Acid Rain Program under Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments (Renewal)

Forms and Documents

Document Name	Status
Form 5900-172 Acid Rain Program under Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments Form and Instruction	Modified
1633ss19.docx Supporting Statement A	2025-05-27

IC Document Collections

IC ID	Document Title	Status
44030	Acid Rain Program under Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments Form and Instruction	Modified

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 2060-0258	ICR Reference No: 202504-2060-006
Status: Received in OIRA	Previous ICR Reference No: 202110-2060-010
Agency/Subagency: EPA/OAR	Agency Tracking No: 1633.19
Title: Acid Rain Program under Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments (Renewal)
Type of Information Collection: Extension without change of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular	Date Submitted to OIRA: 05/30/2025

	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	36 Months From Approved	05/31/2025
Responses	14,708	14,607
Time Burden (Hours)	1,760,519	1,826,133
Cost Burden (Dollars)	123,208,182	129,450,755

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Abstract: Congress established the program in title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments to address acid deposition by reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX). This renewal generally outlines programmatic aspects as established in the previous ICR with adjustments to reflect current labor costs and estimates of the numbers of respondents and transactions. To reduce SO2 emissions, the Acid Rain Program uses a cap-and-trade system applicable to most large fossil fuel-fired electricity generating units in the contiguous United States. Affected sources are required to hold one tradable allowance for each ton of SO2 emitted, and the total number of allowances issued is capped. In addition to affected sources, any person or entity may establish an account to buy and sell allowances. EPA is required to conduct an allowance auction each year to promote market liquidity and price transparency. To reduce NOX emissions, the Acid Rain Program applies NOX emission rate limits to a subset of affected units. Each such unit may either meet its standard emission rate limit, arrange to comply on a group basis under an averaging plan, or seek approval for an alternative emission limitation (AEL) based on demonstrated inability to meet its otherwise applicable standard limit. Affected units under the Acid Rain Program are required to monitor opacity and SO2, NOX, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) or alternative monitoring methods approved by the EPA Administrator. All affected units are also required to obtain and periodically renew permits that identify their plans for complying with the programs applicable SO2 and NOX requirements. As in previous Acid Rain Program ICRs, most of the topical discussions in this ICR renewal are organized around the main program elements established under different CAA sections: Allowance transfers (CAA section 403); Permits (CAA section 408); Emissions monitoring (CAA section 412); Auctions (CAA section 416); NOx permitting (CAA section 407).

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Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 42 USC 7651a-7651o Name of Law: Clean Air Act
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	89 FR 72393	09/05/2024
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	90 FR 22286	05/27/2025
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Acid Rain Program under Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments	5900-172, 7610-5, 7610-6, 7610-7, 7610-7, 7610-7A, 7610-8, 7610-11, 7610-16, 7610-19, 7610-20, 7610-26, 7610-27, 7610-28, 7620-4, 7620-8, 7620-9, 7610-1, 7620-10	Agent Notice of Delegation ,   Certificate of Representation ,   General Account Form ,   Allowance Transfer Form ,   EPA Allowance Auctions Additional Information for C ,   EPA Allowance Auctions for Wire Transfers ,   Letter of Credit (2024) EPA Allowance Auctions ,   SO2 Allowance Offer Form ,   Notification for Distribution of Proceeds from EPA ,   Acid Rain Permit Application ,   New Unit Exemption ,   Retired Unit Exemption ,   Opt-in Permit Application ,   Acid Rain Program - Instructions for Thermal Energy ,   Acid Rain NOx Compliance Plan ,   Allowance Deduction Form ,   Opt-in Reduction from Improved Energy Efficiency Co ,   Opt-in Utilization Report ,   Thermal Energy Compliance Report

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ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Request	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	14,708	14,607	0	0	101	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	1,760,519	1,826,133	0	0	-65,614	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	123,208,182	129,450,755	0	0	-6,242,573	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: Overall, the estimated annual respondent burden hours decreased by approximately 3.6% from the previous ICR and the estimate respondent capital/O&M costs decreased by approximately 4.8%. These decreases are largely attributed to the reduction in the number of Acid Rain affected units due to unit retirements. It is also due to a shift towards less burdensome monitoring methodologies. As units shift to burning natural gas this provides opportunities to use alternative monitoring methods which require less costly equipment and require less labor hours. Additionally, with the abundance of available Acid Rain allowances there are less allowance transactions occurring and less participation in the Acid Rain auction.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $3,983,268

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

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Common Form ICR:  No

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On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(i) Why the information is being collected;

(ii) Use of information;

(iii) Burden estimate;

(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);

(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and

(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.

Certification Date: 05/30/2025

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