1625-0007_SS_r0_2020

1625-0007

Supporting Statement

for

Characteristics of Liquid Chemicals Proposed for Bulk Water Movement

OMB No.: 1625-0007

COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS: Instruction

A. Justification

1) Circumstances which make the collection of information necessary.

The U.S. Coast Guard administers and enforces the certain laws and regulations for the safe transportation of hazardous materials by water. Title 46 CFR 30-40, 151, 153 and 154 contain regulations designed to promote safety in the transportation of hazardous materials onboard tank vessels. The statutory authority is 33 U.S.C. 1903, 46 U.S.C. 3703 and 9101.

Chemical companies are constantly developing new products. If the demand is great enough, it becomes economically desirable to transport bulk quantities of a product by barge or tanker. In many cases, however, the Coast Guard does not have information on the hazardous properties of the proposed chemical. Therefore, it is necessary for the manufacturers to supply the data.

2) Purpose of the information collection.

The Coast Guard evaluates the information on the new liquid chemical proposed for transport in bulk by water and determines the kind and degree of precaution which must be taken to protect the vessel, operating personnel, surrounding environment, and those segments of the general public who reside along the proposed route.

3) Considerations of the use of improved technology.

Proposals to transport new liquid chemicals in bulk by water can be mailed, faxed or electronically submitted via e-mail to the Coast Guard. Emails may be sent to: HQS-PF-CG-ENG-5HazardousMaterialDivision@uscg.mil. We estimate that 100% of the reporting requirements can be done electronically. At this time, 100% of reports are done electronically.

4) Efforts to identify duplication.

The Coast Guard seeks to identify sources that provide duplicate information and use information submitted to other organizations as a means to reduce the burden on the industry. Since other organizations request similar data, the Coast Guard avoids duplication by allowing industry to submit the information we require using data forms from such organizations.

5) Methods used to minimize the burdens to small business if involved.

For reasons of safety, the carriage of hazardous materials must be in accordance with the type and degree of hazards they represent.

6) Consequences to the Federal program if collection were conducted less frequently.

Information is not collected at any set frequency or schedule. Information is submitted only when a manufacturer seeks approval for materials not previously carried. If the information is not submitted at this time, then it would be impossible for the Coast Guard to prescribe precautions for the material's safe carriage.

7) Special collection circumstances.

This information collection is conducted in manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8) Consultation.

A 60-day Notice (See [USCG-2020-0182], April 29, 2020, 85 FR 23839) and 30-Day Notice (July 16, 2020, 85 FR 43251) were published in the Federal Register to obtain public comment on this collection. The Coast Guard has not received any comments on this information collection.

9) Provide any payment or gift to respondents.

There is no offer of monetary or material value for this information collection.

10) Assurances of confidentiality provided to respondents.

All information collected complies with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act. If a manufacturer or owner considers certain information proprietary (e.g., trade secret), the Coast Guard will follow the exception permitted by FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)) and maintain confidentiality. This information collection request is covered by the Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and System of Records Notice (SORN). Links to the MISLE PIA and SORN are provided below:

• https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy_pia_uscg_misle.pdf

• https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-06-25/html/E9-14906.htm

11) Additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.

There are no questions of sensitive language.

12) Estimate of the hour and cost burden to respondents.

• The estimated number of annual respondents is 10.

• The estimated number of annual responses is 20.

• The estimated hour burden is 600 hours.

• The estimated cost burden is $56,400.

The burden to respondents is provided in Appendix A. We estimate that it takes about 30 hours for industry to complete and submit information regarding hazardous materials. This estimate includes time for gathering data from several sources. The submission is done by a chemical manufacturing specialist (analogous to a GS-13). The wage rate used is in accordance with the current edition of COMDTINST 7310.1(series) for “Out-Government” personnel.

13) Total annualized capital and start-up costs.

There are no annualized capital or start-up costs.

14) Estimates of annualized cost to the Federal Government.

The estimated annual Federal Government cost is $18,000 (Appendix B). We estimate that it will take 10 hours by a GS-13 to review and process each submission. The wage rate shown is in accordance with the current edition of COMDTINST 7310.1(series) for “In-Government” personnel.

15) Reasons for changes in burden.

The estimated annual burden remains unchanged. There is no proposed change to the reporting requirements of this collection. The reporting requirements remain unchanged.

16) Plans for tabulation, statistical analysis and publication.

This information collection will not be published for statistical purposes.

17) Approval for not explaining the expiration date for OMB approval.

The Coast Guard will display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection.

18) Exception to the certification statement.

The Coast Guard does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

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