Environmental Protection Agency January 9, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

EPA is approving portions of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Colorado for the purpose of addressing the ``good neighbor'' provisions of Clean Air Act (``Act'' or ``CAA'') section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (``NAAQS'' or ``standards'') and the 1997 fine particulate matter (``PM2.5'') NAAQS. This SIP revision addresses the requirement that the State of Colorado's SIP (``Interstate Transport SIP'') have adequate provisions to prohibit air emissions from adversely affecting another state's air quality through interstate transport. In this action, EPA is approving the Colorado Interstate Transport SIP provisions that address the requirement of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) that emissions from Colorado sources do not significantly contribute to nonattainment of the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS in any other state, interfere with maintenance of the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS by any other state, or interfere with any other state's required measures to prevent significant deterioration of air quality for the 1997 PM2.5 and 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also approving certain revisions to Colorado Regulation No. 3 submitted by the State of Colorado in separate prior submissions. This action is being taken under section 110 of the CAA.

Under the Clean Air Act Section 211(o), the Environmental Protection Agency is required to set the renewable fuel standards each November for the following year. In general the standards are designed to ensure that the applicable volumes of renewable fuel specified in the statue are used. However, the statute specifies that EPA is to project the volume of cellulosic biofuel production for the upcoming year and must base the cellulosic biofuel standard on that projected volume if it is less than the applicable volume set forth in the Act. EPA is today finalizing a projected cellulosic biofuel volume for 2012 and annual percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and renewable fuels that will apply to all gasoline and diesel produced or imported for domestic use in year 2012. In the NPRM we also proposed an applicable volume of 1.28 billion gallons for biomass-based diesel for 2013. The statute specifies that the minimum volume of biomass-based diesel for years 2013 and beyond must be at least 1.0 billion gallons. We are continuing to evaluate the many comments on the NPRM from stakeholders, and will issue a final rule setting the applicable biomass-based diesel volume for calendar year 2013 as expeditiously as practicable. This action also presents a number of changes to the RFS2 regulations that are designed to clarify existing provisions and to address several unique circumstances that have come to light since the RFS2 program became effective on July 1, 2010. Finally, today's rule also makes a minor amendment to the gasoline benzene regulations regarding inclusion of transferred blendstocks in a refinery's early benzene credit generation calculations.

This action proposes editorial and technical corrections necessary for source testing of emissions and operations. The revisions include the addition of alternative equipment and methods as well as corrections to technical and typographical errors. We also solicit public comment on potential changes to the current procedures for determining emission stratification.