Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of Compliance and Attest Engagement Reporting Deadlines for 2013 Renewable Fuel Standards

Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of Compliance and Attest Engagement Reporting Deadlines for 2013 Renewable Fuel Standards

Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of Compliance and Attest Engagement Reporting Deadlines for 2013 Renewable Fuel Standards

Gina McCarthy
Environmental Protection Agency
August 8, 2014

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46387-46390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18569]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 80

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0575; FRL-9914-87-OAR]
RIN 2060-AS29

Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of Compliance
and Attest Engagement Reporting Deadlines for 2013 Renewable Fuel
Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
extend two reporting deadlines for the 2013 compliance period under the
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. This proposed action would
specifically affect the annual compliance and attest engagement
reporting requirement deadlines for regulated parties. The annual
compliance reports and attest engagement reports for the 2013 RFS
compliance period would not be due until 30 days and 90 days,
respectively, following publication of the final rule establishing the
2014 renewable fuel percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel,
biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel in the
Federal Register. This proposed action would ensure timely amendment of
existing deadlines, before compliance obligations would otherwise go
into effect. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal
Register, we are extending the annual compliance and attest engagement
reporting deadlines for the 2013 RFS compliance period as a direct
final rule without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse
comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 15,
2014.
Hearing: We will hold a public hearing on August 15, 2014 if one is
requested by noon EDT of the preceding business day. The public
hearing, if requested, will be held at the EPA National Vehicle and
Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2000 Traverwood, Ann Arbor, MI 48105,
beginning at 10:00 a.m. local time.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2014-0575, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov.
Mail: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center,
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2014-0575. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at www.regulations.gov including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov
or email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access''
system, which means the EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an email comment directly to the EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov your email address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic
comment, the EPA recommends that you include your name and other
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or
CD-ROM you submit. If the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the EPA may not
be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use
of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any
defects or viruses. For additional information about the EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in

[[Page 46388]]

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air and Radiation Docket and
Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave.
NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the
telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia MacAllister, Office of
Transportation and Air Quality, Assessment and Standards Division,
Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor MI
48105; Telephone number: 734-214-4131; Fax number: 734-214-4816; Email
address: macallister.julia@epa.gov, or the public information line for
the Office of Transportation and Air Quality; telephone number (734)
214-4333; Email address OTAQ@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Why is the EPA issuing this proposed rule?

This document proposes to take action to extend certain reporting
requirement deadlines for the 2013 RFS compliance period. We have also
published a direct final rule in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section
of this Federal Register because we view this as a noncontroversial
action and anticipate no adverse comment. We have explained our reasons
for this action in the preamble to the direct final rule.
If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action
on this proposed rule. If we receive adverse comment, we will withdraw
the direct final rule and it will not take effect. We would address all
public comments in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule.
We do not intend to institute a second comment period on this
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.
For further information, please see the information provided in the
ADDRESSES section of this document.

II. Does this proposed action apply to me?

Entities potentially affected by this direct final rule are those
involved with the production, distribution, and sale of transportation
fuels, including gasoline and diesel fuel or renewable fuels such as
ethanol and biodiesel. Potentially regulated categories include:

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Examples of potentially regulated
Category NAICS \1\ Codes SIC \2\ Codes entities
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Industry................................. 324110 2911 Petroleum Refineries.
Industry................................. 325193 2869 Ethyl alcohol manufacturing.
Industry................................. 325199 2869 Other basic organic chemical
manufacturing.
Industry................................. 424690 5169 Chemical and allied products
merchant wholesalers.
Industry................................. 424710 5171 Petroleum bulk stations and
terminals.
Industry................................. 424720 5172 Petroleum and petroleum products
merchant wholesalers.
Industry................................. 454319 5989 Other fuel dealers.
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\1\ North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
\2\ Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system code.

