O CDA
United States Office of Transportation EPA420-F-05-030
ProteCti°" and Air Quality December 2005
Regulatory
Announcement
EPA Issues a Direct Final Rule to
Modify Certain Provisions of the
Reformulated and Conventional
Gasoline Regulations Including
Provisions for Butane Blenders and
Attest Engagements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a direct final
rule on several modifications to the reformulated gasoline (RFG) and
conventional gasoline regulations. These modifications correct technical
errors, clarify certain provisions, and codify certain guidance previously
issued by the Agency. This rule also makes two minor technical
corrections to the Tier 2 gasoline sulfur rule.
Background
Through the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, Congress required
EPA to publish rules requiring that gasoline sold in certain areas be refor-
mulated to reduce vehicle emissions of toxic and ozone-forming com-
pounds. This is known as reformulated gasoline, or RFG. Congress also
directed EPA to establish rules for non-RFG, or conventional, gasoline.
EPA published rules for the certification and enforcement of RFG and
provisions for conventional gasoline on February 16, 1994.
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On July 11, 1997, EPA proposed a number of modifications to the regula-
tions relating to emissions standards, emissions models, compliance-re-
lated requirements and enforcement provisions. In final rules published
on December 31, 1997, and December 28, 2001, EPA took final action on
several of the proposed modifications. This direct final rule takes action
on many of the remaining proposed modifications.
Summary of Modifications
This Direct Final Rule makes the following modifications:
• Correction of typographical errors and minor non-substantive revi-
sions, including technical corrections to provisions relating to the
use of the Complex Model (a model used to predict the emissions
performance of gasoline).
• Change in the effective dates for changes in the RFG standards due
to a survey failure to allow regulated parties more time to turnover
their gasoline supply to comply with the new standard.
• Correction of an oversight in the regulations to require oxygenate
blenders to assign batch numbers to finished batches of RFG. This
requirement comports with the current requirement for oxygenate
blenders to submit batch reports.
• Non-substantive modification of certain provisions relating to the
use of reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending
(RBOB) to make these provisions clearer.
• Clarification that oxygen and benzene credit transfers may be either
intra-company or inter-company (intra are exchanges among the
same company, inter are exchanges between different companies).
• Clarification of the compliance survey requirements relating to how
the average of a series of one-week surveys should be computed.
• Modification of the compliance survey requirements to clarify that
the precision requirements attach to an individual survey where the
parameters being evaluated are ozone-related, and attach to the sur-
vey series for other parameters.
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Minor modifications to certain product transfer documentation pro-
visions for purposes of clarification, and the elimination of require-
ments deemed unnecessary based on experience with the program.
Addition of provisions which provide for an exemption of the RFG
requirements for gasoline used for aviation and racing purposes,
including procedures and requirements for obtaining an exemption.
These exemptions are currently allowed pursuant to guidance issued
by EPA. See "Reformulated Anti-Dumping Questions
and Answers, 17,
Deletion of requirements relating to the use of renewable fuels.
These requirements were deemed invalid by the Court of Appeals
for the DC Circuit. (American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, 52 F.3rd
1113 [D.C. Cir. 1995])
Addition of provisions which provide an alternative, more flexible
approach to fulfilling the sampling and testing requirements for par-
ties who blend butane into reformulated and conventional gasoline,
based on test results from the butane supplier. This approach was
proposed in the 1997 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for
conventional gasoline and it is currently allowed for conventional
gasoline pursuant to guidance issued by EPA. "See
Anti-dumping Questions Answers, October 3,
1994" (EPA420-F-94-009). Comment on extending this approach to
butane blending into RFG was requested in the 1997 NPRM.
Addition of provisions which provide flexibility for gasoline import-
ers to treat imported gasoline as a blendstock (called "GTAB") in
order to conduct remedial blending of "off-spec" imported gasoline.
This flexibility was proposed in the 1997 NPRM and is currently
allowed pursuant to guidance issued by EPA. "See
Anti-Dumping Questions Answers, November 12,
1996."
Addition of provisions which provide flexibility for parties who
import gasoline by truck by allowing these parties to comply with
an alternative method for fulfilling the sampling and testing require-
ments for importers under the RFG regulations. This flexibility is
currently allowed pursuant to guidance issued by EPA. "See Re-
Anti-Dumping Questions Answers,
August 29, 1994" (EPA420-F-94-006); Letter from Steven A. Her-
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man, EPA, to Gregory M. Scott, Society of Independent Gasoline
Marketers of America, January 2, 1998; Letter from Charles N.
Freed, EPA, to Kevin J. Kyle, Pal Energy Corporation, April 23,
1998.
Change in the date for submission of attest engagement reports for
conventional gasoline from May 30 to May 31 to conform to the
date that attest engagement reports are due for RFG.
Codification of more efficient procedures for conducting attest
engagements and phase-out of existing procedures. EPA approved
the use of these procedures by letter from EPA to the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants (March 15, 1996).
Addition of procedures for conducting attest engagements relat-
ing to the new requirements for GTAB, truck imports, and butane
blending (discussed above), and for blending previously certified
gasoline (requirements codified by prior rulemaking).
Effect on industry
The changes made to the RFG and conventional gasoline regulations
in this direct final rule will make regulatory requirements clearer and
will provide industry with greater flexibility in complying with these
requirements.
Health and Environmental Benefits
The emissions benefits achieved from the RFG and conventional gaso-
line programs will not be reduced as a result of this direct final rule.
Public Participation Opportunities
Most of the modifications in this rule were previously proposed on July
11, 1997. We received comments from interested parties at that time,
which we have addressed in the preamble to this rule. Although we be-
lieve we have adequately addressed these comments, given the length
of time since the proposal was published, we believe it is appropriate
to publish this action as a direct final rule to allow interested parties
further opportunity to comment. In the "Proposed Rules" section of the
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Federal Register publication, we will be publishing a separate docu-
ment that will serve as the proposal to adopt the provisions in the direct
final rule if adverse comments are filed.
You may access the rule and related documents on EPA's Office of
Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) Web site at:
www. epa. gov/otaq/rfg_regs. htm
All of the "questions and answers" guidance documents are available at:
www. epa. gov/otaq/rfg_qa. htm
For More Information
For more information on this rule, please contact Marilyn Bennett at:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality (6406J)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 343-9624
E-mail: bennett.marilyn@epa.gov
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