0694.0091.suppstmt.011510

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
U.S. Department of Commerce
Bureau of Industry and Security
Chemical Weapons Convention Declaration and Report Handbook and Forms
OMB Control No. 0694-0091

A. Justification
This is a request to extend the Office of Management and Budget approval of this
information collection.
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.
The Chemical Weapons Convention (referred to herein as CWC or Convention) is a
multilateral arms control and non-proliferation treaty that seeks to achieve an international ban on
chemical weapons (CW). The CWC prohibits, inter alia, the use, development, production,
acquisition, stockpiling, retention, and direct or indirect transfer of chemical weapons.
Furthermore, each State Party to the Convention is required to make initial and annual
declarations on certain facilities which produce, process, consume, transfer, or import/export
toxic chemicals and their precursors as specified in three lists or schedules of chemicals contained
in the Convention's Annex on Chemicals. In addition to traditional CW agents, the Schedules
include chemicals that have both large-scale commercial uses and CW applications (referred to as
"dual-use chemicals"). Information is also required on facilities which produce a broad class of
chemicals referred to as "Unscheduled Discrete Organic Chemicals,” or "UDOCs.” Finally,
information is also required from facilities subject to inspection by the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). This information is in addition to information
provided in initial and annual declarations.
The Convention was signed by the United States in Paris on January 13, 1993, and submitted to
the United States Senate on November 23, 1993, for its advice and consent to ratification.
The U.S. Senate provided its advice and consent to ratification on April 24, 1997. The United
States deposited its instrument of ratification with the United Nations on April 25, 1997.
The Convention entered into force on April 29, 1997. To date, the CWC has been signed by 190
countries and ratified by 188.
The United States is under obligation by this international treaty to: (1) report data on certain
chemical activities by U.S. companies; (2) impose certain trade controls; and (3) permit the
inspection of certain U.S. facilities by international inspection teams from the OPCW. Therefore,

1

on October 21, 1998, the United States enacted the Chemical Weapons Convention
Implementation Act of 1998 (P.L.105-277, 22 U.S.C. 6701 et. seq.) (the "Act" or CWCIA),
which, inter alia:


authorizes the promulgation of regulations to require declarations by U.S. chemical and
related industries;



sets forth procedures for international inspection of U.S. commercial facilities;



directs the establishment of a "National Authority" to serve as the liaison between the U.S.
and the international organization, the OPCW; and



prohibits all persons within the United States, as well as all U.S. nationals outside the
United States, from engaging in activities prohibited under the Convention.

Executive Order 13128 authorizes the Department of Commerce (DOC) to issue regulations
necessary to implement the Act and U.S. obligations under Article VI and related provisions of
the Convention. On December 30, 1999, DOC published its Chemical Weapons Convention
Regulations (CWCR) implementing the CWCIA in accordance with the Executive Order as an
interim rule (15 CFR Parts 710 through 721). Subsequently, on
April 26, 2006, the Department of Commerce published the CWCR as a final rule.
The implementation of the Convention’s requirements necessitates development of a working
relationship between the U.S. Government and private industry which is unprecedented in terms
of the degree of industry-government cooperation. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of
the Department of Commerce, is the principal liaison between the U.S. Government and the
chemical industry. BIS is responsible for receiving industry declarations and submitting them to
the Department of State, which is the U.S. National Authority (USNA) for CWC implementation
and coordinates and facilitates administrative and logistical matters related to CWC
implementation. The USNA forwards declarations received from the Departments of Commerce
and Defense, as well as from other U.S. agencies, to the OPCW, located in The Hague.

2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be
used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support
information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection complies
with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.
Declarations and reports: The Convention requires States Parties to submit initial and annual
declarations for activities involving Schedule 1 chemicals and annual declarations for activities
involving Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 chemicals and UDOCs above specified threshold quantities.
The associated Declaration and Report Handbook and the forms are available from the following
Internet URL:

