5900-223.
    Respondents/affected entities: Respondents affected by this action 
are the manufacturers of aircraft gas turbine engines subject to 40 CFR 
part 87. Table 1 below presents some examples of potentially affected 
entities according to NAICS code. Table 1 is not intended to be 
exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for respondents regarding 
facilities likely to be affected by this ICR.

     Table 1--Examples of Potentially Affected Entities by Category
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                                                Example of potentially
       Category              NAICS code            affected entities
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                        336412..............  Aircraft Engine and Engine
                                               Parts Manufacturing.
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    Respondent's obligation to respond: Mandatory (pursuant to section 
114 of the Clean Air Act).
    Estimated number of respondents: 7 (total).
    Frequency of response: Annual.
    Total estimated burden: 456 hours (152 hours per year). Burden is 
defined at 5 CFR 1320.03(b).
    Total estimated cost: $42,005 ($14,002 per year), includes $0 
annualized capital or operation & maintenance costs.
    Changes in Estimates: There is decrease of 1,050 hours in the total 
estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by 
OMB. This decrease is due to the fact that one-time start-up costs to 
conduct nvPM measurements from jet engines were included in the 
previous ICR renewal. The initial cost for manufacturers was capital 
and labor intensive. These one-time costs were incurred in the past 3 
years and are not expected to need to be repeated for these engines now 
that the data has been collected. If manufacturers develop a new 
subsonic engine with a thrust greater than 26.7kN, the nvPM 
measurements will need to be verified by the FAA. The introduction of 
new aircraft engines doesn't happen on a very frequent basis. The EPA 
is estimating that each manufacturer may introduce one subsonic engine 
over 26.7kN over the next three years, for a total of 6 engines 
(compared to an estimated 33 engines in the previous ICR). The 
estimated time manufacturers need to collect and report this data to 
the EPA remains the same.

William Charmley,
Director, Assessment and Standards Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-09684 Filed 5-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P