Revised Renewable Fuel Standard for 2008, Issued Pursuant to Section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act as Amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, 8665-8667 [08-679]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2008 / Notices
for online viewing at
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viewing at the OPP Regulatory Public
Docket in Rm. S–4400, One Potomac
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Use EPA’s electronic docket and
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www.regulations.gov, to submit or view
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listing of the contents of the docket, and
to access those documents in the docket
that are available electronically. Once in
the system, select ‘‘docket search,’’ then
key in the docket ID number identified
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Title: Application and Summary
Report for an Emergency Exemption for
Pesticides.
ICR numbers: EPA ICR No. 0596.09,
OMB Control No. 2070–0032.
ICR Status: This ICR is scheduled to
expire on February 29, 2008. Under
OMB regulations, the Agency may
continue to conduct or sponsor the
collection of information while this
submission is pending at OMB. An
Agency may not conduct or sponsor,
and a person is not required to respond
to, a collection of information, unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. The OMB control numbers for
EPA’s regulations in title 40 of the CFR,
after appearing in the Federal Register
when approved, are listed in 40 CFR
part 9, are displayed either by
publication in the Federal Register or
by other appropriate means, such as on
the related collection instrument or
form, if applicable. The display of OMB
control numbers in certain EPA
regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR
part 9.
Abstract: Section 18 of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA) authorizes the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
to grant emergency exemptions to states
and Federal agencies to allow an
unregistered use of a pesticide for a
limited time if EPA determines that
emergency conditions exist. A Section
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16:49 Feb 13, 2008
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18 action arises when growers and
others encounter a pest problem on a
site for which there is either no
registered pesticide available, or for
which there is a registered pesticide that
would be effective but is not yet
approved for use on that particular site.
Section 18 also allows states to submit
requests to EPA to grant unregistered
pesticide use exemptions for public
health and quarantine reasons.
Responses to this collection of
information are mandatory.
Burden Statement: The annual public
reporting and recordkeeping burden for
this collection of information is
estimated to average 83 hours per
application and 16 hours per summary
report. Burden means the total time,
effort, or financial resources expended
by persons to generate, maintain, retain,
or disclose or provide information to or
for a Federal agency. This includes the
time needed to review instructions;
develop, acquire, install, and utilize
technology and systems for the purposes
of collecting, validating, and verifying
information, processing and
maintaining information, and disclosing
and providing information; adjust the
existing ways to comply with any
previously applicable instructions and
requirements which have subsequently
changed; train personnel to be able to
respond to a collection of information;
search data sources; complete and
review the collection of information;
and transmit or otherwise disclose the
information.
Respondents/Affected Entities: State
Agency, U.S. Territory, or Federal
Agency.
Estimated No. of Respondents: 60.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:
49,500 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Labor Costs:
$2,472,770.
Changes in Burden Estimates: There
is no change in the 49,500 hours in the
total estimated respondent burden
compared with that identified in the ICR
currently approved by OMB.
Dated: February 7, 2008.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E8–2784 Filed 2–13–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
8665
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–8528–9]
Revised Renewable Fuel Standard for
2008, Issued Pursuant to Section
211(o) of the Clean Air Act as
Amended by the Energy Independence
and Security Act of 2007
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Section 211(o) of the Clean
Air Act (CAA or the Act), as amended
by the Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007 (EISA), requires the
Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to annually
determine a renewable fuel standard
(RFS) which is applicable to refiners,
importers and certain blenders of
gasoline, and publish the standard in
the Federal Register. On the basis of
this standard, each obligated party
determines the volume of renewable
fuel that it must ensure is consumed as
motor vehicle fuel. This standard is
calculated as a percentage, by dividing
the amount of renewable fuel that the
Act requires to be blended into gasoline
for a given year by the amount of
gasoline expected to be used during that
year, including certain adjustments
specified by the Act. In this notice we
are publishing an RFS 7.76% for 2008.
