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OMB Control No: 2060-0640	ICR Reference No: 201307-2060-011
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201001-2060-007
Agency/Subagency: EPA/OAR	Agency Tracking No: 2333.03
Title: Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) (Renewal)
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 10/20/2014
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 07/30/2013
Terms of Clearance: In accordance with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved for three years. The agency is reminded that it should have in place an internal planning process so such that the submission of non-emergency extension requests are made sufficiently prior to expiration dates to allow for a 60-day period of OMB review. In addition, the agency should ensure that all form revisions have been completed prior to submitting for OMB review.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	10/31/2017	36 Months From Approved	10/31/2014
Responses	2,707,031	0	4,525,626
Time Burden (Hours)	608,220	0	1,421,133
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: The Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 amended the Clean Air Act, section 211(o), and required the initial RFS program, referred to in this supporting statement as "RFS1". The RFS1 program started in 2006 and was covered by EPA ICR No. 2242.02, OMB Control Number 2060-0600. Please refer to "Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard Program - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" and "Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard Program - Final Rule" (both available in docket number EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161) for a detailed discussion of the RFS1 program. The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 further amended the Clean Air Act, section 211(o), and required EPA to propose new regulations for renewable fuels. The current RFS program is referred to in this supporting statement as "RFS2." Under RFS2, the volume requirement and types of renewable fuels are expanded; non-road uses are included (RFS1 only affected motor vehicle fuel); there are additional types of waivers and special provisions for renewable fuel types; and EPA has implemented an EPA-Moderating Transaction System (EMTS) for RINs. Additional parties are required to register, keep records, and report. Please refer to the Final Rule (available in docket number EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161) for a detailed discussion of the RFS2 program. For compliance purposes, under both RFS1 and RFS2, volumes of renewable fuel are identified through the use of renewable identification numbers (RINs) that are initially generated by the producer of the renewable fuel. However, under RFS2, there are additional types of RINs and the volume of RINs traded is greater.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 42 USC 7414 and 7542 Name of Law: Clean Air Act Sections 114 and 208

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	78 FR 11870	02/20/2013
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	78 FR 45924	07/30/2013
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	2,707,031	4,525,626	-1,818,595
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	608,220	1,421,133	-812,913
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Reduction Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Short Statement: 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 dropped from 4,525,625 to 2,092,731 a difference of 2,432,894, 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 from 1,059,326 to 2,092,731 an increase of 1,639,992, caused by 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, decreasing the cost to the industry from $108,341,989 to $69,337,137, a reduction of $39,004,852. The reduction in the total cost for this renewal 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. This notable factor decreased both the industry burden hours and the total cost of this information collection request if renewed.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $971,000

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Geanetta Heard 202 343-9017 heard.geanetta@epa.gov

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion