3928 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 80 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2020–0725; FRL–10019–09– 

OAR] 

RIN 2060–AV07 

Extension of 2019 and 2020 Renewable 

Fuel Standard Compliance and Attest 

Engagement Reporting Deadlines 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to modify 

certain compliance dates under the 

Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). First, 

EPA proposes to extend the RFS 

compliance deadline for the 2019 

compliance year and the associated 

deadline for submission of attest 

engagement reports for the 2019 

compliance year for small refineries. 

The new deadlines would be November 

30, 2021, and June 1, 2022, respectively. 

Second, EPA proposes to extend the 

RFS compliance deadline for the 2020 

compliance year and the associated 

deadline for submission of attest 

engagement reports for the 2020 

compliance year for obligated parties 

and RIN-generating renewable fuel 

producers and importers, and other 

parties holding RINs. The new 

deadlines would be January 31, 2022, 

and June 1, 2022, respectively. 

DATES: Comments: Comments must be 

received on or before March 11, 2021. 

Public Hearing: EPA will hold a 

virtual public hearing on February 9, 

2021. Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for additional 

information on the public hearing. 

ADDRESSES: Comments. You may send 

your comments, identified by Docket ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2020–0725, by any 

of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov (our preferred 

method). Follow the online instructions 

for submitting comments. 

• Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov. 

Include Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR– 

2020–0448 in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, 

Air Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier (by 

scheduled appointment only): EPA 

Docket Center, WJC West Building, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket 

Center’s hours of operations are 8:30 

a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday–Friday (except 

Federal Holidays). 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the Docket ID No. for this 

rulemaking. Comments received may be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. For the 

full EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

http://www.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

Out of an abundance of caution for 

members of the public and our staff, the 

EPA Docket Center and Reading Room 

are closed to the public, with limited 

exceptions, to reduce the risk of 

transmitting COVID–19. Our Docket 

Center staff will continue to provide 

remote customer service via email, 

phone, and webform. We encourage the 

public to submit comments via https:// 

www.regulations.gov or email, as there 

may be a delay in processing mail and 

faxes. Hand deliveries and couriers may 

be received by scheduled appointment 

only. For further information on EPA 

Docket Center services and the current 

status, please visit us online at https:// 

www.epa.gov/dockets. 

EPA continues to carefully and 

continuously monitor information from 

the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), local area health 

departments, and our Federal partners 

so that we can respond rapidly as 

conditions change regarding COVID–19. 

Public Hearing. The virtual public 

hearing will be held on February 9, 

2021. The hearing will begin at 9:00 

a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and end when 

all parties who wish to speak have had 

an opportunity to do so. All hearing 

attendees (including even those who do 

not intend to provide testimony) should 

notify the contact person listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 

February 2, 2021. Additional 

information regarding the hearing 

appears below under SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions regarding this proposed 

action, contact Lauren Michaels, Office 

of Transportation and Air Quality, 

Assessment and Standards Division, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 

Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 

48105; telephone number: (734) 214– 

4640; email address: michaels.lauren@

epa.gov. To register for the virtual 

public hearing, contact Nick Parsons at 

(734) 214–4479 or ASD-Registration@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Does this action apply to me? 

Entities potentially affected by this 

rule, should it become final, are those 

involved with the production, 

distribution, and sale of transportation 

fuels, including gasoline, diesel, and 

renewable fuels such as ethanol, 

biodiesel, renewable diesel, and biogas. 

Potentially affected categories include: 

Category NAICS1 code Examples of potentially affected entities 

Industry ..................................................... 324110 Petroleum refineries. 

Industry ..................................................... 325193 Ethyl alcohol manufacturing. 

Industry ..................................................... 325199 Other basic organic chemical manufacturing. 

Industry ..................................................... 424690 Chemical and allied products merchant wholesalers. 

Industry ..................................................... 424710 Petroleum bulk stations and terminals. 

Industry ..................................................... 424720 Petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers. 

Industry ..................................................... 221210 Manufactured gas production and distribution. 

Industry ..................................................... 454319 Other fuel dealers. 

1 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). 

This table is not intended to be 

exhaustive, but rather provides a guide 

for readers regarding entities likely to be 

affected by this proposed action. This 

table lists the types of entities that EPA 

is now aware could potentially be 

affected by this proposed action. Other 

types of entities not listed in the table 

could also be affected. To determine 

whether your entity would be affected 

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 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules 3929 

a particular entity, consult the person 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

Participation in Virtual Public Hearing 

Please note that EPA is deviating from 

its typical approach because the 

President has declared a national 

emergency. Because of current CDC 

recommendations, as well as state and 

local orders for social distancing to limit 

the spread of COVID–19, EPA cannot 

hold in-person public meetings at this 

time. 

EPA will begin pre-registering 

speakers for the hearing upon 

publication of this document in the 

Federal Register. To register to speak at 

the virtual hearing, please contact the 

person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section. The last 

day to pre-register to speak at the 

hearing will be February 2, 2021. 