2

http://www.cwc.gov/assets/pdf/declarations_handbook_handbook_complete.pdf
The frequency of declarations for a given facility is dependent upon the activity, chemical and
amounts involved in the previous calendar year for Schedule 1, Schedule 2, and Schedule 3
chemicals and UDOCs, and anticipated activity, chemical and amounts projected to occur in the
next calendar year for Schedule 1, Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 chemicals. The frequency of this
collection, as implemented in the CWCR, is the minimum required under the Convention.
Schedule 1: The CWC requires initial declarations for facilities that produced in excess of
specified aggregate quantities of Schedule 1 chemicals in 1996. Initial declarations previously
submitted by facilities remain valid until rescinded. New Schedule 1 production facilities must
submit an initial declaration 200 calendar days in advance of commencing production of Schedule
1 chemicals in excess of specified aggregate quantities. Annual declarations are required from
facilities that produced Schedule 1 chemicals in excess of specified quantities in the previous
calendar year, are anticipated to do so in the next calendar year, or exported or imported any
amount of Schedule 1 chemicals in the previous calendar year.
Schedule 2: The Convention requires plant sites to review production, processing and
consumption data from the three previous calendar years to determine whether there is a
declaration requirement on past activities. Declarations are required annually for those plant sites
that exceeded the applicable declaration threshold (i.e., for production, processing and
consumption) during any of the three previous calendar years. Plant sites and plants also declare
certain additional information, including, for example, domestic transfers and storage activities.
Finally, plant sites declare imports and exports of Schedule 2 chemicals in excess of specified
threshold quantities. Annual declarations are required from plant sites that had one or more
plants that produced, processed or consumed Schedule 2 chemicals in excess of specified
quantities in any of the three previous calendar years. Note that for annual declarations on past
activities, plant sites must review data from the three previous calendar years, but report data
from only the previous calendar year. A zero “0" is indicated on a chemical declaration form for
which any plant/plant site activity was below the applicable threshold quantity in the previous
year, but was above the threshold in the two previous calendar years. This provides an
opportunity for the OPCW to observe production, processing and consumption trends. Annual
declarations are also required from plant sites that anticipate producing, processing or consuming
Schedule 2 chemicals in the next calendar year in excess of specified quantities, and “additionally
planned activities” declarations are required to report changes in anticipated activities under
specified circumstances. Finally, annual reports are required from plant sites and trading
companies for exports and imports of Schedule 2 chemicals that occurred during the previous
calendar year in excess of specified quantities.
Schedule 3: The Convention requires plant sites that had one or more plants that produced
a Schedule 3 chemical in excess of specified quantities (i.e., 30 metric tons) during the previous
calendar year to submit an annual declaration on past activities, as well as an annual declaration

3

on anticipated activities for such production anticipated for the next calendar year. Declarations
on “additionally planned activities” are required to report changes in anticipated activities under
specified circumstances. Finally, annual reports are required from plant sites and trading
companies for exports and imports of Schedule 3 chemicals in excess of specified quantities that
occurred during the previous calendar year.
UDOCs: Although the majority of declarations are submitted by plant sites that produced
UDOCs and/or UDOCs containing phosphorous, sulfur, or fluorine (PSF chemicals), the
declaration requirements for such production involve the fewest forms. The CWC only requires
declarations from plant sites that produced UDOCs and/or PSF chemicals in excess of specified
quantities during the previous calendar year. BIS implemented a “No Changes” Certification
Form to replace the annual declaration on past activities to reduce the reporting burden on
facilities whose activities have not changed from the previous year. Additionally BIS
implemented an option for declared/inspectable facilities to submit a “Change In Inspection
Status” Form (CIISF) to declare that the facility does not anticipate producing more than 200
metric tons aggregate of UDOCS (including any amount of PSF-chemicals) during the current
calendar year so that such facilities may be excluded from inspection by the OPCW during the
first 90 days of the next calendar year.
BIS officials review the information collected from the data declarations and reports for
completeness and accuracy. The data is compiled into a report for transmittal to the USNA and
subsequent presentation to the OPCW. Certain of these facilities are subject to inspection by the
OPCW.
Inspections: Each State Party to the CWC, including the United States, has agreed to allow
inspections of certain declared facilities by inspectors employed by the OPCW to ensure that their
activities are consistent with obligations under the Convention. The Department of Commerce is
responsible for leading, hosting and escorting inspections of all facilities in the United States,
except Department of Defense and Department of Energy facilities, and other U.S. Government
facilities that notify the USNA of their decision to be excluded from the CWCR. U.S.
Government facilities are those owned by or leased to the U.S. Government, including facilities
that are contractor-operated. Only facilities that produced or anticipate producing in excess of
specified quantities of Schedule 1 and Schedule 3 chemicals, or UDOCs, or produced, processed
or consumed, or anticipate producing, processing, or consuming, in excess of specified quantities
of Schedule 2 chemicals, are subject to routine inspection. The primary purpose of routine
inspections is to verify the accuracy of previously submitted declarations.
During the initial inspection of a declared facility, inspectors from the OPCW Technical
Secretariat and the United States’ Host Team, led by the Department of Commerce, collect
information for possible future negotiation of a draft facility agreement. While facility
representatives act as "de facto" Host Team members during inspection activities, the Act
imposes

4

certain requirements on federal employees that legally cannot be performed by facility
representatives (e.g., obtaining administrative warrants, negotiating facility agreements, and
representing the United States' interests as a State Party). Therefore, the term "Host Team" in the
CWCR refers to the U.S. Government team that accompanies inspectors from the OPCW at
facilities subject to inspection, and does not include civilian site representatives. The DOC
participates in the negotiation of, and approves, all final facility agreements with the OPCW.
Prior to the development of a facility agreement for Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 facilities subject
to inspection, the Department of Commerce notifies the owner, operator, occupant, or agent in
charge of the facility, and if the owner, operator, occupant or agent in charge so requests, the
notified person participates in preparations with DOC representatives for the negotiation of such
an agreement. In July 2004, the Executive Council recommended that the Technical Secretariat
“consider carefully the need for each Schedule 2 facility agreement in a consistent and
nondiscriminatory manner, based on the information available through its verification activities
(declaration and inspection) . . . should give due consideration to the opinion of the State Party
involved.” Accordingly, to date only two facility agreements have been requested and approved
for U.S. facilities.
Model facility agreements implement the general provisions of the Convention pertaining to
inspections, including health and safety procedures, confidentiality of information, media and
public relations, information about the plant site, inspection equipment, pre-inspection activities,
conduct of the inspection (including access to and inspection of areas, buildings and structures,
access to and inspection of records and documentation, arrangements for interviews of facility
personnel, photographs, and sampling), and logistical arrangements for the inspectors, such as
communications and lodging. Attachments to the facility agreements provide site-specific
information such as working hours, special safety and health procedures, as well as site-specific
agreement as to documents and records to be provided, specific areas of a facility to be inspected,
site diagrams, sampling, photography, and interview procedures, use of inspection equipment,
procedures for protection of confidential business information, and administrative arrangements.
Although facility agreements are negotiated between the U.S. Government (represented by the
Department of Commerce) and the OPCW, the Department of Commerce needs certain
information described above from the facility to conclude the facility agreement. This is on a
case-by-case basis.
Section 716.9 of the CWCR requires any facility that has undergone an inspection to report to
BIS within 90 days on its total costs related to that inspection. Although not required, such
reports should identify categories of costs separately if possible, such as personnel costs
(production-line, administrative, legal), costs of producing records, and costs associated with
shutting down chemical production or processing during inspections.
Finally, under the CWC, declared Schedule 1 facilities are potentially subject to systematic
verification through monitoring with on-site instruments. However, this monitoring will only
occur on a voluntary basis or by warrant in accordance with the constitutional rights of the

5

inspected facility. To date, the OPCW has not conducted monitoring at commercial Schedule 1
facilities.
BIS limits the collection of information under the CWCR to that which is minimally necessary to
fulfill the United States’ treaty obligation and does not distribute to the public any information
collected in declarations, reports, notifications. BIS also limits collection of proprietary
information during inspections, but may collect limited information that is available in the public
domain.
The CWCR provides for specific procedures for release of information to the public only when it
is determined that the release is in the national interest. These determinations must be made on a
case-by-case basis. BIS must also notify the affected person of our intent to disclose its
confidential business information based on the national interest determination.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of
information technology.
The Bureau of Industry and Security developed a system called Web Data Entry Software for
Industry (Web-DESI). Web-DESI allows industry to submit CWC declarations and reports for
Schedule 1, 2, and 3 chemicals and UDOCS securely via the Internet. Web-DESI is a voluntary
tool designed to reduce the burden on industry in complying with CWC declaration and report
requirements. Web-DESI is available at: https://cwcweb.cwc/

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.
The information BIS collects from the U.S. industry under the provisions of the CWCR has not
been previously obtained by any U.S. Government agency. Thus, no significant or material
duplication of information exists.
A Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) report (Domestic Reporting Requirement for Chemical
Industry - DNA-TR-92-66) stated that existing state and federal government reporting
requirements fail to provide the full and detailed information on the chemical industry needed to
satisfy the annual data reporting requirements of the CWC and the international treaty
community.
The same conclusion was also drawn by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in its report
(The Chemical Weapons Convention: Effects on the U.S. Chemical Industry (OTA-BPISC-106)) which stated "the information currently envisioned as necessary for CWC verification
differs both quantitatively and qualitatively from that collected for internal management or for
domestic regulatory purposes." Some major discrepancies between the reporting requirements
mandated by
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the CWC and by U.S. domestic environmental regulations are: chemicals relevant to the CWC are
not all covered by the environmental regulations; environmental regulations are applicable only to
chemical manufacturers, not to processors or consumers, which are covered under the CWC; and
the reporting deadlines under the CWC are shorter than those required by the Environmental
Protection Agency. For these reasons the U.S. Government cannot "piggyback" on existing
reporting requirements to meet its CWC declaration obligations.

5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe
the methods used to minimize burdens.
Most U.S. chemical plants are large businesses. The required information is the minimal needed
by any company no matter the size of the company.
The following steps were completed to minimize the burden on all businesses:
Prior to implementation of the CWC, BIS conducted a "field test" on declaration and report forms
with industry. At that time, industry identified several key points, which have minimized the
collection burden. For example, the declaration handbook was revised to add clearer definitions,
"overviews," and "flow charts" in data declaration instructions. Also, a telephone "hot-line" was
established for assisting industry to complete the forms and/or to determine whether a chemical
was subject to declaration. A facsimile line was also dedicated for these activities.
The CWCR was updated to remove one-time declaration and reporting requirements (e.g.,
Declaration on Chemical Weapons Production and initial declarations for Schedules 2 and 3
chemicals and UDOCs). The WebDESI software application, described in question 3 above, has
also considerably reduced the burden on industry by making it easier to complete CWC forms and
file electronically over the internet.
Finally, BIS has an excellent working relationship with the chemical industry and routinely
interfaces with industry through outreach seminars, conferences, and industry meetings. BIS also
conducts site-assistance visits at plant sites to prepare them for a possible inspection.

6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is
not conducted or is conducted less frequently.
The Convention requires States Parties to submit initial and annual declarations for all public and
private facilities and/or trading companies which produce, process, consume, store, domestically
transfer, or import/export CW-related chemicals. If the requested collections are made less
frequently or not at all, the United States will not be able to meet its reporting obligations, and
would then be in a position of technical non-compliance with the Convention. The Conference of
States Parties, at the recommendation of the Executive Council, could suspend the United States'

7

rights and privileges under the Convention (CWC, art. XII, para. 2). For example, the United
States could become subject to trade restrictions and sanctions from our allies and trading
partners (CWC, Verification Annex, pt. VI, para. 1 (Schedule1); pt. VII, para. 31 (Schedule 2); pt.
VIII, para. 26 (Schedule 3)). These barriers to free trade would effectively shut the U.S. industry
out of international trade in chemicals which is vital to U.S. interests both economically and
militarily. The economic burden and impediment thereby imposed on the U.S. industry would be
much greater than that imposed by the collections.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a
manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.
Not applicable.

8. Provide a copy of the PRA Federal Register notice that solicited public comments on the
information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received
in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those
comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their
views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and
recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be
recorded, disclosed, or reported.
The Department of Commerce published a request for public comments on the renewal of this
information collection package in the Federal Register on September 10, 2009, p. 46565. No
comments were received.