This standard is intended to lead to the
use of 9 billion gallons of renewable fuel
in 2008, as required by amended section
211(o). This standard supersedes the
2008 RFS that EPA published on
November 27, 2007, before enactment of
the EISA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chris McKenna, Environmental
Protection Agency, MC 6406J, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,
DC 20460; telephone number: 202–343–
9037; fax number: 202–343–2801; Email address: mckenna.chris@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Calculation of 2008 RFS
A. Background
On November 27, 2007, EPA
published a Notice in the Federal
Register announcing a renewable fuel
standard for 2008 of 4.66%. This
standard was designed to result in the
use of 5.4 billion gallons of renewable
fuel in 2008, as required by CAA section
211(o) at the time EPA published the
standard. On December 19, 2007,
President Bush signed into law the
Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007 (EISA), which, among other
things, amended CAA section 211(o) to
E:\FR\FM\14FEN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2008 / Notices
require the use of 9.0 billion gallons of
renewable fuel in 2008. Today’s Notice
announces the recalculated standard for
2008, based on the volume of renewable
fuel that amended section 211(o) now
requires.
In today’s Notice we are using the
calculational procedure set forth in the
final rulemaking for the Renewable Fuel
Standard Program, as we did in the
November 27, 2007, Notice. The formula
includes a variable representing the
volume of renewable fuel required by
section 211(o), and EPA is today using
that formula with the renewable fuel
volume for 2008 required by the EISA
amendments to section 211(o) to
recalculate the RFS for 2008. Since the
RFS rule establishes clear legal criteria
for deriving the standard (including
specification of the formula used in
today’s Notice, and all data sources),
EPA is simply applying facts to preestablished law in issuing the recalculated final 2008 RFS. EPA is
advising the regulated community of the
revised standard through a Federal
Register Notice, without prior notice
RFStd i = 10 0 ×
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Where
RFStdi= Renewable Fuel Standard in year i,
in percent.
RFVi=Annual volume of renewable fuels
required by section 211(o)(2)(B) of the
Act for year i, in gallons.
Gi=Amount of gasoline projected to be used
in the 48 contiguous states, in year i, in
gallons.
Ri=Amount of renewable fuel blended into
gasoline that is projected to be consumed
in the 48 contiguous states, in year i, in
gallons.
GSi= Amount of gasoline projected to be used
in Alaska, Hawaii, or a U.S. territory in
year i if the state or territory opts-in, in
gallons.
RSi= Amount of renewable fuel blended into
gasoline that is projected to be consumed
in Alaska, Hawaii, or a U.S. territory in
year i if the state or territory opts-in, in
gallons.
GEi= Amount of gasoline projected to be
produced by exempt small refineries and
small refiners in year i, in gallons
(through 2010 only unless exemption
extended under §§211(o)(9)(A)(ii) or (B)).
Celli= Beginning in 2013, amount of
renewable fuel that is required to come
from cellulosic sources, in year i, in
gallons (250,000,000 gallons minimum).
EISA section 210(a)(1) also states that,
‘‘For calendar year 2008, transportation
fuel sold or introduced into commerce
in the United States (except in
noncontiguous States or territories), that
is produced from facilities that
commence construction after the date of
enactment of this Act shall be treated as
renewable fuel within the meaning of
section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act only
if it achieves at least a 20 percent
reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas
emissions compared to baseline
lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.’’
EISA further provides that for 2008 and
2009, any ethanol plant that is fired
with natural gas, biomass or any
combination thereof is deemed to be in
compliance with the 20 percent
lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:49 Feb 13, 2008
Jkt 214001
RFVi − Celli
( G i − R i ) + ( GSi − RSi ) − GEi
requirement. Based on the text of this
section, which is not an amendment to
section 211(o) of the CAA and is not
covered by the rulemaking provision in
EISA section 202(a)(1) (amending
section 211(o)(2)(A)(i)), EPA believes
that these 2008 requirements are selfimplementing, and therefore
immediately effective. EPA intends to
address the meaning of the term
‘‘commence construction’’, and also
address what transportation fuels other
than ethanol from a facility fired by
natural gas, biomass or some
combination of the two satisfy the 20
percent lifecycle greenhouse gas
reduction requirement, in the context of
a proposed rule designed to implement
the EISA amendments to the RFS
program. EPA further notes, however,
that is unlikely that any facilities for the
production of transportation fuel that
commence construction following
enactment of EISA will be operational
during 2008. Therefore, the 20 percent
lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction
requirement is unlikely to have a realworld impact for 2008.
