EPA Finalizes 2012 Renewable Fuel
Standards
Under the Clean Air Act Section 21 l(o), as amended by the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set the annual standards
under the Renewable Fuel Standard program (RES) based on gasoline
and diesel projections from the Energy Information Administration
(ElA). EPA is also required to set the cellulosic biofuel standard
each year based on the volume projected to be available during the
following year, using EIA projections and assessments of production
capability from industry. This regulatory action establishes these
annual standards for cellulosic, biomass-based diesel, advanced
biofuel, and total renewable fuels that apply to all gasoline and diesel
produced or imported in year 2012.
In today's action we are also finalizing a number of changes to the RFS regulations.
These changes are intended to:
• Clarify certain provisions because we have learned that there is some confu-
sion among some regulated parties
• Clarify the application of certain provisions to unique circumstances
• Provide greater specificity in the definition of certain terms
• Correct regulatory language that inadvertently misrepresented our intent
Today's rule also makes a minor amendment to the gasoline benzene regulations
regarding inclusion of transferred blendstocks in a refinery's early benzene credit
generation calculations.
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-11-044
December 2011
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Finally, EPA is required to determine the applicable volume of biomass-based diesel (BED) that
will be required in 2013 and beyond based on consideration of a variety of factors, and promul-
gate regulations establishing the volumes. The statute specifies that the minimum volume of
biomass'based diesel for years 2013 and beyond must be at least 1 billion gallons. In the NPRM
we proposed an applicable volume of 1.28 bill gallons for BED for 2013. We are continuing to
evaluate the many comments on the NPRM from stakeholders, and are not finalizing an ap-
plicable volume for 2013 BED at this time in today's rulemaking. We recognize that the statute
calls for EPA to promulgate the applicable volume of BED for 2013 no later than 14 months be-
fore that year. We intend to issue a final rule setting the applicable biomass-based diesel volume
for calendar year 2013 as expeditiously as possible.
General Background
EPA is required to determine and publish the applicable annual renewable fuel percentage
standards for each compliance year. Determining the applicable standards under RES requires
EPA to conduct an in-depth evaluation of the volume of qualifying cellulosic biofuel that can
be made available the following year. If the projected available volume of cellulosic biofuel is
less than the required volume specified in the statute, EPA must lower the required volume used
to set the annual cellulosic biofuel percentage standard to the projected available volume. EPA
must also determine whether the advanced biofuel and/or total renewable fuel volumes should
be reduced by the same or a lesser amount. The final rule provides EPA's determination of the
projected production of cellulosic biofuel for 2012, and the final percentage standards for
compliance year 2012,
Final Percentage Standards for 2012
To calculate the percentage standard for cellulosic biofuel for 2012, EPA used a volume of 10.45
million ethanol-equivalent gallons. EPA is also using the applicable volumes that are specified
in the statute to set the percentage standards for biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and
total renewable fuel for 2012. These volumes are shown in Table 1,
Table 1
Final Volumes for 2012
Cellulosic biofuel
Biomass-based diesel
Advanced biofuel
Renewable fuel
Actual Volume
8.65 mill gal
1.0 bill gal
2.0 bill gal
15.2 bill gal
Ethanol Equivalent Volume3
10.45 mill gal
1.5 bill gal
2.0 bill gal
15.2 bill gal
aBiodiesel and cellulosic diesel have equivalence values of 1.5 and 1.7 ethanol equivalent gallons respectively.
As a result, ethanol-equivalent volumes are larger than actual volumes for cellulosic biofuel and biomass-
based diesel.
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The volumes in Table 1 are the minimum that would need to be consumed in the U.S. Insofar
as excess volumes of cellulosic biofuel or biomass-based diesel were to be consumed, they would
count towards the advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel volume requirements.
Four separate standards are required under the RFS program, corresponding to the four separate
volume requirements shown in Table 1. The percentage standards represent the ratio of
renewable fuel volume to non-renewable gasoline and diesel volume. Thus, in 2012 about 9%
of all fuel used will be from renewable sources. The standards for 2012 are shown in Table 2,
Table 2
Final Percentage Standards for 2012
Cellulosic biofuel
Biomass-based diesel
Advanced biofuel
Renewable fuel
0.006%
0.91%
1.21%
9.23%
For More Information
For more information on this proposal, please visit the RFS website at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels
To submit a question on the RFS program, and to view Frequently Asked Questions, please visit:
www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/compliancehelp/index.htm
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