Customer Satisfaction Survey of Compliance Assistance Manual for Ethanol Facilities (Generic)

Compliance Assistance Manual for Ethanol Facilities

Survey of Customer Satisfaction

EPA ICR No. 1711.05

OMB Control No. 2090-0019

EXPIRATION DATE: 8/31/2009

Thank you for participating in this survey so that EPA can serve you more effectively.

A ssuming you have already read the compliance assistance manual, Environmental Laws Applicable to Construction and Operation of Ethanol Plants, we anticipate that the main part of this survey will take approximately 10-20 minutes and the optional questions at the end will take approximately an additional 10 minutes. Your participation will help EPA to better support ethanol facilities to be in compliance with environmental laws.

You may also take this survey on-line at the following website: [X]. Submitting your responses on-line will take the same amount of time and will help us to analyze the results and provide feedback to EPA more quickly.

If you choose to fill out the paper survey instead, please return your responses by [Date] in the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope.

Note about respondent confidentiality: The contractors evaluating the ethanol facilities’ and contractors’ satisfaction with the compliance assistance manual, Environmental Laws Applicable to Construction and Operation of Ethanol Plants, are gathering basic information to better understand how widespread the Manual’s distribution has been and how useful different types of “customers” have found the Manual to be. Informational responses will be generalized and made anonymous for the final results and no facility or contractor names or other identifiers will be provided to EPA as part of the results, unless a facility or contractor explicitly indicates at the end of this survey that they would like their responses to be identified.

Industrial Economics, Incorporated (http://www.indecon.com/) and Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd. (http://www.ross-assoc.com) are the contractor team. For more information, please contact Anna Williams ([email protected]) or Amy Wheeless ([email protected]) by email or at (206) 447-1805.

PART 1: Information about You as Our Customer

1. Prior to receiving this questionnaire, were you aware that EPA developed the Compliance Assistance Manual for Ethanol Facilities (Manual) and that the Manual was publically available?

 

Yes No

2. Have you received (or downloaded) the Compliance Assistance Manual for Ethanol Facilities, published by EPA in November 2007? If No, please skip to Question 24.

 

Yes No

3. What category best describes your position?

			
Facility manager	Facility compliance officer	Other facility role (please specify)	Contractor

4. Please check the method below that indicates how you learned about the Manual

				
Postcard distributed from EPA	EPA news release	EPA radio or TV interview	EPA Web site	State contact
			
Meetings / conferences (e.g., FEW workshop, CenSARA's National Environmental Biofuels Conference)	Other correspondence from EPA	Other method (please specify)	Don’t know/don’t remember

5. Why were you interested in receiving the Manual? (Optional)

Optional response:

 I received the Manual without asking for it (check here if applicable)

PART 2: Accessing the Manual

6. Please check the method below that indicates how you accessed the Manual.

				
Downloaded the Manual from the EPA Web site	Received a Compact Disc (CD) from EPA	Received a CD from a state contact	Received a CD from another contact outside of my facility	Received a hard copy from EPA
		
Received a hard copy from a state contact	Received a hard copy from a different (not state/EPA) contact outside of my facility	Other method (please specify:)

7. Please rate how satisfied you were with the ease of accessing the Manual.

					
Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion

Please describe any ways you think EPA could improve access to the Manual (optional):

8. Have you read any part of the Manual? If No, please skip to Question 24. If Yes, please continue to Part 3 of the survey.

 

Yes No

PART 3: Structure and Readability of the Manual

9. Please rate your satisfaction with the Manual’s readability

   					
   Very difficult to read	Difficult to read	Neither easy nor difficult to read	Somewhat easy to read	Very easy to read	No opinion

10. Please rate the ease of navigating through the Manual to get to areas of interest

    					
    Very difficult to navigate to areas of interest	Difficult to navigate to areas of interest	Not easy, but not difficult to navigate to areas of interest	Easy to navigate to areas of interest	Very easy to navigate to areas of interest	No opinion

11. How would characterize the amount of information presented in the Manual?

					
Significantly too little	Slightly too little	Right Amount	Slightly too much	Significantly too much	No opinion

PART 4: Content of the Manual

Please rank your satisfaction with the Manual’s Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and the Appendices. Alternatively, if you would like to provide more specific feedback on each Section of the Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2, please fill out the optional section for Additional Content Feedback at the end of the survey. This optional module will likely require an additional 10 minutes of your time.

Introduction

Sections included in the Introduction:

• Section I.1: Requirement for Renewable Fuels

• Section I.2: Renewable Fuel Standard Program

• Section I.3: Brief Overview of Ethanol Production Process

12. If you have reviewed the Introduction, please rank your satisfaction with this chapter. If you have not reviewed the Introduction, please skip to Question 14.

    	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
    Ease of understanding compliance requirements						
    Information thoroughness						
    Overall usability of the Introduction						

13. If you have any specific suggestions for improving the usefulness of the Introduction, please describe (optional):

Chapter 1: What Laws Apply When I’m Constructing or Modifying an Ethanol Plant?