While EISA requires a substantial
change in the 2008 RFS, we believe that
the required renewable production
capacity will come on line this year. In
addition, at current oil prices, we would
expect it to be economic to use the
volume of renewable fuel required by
EISA for 2008. We also believe RINS
generated in excess of the 2007 RFS can
be applied to the 2008 RFS to provide
additional flexibility to the fuel supply
market. However, we recognize that in
the short term there may be some
catching-up required for the distribution
infrastructure to deliver the required
volume of renewable fuel.
PO 00000
Frm 00025
and comment, in accordance with the
Clean Air Act and EPA regulations.
The 2008 RFS is calculated by
dividing the volume of renewable fuels
required by CAA section 211(o) to be
blended into gasoline in 2008, by the
volume of gasoline projected by the
Energy Information Administration
(EIA) to be consumed in 2008 (including
certain adjustments specified by the
Act). The following equation from the
final RFS Program regulations
summarizes all of the variables that
must be considered in the calculation.
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
B. Data Sources for 2008 RFS
Calculation
The following discussion describes
the sources of data for the variables in
the above equation. For ease of
calculation, this discussion regroups the
terms (Gi¥Ri) + (GSi¥RSi) in the
denominator of the above equation into
the terms (Gi + GSi)¥(Ri + RSi).
Calculation of (RFVi¥Celli), Total
Amount of Renewable Fuels From NonCellulosic Sources That Must Be
Blended Into Gasoline in 2008
The EISA amended CAA section
211(o) to require 9.0 billion gallons of
renewable fuels to be blended into
gasoline in 2008. Since the amended
CAA section 211(o) does not include a
cellulosic volume requirement until
2013, the amount of renewable fuel
required to be produced from cellulosic
sources in 2008 (Celli) remains, zero.
Thus the total amount of renewable
fuels from non-cellulosic sources that
must be blended into gasoline in 2008
is 9.0 billion gallons.
Calculation of (Gi + GSi), total amount
of gasoline projected to be used in the
48 contiguous states plus opt-in states/
territories, in year i, in gallons
CAA section 211(o) requires the
Administrator of the EIA by October 31
of each year to provide EPA with an
estimate of the volumes of gasoline
projected to be sold or introduced into
commerce in the United States for the
following year. During the development
of the RFS Program, EIA informed EPA
that the projected gasoline consumption
in ‘‘Table 4a: U.S. Petroleum Supply,
Consumption, and Inventories’’
(formerly ‘‘Table 5a. U.S. Petroleum
Supply and Demand: Base Case’’) of the
October issue of the monthly ShortTerm Energy Outlook (STEO) should be
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EN14FE08.003
8666
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2008 / Notices
is 0.30 billion gallons. Subtracting this
consumption from the projected
nationwide consumption of 144.80
billion gallons in 2008 produces a total
consumption of 144.50 billion gallons of
gasoline in 2008 in the 48 contiguous
states plus Hawaii.
Calculation of (Ri + RSi, total amount of
renewable fuel blended into gasoline
that is projected to be consumed in the
48 contiguous states plus opt-in states/
territories, in year i, in gallons
The projected gasoline consumption
in the October 2007 STEO includes
renewable fuel that is blended into
gasoline. This volume of renewable fuel
must be subtracted from the total
volume of gasoline in order to calculate
the total consumption of non-renewable
gasoline. In Table 8 of the October 2007
STEO, EIA estimates that 0.755
quadrillion Btu of ethanol will be used
as transportation fuel in all of the
United States in 2008. Dividing this
energy usage by the high heating value
of ethanol (3.539 million Btu/barrel),
and multiplying by 42 gallons/barrel
produces a total ethanol usage of 8.96
billion gallons nationwide in 2008.
Since Hawaii has opted in, but Alaska
has not opted in, to the RFS program for
2008, Alaska’s renewable fuels
consumption must be subtracted from
the nationwide renewable fuels
consumption to calculate renewable
consumption in the 48 contiguous states
plus Hawaii. In Chapter 2 of the
Regulatory Impact analysis for the RFS
program rulemaking, EPA estimated that
RFStd i = 10 0 ×
Therefore, the RFS for 2008 is 7.76%.
This is the standard referenced in 40
CFR 80.1105(b) through (d) and which
obligated parties apply to determine
their renewable volume obligation
under 40 CFR 80.1107. This
recalculated 2008 RFS supersedes, and
therefore replaces for all purposes, the
2008 standard published by EPA on
November 27, 2007.
Dated: February 7, 2008.
