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Questions and Answers about 2008 Fuel Waivers
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Question: EPA issued waivers that allowed the early use of winter conventional gasoline (CG) before the end of the summer “high ozone” period, with higher Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) than allowed for summer conventional gasoline. How do refiners and importers account for this conventional gasoline in their compliance averages?
Answer: Refiners and importers must include all conventional gasoline produced under the waiver in their compliance averages. Refiners and importers must use the winter complex model to calculate emissions from conventional gasoline that exceeds the summertime RVP standard, and must use the summer model to calculate the emission of gasoline that was produced during the time period covered by the waiver and met the summertime RVP standards.
Question: The RFG fuel waivers allow refiners and importers to sell conventional gasoline in certain Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) areas. These waivers also allow the refiners and importers to exclude this conventional gasoline from their annual average compliance calculations for RFG under 40 C.F.R. § 80.67. Do the anti-dumping requirements for conventional gasoline at 40 C.F.R. § 80.101 still apply to this conventional gasoline?
Answer: Yes, refiners and importers must include all conventional gasoline sold in RFG covered areas pursuant to a waiver in their anti-dumping annual averages pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 80.101.
Question: When EPA waived the RVP requirements in some areas, why did EPA also waive the requirement that gasoline be blended with 10% ethanol to receive the additional 1.0 pound per square inch (psi)?
Answer: When ethanol is blended with gasoline (an “alcohol blend”), it tends to increase the RVP of the alcohol-blended gasoline. Therefore, the EPA regulations include a special provision for alcohol blends, in 40 C.F.R. § 80.27(d), to allow up to an additional 1.psi above the applicable RVP standard. The special provision for alcohol blends only applies if the total amount of ethanol is between 9% and 10% of the gasoline. Under an RVP waiver, gasoline without ethanol may be mixed with gasoline blended with ethanol. In such cases, the amount of ethanol in the resulting mixture would be less than the required 9% minimum, and would not qualify for the additional 1.0 psi allowance for alcohol blends provided by 40 C.F.R. § 80.27(d). Therefore, EPA also waived the requirement that gasoline must have between 9% and 10% ethanol to qualify for the additional 1 psi allowed by 40 C.F.R. § 80.27(d) in order to allow gasoline without ethanol to be mixed with gasoline blended with ethanol. The additional 1 psi above the applicable RVP standard does not apply to federal RFG areas and varies in states implementing a SIP fuel program.
Question: Can gasoline that was produced under a waiver and that is stored in pipeline “breakout tanks” or any other tankage upstream of terminal storage tanks be introduced into a terminal storage tank after the waiver ends?
Answer: No. After the dates specified in the waiver letters, all gasoline introduced into terminal storage tanks from which gasoline is dispensed into trucks for delivery to retail outlets must meet the applicable standards. “Breakout tanks” or any tanks upstream of terminals are considered part of the pipeline and are not covered by EPA’s waivers.
Question: As the expiration of a waiver allowing the use of CG in an RFG area approaches, what is the proper process for converting tanks in which a regulated party stored CG back to RFG tanks?
Answer: Before a regulated party designates a batch of gasoline as RFG from a tank that held CG pursuant to an RFG waiver, the regulated party must collect a representative sample from the tank and analyze the sample for benzene content using the regulatory test methods, or other test methods if the regulated party can demonstrate adequate correlation to the regulatory test methods. This analysis must show that the gasoline meets the downstream standards for benzene (not more than 1.30 volume percent). The regulated party must retain all documents relating to this compliance demonstration. Moreover, the normal requirements for tank turnover found in 40 C.F.R. § 80.78(a)(10), such as drawing the tank down prior to loading the new product type, do not apply.
Question: What does the waiver of Georgia’s “sulfur averaging” requirements mean for regulated parties in the state?
Answer: Under Georgia’s federally-approved State Implementation Plan (SIP), producers and importers of gasoline to Georgia must test the sulfur content of all gasoline designated for the 45-county metropolitan Atlanta area, and report the results to the state. The sulfur content of the gasoline in this area must meet an annual overall average of no more than 30 parts per million (ppm). In addition, the per-gallon sulfur content is capped at a maximum of 80 ppm from June 1st to September 15th, and is capped at 150 ppm per gallon at all other times. Under the federal waiver, the volume of gasoline that producers and importers designate for the 45-county area while the waiver is in effect will not be included in calculations of average sulfur content under the Georgia SIP. The volume of gasoline that producers or importers designate for the 45-county area at all other times must be included for purposes of averaging. EPA’s waiver also waived the SIP cap on the per gallon sulfur content. However, the federal sulfur requirements were not waived, and still applied in the Atlanta area. See 40 C.F.R. Part 80, Subpart H.
Question: What happens after October 12, when the Georgia waiver expires?
Answer: Gasoline that was brought into the 45-county metropolitan Atlanta area during the waiver period is allowed to be distributed and sold until those supplies are exhausted. Gasoline brought into this area after the waiver expires must be included in calculations of average sulfur content and must meet the cap on sulfur content per gallon required under the Georgia SIP. Any person transporting, distributing or selling gasoline in the 45-county metropolitan area after the waiver expires must meet all requirements of the Georgia SIP (e.g., testing, reporting, recordkeeping).