Sections included in Chapter 1:

• Section 1.1 National Environmental Policy Act

• Section 1.2 Clean Air Act

• Section 1.3 Clean Water Act

• Section 1.4 Safe Drinking Water Act

• Section 1.5 Pollution Prevention Act

14. If you have reviewed Chapter 1, please rank your satisfaction with this chapter. If you have not reviewed Chapter 1, please skip to Question 16.

    	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
    Ease of understanding compliance requirements						
    Information thoroughness						
    Overall usability of Chapter 1						

15. Do you have any specific suggestions for improving the usefulness of the Chapter 1? (optional)

Chapter 2: What Laws Apply to Operating an Ethanol Plant?

Sections included in Chapter 2:

• Section 2.1 Clean Air Act

• Section 2.2 Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act

• Section 2.3 Clean Water Act

• Section 2.4 Safe Drinking Water Act

• Section 2.5 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act – Hazardous Waste

16. If you have reviewed Chapter 2, please rank your satisfaction with this chapter. If you have not reviewed Chapter 2, please skip to Question 18.

    	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
    Ease of understanding compliance requirements						
    Information thoroughness						
    Overall usability of Chapter 2						

17. Do you have any specific suggestions for improving the usefulness of Chapter 2? (optional)

Appendices

18. If you have reviewed the Appendices, please rank your overall satisfaction (e.g., ease of understanding, information thoroughness, overall usability) with each of them. If you have not reviewed the Appendices, please skip to Question 20.

    	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
    Appendix A (First half): Summary of Laws Pertaining to Ethanol Production and Contacts						
    Appendix A (Second half): Contact Information						
    Appendix B: Emergency Planning						
    Appendix C: Clean Air Act Section 112-r requirements						
    Appendix D: Definitions of Acronyms						
    Appendix E: The NEPA Process						

19. Do you have any specific suggestions for improving the usefulness of any/all of the Appendices? (optional)

part 5: Your Overall Satisfaction with the Manual

20. a. Please rate your satisfaction with how well the Manual met your needs for understanding compliance information.

Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
					

b. Please rate your satisfaction with how clear the information provided in the Manual was on where to go for more information.

Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
					

We welcome any comments on your response:

21. What else should EPA consider to improve your satisfaction with the Manual as a compliance assistance tool?
    

22. Please rate your overall satisfaction with the Manual as a compliance assistance tool

Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
					

part 6: Other Suggestions for Future Compliance Assistance

23. If EPA were to update the Manual, which update frequency would be the most useful?

				
Annually	Every 3 years	Every five years	Other timeframe (please specify)	I don’t intend to refer to the Manual again

24. What other tools and approaches would you prefer for sharing compliance assistance information concerning ethanol facilities?

Final questionS!

25. Can we identify your facility or company (by name) as having participated in this survey?

Yes No

Facility or Company Name (optional)

Follow-up Option

26. The contractors will be conducting 30-minute follow-up telephone surveys with 5-9 facilities and contractors between [add month(s)]. Would you be willing to participate in one of these telephone surveys? (The results of the telephone surveys will also be anonymous unless you indicate otherwise.)

 Yes

If yes, please provide the contact information for the correct person to follow up with:

 No. If no, we welcome any comments as to why not:

Thank you for participating in this survey!

Please return your responses using the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope by [Date].

Optional Section: if you would like to provide more specific feedback on each Section of the Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 that you have reviewed, please answer the following questions.

1. Please rank your overall satisfaction with the ease of understanding, information thoroughness, and overall usability of each of the Manual’s sections:

	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neither Dissatisfied nor Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	No Opinion
Introduction
Section I.1: Requirement for Renewable Fuels						
Section I.2: Renewable Fuel Standard Program						
Section I.3: Brief Overview of Ethanol Production Process						
Chapter 1: What Laws Apply When I’m Constructing or Modifying a Plant
Section 1.1: National Environmental Policy Act						
Section 1.2: Clean Air Act						
Section 1.3: Clean Water Act						
Section 1.4: Safe Drinking Water Act						
Section 1.5: Pollution Prevention Act						
Chapter 2: What Laws Apply to Operating an Ethanol Plant?
Section 2.1: Clean Air Act						
Section 2.2: Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act						
Section 2.3: Clean Water Act						
Section 2.4: Safe Drinking Water Act						
Section 2.5: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act – Hazardous Waste						

Do you have any specific suggestions for improving the usefulness of any of the Manual sections? (optional)

If you have not done so already, please remember to fill out the final section of the main part of the survey starting with “Part 5: Your Overall Satisfaction With the Manual” on page 7. Thank you!

Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average fifteen (15) minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering information, and completing and reviewing the collection of information, with a possible ten (10) additional minutes for the optional section at the end. Send comments on the Agency’s need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggestions for reducing the burden, including the use of automated collection techniques to the Director, OEI Collection Strategies Division, United States Environmental Protection Agency (Mail Code 2822T), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20460; and to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Include the EPA ICR number (1711.04) and the OMB control number (2090-0019) in any correspondence.

March 16, 2009 Draft page 9