Stephen L. Johnson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 08–679 Filed 2–13–08; 8:45 am]
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M
1 Letter to the Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor
of Hawaii, from Stephen Johnson of EPA dated July
30, 2007.
2 Energy Information Administration, Petroleum
Marketing Annual 2006, Explanatory Notes,
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16:49 Feb 13, 2008
Jkt 214001
Meetings; Sunshine Act
Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission.
DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, February 19,
2008, 10:30 a.m. eastern time.
PLACE: Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr.
Conference Room on the Ninth Floor of
the EEOC Office Building, 1801 ‘‘L’’
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20507.
STATUS: The meeting will be open to the
public.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:
Relationship of Refiner and Prime Supplier Sales
Volumes’’ (p. 382).
3 Table 2.2–21 ‘‘2012 Forecasted Ethanol
Consumption by State,’’ Regulatory Impact
Analysis: Renewable Fuel Standard Program, April
2007.
Frm 00026
Calculation of GEi, amount of gasoline
projected to be produced by exempt
small refineries and small refiners in
year i, in gallons 4
In the final rulemaking establishing
the RFS program regulations, we stated
that we would estimate the combined
small refinery and small refiner gasoline
volume using a constant percentage of
national consumption. Using
information from gasoline batch reports
submitted to EPA, EIA data and input
from the California Air Resources Board
regarding California small refiners, we
estimated this percentage to be 13.5%.5
Multiplying the projected nationwide
consumption of gasoline in 2008 (144.80
billion gallons) by 13.5% results in a
total projected production of 19.55
billion gallons of gasoline from small
refiners and small refineries in 2008.
Calculation of RFStdi, renewable fuel
standard in year i, in percent
Substituting all of the terms
calculated above into the equation for
RFStdi results in the following RFS for
2008,
9.0
= 7.762%
144.50 − 9.0 − 19.55
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
COMMISSION
PO 00000
ethanol consumption in Alaska would
be negligible prior to 2012. Thus, we
project renewable fuels consumption in
the 48 contiguous states plus Hawaii to
be 8.96 billion gallons in 2008.3 For
purposes of recalculating the 2008 RFS,
we will round this value to 9.0 billion
gallons, which is equivalent to the
volume of renewable fuel required by
amended section 211(o) for 2008.
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Open Session
1. Announcement of Notation Votes,
and
2. Obligation of Funds for a
Temporary Interactive Voice Response
(IVR) Non-competitive Housing
Contract, a Non-competitive Extension
of Software Licenses and a Competitive
Contract for Technology Support of
Customer Response Function.
Note: In accordance with the Sunshine Act,
the meeting will be open to public
observation of the Commission’s
deliberations and voting. (In addition to
publishing notices on EEOC Commission
meetings in the Federal Register, the
4 Through 2010 only, unless the exemption is
extended under 211(o)(9)(A)(ii) or (B) of the Act.
5 ‘‘Calculation of the Small Refiner/Small
Refinery Fraction for the Renewable Fuel Program,’’
memo to the docket from Christine Brunner, ASD,
OTAQ, EPA, September 2006.
E:\FR\FM\14FEN1.SGM
14FEN1
EN14FE08.004
used to calculate the RFS for the coming
year. The October 2007 STEO projects
that an average of 9.42 million barrels/
day of gasoline will be consumed in all
of the United States in 2008.
Multiplying this average consumption
rate by 366 days (2008 is a leap year)
produces a total consumption of 144.80
billion gallons of gasoline in 2008.
Only one non-contiguous state or
territory has petitioned EPA to opt into
the RFS Program beginning in 2008.
Hawaii petitioned EPA on June 22, 2007
to opt into the RFS program, and EPA
approved their request.1 Thus, Alaska is
the only one of the 50 states that is not
included in the RFS Program.
In order to calculate gasoline
consumption in the 48 contiguous states
plus Hawaii, we subtracted Alaska’s
projected gasoline consumption from
the projected nationwide gasoline
consumption of 144.80 billion gallons.
Alaska’s projected gasoline
consumption was calculated by
multiplying the projected nationwide
gasoline consumption in 2008 by the
ratio of Alaska’s gasoline consumption
in 2006 to the total U.S. consumption in
2006, based on Table 48, ‘‘Prime
Supplier Sales Volumes of Motor
Gasoline by Grade Formulation, PAD
District, and State’’ gasoline data from
EIA’s Petroleum Marketing Annual 2006
(the final rulemaking used data from
Petroleum Marketing Annual 2005).
