Regulatory Announcement 

EPA Approves Request from Kentucky 

for the Removal of the Federal 

Reformulated Gasoline Program in 

the Northern Kentucky Area 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 

its approval of a petition by Kentucky to opt-out of the federal 

reformulated gasoline (RFG) program and remove the requirement 

to sell RFG in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties (the Northern 

Kentucky Area). This action is effective on July 1, 2018. 

As part of the request to opt-out of the federal RFG program in the 

Northern Kentucky Area, the Kentucky Cabinet for Energy and Environment on behalf of the State of Kentucky, requested a revision to its 

maintenance plan that included a demonstration that the removal of the 

federal RFG program would not interfere with maintenance of the 2008 

ozone NAAQS in the Northern Kentucky Area or with any other applicable requirement of the Clean Air Act. Region 4 conducted a rulemaking for Kentucky’s state implementation plan (SIP) revision request, and 

issued its fnal rule on April 2, 2017 (84 FR 13872). 

EPA is approving the federal RFG opt-out request from Kentucky in 

light of no adverse comments received during Region 4’s rulemaking. 

EPA’s approval is in conformance with EPA’s regulations, which include 

the effective date of the federal RFG opt-out (July 1, 2018) be no sooner 

that 90 days from the effective date of the approval of the SIP revision 

to the maintenance plan (as described above, April 2, 2018). Region 4’s 

SIP rulemaking approved Kentucky’s demonstration that the opt-out will 

not interfere with the maintenance plan for the 2008 ozone NAAQS for 

the Area. 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

EPA-420-F-18-009 

May 2018 
Regulatory Announcement

Key Elements of Approval 

• This action approves Kentucky’s petition to opt-out of the federal reformulated gasoline 

(RFG) program and removes the requirement to sell federal RFG for Boone, Campbell, 

and Kenton counties in Kentucky (the Northern Kentucky Area). The requirement to 

sell federal RFG in the Northern Kentucky Area will no longer apply as of July 1, 2018. 

• EPA Region 4 recently conducted a rulemaking that approved Kentucky’s SIP revision. 

The SIP revision rulemaking evaluated whether the removal of the federal RFG program 

in the Northern Kentucky Area would not interfere with the maintenance plan for the 

2008 ozone NAAQS or any other applicable NAAQS. Kentucky submitted the SIP 

revision with the noninterference demonstration to EPA on September 13, 2017. EPA 

proposed the approval of the SIP revision on February 14, 2018 (83 FR 6496). EPA fnalized its approval of the SIP revision on April 2, 2018 (83 FR 13872). 

• Removing the federal RFG requirement for gasoline sold in the Northern Kentucky 

Area could be benefcial because this action could improve the fungibility of gasoline in 

the Area. With this approval the gasoline sold in the Northern Kentucky Area can be 

identical to the fuel sold now in most of the rest of Kentucky. For motorists, the change 

in the performance of their vehicle will be virtually unnoticed. 

Background 

The 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) amendments established specifc requirements for the RFG 

program to reduce ozone levels in certain areas in the country experiencing ground-level ozone 

or smog problems by reducing vehicle emissions of compounds that form ozone, specifcally volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The 1990 CAA amendments directed EPA to issue regulations 

that specify how gasoline can be “reformulated” so as to result in signifcant reductions in vehicle 

emissions of ozone-forming and toxic air pollutants relative to the 1990 baseline fuel, and to require the use of such reformulated gasoline in certain “covered areas.” The CAA defned certain 

nonattainment areas as “covered areas” which are required to use RFG and provided other areas 

with an ability to “opt-in” to the RFG program. The CAA provides an opportunity for an area 

classifed as a Marginal, Moderate, Serious, or Severe ozone nonattainment area, or which is in 

the ozone transport region, to “opt-in” to the RFG program upon application by the governor of 

the state (or his authorized representative) and subsequent action by EPA. 

RFG covered areas as well as RFG opt-in areas are subject to a prohibition on the sale or dispensing by any person of conventional gasoline (non-RFG) to ultimate consumers in the applicable area. The prohibition also includes the sale or dispensing by any refner, blender, importer, 

or marketer of conventional gasoline for resale in any covered areas, without segregating the 

conventional gasoline from RFG and clearly marking conventional gasoline and marking the 

conventional gasoline as not for sale to ultimate consumers in a covered area. 

Kentucky had voluntarily opted Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties into the federal RFG 

program. Kentucky also opted its portion of the Louisville ozone area (Jefferson County and 

parts of Bullitt and Oldham Counties) into the RFG program; however, today’s action does not 

affect the use of RFG in the Louisville ozone area. 

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Regulatory Announcement

The Kentucky Cabinet for Energy and Environment on behalf of the State of Kentucky, submitted a request to opt-out of the federal RFG program for the Northern Kentucky Area, and 

additionally requested a revision to its maintenance plan that included a demonstration that the 

removal of the federal RFG program would not interfere with maintenance of the NAAQS in 

the Northern Kentucky Area. Region 4 conducted a rulemaking for Kentucky’s state implementation plan (SIP) revision request and issued an approval of the (for a revised maintenance plan) 

on April 2, 2017. By separate action, EPA is approving the opt-out of the federal RFG program 

for the Northern Kentucky Area effective July 1, 2018. 

For More Information 

You can access the fnal action and related documents, as well as a current listing of the RFG 

covered areas and a summary of RFG requirement on the EPA’s Offce of Transportation and 

Air Quality Web site at: www.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/reformulated-gasoline. 

For further information on EPA’s approval of the federal RFG opt-out for the Northern Kentucky Area, please contact: 

David Dickinson 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20460 

202-343-9256 

E-mail: dickinson.david@epa.gov 

Or 

Rudy Kapichak 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

2000 Traverwood Drive 

Ann Arbor, MI 48105 

734-214-4574 

E-mail: kapichak.rudolph@epa/gov 

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