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Environmental

Fact Sheet

 Printed on Recycled Paper

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Air and Radiation EPA420-F-02-001

February 2002

Office of Transportation and Air Quality

Reformulated Gasoline

Transition Fact Sheet

The Environmental Protection Agency is eliminating the existing

blendstock accounting regulations for Reformulated Gasoline (RFG).

This action will allow refineries more flexibility to sell gasoline

blendstocks and improve refiners’ overall ability to supply cleaner

gasoline by eliminating significant record-keeping and reporting

requirements.

The Agency is taking this action in conjunction with other recent actions

to ease the RFG seasonal transition, when refiners and distributors

switch from winter-grade to summer-grade RFG. A separate regulatory

modification was made in December which allows for greater flexibility

in providing additional RFG when supply is tight.

Also, new enforcement guidance will be issued to allow gasoline

terminal operators a broader testing tolerance than currently permitted

for the initial tank turnover from winter to summer fuel. The guidance

outlines EPA’s policy on allowing a 2 percent testing tolerance for the

volatile organic compound (VOC) performance standard. The 2 percent

enforcement tolerance will apply at terminal locations at the time the

terminal first classifies the tank as complying with summer standards for

federal RFG.

Taken together, these three actions will help ensure a more orderly

transition from winter to summer fuel, while maintaining the

environmental benefits of cleaner burning RFG.
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Background

Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to develop emission performance standards for RFG for the ozone season. With the exception of the

air toxics standard which is in effect year-round, all other emission

performance standards are in effect for the summertime (i.e., the ozone

season). Such RFG is referred to as summer gasoline.

In addition, the Clean Air Act required EPA to establish the anti-dumping

regulations to prevent increases in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and toxics

air emissions from conventional gasoline as a result of RFG production.

Thus, the anti-dumping regulations prevent a refinery from transferring,

or “dumping,” the relatively dirty components that it removes from its

RFG (such as benzene) into its conventional gasoline (CG).

Why EPA is Eliminating the Blendstock Accounting

Requirements

The blendstock accounting requirements are no longer necessary. When

refineries produce more total gasoline than that produced in 1990, the

additional gasoline over and above the 1990 baseline volume must meet

the statutory baseline for all refineries regardless of the refinery’s individual baseline. The shifting of blendstocks from one refinery to another

where both refineries produce more gasoline than they did in 1990 has

very little potential to cause any adverse environmental impact. In addition, restrictions placed on refiners by the Mobile Source Air Toxics rule

makes refineries much less likely to accept high toxics-emissions gasoline blendstocks from other refineries. Thus, this action should make it

easier for refiners to transfer gasoline blendstocks without worsening

emissions.

EPA examined individual refinery situations and concluded that, for the

very limited number of refineries producing volumes where a transfer

could result in some increased emissions, there is little possibility for

gaming, since clean/dirty refinery baseline pairs within a specific emission category (NOx or toxics) are very uncommon.

The blendstock accounting regulations were originally meant to restrict

emissions by preventing excessive transfers of“dirty” blendstocks from

refineries with “clean” baselines to refineries with “dirty” baselines.

These regulations required significant additional reporting by a refinery

which transferred more than a certain percentage of its gasoline produc-
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tion. However, individual refinery baselines apply only to that volume of

conventional gasoline (CG) production equivalent to the individual

refinery’s 1990 CG production. Any volume of CG produced by a

refinery greater than its 1990 CG production must meet the average

emissions of all gasoline produced in 1990 (the statutory baseline).

Health and Environmental Impacts

The clean air benefits of the RFG program will continue to be realized.

The goal of the RFG program is to reduce motor vehicle emissions of

the pollutants that contribute to ozone, or smog, and toxic pollutants,

such as benzene. Smog is formed when VOCs, NOx, and other pollutants such as CO react in the presence of sunlight. The RFG program sets

limits for these pollutants that refiners must meet, regardless of the

oxygenate they choose.

The clean air benefits of the RFG program are significant. The program

reduces smog-forming pollutants by 105,000 tons and toxic pollutants

by 24,000 tons annually. This is equivalent to eliminating the pollution

from 16 million cars every year.

For Further Information

The rule may be downloaded from our web site at http://www.epa.gov/

otaq/rfg.htm For further information about the rule, contact Chris

McKenna at (202) 564-9037.