EIA-816 and EIA-819 Cognitive Research

Form EIA-819 Monthly Oxygenate Report

Cognitive Testing Protocol

November 2017

(This protocol is a guide – the questions presented here won’t necessarily be asked exactly as worded in the protocol or in this order. It is important to note that not all questions will be asked in every interview.)

Research Goals:

• To assess respondents’ ability to report ethanol blended for transportation purposes

• To estimate any changes in reporting burden associated with collecting this information and obtain feedback on appropriateness of current reporting burden

Purpose of Interview:

Let me start by telling you a little about what we will be doing today:

• Introduce self and observers

• These questions are about potential changes to Form EIA-819

Part A – Introduction

• Before we start, could you please share with us a little more about yourself and your company?

• Do you fill out Form EIA-819?

• How long have you been completing this form?

• Do you complete any other EIA surveys for your company?

• Are you familiar with the instructions for Form EIA-819? How often do you refer to the instructions? How long do you spend reading the instructions?

Part B- Overview

EIA is considering modifying Form EIA-819 to collect information on different feedstocks used to produce ethanol and also more information on sales of denatured ethanol produced for transportation fuel purposes.

• Are you familiar with the term “cellulosic ethanol”? What does that term mean to you?

• What do you call ethanol blended for transportation purposes?

• In Part 4, Form EIA-819 collects data on denatured fuel ethanol” What does the term “denatured ethanol” mean to you?

  • What additives do you add to your ethanol to make it denatured?

• What does it mean to you to produce ethanol for transportation purposes? Do you produce denatured ethanol for transportation use?

• Are you familiar with the term “cellulosic biofuel”? What does that term mean to you?

• (If yes) Does you facility produce any cellulosic biofuels?

• Are you familiar with the term “renewable biofuels”? What does that term mean to you?

• What feedstocks do you use to produce ethanol at your plant?

  • Is corn your main feedstock?

  • Do you use any sugar cane or sugar beets?

  • What terms do you use to refer to these feedstocks (sugar cane and sugar beets)?

  • What terms do you use to refer the fuel that is produced from these feedstocks?

  • Are there any other feedstocks that you use?

• Does your facility produce any renewable biofuels?

• (If yes) Which renewable biofuel products does your facility produce?

  • Renewable diesel fuel?

  • Renewable jet fuel?

  • Renewable heating oil?

  • Renewable gasoline?

  • Renewable other?

• What kinds of information are kept in your records regarding your company’s production of renewable biofuels?

• If EIA asked you to report monthly the renewable biofuel products your facility produces. Can you describe for me the steps you would take to gather and report this information?

• If EIA asked you to report the quantities of renewable biofuels produced at your facility that are blended with petroleum or other denaturants, is the process still the same? Can you describe for me this process?

• How much time do you estimate it would take for you to gather and report monthly both renewable biofuel production and blending information to EIA?

• Can you please review the diagram? We will refer to it during this interview.

Part C- Ethanol Production

• What kinds of information are kept in your records about your company’s production of Denatured ethanol?

  • Do you keep records on what the denatured ethanol is used for?

    • What kinds of sales/shipments information are kept in your records?

      • Bills of lading?

      • Invoices?

      • Contracts?

    • Does your records indicate the type of buyer that purchases your ethanol?

    • Does your company’s sales/shipments records track how the ethanol is used? (Ex. transportation fuel, industrial use, consumer use, heating, other) Is all of the denatured ethanol used for transportation purposes?

  • Do you keep records on what and how much denaturants/additives are added used to create your denatured ethanol?

    • (If yes) How does your company track this information?

    • Internal reports?

    • Metering devices?

    • Bills of lading

    • Invoices?

    • Other?

  • Are your records kept daily? Monthly?

• Let’s talk about your company’s records concerning denatured and undenatured stocks reported in Part 7?

  • How often do you update your records on ethanol stocks? Daily, weekly.

    • (If yes) How does your company track this information?

      • Internal reports?

      • Metering devices?

      • Other?

  • Are all of your denatured stocks used for transportation purposes?

  • Do you keep inventory of your undenatured ethanol stocks?

    • Are these records kept using the same method as your denatured ethanol?

  • Do you know if any of your undenatured stocks will be blended later at a terminal with additives for transportation purposes?

  • Does all ethanol need to be denatured to a certain percentage prior to shipping?

  • What units of measurements do you use to track your production of ethanol?

• EIA considers blending gasoline and ethanol to be for transportation use is this how your company views it?

  • Do you currently report this information to EIA on Form EIA-819?

    • (If yes) Where do your currently report this information?

    • Is the reported figure 100% ethanol or does it also include the denatured gasoline? [ie:E85 vs E10]

    • Do you currently report the amount of denatured gasoline blended with ethanol on Form EIA-819? Where?

• If EIA asked if your ethanol was for transportation use would you understand what we mean?

• We would like to talk to you about the capacity of ethanol production at your plant

  • Do you know the operational Production Capacity of your plant? Do you know the difference between the nameplate capacities reported Part 3 and operational capacity? What assumptions or constraints is your plant subject to when assessing your operational capacity?

  • Storage Capacity

    • If EIA asked you to report storage capacity for undenatured ethanol to be used for future fuel blending, how easy or difficult would that be?

      • Would this be an approximation based off future demands?

Part D – Burden Estimate

Now we will about how much time and effort it takes for you to complete this form.

• What is your process for filling out Form EIA-819?

  • [Follow up] Ask about how much time each step takes:

• Did you fill out Form EIA-819 last month?

  • How long did it take you the first time you filled it out?

  • Did you get any help filing out the form?

• How much time does it take you to gather the information for this survey form?

  • Can you describe the process you would go through to obtain this information?

    • Are you able to directly access the data needed from company records, or do you work with others to gather this data?

    • Are there others in your organization you would go to for this information or to help with this process?

  • Can you report this information to EIA 20 days after the end of the reporting month? For example, data reported about June 2018 activity must be submitted no later than July 20th, 2018.

    • (If no) Why would you not to be able to report this information in the specified timeframe?

    • (If no) What would be a reasonable time frame for you to gather this information and report your input information to EIA?

• Once you have gathered the information needed, how long does it take you to fill out the survey and submit you data to EIA?

• Adding the time it takes you to gather the information and the time it takes for you to report, what is the total amount of time it take you to file your report for this survey? [NOTE: Burden for this form is 1.6 hours, if respondent indicates that it takes < .5 hours or > 1.6 hours ask how they are able to report so quickly or why it takes so long.]

• In the past, is this the usual time that it takes your company to report this information?

• In the beginning of this interview you said that it takes approximately x hours to file Form EIA-819, if you needed to report the additional information requested by EIA, how much more time would it take you to file your report? (Include both the time it would take to gather the information, record it on the form and report it to EIA)

Part E– Wrapping Up

• Do you have any problems when completing Form EIA-819?

• Do you have any suggestions on how to improve this survey?

Thank you for your time!

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