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Agency 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

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[Federal Register: March 18, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 52)]
[Notices]
[Page 13244-13245]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18mr98-75]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5980-3]


Agency 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.

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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. 98-7008 Filed 3-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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