9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than
remuneration of contractors or grantees.
Not applicable.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for
assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
The "Confidentiality Annex" of the Chemical Weapons Convention protects confidential business
information (CBI) by mandating that the OPCW require only the minimum amount of
information and data necessary to carry out its responsibilities. The OPCW established a regime
for restricting access to information provided by States Parties, evaluated all data received for
CBI content, and ensured that CBI is not released without the proper safeguards and access
controls. As part of this information security, all OPCW employees with access to CBI must
obtain security clearances,
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effective procedures have been established for dealing with breaches in security, and States
Parties may take additional measures they deem necessary to protect CBI during inspections.
Section 404 of the Act also addresses the protection of proprietary and confidential business
information. CBI, as defined in the Act, is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). CBI may only be disclosed to the Technical Secretariat and, in certain
cases, to other States Parties, to Congressional committees with appropriate jurisdiction, and/or to
law enforcement agencies for the enforcement of the Act or other law. The USNA must notify
the submitter if it intends to release information exempted from disclosure. Penalties are
provided in the Act for the unlawful disclosure of confidential information collected under the
Act by any individual, including a government official or OPCW inspector.
Finally, Commerce's CWC Information Management System (IMS), which collects, processes,
and stores CWC-related data is a closely restricted, firewall-protected segment of the TCD-Net
V-LAN within Department of Commerce’s information technology (IT) infrastructure.
This ensures electronic isolation of all collected data and promotes information security.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered
private.
There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.
The total public burden for this collection is 16,047 hours (3,930 hours for declarations/
reports/amendments/notifications/compliance reviews and 12,117 hours for inspections).
This estimate is based on the actual number of declarations/reports/amendments/notifications
submitted for Reporting Years (RYs) 2008/2009/2010 activity as described in the chart below and
actual inspections conducted during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. Note: the number of inspections of
chemical facilities conducted by the OPCW in the United States significantly increased since the
last renewal of this information collection package (i.e., from 11 inspections to 21 inspections)
due to changes in the process for selecting plant sites for inspection, which was agreed to by
States Parties. In the future, BIS expects to receive approximately 22-25 inspections per year.
But for this extension, BIS will use the previously estimated 21 inspections.
The burden hours on U.S. industry for CWC declarations, reports, notifications, and compliance
obligations are 3,930 total hours, which is based upon the actual number of declarations, reports
and advanced notifications (745) submitted, plus an estimated number of compliance reviews
(50), for a total of 795. Each type of declaration/report/activity number of responses is multiplied

9

by the estimated number of hours to complete it. The number of hours to complete each
declaration/report/activity is estimated based upon a field test of BIS's forms with nine different
companies done prior to implementation of the program.
The estimated annual labor cost to all respondents is $741,949. The cost per hour for the
respondents was derived from the cost per hour of the salaries and overhead of the Federal
employees working on this project. Thus, the estimated total annual cost burden to all
respondents or recordkeepers is:
16,047 hours x $38.53/hour (GS-13 Step 1) x 1.2 (20% Overhead) = $741,949
BIS anticipates the annual cost and hour burdens for industry will remain relatively constant in
the future unless there is a significant change in industry’s activities, the OPCW inspection rate of
facilities in the U.S., or an addition of new regulatory requirements for the program.
BURDEN HOUR CHART FOR DECLARATIONS AND REPORTS
This information is based upon the actual number of declarations and reports and amendments
thereto, Schedule 1 advance notifications, and compliance reviews received by Commerce’s
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) from U.S. chemical facilities and trading companies during
Calendar Year (CY) 2009. Certain facilities may have submitted multiple declarations or reports
under different chemical regimes. BIS has not included any declaration or report received and
determined not required under the CWCR and which was returned without action (RWA’d).

CHEMICAL
REGIME

BURDEN
HOURS

ACTUAL NUMBER OF
DECLARATIONS, REPORTS, &
AMENDMENTS RECEIVED*
& ESTIMATED NUMBER OF
REQUESTS FOR COMPLIANCE
INFORMATION

TOTAL
BURDEN
HOURS

SCHEDULE 1

10.6@

1

11

SCHEDULE 2

11.9 @

44

524

SCHEDULE 3

2.5 +

129

323

UDOC

5.3 +

441

2337

UDOC “No Changes”

5.1 #

116

592

UDOC “Change In
Inspection Status”

5.1&

11

56

SCHEDULE 1
EXPORT/IMPORT

0.17 x 3 ^

3

1.5

10

ADVANCE
NOTIFICATIONS
Compliance Review
Requests

1.7 ~

TOTAL

50 (est)

85

795

3,930
(3,929.5)

* These numbers include Annual Declarations on Past Activities (ADPA), Combined
Declarations and Reports, UDOC “No Changes” Certification Forms, and Annual Reports on
Exports and Imports for Reporting Year (RY) 2008; Change in Inspection Status Forms for RYs
2009, and Annual Declarations on Annual Anticipated Activities for RY 2010, and any
amendments thereto, as required by the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR)
(15 CFR Parts 710-722).
@ These estimates are based on the average time required to complete each page of the UDOC
annual declaration on past activities forms in our field test times the total number of pages in the
Schedule 1 and 2 declarations. For example, for Schedule 1, this would be as follows: (5.3
hours/4 UDOC pages – 1.325 hours per page) x 8 Schedule 1 pages = 10.6 hours.
+ These estimates were derived from our field test. The sample size for Schedule 3 was two
respondents. The sample size for UDOCs was four respondents.
# This estimate was obtained by comparing the difference in the amount of time to “type” a No
Changes Authorization Form (one page) versus a complete ADPA (three pages). The amount of
time to collect the support documentation to prepare a UDOC declaration remains unchanged.
Accordingly, only 0.2 hours (typing time) were subtracted from the amount of time to collect the
information and prepare the complete ADPA (5.3 - 0.2 = 5.1 hours).
& The burden hours for completing the “Change In Inspection Status” Form is estimated to be
the same as the UDOC “No Changes” Certification Form because the amount of time to collect
information and prepare the declaration would be the same (see item denoted # above). This
number includes information received from facilities regarding a change to their status during
CY 2009 whether the facility produced UDOCs below the inspection threshold, stopped
production of UDOCs, or shutdown/closed (regardless if the facility completed the Form).
^ This estimate is based on the estimated time required to complete the notification per
respondent (10 minutes) times the estimated number of responses per respondent (3) times the
actual number of plant sites or trading companies (3). (This includes one notification submitted
that was determined to not be required under the EAR/CWCR.).

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~ This estimate is based upon an estimated 50 requests to industry for typical compliance related
information during a calendar year (50 x 1.7 = 85 hours). This number is estimated because BIS
does not currently have an electronic tool in place that tracks requests made to industry to provide
information for compliance verification (e.g., aggregate national data).
Inspections - The total burden hours related to inspections that occurred during Fiscal Year (FY)
2009 is 12,117 hours (577 1 hours per inspection x 21 facilities inspected). Certain of this data
are based on information from facilities as required by Part 716 CWCR and which was
subsequently reported to the U.S. Congress in annual reporting under Section 309 of the CWC
Implementation Act. The data is based on the average of the actual total burden hours reported by
industry for FY 2009 inspections, involving Schedule 2, Schedule 3, and UDOC facilities,
including the average time for preparing a report of inspection related costs. Further, based upon
U.S. industry data reported, the average cost to each respondent including preparation, on-site
activities, and inspection reports, is $9,743. Preparation includes, but is not limited to, preparing
records, reviewing declarations previously submitted, providing information to be included in a
draft facility agreement, identifying confidential business information, and developing a
pre-inspection briefing for inspectors about the facility.

BURDEN HOUR CHART FOR INSPECTIONS
INSPECTION,
INCLUDING FINAL
REPORT

TOTAL FOR 21
INSPECTIONS
CONDUCTED
DURING
FY 2009

Burden hours

577 (X 21 inspections)

12,117 hours

Labor Cost

$9,743

$204,599

Regarding Schedule 1 inspections, BIS estimates that an increased burden on industry as a result
of on-site monitoring of activities at Schedule 1 facilities with instruments will be negligible
because BIS anticipates that the OPCW will rarely use such a verification method at Schedule 1
facilities subject to the CWCR. If such monitoring does take place, the information collected
would be confined to the type of information authorized to be collected during an inspection.
The OPCW will be responsible for justifying, acquiring, installing, and maintaining any such
equipment at a facility. To date, the OPCW has not used this methodology to verify compliance
with the treaty.

1

The average burden hours used for reporting for each is based upon the average of total burden hours from a mock inspection
conducted at a Schedule 1 and a Schedule 2 facility prior to implementation of the CWCR, including the average time required to prepare a report
of the inspection related cost.

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In addition to the $204,599 in direct costs resulting from CWC reporting and verification
obligations, businesses and other entities, particularly small ones, potentially could suffer
additional indirect, non-quantifiable, costs due to their involvement with inspections when they
could be engaging in profitable activities. This direct cost is based on information reported by
facilities as required by Part 716 CWCR and which was subsequently reported to the U.S.
Congress in annual reporting under Section 309 of the CWC Implementation Act.
BIS makes every effort to work with facility officials to minimize these costs. Inspections are
managed to limit costs (both direct and indirect) borne by private facilities and to protect their
proprietary and confidential business information.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in
Question 12 above).
This collection involves a recordkeeping requirement. The largest companies are anticipated to
file fewer than 100 pages of forms or letters per year. Although the quantity of actual records
required to support these forms and letters vary from company to company, most if not all of
these records are already being saved in some form by each company for other purposes
(environmental protection, occupational health and safety, Securities and Exchange Commission,
etc.). Such records, while useful for other purposes, are not normally in a format useful to
declarations, and therefore cannot be substituted for declarations. A worst case assumption
assumes a ten-fold excess of underlying records for each submitted form or letter (i.e., 1,000
pages for the largest of companies). Given a five-year storage requirement, as specified in the
CWCR (15 CFR Part 721.2(b)), this amounts to a total permanent storage of 5,500 pages of
documents to be contained in a filing cabinet occupying 1.5 square feet of office space. The
estimates of office space costs in the Washington, DC area range from approximately $30/sq.ft. to
$40/sq.ft., with an average value of $35/sq.ft./year. Applying this worst case assumption to the
795 declarations and reports received for RY 2008 results in an estimated recordkeeping cost for
this collection of $41,737.50 (1.5 sq. ft. x $35/sq. ft. x 795 declarations/reports)(Note: In ROCIS,
the total is $41,740 due to rounding to whole number). It must be emphasized that this is a worst
case assumption only. Most respondents file far less than the anticipated 100 pages per largest of
companies and hence will have much lower record keeping expenses. It is noted that most
chemical facilities/companies currently maintain electronic records (SAP system); however the
estimated annual burden costs reported in past years is maintained for this renewal.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
The estimated annualized cost to the Department of Commerce for declarations and reports is
$922,934. The major portion of this estimate is the cost for personnel to receive, process,
validate, and archive the data and to implement the reporting requirements. The chart below

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provides a breakout of the annualized estimate cost of the collection. The cost is based on the
annual salaries of the 6 full-time Federal employees, and 2 full-time employees that will provide
contractual support. Also, included is the annual cost for equipment and printing needs.

Number of Personnel

Cost

6 full-time federal employees (6 x 2080 hrs/yr x $38.53/hr
(GS-13 Step 1} x 1.2 {Overhead})

$480,854

2 full-time contractual support

$412,089

Equipment
Printing Cost

$ 25,000
$ 5,000

Total Cost

$922,934

Other U.S. Government agencies incur costs for data declarations under the CWC (e.g.,
Department of Defense for chemical weapons destruction); however, Commerce does not have
knowledge of the actual costs being incurred by these agencies.
The estimated annualized cost to the government to host inspections in the United States is
$506,490 ($24,118 average per inspection x 21 inspections), as reported to Congress in the annual
Section 309 reporting as required by the CWC Implementation Act (for FY 2009). The estimated
annualized cost includes salaries for the host team, travel and per diem expenses, equipment for
the host team (e.g., laptops) and testing inspection equipment used by international inspectors.
The actual cost for an inspection will vary depending upon the type of facility to be inspected.
For example, an inspection of a Schedule 1 facility may last 5 days, whereas an inspection of a
UDOC facility will last 2 days.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.
The adjustment decreases in responses and recordkeeping cost reflect the current actual number
of declarations, reports, amendments, and notifications that industry submitted since the previous
submission. The number of responses decreased from 929 to 816 = 113 reduction; and
recordkeeping cost decreased from $49,000 to $41,737.50.
The adjustment in burden hours is due to an increase of inspections (11 to 21) conducted by the
international Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons since the previous
submission.

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16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and
publication.
There are no plans to publish this information.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the
information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
Not applicable.
Since BIS has revised the CWC declaration and report forms several times in the past, we have
learned it is useful to reference the date of the forms when speaking to U.S. industry about the
forms.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.
Not applicable.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
Not applicable.

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