Search Frequent Questions

Displaying 1 - 15 of 36 results

• What is the definition of “overburdened community” that is relevant for EPA Actions and Promising Practices?

  EPA Actions and Promising Practices apply the description of overburdened communities articulated in EPA’s Plan EJ 2014. The term is used to describe the minority, low‐income, tribal and indigenous populations or communities in the United States that potentially experience disproportionate environmental harms and risks due to exposures or cumulative impacts…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• What is the Tier 2 Vehicle & Gasoline Sulfur Program?

  See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . The Tier 2 Vehicle and Gasoline Sulfur Program is a landmark program, begun in January 2004, that affects every new passenger vehicle and every gallon of gasoline sold in the U.S. By designing cleaner cars that run on…

  • Last published: July 15, 2024

• Can a gallon of ethanol generate more than 1.0 RIN in RFS2?

  See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . The number of RINs that can be generated for each gallon of renewable fuel are determined by the Equivalence Values. See 80.1415 and 80.1426(f)(2)-(6). Equivalence Values are based on energy content in the renewable fuel in comparison to…

  • Last published: August 2, 2024

• If I produce biodiesel using waste vegetable oil, can I generate more RINs per gallon than if I use virgin soy oil? Would the use of solar panels as a heat source for our process help with our RIN number per gallon?

  See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . The number of RINs that can be generated for each gallon of renewable fuel is determined by the Equivalence Values. See regulations at 80.1415(b) and 8.1426(f)(2)(i), for example. Equivalence Values are based on energy content in the renewable…

  • Last published: August 2, 2024

• Are permit applicants required to adopt the Promising Practices?

  EPA is not requiring permit applicants to adopt the Promising Practices. Promising Practices are simply that: good ideas in the form of suggestions to permit applicants. Permit applicants may benefit from applying these Promising Practices. EPA hopes that when permit applicants practice early and meaningful dialogue with the community, they…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• EPA Actions does not require EPA regional offices to prioritize the same types of permits and adopt the same outreach activities. Why doesn’t EPA require regional offices to always prioritize certain permits and always do certain outreach activities?

  EPA Actions strikes an important balance between national consistency and regional flexibility. The Agency‐wide guidelines establish national consistency by providing EPA’s expectations for the regional implementation plans. At the same time, EPA recognizes that the regional offices need the flexibility to take actions suited to the types of permits and…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• Does EPA Actions apply to permits that are jointly issued by EPA and a state, tribal, or local permitting authority with partially delegated permitting authority?

  EPA regional offices will decide whether a permit that EPA jointly issues with a state, tribal, or local permitting authority should be considered for prioritization for enhanced outreach as described in EPA Actions on a case‐by‐case basis. EPA will take into account its role and authority in issuing the specific…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• Why doesn’t EPA do enhanced outreach for every permit?

  Robust public outreach and engagement can consume a substantial amount of resources from all stakeholders in a permitting process and would not be warranted for every permit action. EPA recognizes that its regional offices cannot enhance engagement for every EPA‐issued permit and that overburdened communities might be overwhelmed with process…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• How will an EPA regional office determine whether a permitted activity may have significant public health or environmental impacts?

  Permit applications provide information on the proposed project consistent with the requirements of particular statutes and regulations. EPA may also do its own assessment of the environmental and public health impacts of a proposed project, using modeling and monitoring data for example. Such information would inform an EPA regional office’s…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• How will EPA Actions apply to EPA‐permitted activities that may impact multiple EPA regions?

  A permitted activity could potentially impact an area that straddles two or more EPA regions. The EPA region where the permitted activity is located usually has the lead for issuing the permit. EPA regions with the lead for issuing the permit routinely engage other regions impacted by the permitted activity…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• Can a refiner or importer use gasoline sulfur test methods other than ASTM D 2622-98, especially for sulfur levels of 10 ppm and less?

  See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . The rule designates ASTM D 2622 as the benchmark test method by which compliance will be determined, and that is the test that the Agency typically will use in establishing compliance. However, the rule does permit alternative test…

  • Last published: July 12, 2024

• There is significant difference between "refiner" and "refinery". Portions of the regulations use "refiner" where "refinery" is the appropriate term. While it may be clear from the context that "refinery" is meant, text should be changed to avoid any poss

  See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . We agree with the comment and intend to make these clarifications in a future rulemaking. These clarifications would not affect the regulatory requirements in the current final rule.

  • Last published: July 15, 2024

• What is the operational tolerance for denaturant in ethanol to meet the definition of Renewable Fuel? The RFS2 definition calls for a maximum of 2% denaturant. What if the lab results come back higher or lower than 2%? For example, what if the lab results

  See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . The definition of renewable fuel in 80.1401 specifies that the maximum amount of denaturant in ethanol that can be treated as renewable fuel is 2 volume percent. If lab results indicate that the concentration of denaturant is higher…

  • Last published: August 2, 2024

• Will EPA provide incentives to permit applicants who adopt Promising Practices, like an expedited permit process?

  EPA is not providing incentives to permit applicants who adopt the Promising Practices, such as an expedited permit process. Nevertheless, permit applicants should be aware of the many benefits that can accrue to them if they adopt the Promising Practices to create a constructive dialogue with the community in which…

  • Last published: July 10, 2024

• Must a refinery that produces both California gasoline and federal RFG designate each batch produced as either federal RFG or California gasoline, and maintain segregation of both products, even though the gasoline meets the requirements of both programs?

  See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . Section 80.375(c) requires that each batch of California gasoline be designated as such by the refiner or importer, and that California gasoline be segregated from gasoline that is not California gasoline at all points in the distribution system…

  • Last published: July 12, 2024