Cellulosic Waiver Credit
Price Calculation for 2018
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Environmental Protection
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Cellulosic Waiver Credit
Price Calculation for 2018
Assessment and Standards Division
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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EPA-420-B-17-036
December 2017

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Cellulosic Waiver Credit Price Calculation for 2018
For any calendar year for which the projected volume of cellulosic biofuel production is
less than the applicable volume of cellulosic biofuel set forth in Clean Air Act (CAA) section
21 l(o)(2)(B)(III), EPA must reduce the required volume of cellulosic biofuel for that year to the
projected volume, and must provide obligated parties the opportunity to purchase cellulosic
waiver credits (CWC). The price of these credits is determined using a formula specified in the
CAA.1 The cellulosic waiver credit price is the greater of $0.25 or $3.00 minus the wholesale
price of gasoline, where both the $0.25 and $3.00 are adjusted for inflation. In a rule published in
April 2015,2 EPA stated our intention to announce future CWC prices by posting a notice on our
"Renewable Fuels: Regulations & Standards" website. This document serves the required notice
that the Cellulosic Waiver Credit price for 2018 is $1.96.
To determine the CWC price, EPA first determines the average wholesale (refinery gate)
price of gasoline using the most recent twelve monthly values for U.S. Total Gasoline Bulk Sales
(Price) by Refiners as provided by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that are
available as of September 30 of the year preceding the compliance period.3 For 2018, the most
recent 12 months for which data were available as of September 30, 2017 covers July 2016
through June 2017. The data can be found at:
(https://www.eia. gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMA. EPMO PBR NtJS PPG
&f=M) and are summarized below in Table 1.
Table 1 - Wholesale Gasoline Prices for 2018 CWC Calculation
Month
Average Price in $
July 2016
1.428
August 2016
1.404
September 2016
1.454
October 2016
1.501
November 2016
1.406
Pecember 2016
1.492
January 2017
1.601
February 2017
1.584
March 2017
1.589
April 2017
1.636
May 2017
1.578
June 2017
1.533
The average of the monthly average wholesale gasoline prices in dollars is $1,517.
The CAA requires that EPA adjust for inflation the comparison values of twenty-five
cents ($0.25) and three dollars ($3.00) in the CWC price formula. EPA must compare the
1	CAA 21 l(o)(7)(D)(ii)
2	80 FR 18136
3	40 CFR 80.1456(d)(2)

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inflated twenty-five cent value with the amount the inflated three dollar value exceeds the
average wholesale price of gasoline. EPA is required to use the greater of the two values as the
price for the cellulosic biofuel waiver credits.
EPA evaluated inflation by using the Unadjusted Index values from the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. City Average, for the All Items expenditure
category as provided by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, for the months of January 2009 (the
first comparable value after 2008) and June 2017, as specified in 40 CFR 80.1456(d)(3). These
unadjusted indexes are used to calculate an Inflation Factor for each year, as shown in Table 2
below. Finally, we compare $0.25 (inflation adjusted) to $3.00 (inflation adjusted) minus the
average wholesale price of gasoline during the most recent twelve months for which available as
of September 30 of the year preceding the compliance period (July 2016 - June 2017 for the
2018 CWC price). The greater of these values is the price for the cellulosic waiver credits.
Table 2 - Inflation Adjustments
Month
Unadjusted
Index4
January 2009
211.143
June 2017
244.955
Table 3 - Inflation Factors
Months
Equation
Inflation Factor
Jan. 2009 - June 2017
l+(244.955-211.143)/211.143
1.160
Table 4 - Cellulosic Waiver Credit Price Calculations
Year
$0.25 (Inflation
Adjusted)
$3 (Inflation Adjusted) Minus
Wholesale Price of Gasoline
CWC Price (Larger of
the two values, rounded
to the nearest cent)
2017
$0.25*1.160=$0.29
($3.00*1.160)-$ 1.517=$ 1.963
$1.96
As shown in Table 4, using the data sources for the inflation adjustment that are specified in this
announcement results in a CWC price of $1.96 for 2018.
4 Information available at: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/detailed-reports/home.htm

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