EPA Approves Request from Maine
for the Removal of the Federal
Reformulated Gasoline Program
in the Southern Maine Area
' I 'he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing its
JL £
a;	JL approval of a petition by Maine to opt-out of the federal reformu-
lated gasoline (RFG) program and remove the requirement to sell RFG
in York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc, Kennebec, Knox and
Lincoln counties (the Southern Maine Area). This action is effective on
September 30, 2021.
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EPA is approving the federal RFG opt-out request from Maine with an effective date of September
30, 2021. EPA is approving the action because Maine has demonstrated that the opt-out will not
interfere with the ability of the affected counties to attain the NAAQS, and the fact that Region 1
sought comment through their rulemaking process and received no adverse comments.
Key Elements of the Federal Register Notice
•	This action approves Maine's petition to opt-out of the federal RFG program and removes
the requirement to sell federal RFG for York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc,
Kennebec, Knox and Lincoln counties (the Southern Maine Area). The requirement to sell
federal RFG in the Southern Maine Area will no longer apply as of September 30, 2021.
•	EPA Region 1 recently conducted a rulemaking that approved Maine's SIP revision. The
SIP revision rulemaking evaluated whether the removal of the federal RFG program in the
Southern Maine Area would not interfere with the maintenance plan for the 1997 ozone
NAAQS or any other applicable NAAQS. Maine submitted the SIP revision with the CAA
section 110(1) noninterference demonstration to EPA on August 20, 2020. EPA proposed
the approval of the SIP revision on March 25, 2021 (86 FR 15844). EPA finalized its
approval of the SIP revision on June 2, 2021 (86 FR 29520), with an effective date of July 2,
2021.
•	Removing the federal RFG requirement for gasoline sold in the Southern Maine Area
could be beneficial because this action could improve the fungibility of gasoline in the
Area. With this approval the gasoline sold in the Southern Maine Area can be identical
to the fuel sold now in the rest of Maine. For motorists, the change in the performance of
their vehicle will be virtually unnoticed.
Background
The 1990 CAA amendments established specific requirements for the RFG program to reduce
ozone levels in certain areas in the country experiencing ground-level ozone or smog problems by
reducing vehicle emissions of compounds that form ozone, specifically volatile organic compounds
(VOCs). The 1990 CAA amendments directed EPA to issue regulations that specify how gaso-
line can be "reformulated" so as to result in significant reductions in vehicle emissions of ozone-
forming and toxic air pollutants relative to the 1990 baseline fuel, and to require the use of such
reformulated gasoline in certain "covered areas." The CAA defined certain nonattainment areas
as "covered areas" which are required to use RFG and provided other areas with an ability to "opt-
in" to the RFG program. The CAA provides an opportunity for an area classified as a Marginal,
Moderate, Serious, or Severe ozone nonattainment area, or which is in the ozone transport region,
to "opt-in" to the RFG program upon application by the governor of the state (or his authorized
representative) and subsequent action by EPA.
RFG covered areas as well as RFG opt-in areas are subject to a prohibition on the sale or dispens-
ing by any person of conventional gasoline (non-RFG) to ultimate consumers in the applicable
area. The prohibition also includes the sale or dispensing by any refiner, blender, importer, or
marketer of conventional gasoline for resale in any covered areas, without segregating the conven-
tional gasoline from RFG and clearly marking conventional gasoline and marking the conventional
gasoline as not for sale to ultimate consumers in a covered area.
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Maine had voluntarily opted York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc, Kennebec, Knox and
Lincoln counties into the federal RFG program in 2015 and EPA approved the State's request on
February 6, 2015, with an effective date of June 1, 2015, for retailers and wholesale purchaser-con-
sumers (80 FR 6658).
Maine submitted a request to opt-out of the federal RFG program for the Southern Maine Area
and additionally requested a revision to its maintenance plan that included a demonstration that
the removal of the federal RFG program would not interfere with maintenance of the NAAQS.
Region 1 conducted a rulemaking for Maine's state implementation plan revision request and
issued an approval of the revised maintenance plan on June 2, 2021 (86 FR 29520), with an
effective date of July 2, 2021. By separate action, EPA is approving the opt-out of the federal RFG
program for the Southern Maine Area effective September 30, 2021.
For More Information
You can access the final action and related documents, as well as a current listing of the RFG
covered areas and a summary of RFG requirements on EPA's Office of Transportation and Air
Quality Web site at: www.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/reformulated-gasoline.
For further information on EPA's approval of the federal RFG opt-out for the Southern Maine
Area, please contact:
Mark Coryell
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
2000 Traverwood Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-214-4446
E-mail: coryell.mark@epa.gov
Or
Rudy Kapichak
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
2000 Traverwood Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-214-4574
E-mail: kapichak.rudolph@epa.gov
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