According to EIA, Prime Supplier data
reflects where gasoline is used, rather
than where it is produced.2 Alaska’s
projected gasoline consumption in 2008
8667
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 31 (Thursday, February 14, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8665-8667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 08-679]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8528-9]
Revised Renewable Fuel Standard for 2008, Issued Pursuant to
Section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act as Amended by the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), as
amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA),
requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
to annually determine a renewable fuel standard (RFS) which is
applicable to refiners, importers and certain blenders of gasoline, and
publish the standard in the Federal Register. On the basis of this
standard, each obligated party determines the volume of renewable fuel
that it must ensure is consumed as motor vehicle fuel. This standard is
calculated as a percentage, by dividing the amount of renewable fuel
that the Act requires to be blended into gasoline for a given year by
the amount of gasoline expected to be used during that year, including
certain adjustments specified by the Act. In this notice we are
publishing an RFS 7.76% for 2008. This standard is intended to lead to
the use of 9 billion gallons of renewable fuel in 2008, as required by
amended section 211(o). This standard supersedes the 2008 RFS that EPA
published on November 27, 2007, before enactment of the EISA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris McKenna, Environmental
Protection Agency, MC 6406J, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,
DC 20460; telephone number: 202-343-9037; fax number: 202-343-2801; E-
mail address: mckenna.chris@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Calculation of 2008 RFS
A. Background
On November 27, 2007, EPA published a Notice in the Federal
Register announcing a renewable fuel standard for 2008 of 4.66%. This
standard was designed to result in the use of 5.4 billion gallons of
renewable fuel in 2008, as required by CAA section 211(o) at the time
EPA published the standard. On December 19, 2007, President Bush signed
into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA),
which, among other things, amended CAA section 211(o) to
[[Page 8666]]
require the use of 9.0 billion gallons of renewable fuel in 2008.
Today's Notice announces the recalculated standard for 2008, based on
the volume of renewable fuel that amended section 211(o) now requires.
In today's Notice we are using the calculational procedure set
forth in the final rulemaking for the Renewable Fuel Standard Program,
as we did in the November 27, 2007, Notice. The formula includes a
variable representing the volume of renewable fuel required by section
211(o), and EPA is today using that formula with the renewable fuel
volume for 2008 required by the EISA amendments to section 211(o) to
recalculate the RFS for 2008. Since the RFS rule establishes clear
legal criteria for deriving the standard (including specification of
the formula used in today's Notice, and all data sources), EPA is
simply applying facts to pre-established law in issuing the re-
calculated final 2008 RFS. EPA is advising the regulated community of
the revised standard through a Federal Register Notice, without prior
notice and comment, in accordance with the Clean Air Act and EPA
regulations.
The 2008 RFS is calculated by dividing the volume of renewable
fuels required by CAA section 211(o) to be blended into gasoline in
2008, by the volume of gasoline projected by the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) to be consumed in 2008 (including certain
adjustments specified by the Act). The following equation from the
final RFS Program regulations summarizes all of the variables that must
be considered in the calculation.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN14FE08.003
Where
RFStdi= Renewable Fuel Standard in year i, in percent.
RFVi=Annual volume of renewable fuels required by section
211(o)(2)(B) of the Act for year i, in gallons.
Gi=Amount of gasoline projected to be used in the 48
contiguous states, in year i, in gallons.
Ri=Amount of renewable fuel blended into gasoline that is
projected to be consumed in the 48 contiguous states, in year i, in
gallons.
GSi= Amount of gasoline projected to be used in Alaska,
Hawaii, or a U.S. territory in year i if the state or territory
opts-in, in gallons.
RSi= Amount of renewable fuel blended into gasoline that
is projected to be consumed in Alaska, Hawaii, or a U.S. territory
in year i if the state or territory opts-in, in gallons.
GEi= Amount of gasoline projected to be produced by
exempt small refineries and small refiners in year i, in gallons
(through 2010 only unless exemption extended under
Sec. Sec. 211(o)(9)(A)(ii) or (B)).
Celli= Beginning in 2013, amount of renewable fuel that
is required to come from cellulosic sources, in year i, in gallons
(250,000,000 gallons minimum).
