EPA Finalizes New Amendments to
RFS Program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing
amendments to the Renewable Fuel Standard program regulations
("the RFS2 regulations"). On June 30, 2010, EPA published a notice
to withdraw several of the amendments to the RFS2 regulations that
were issued via direct final rule and parallel proposal on May 10,
2010. In this final rule, EPA addresses comments received on the
withdrawn provisions and takes final action regarding the withdrawn
provisions based on consideration of the comments received.
Background
In the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007), Congress
amended the Clean Air Act (CAA) to expand requirements under the Renewable
Fuel Standard program. The final regulations were published in the Federal Register
on March 26, 2010 (75 FR 14670). Following publication, EPA discovered technical
errors and areas within the final RFS2 regulations that could benefit from further
clarification or modification. EPA published a direct final rule and parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking on May 10, 2010, (75 FR 26026, 75 FR 26049) to make the
appropriate corrections, clarifications, and modifications to the final RFS2 regulations,
EPA received adverse comments on some of the amendments and subsequently
published a notice to withdraw the amendments in question on June 30, 2010 (75 FR
37733). All other amendments went into effect on July 1, 2010, simultaneous with
the final RFS2 regulations. This final rule addresses the comments received on the
withdrawn provisions and finalizes changes to the final RFS2 regulations based on
consideration of the comments received.
Key Act ion
The final rule amends the RFS2 regulations of 40 CFR Part 80 Subpart M to correct
regulatory language that was inconsistent or that inadvertently misrepresented EPA's
intent as reflected in the preamble to the final RFS2 regulations. Some amendments
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-10-061
December 2010
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clarify how regulated parties can demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements, while
others address grammatical or typographical errors. Most importantly, the final rule:
• revises the definition of "permitted capacity" to clarify that a grandfathered renewable
fuel production facility must use permits issued or revised on or before December 19,
2007, for facilities that commenced construction on or before December 19, 2007, or
issued or revised on or before December 31, 2009, for ethanol facilities that commenced
construction after December 19, 2007, and on or before December 31, 2009, and are fired
with natural gas, biomass, or a combination thereof;
• specifies the extent to which a corn starch-based ethanol producer must use any of
five advanced technologies in order for non-grandfathered ethanol to qualify for RIN
generation;
• clarifies that RINs generated on or after July 1, 2010, may only be generated and trans-
ferred using the EPA Moderated Transaction System (EMTS) and will not be identified
by a 38-digit code; and,
• permits sellers five business days and buyers up to ten business days from a RIN transaction
date to submit transaction information to EMTS,
For More Information
For more information on this proposal, please visit the RES website at:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels
To submit a question on the RES program, and to view Frequently Asked Questions, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/compliancehelp/index.htm
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