This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this
proposed action. This table lists the types of entities that the EPA is
now aware could be potentially regulated by this proposed action. Other
types of entities not listed in the table could also be regulated. To
determine whether your activities would be regulated by this proposed
action, you should carefully examine the applicability criteria in 40
CFR part 80. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of
this proposed action to a particular entity, consult the person listed
in the preceding section.

III. Background and Purpose

The EPA is proposing to amend existing regulatory deadlines for
regulated parties under the RFS program regarding the submission of
annual compliance reports and attest engagement reports for the 2013
RFS compliance period.
We received comments on our November 29, 2013 proposed rulemaking
to establish the 2014 renewable fuel percentage standards for
cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel and total
renewable fuel \1\ reiterating the importance to obligated parties of
knowing their RFS obligations for the 2014 RFS compliance period prior
to the compliance demonstration deadline for the 2013 RFS compliance
period. The EPA recognized the value of this timing to obligated
parties in the 2013 RFS final rule, and for that reason delayed the
normally applicable February 28 compliance demonstration deadline to
June 30, 2014 for the 2013 RFS compliance period.\2\ We reasoned at
that time that an extension to June 30, 2014 would be sufficient in
light of the expected date of issuance of the final rule establishing
the 2014 renewable fuel percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel,
biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel.
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\1\ 78 FR 71732 (November 29, 2013).
\2\ 78 FR 49794, 49800 (August 15, 2013).
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Because the 2014 renewable fuel standards were not final at the
time the annual compliance reports for the 2013 RFS compliance period
were coming due, we further extended this reporting deadline until
September 30, 2014 (as well as the associated deadline for attest
engagement reports until January 30, 2015).\3\ However, in light of the
further delay in issuing the final rule establishing the 2014 renewable
fuel percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel,
advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel, we are proposing (with a
parallel direct final rule) to provide an additional extension of the
annual compliance and attest engagement reporting period for the 2013
RFS compliance period. Under this proposal, regulated parties would not
have to submit annual compliance reports and attest engagement reports
for the 2013 RFS compliance period until 30 days and 90 days,
respectively, following publication of the final rule establishing the
2014 renewable fuel percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel,
biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel in the
Federal Register.
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\3\ 79 FR 34242 (June 16, 2014).

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[[Page 46389]]

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review

This proposed action is not a ``significant regulatory action''
under the terms of Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993)
and is therefore not subject to review under Executive Orders 12866 and
13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011).

B. Paperwork Reduction Act

There are no new information collection requirements associated
with this proposed rulemaking. The extension of the existing regulatory
deadlines for regulated parties under the RFS program would impose no
new or different reporting requirements on regulated parties. The
existing information collection requests (ICR) that apply to the RFS
program are sufficient to address the reporting requirements in the
proposed regulations.
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 the
EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency
to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative
Procedures Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that
the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses,
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
For purposes of assessing the impacts of this proposed rule on
small entities, small entity is defined as: (1) A small business as
defined by the Small Business Administration's (SBA) regulations at 13
CFR 121.201; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government
of a city, county, town, school district or special district with a
population of less than 50,000; and (3) a small organization that is
any not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated
and is not dominant in its field.
After considering the economic impacts of today's proposed rule on
small entities, I certify that this proposed rule would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
This proposed rule would amend the existing regulatory deadlines for
regulated parties under the RFS program to submit reports demonstrating
their compliance with the 2013 RFS standards, and to submit
corresponding attest engagement reports. This proposed action if
finalized would ensure timely amendment of existing deadlines, before
compliance obligations would otherwise go into effect. The impacts of
the RFS program on small entities were already addressed in the RFS2
final rule promulgated on March 26, 2010 (75 FR 14670), and this
proposal would not impose any additional requirements on small entities
beyond those already analyzed.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

This proposed action contains no Federal mandates under the
provisions of Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(UMRA), 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538 for State, local, or tribal governments or
the private sector. Therefore, this proposed action is not subject to
the requirements of sections 202 or 205 of the UMRA.
This proposed action is also not subject to the requirements of
section 203 of UMRA because it contains no proposed regulatory
requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect small
governments. This proposed rule only applies to gasoline, diesel, and
renewable fuel producers, importers, distributors and marketers and
would merely extend the otherwise applicable reporting deadlines.