EISA section 210(a)(1) also states that, ``For calendar year 2008,
transportation fuel sold or introduced into commerce in the United
States (except in noncontiguous States or territories), that is
produced from facilities that commence construction after the date of
enactment of this Act shall be treated as renewable fuel within the
meaning of section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act only if it achieves at
least a 20 percent reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions
compared to baseline lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.'' EISA further
provides that for 2008 and 2009, any ethanol plant that is fired with
natural gas, biomass or any combination thereof is deemed to be in
compliance with the 20 percent lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction
requirement. Based on the text of this section, which is not an
amendment to section 211(o) of the CAA and is not covered by the
rulemaking provision in EISA section 202(a)(1) (amending section
211(o)(2)(A)(i)), EPA believes that these 2008 requirements are self-
implementing, and therefore immediately effective. EPA intends to
address the meaning of the term ``commence construction'', and also
address what transportation fuels other than ethanol from a facility
fired by natural gas, biomass or some combination of the two satisfy
the 20 percent lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction requirement, in the
context of a proposed rule designed to implement the EISA amendments to
the RFS program. EPA further notes, however, that is unlikely that any
facilities for the production of transportation fuel that commence
construction following enactment of EISA will be operational during
2008. Therefore, the 20 percent lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction
requirement is unlikely to have a real-world impact for 2008.
While EISA requires a substantial change in the 2008 RFS, we
believe that the required renewable production capacity will come on
line this year. In addition, at current oil prices, we would expect it
to be economic to use the volume of renewable fuel required by EISA for
2008. We also believe RINS generated in excess of the 2007 RFS can be
applied to the 2008 RFS to provide additional flexibility to the fuel
supply market. However, we recognize that in the short term there may
be some catching-up required for the distribution infrastructure to
deliver the required volume of renewable fuel.
B. Data Sources for 2008 RFS Calculation
The following discussion describes the sources of data for the
variables in the above equation. For ease of calculation, this
discussion regroups the terms (Gi-Ri) +
(GSi-RSi) in the denominator of the above
equation into the terms (Gi + GSi)-(Ri
+ RSi).
Calculation of (RFVi-Celli), Total Amount of
Renewable Fuels From Non-Cellulosic Sources That Must Be Blended Into
Gasoline in 2008
The EISA amended CAA section 211(o) to require 9.0 billion gallons
of renewable fuels to be blended into gasoline in 2008. Since the
amended CAA section 211(o) does not include a cellulosic volume
requirement until 2013, the amount of renewable fuel required to be
produced from cellulosic sources in 2008 (Celli) remains,
zero. Thus the total amount of renewable fuels from non-cellulosic
sources that must be blended into gasoline in 2008 is 9.0 billion
gallons.
Calculation of (Gi + GSi), total amount of
gasoline projected to be used in the 48 contiguous states plus opt-in
states/territories, in year i, in gallons
CAA section 211(o) requires the Administrator of the EIA by October
31 of each year to provide EPA with an estimate of the volumes of
gasoline projected to be sold or introduced into commerce in the United
States for the following year. During the development of the RFS
Program, EIA informed EPA that the projected gasoline consumption in
``Table 4a: U.S. Petroleum Supply, Consumption, and Inventories''
(formerly ``Table 5a. U.S. Petroleum Supply and Demand: Base Case'') of
the October issue of the monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO)
should be
[[Page 8667]]
used to calculate the RFS for the coming year. The October 2007 STEO
projects that an average of 9.42 million barrels/day of gasoline will
be consumed in all of the United States in 2008. Multiplying this
average consumption rate by 366 days (2008 is a leap year) produces a
total consumption of 144.80 billion gallons of gasoline in 2008.
Only one non-contiguous state or territory has petitioned EPA to
opt into the RFS Program beginning in 2008. Hawaii petitioned EPA on
June 22, 2007 to opt into the RFS program, and EPA approved their
request.\1\ Thus, Alaska is the only one of the 50 states that is not
included in the RFS Program.
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\1\ Letter to the Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii,
from Stephen Johnson of EPA dated July 30, 2007.
