1625-0023 (Formerly 2115-0092)
Supporting Statement
for
Barge Fleeting Facility Records
A. Justification.
1) Circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.
The regulations in 33 CFR 165.803(h)(3)(i) “Fleeting facility: Records” were issued under the authority of the Port and Waterways Safety Act of 1972. They require the person in charge of a barge fleeting facility to keep records of the twice daily inspections of the barge moorings and the movements of barges and hazardous cargo in and out of the facility. Barge fleeting facilities are storage facilities made up of empty and loaded barges, temporarily moored together and located outside the river channel.
This information collection supports the following strategic goals:
Protection
Prevention
Safety
Protection of the Natural Resources
Prevention Directorate (G-P)
Reduce the number of collisions, allisions, and groundings
Reduce the amount of oil discharged into the marine environment
Reduce the amount of chemicals entering the environment
2) By whom, how, and for what purpose the information is to be used.
This recordkeeping requirement is part of the regulations in 33 CFR 165.803, which were written to help prevent barges from breaking away from a fleeting facility and drifting downstream out of control in a very congested area of the Mississippi River. The records are required only for barge fleeting facilities located between New Orleans, LA, and Baton Rouge, LA, to assure compliance with the rules and to provide documentary evidence should enforcement action be necessary.
3) Consideration of the use of improved information technology.
The information required may be in any format (i.e., written or electronic). We estimate that 100% of the recordkeeping requirements can be done electronically. At this time, we estimate that 15% of recordkeeping is done electronically.
4) Efforts to identify duplication. Why similar information cannot be used.
The Coast Guard monitors State and local regulatory activity in this field. To date no equivalent State and local programs have been identified that require equivalent information, and no other Federal agencies have similar or equivalent regulatory requirements.
5) Methods to minimize the burden to small businesses if involved.
It is likely that some of the companies in question would be considered small entities, however the overall impact of the requirement is minimal. Due to the nature of the industry, recordkeeping requirements for small entities are generally proportionately less due to the smaller numbers of barges involved. The record is in narrative form and no particular format is specified.
6) Consequences to the Federal program if collection were conducted less frequently.
If this information collection were not required, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) may have to inspect each fleeting facility more frequently (e.g. weekly), resulting in greater burden to both the respondents and the Federal Government.
7) Explain any special circumstances that would cause the information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with guidelines.
Information is collected in manner that is consistent with the guidelines.
8) Consultation.
A request for comment was published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2006, Volume 71, Number 136, page 40526, no comments were received.
9) Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents.
No payments or gifts of any kind are provided to respondents.
10) Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents.
No particular assurance of confidentiality is provided to respondents. This information collection complies with the Privacy Act of 1974 and OMB Circular A-108.
11) Additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.
There are no issues of a sensitive nature involved in this information collection.
12) Estimates of reporting and recordkeeping hour and cost burdens of the collection of information.
The total number of respondents is – 81 barge fleeting facilities.
The total number of responses is – 59,130.
The estimated annual hour burden is – 61,919 hours.
The estimated annual cost burden is – $2,724,436.
Calculation of the estimated annual number of responses is as follows:
81 barge fleeting facilities;
2, the minimum number of inspections (responses) per day that are required in 33 CFR 165.803(h)(2); and
365, the number of days per year.
81 facilities X 2 responses/facility--day X 365 days/year = 59,130 responses/year
The annualized hour and cost burden to respondents are based on the following assumptions:
1) There are 81 barge fleeting facilities between river miles 88 and 240 that must record:
The time of commencement and termination of each inspection of barge moorings required in 33 CFR 165.803(h)(2);
The name of each person who does the inspection; and
The identification of each barge entering and departing the facility along with the date and time of entry and the names of any hazardous cargoes in them.
2) The number of recordings per day consists of:
2, the minimum number of inspections per day that are required in 33 CFR 165.803(h)(2); and
125, the average number of barges entering and departing a fleeting facility per day. 1
Calculation of the estimated annual hour and cost burden is as follows:
1) Inspections records:
No. of recordings per day: 2
Est. time per recordings: 0.33 minutes
Number of days: 365 days
Average wage: $44 per hour
No. of fleeting facilities: 81
2 recordings per day x 365 days x 81 facilities x 0.33 minutes per recording divided by 60 (minutes per hour) = 325 hours.
325 hours x $44/hour = $14,300.
2) Barges records:
No. of recordings per day: 125
Est. time per recordings: 1 minute
Number of days: 365 days
Average wage: $44 per hour
No. of fleeting facilities: 81
125 recordings per day x 365 days x 81 facilities x 1 minute per recording divided by 60 (min. per hour) = 61,594 hours. 61,594 hours x $44/hour = $2,710,136.
Total Estimated Burden:
Hour burden: 325 hours + 61,594 hours = 61,919 hours.
Cost burden ($): $14,300 + $2,710,136 = $2,724,436.
13) Estimates of annualized capital and start-up costs.
There are no annualized capital and start-up costs.
14) Estimates of annualized Federal Government costs.
This is a recordkeeping requirement. There are no costs associated with reporting data as there is no such requirement. Fleeting facility records are examined by Coast Guard personnel during routine inspections of barge facilities.
15) Explain the reasons for the change in burden.
The change in burden is due to an ADJUSTMENT in the estimated population of barge fleeting facilities (increase from 49 to 81), and the estimated number of barges per fleeting facility (increase from 107 to 125). The increase in barge fleeting facilities is due to the inclusion of additional data from a U.S. ACOE report that contains barge fleeting facilities within the mile radius requirement. This report was published in 2003, but was not available for the previous COI. The increase in the cost burden is because the wage of the person in charge of a fleeting facility that keeps the records increased to $44/hour (equivalent of the rate for an E-6 per hour) in year 2005 from $33/hour in year 2003.
16) For collections of information whose results are planned to be published for statistical use, outline plans for tabulation, statistical analysis and publication.
There is no plan to use statistical analysis or to publish this information.
17) Explain the reasons for seeking not to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information of collection.
There are no forms associated with this collection.
18) Explain each exception to the certification statement.
There are no exceptions to the certification statement.
B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
This information collection does not employ statistical methods.
1 Note: The range of fleeting facility barge capacities is 12 to 480. 125 is the average capacity for the region of consideration, departures and arrivals are merged as it is assumed that each facility will only have to document 50% of its capacity in a given day.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Supporting Statement |
| Author | USCG |
| Last Modified By | AARequina |
| File Modified | 2006-10-02 |
| File Created | 2006-10-02 |