EPA Denies  Petitions for Reconsidera-
                    tion of the Final  Rule  Establishing  the
                    2013  Biomass-Based Diesel Volume
                    Introduction
                    On September 27, 2012, EPA established a 2013 volume requirement of 1.28 billion
                    gallons under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. In November 2012, the
                    American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and the American Petro'
                    leum Institute (API) each individually submitted a Petition for Reconsideration of
                    this final rule. After considering all the issues raised by petitioners, EPA has deter-
                    mined that the objections raised in these petitions do not warrant a reconsideration
                    of the biomass'based diesel volume requirement for 2013,
                    General Background
                    The petitions were submitted under the reconsideration provisions of section 307(d)
                    (7)(B) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Under this provision, a petitioner must show
                    why an issue could not have been raised during the comment period, either because
                    it was impracticable to raise the issue during that time or because the grounds for the
                    issue arose after the period for public comment. The petitioner must also show that
                    the issue is of central relevance to the outcome of the rule and would thus provide
                    substantial support for the argument that the regulation should be revised,

                    EPA is denying both petitions because they fail to meet one or both of these crite-
                    ria. In all cases, the objections raised in these petitions either were or could have
                    been raised during the comment period on the proposed rule, or are not of central
                    relevance to the outcome of the rule because they do not provide substantial support
                    for the argument that the 2013 biomass-based diesel volume requirement should be
                    revised as suggested by petitioners.
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
                 EPA-420-F-13-041
                     August 2013

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             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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