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In order to calculate gasoline consumption in the 48 contiguous
states plus Hawaii, we subtracted Alaska's projected gasoline
consumption from the projected nationwide gasoline consumption of
144.80 billion gallons. Alaska's projected gasoline consumption was
calculated by multiplying the projected nationwide gasoline consumption
in 2008 by the ratio of Alaska's gasoline consumption in 2006 to the
total U.S. consumption in 2006, based on Table 48, ``Prime Supplier
Sales Volumes of Motor Gasoline by Grade Formulation, PAD District, and
State'' gasoline data from EIA's Petroleum Marketing Annual 2006 (the
final rulemaking used data from Petroleum Marketing Annual 2005).
According to EIA, Prime Supplier data reflects where gasoline is used,
rather than where it is produced.\2\ Alaska's projected gasoline
consumption in 2008 is 0.30 billion gallons. Subtracting this
consumption from the projected nationwide consumption of 144.80 billion
gallons in 2008 produces a total consumption of 144.50 billion gallons
of gasoline in 2008 in the 48 contiguous states plus Hawaii.
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\2\ Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Marketing
Annual 2006, Explanatory Notes, Relationship of Refiner and Prime
Supplier Sales Volumes'' (p. 382).
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Calculation of (Ri + RSi, total amount of
renewable fuel blended into gasoline that is projected to be consumed
in the 48 contiguous states plus opt-in states/territories, in year i,
in gallons
The projected gasoline consumption in the October 2007 STEO
includes renewable fuel that is blended into gasoline. This volume of
renewable fuel must be subtracted from the total volume of gasoline in
order to calculate the total consumption of non-renewable gasoline. In
Table 8 of the October 2007 STEO, EIA estimates that 0.755 quadrillion
Btu of ethanol will be used as transportation fuel in all of the United
States in 2008. Dividing this energy usage by the high heating value of
ethanol (3.539 million Btu/barrel), and multiplying by 42 gallons/
barrel produces a total ethanol usage of 8.96 billion gallons
nationwide in 2008.
Since Hawaii has opted in, but Alaska has not opted in, to the RFS
program for 2008, Alaska's renewable fuels consumption must be
subtracted from the nationwide renewable fuels consumption to calculate
renewable consumption in the 48 contiguous states plus Hawaii. In
Chapter 2 of the Regulatory Impact analysis for the RFS program
rulemaking, EPA estimated that ethanol consumption in Alaska would be
negligible prior to 2012. Thus, we project renewable fuels consumption
in the 48 contiguous states plus Hawaii to be 8.96 billion gallons in
2008.\3\ For purposes of recalculating the 2008 RFS, we will round this
value to 9.0 billion gallons, which is equivalent to the volume of
renewable fuel required by amended section 211(o) for 2008.
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\3\ Table 2.2-21 ``2012 Forecasted Ethanol Consumption by
State,'' Regulatory Impact Analysis: Renewable Fuel Standard
Program, April 2007.
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Calculation of GEi, amount of gasoline projected to be
produced by exempt small refineries and small refiners in year i, in
gallons \4\
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\4\ Through 2010 only, unless the exemption is extended under
211(o)(9)(A)(ii) or (B) of the Act.
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In the final rulemaking establishing the RFS program regulations,
we stated that we would estimate the combined small refinery and small
refiner gasoline volume using a constant percentage of national
consumption. Using information from gasoline batch reports submitted to
EPA, EIA data and input from the California Air Resources Board
regarding California small refiners, we estimated this percentage to be
13.5%.\5\
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\5\ ``Calculation of the Small Refiner/Small Refinery Fraction
for the Renewable Fuel Program,'' memo to the docket from Christine
Brunner, ASD, OTAQ, EPA, September 2006.
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Multiplying the projected nationwide consumption of gasoline in
2008 (144.80 billion gallons) by 13.5% results in a total projected
production of 19.55 billion gallons of gasoline from small refiners and
small refineries in 2008.
Calculation of RFStdi, renewable fuel standard in year i, in
percent
Substituting all of the terms calculated above into the equation
for RFStdi results in the following RFS for 2008,
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN14FE08.004
Therefore, the RFS for 2008 is 7.76%. This is the standard
referenced in 40 CFR 80.1105(b) through (d) and which obligated parties
apply to determine their renewable volume obligation under 40 CFR
80.1107. This recalculated 2008 RFS supersedes, and therefore replaces
for all purposes, the 2008 standard published by EPA on November 27,
2007.
Dated: February 7, 2008.
Stephen L. Johnson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 08-679 Filed 2-13-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M