v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation
and Air Quality
EPA420-F-06-020
February 2006
Regulatory
Announcement
Removal of Reformulated Gasoline
Oxygen Content Requirement and
Revision of Commingling Prohibition
to Address Non-Oxygenated
Reformulated Gasoline
To provide U.S. oil refiners with greater flexibility in producing clean-
burning gasoline, EPA is removing the two percent oxygen content
requirement for reformulated gasoline (RFG) nationwide.
Overview
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending the
reformulated gasoline (RFG) regulations to remove the oxygen con-
tent requirement and associated compliance requirements. Because the
2005 Energy Policy Act provided for different compliance dates for the
removal of the RFG oxygen requirement in California and the rest of the
country, EPA is implementing the removal of the oxygen requirement
in two separate rules. One direct final rule removes the RFG oxygen re-
quirement and related compliance requirements for California gasoline.
The effective date for this rule is 60 days from the date of publication of
the rule. The other direct final rule removes the oxygen requirement for
RFG nationwide. The effective date for this rule is May 5, 2006, (270
days from enactment of the Energy Act), or 60 days from publication of
the rule in the Federal Register, whichever is later.
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These direct final rules also revise the current prohibition against com-
bining volatile organic compound (VOC)-controlled RFG blended with
ethanol with VOC-controlled RFG blended with other oxygenates. The
revision also prohibits combining VOC-controlled RFG blended with
ethanol with non-oxygenated VOC-controlled RFG, except in limited
circumstances authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Background
Section 21 l(k) of the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA)
required RFG to contain oxygen in an amount that equals or exceeds 2.0
weight percent. Accordingly, EPA's current regulations require RFG re-
finers, importers and oxygenate blenders to meet a 2.0 or greater weight
percent oxygen content standard. Recently, Congress passed legislation
which amended Section 21 l(k) of the CAA to remove the RFG oxygen
requirement. To be consistent with the current CAA Section 211(k), these
direct final rules modify the RFG regulations to remove the oxygen stan-
dard in Section 80.41. These rules also modify several other sections of
the RFG regulations which contain provisions designed to implement and
ensure compliance with the oxygen standard.
Under the current regulations at 40 CFR Part 80, there is a prohibi-
tion against combining VOC-controlled RFG blended with ethanol
with VOC-controlled RFG blended with any other oxygenate during
the period January 1 to September 15, because of the volatility increase
that results when such blending occurs. With the removal of the oxy-
gen requirement for RFG, in order to maintain the effectiveness of this
provision, it is necessary to amend the regulations to have the prohibition
apply to combining VOC-controlled RFG blended with ethanol with any
non-ethanol VOC-controlled RFG, including non-oxygenated RFG. EPA
is making this revision with these rulemakings.
The Energy Act contains a provision which specifically allows retail
outlets to sell non-ethanol-blended RFG which has been combined with
ethanol-blended RFG under certain conditions and limitations. These
rules implement this provision of the Energy Act.
RFG has been required to be used since 1995 in metropolitan areas with
the most severe air pollution and in other non-attainment areas that re-
quested the cleaner burning gasoline. Today, about 30 percent of the gas
used in the United States is RFG.
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Effect on Industry
These rules will remove the burden on industry of having to comply with
the oxygen requirement for RFG and associated compliance require-
ments. It will allow retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers to com-
bine ethanol-blended VOC-controlled RFG with non-ethanol-blended
VOC-controlled RFG under certain conditions and limitations.
Health and Environmental Effects
The emissions benefits of the RFG program are not expected to be re-
duced as a result of these direct final rules.
Public Participation Opportunities
EPA is issuing these rules without prior proposal because no adverse
comments are anticipated. However, in the "Proposed Rules" section of
the Federal Register publication, EPA is issuing two separate documents
that will serve as proposals to adopt the provisions in the direct final
rules if EPA receives adverse comments.
You can access these rules and related documents on EPA's Office of
Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) EPA web site at:
www. epa. gov/otaq/rfg_regs. htm
For More Information
For more information on these rules, 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.marilvn@,epa.gov
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