Office of Transportation EPA420-F-06-036
Urited States and Air Quality May 2006
Environmental Protection
Agency
Regulatory
Announcement
Proposed Boutique Fuels List
Under Section 1541(b) of the Energy
Policy Act and Request for Public
Comment
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) requires the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to publish a Federal Register notice listing
fuels that were approved in all State Implementation Plans (SIPs)
as of September 1, 2004. The list includes the states and Petroleum
Administration for Defense Districts (PADDs) where the fuels are used.
Publication of the list is intended to reduce the number of different fuels
required around the country and thus increase the fungibility of fuels.
Background
The EPAct requires EPA, in consultation with the Department of En-
ergy, to determine the total number of fuels approved into all SIPs as of
September 1, 2004. The EPAct also requires EPA to publish a list of such
fuels (often referred to as "boutique fuels"), including the states and
PADDs in which they are used, for public review and comment. EPA is
publishing the list, as required by Congress, along with an explanation
of the Agency's rationale in developing it.
Under the Clean Air Act, state fuels programs respecting a fuel charac-
teristic component that we have regulated under section 211(c)(l) are
preempted. EPA may waive preemption through approval of the fuel
program into a SIP. Approval into a SIP requires that the fuel program
is necessary to achieve the National Ambient Air Quality Standard
-------
(NAAQS). "Necessary" means that no other reasonable measures exist
that would bring about timely attainment.
The EPAct places additional restrictions on our authority to waive pre-
emption by approving a state fuel into a SIP. These restrictions are: 1) we
may not approve a state fuel program into a SIP if it would cause an in-
crease in the "total number of fuels" approved into SIPs as of September
1, 2004; 2) if approval would not increase the "total number of fuels," we
must find that the new fuel will not cause supply or distribution problems
or have significant adverse impacts on fuel "producibility" in the affected
or contiguous areas; and 3) we may not approve a state fuel unless that
fuel is already approved in at least one SIP in the applicable PADD.
The EPAct requires EPA to determine the "total number of fuels" in order
to generate a list for public comment. The term "total number of fuels" is
not defined in the EPAct. EPA believes that it may be interpreted in two
basic ways: by a fuel type interpretation or by a state specific interpreta-
tion. Under a fuel type interpretation, the total number of fuels is deter-
mined by the number of different types of fuels. Under a State specific
interpretation, each individual state fuel is counted.
As explained in detail in the Federal Register notice, EPA prefers the
fuel type interpretation. We believe this approach appropriately balances
the concerns at the heart of the EPAct provision while preserving some
ability for states to adopt state fuel programs that can be useful in attain-
ing the NAAQS. To aid the public in commenting, we have generated a
fuels list based upon each interpretation - a list comprised of seven differ-
ent types of fuels, as well as a list comprised of the 12 individual state
fuels.
Health and Environmental Impacts
The clean air and human health benefits of fuels programs will continue
to be realized. Many fuels programs are designed to address ground level
ozone or "smog" and to reduce toxic emissions from the fuel burned in
cars and trucks. Smog threatens millions of Americans each year with
respiratory problems, and is particularly dangerous to children, who are
increasingly at risk to asthma attacks.
Fungibility of Fuels
The boutique fuel provision in the EPAct makes an effort to reduce the
number of different fuels required around the country and thus increase
-------
the fungibility of fuels. Most fuels travel through common carrier pipe-
lines based upon general specifications, most of which are dictated
seasonally and by regulation. Terminals have limited storage tanks. The
proliferation of different fuels creates a serious challenge to production,
distribution, and storage, especially during times of disruption such as
refinery shutdowns or weather related damage. The list and the EPAct
limitations placed upon EPA's ability to approve future fuels in SIPs are
intended by Congress to limit further expansion of boutique fuels.
For More Information
You can access the Federal Register Notice on EPA's Office of Transpor-
tation and Air Quality Web site at:
www. epa. gov/otaq/boutique.htm
For further information, please contact Anne Pastorkovich at:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality (6406J)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202)343-9623
E-mail: pastorkovich.anne-marie@epa.gov
------- |