Agency information collection activities: Submission for OMB review; comment request,

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Federal Register: March 18, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 52)NoticesPage 13244-13245From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr18mr98-75

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

FRL-5980-3Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives, Fuel Quality Regulations for Highway Diesel Fuel Sold in 1993 and Later Calendar Years

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the following Information Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives, Fuel Quality Regulations for Highway Diesel Fuel Sold in 1993 and Later Calendar Years; OMB No. 2060-0308; expires 03/31/98. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost; and where appropriate, it includes the actual data collection instrument.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 17, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the ICR, call Sandy Farmer at EPA, by phone at (202) 260-2740, by E-

[Page 13245]Mail at Farmer.Sandy@epamail.epa.gov or download off the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/icr/icr.htm, and refer to EPA ICR No. 1718.02.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives, Fuel Quality Regulations for Highway Diesel Fuel Sold in 1993 and Later Calendar Years, (OMB Control No. 2060-0308; EPA ICR No. 1718.02.) expiring 3/31/ 98. This is a request for an extension (with revisions to burden estimates) of a currently approved collection.

Abstract: Section 211(i) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec . 7545(i), requires EPA to implement and enforce regulations regarding the diesel fuel quality requirements of the Act. The Act specifically provides that EPA may require that diesel fuel not intended for use in motor vehicles contain dye to segregate it from motor vehicle (highway) diesel fuel. EPA regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act, at 40 CFR Sec. 80.29, require that non-road diesel fuel contain visible evidence of red dye. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also requires that non-road diesel fuel contain red dye. The IRS further requires that low sulfur highway use diesel fuel sold to tax exempt organizations be dyed red. This latter IRS requirement resulted in the subject EPA recordkeeping requirement that transfers of dyed low sulfur (highway) diesel fuel to tax exempt entities be accompanied by customary business practice paperwork that includes a statement that the product meets EPA standards for highway use but that it is tax exempt fuel. The statement can be in brief code and it can be preprinted or automatically printed. The transferors and transferees of such fuel must keep the transfer documents for five years. There is no reporting requirement or periodic recordkeeping requirement. All responses are mandatory. EPA has authority to require this information under section 211 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec . 7545, section 114 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec . 7414 and section 208 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec . 7542.

Confidentiality of information obtained from parties is protected under 40 CFR Part 2.

The dye requirement and the associated recordkeeping requirement, which is limited to a relatively small quantity of diesel fuel, greatly assists EPA to enforce the highway diesel fuel requirements and also assists parties to determine if they are receiving or transferring appropriate product.

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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. The Federal Register Notice required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on 11/24/97 (62 FR 62592-62593); no comments were received and therefore the ICR supporting statement does not summarize comments or EPA's actions taken in response to comments. However, EPA did consult industry persons by telephone and all parties contacted indicated the paperwork requirement has virtually no measurable burden both because the message is automatically printed on customary business practice documents and because the parties contacted all kept the documents for at least 5 years by normal business practice.

Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 0.047 hours per year for highway diesel fuel terminals; there is no measurable burden for other parties. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Respondents/Affected Entities: Terminals, distributors, and tax- exempt wholesale purchaser-consumers of highway diesel fuel.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,843 highway diesel fuel terminals; 1,000 truck distributors of tax exempt highway diesel fuel (with no measurable burden); and 10,000 tax exempt wholesale purchaser- consumers (with no measurable burden).

Frequency of Response: diesel fuel terminals: 170 transactions per year with paperwork required on the occasion of the transactions.

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 87 hours.

Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden: $0.

Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of automated collection techniques to the following addresses. Please refer to EPA ICR No. 1718.02. and OMB Control No. 2060-0308 in any correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OPPE Regulatory Information Division (2137), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460

and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503

Dated: March 12, 1998. Joseph Retzer, Director, Regulatory Information Division.

FR Doc. 98-7008Filed3-17-98; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 6560-50-P

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