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

This proposed action does not have federalism implications. It
would not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the
relationship between the national government and the States, or on the
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of
government, as specified in Executive Order 13132. This proposed action
would amend the existing regulatory deadlines for regulated parties
under the RFS program to submit reports demonstrating their compliance
with the 2013 RFS standards, and to submit corresponding attest
engagement reports. The proposed new deadlines would only apply to
gasoline, diesel, and renewable fuel producers, importers, distributors
and marketers. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not apply to this
proposed rule.

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments

This proposed action does not have tribal implications, as
specified in Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
This proposed rule would be implemented at the Federal level and
affects transportation fuel refiners, blenders, marketers,
distributors, importers, exporters, and renewable fuel producers and
importers. Tribal governments would be affected only to the extent they
purchase and use regulated fuels. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not
apply to this proposed action.

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks

The EPA interprets E.O. 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) as
applying only to those regulatory actions that concern health or safety
risks, such that the analysis required under section 5-501 of the E.O.
has the potential to influence the regulation. This proposed action is
not subject to E.O. 13045 because it would not establish an
environmental standard intended to mitigate health or safety risks and
because it would implement specific standards established by Congress
in statutes (section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act).

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use

This proposed action is not a ``significant energy action'' as
defined in Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355
(May 22, 2001)) because it would not likely have a significant adverse
effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy. This proposed
action would simply amend certain reporting deadlines for regulated
parties under the RFS program.

I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act

Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (``NTTAA''), Public Law 104-113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
directs the EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory
activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law or
otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards are technical
standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling
procedures, and business practices) that are developed or

[[Page 46390]]

adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies. NTTAA directs the EPA
to provide Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides
not to use available and applicable voluntary consensus standards.
This proposed rulemaking does not involve technical standards.
Therefore, the EPA is not considering the use of any voluntary
consensus standards.

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

Executive Order (E.O.) 12898 (59 FR 7629 (Feb. 16, 1994))
establishes federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main
provision directs federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable
and permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their
mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate,
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority
populations and low-income populations in the United States.
The EPA has determined that this proposed rule would not have
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects on minority or low-income populations because it would not
affect the level of protection provided to human health or the
environment. This proposed action would not relax the control measures
on sources regulated by the RFS regulations and therefore would not
cause emissions increases from these sources.

V. Statutory Authority

Statutory authority for this action comes from sections 211 and
301(a) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7545 and 7601(a).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 80

Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Air pollution control, Diesel fuel, Fuel additives, Gasoline, Imports,
Oil imports, Petroleum, Renewable fuel.

Dated: July 31, 2014.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, title 40, chapter I of
the Code of Federal Regulations is proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 80--REGULATION OF FUELS AND FUELS ADDITIVES

0
1. The authority citation for part 80 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C., 7414, 7521, 7542, 7545, and 7601(a).

Subpart M--Renewable Fuel Standard

0
2. Section 80.1451 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1)(xiv) to read
as follows:.

Sec. 80.1451 What are the reporting requirements under the RFS
program?

(a) * * *
(1) * * *
(xiv) For the 2013 compliance year, annual compliance reports shall
be submitted within 30 days after publication in the Federal Register
of the final rule establishing the 2014 renewable fuel percentage
standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced
biofuel and total renewable fuel.
* * * * *
0
3. Section 80.1464 is amended by revising paragraph (g) to read as
follows:

Sec. 80.1464 What are the attest engagement requirements under the
RFS program?

* * * * *
(g) For the 2013 compliance year, reports required under this
section shall be submitted to the EPA within 90 days after publication
in the Federal Register of the final rule establishing the 2014
renewable fuel percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-
based diesel, advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel.

[FR Doc. 2014-18569 Filed 8-7-14; 8:45 am]
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