Each commenter will have 3 minutes 

to provide oral testimony. EPA may ask 

clarifying questions during the oral 

presentations, but will not respond to 

the presentations at that time. EPA 

recommends submitting the text of your 

oral comments as written comments to 

the rulemaking docket. Written 

statements and supporting information 

submitted during the comment period 

will be considered with the same weight 

as oral comments and supporting 

information presented at the public 

hearing. 

Please note that any updates made to 

any aspect of the hearing will be posted 

online at https://www.epa.gov/ 

renewable-fuel-standard-program/newsnotices-and-announcements-renewablefuel-standard. While EPA expects the 

hearing to go forward as set forth above, 

please monitor the website or contact 

the person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

determine if there are any updates. EPA 

does not intend to publish a document 

in the Federal Register announcing 

updates. 

If you require the services of a 

translator or special accommodations 

such as audio description, please preregister for the hearing and describe 

your needs by February 2, 2021. EPA 

may not be able to arrange 

accommodations without advance 

notice. 

Outline of This Preamble 

I. Background and Extension of Deadlines 

A. Extension of the 2019 RFS Compliance 

Deadline for Small Refineries 

B. Extension of the 2020 RFS Compliance 

Deadline 

C. Corresponding Attest Engagement 

Report Deadlines 

II. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563: Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review 

B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing 

Regulations and Controlling Regulatory 

Costs 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) 

F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

I. Executive Order 13211: Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

J. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) and 1 CFR 

part 51 

K. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions 

To Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low-Income 

Populations 

III. Statutory Authority 

I. Background and Extension of 

Deadlines 

EPA is proposing to amend existing 

regulatory deadlines for small refineries 

under the Renewable Fuel Standard 

(RFS) program to submit reports 

demonstrating compliance with their 

2019 RFS obligations, and to submit 

corresponding attest engagement 

reports. We are also proposing to amend 

existing regulatory deadlines for all 

obligated parties to submit reports 

demonstrating compliance with their 

2020 RFS obligations, and to submit 

corresponding attest engagement 

reports. Finally, we also propose to 

modify the attest engagement report 

deadline for RIN-generating renewable 

fuel producers, RIN-generating 

importers of renewable fuel, and other 

parties owning RINs in order to 

maintain a single attest report deadline 

for 2020. 

For small refineries, we are proposing 

to extend the 2019 compliance deadline 

in light of ongoing uncertainty 

surrounding small refinery exemptions 

(SREs) under the RFS program. We are 

proposing a 2019 compliance deadline 

for small refineries of November 30, 

2021. For the 2020 compliance year, we 

are proposing to extend the compliance 

deadline for all obligated parties 

because we have not yet promulgated an 

annual rulemaking establishing the 2021 

RFS standards. We are proposing a 2020 

compliance deadline of January 31, 

2022. We are proposing a June 1, 2022, 

attest engagement report deadline for 

both small refineries for 2019 and all 

relevant parties for 2020. 

TABLE I.A–1—CURRENT AND PROPOSED ANNUAL COMPLIANCE AND ATTEST ENGAGEMENT REPORTING DEADLINES BY

REGULATED PARTY FOR THE 2019 (AS APPLICABLE) AND 2020 COMPLIANCE YEARS

Regulated party category Current annual 

compliance deadline 

Current attest engagement 

reporting deadline 

Proposed revised annual 

compliance deadline 

Proposed revised attest 

engagement reporting 

deadline 

2019 Compliance Year 

Small refineries .................. March 31, 2020 ................. June 1, 2020 ..................... November 30, 2021 .......... June 1, 2022. 

2020 Compliance Year 

Small refineries .................. March 31, 2021 ................. June 1, 2021 ..................... January 31, 2022 .............. June 1, 2022. 

Obligated parties ............... March 31, 2021 ................. June 1, 2021 ..................... January 31, 2022 .............. June 1, 2022. 

A. Extension of the 2019 RFS 

Compliance Deadline for Small 

Refineries 

The RFS regulations establish 

deadlines for obligated parties with 

renewable volume obligations (RVOs) to 

submit annual compliance 

demonstration reports to EPA, and later 

deadlines for the same parties to submit 

associated attest engagement reports. 

Under existing RFS regulations (40 CFR 

80.1451(a) and 80.1464(d)), obligated 

parties must submit compliance 

demonstration reports for each calendar 

year by March 31 of the following year, 

3930 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

1Renewable Fuels Ass’n v. EPA, 948 F.3d 1206 

(10th Cir. 2020). 

2Order, RFA v. EPA, No. 18–9533 (10th Cir. Apr. 

7, 2020). 

3RFA, Petition for Certiorari, No. 20–472 (U.S. 

Sept. 4, 2020). 

4EPA received a letter from the Small Refineries 

Coalition dated July 30, 2020, requesting that EPA 

modify the 2019, 2020, and 2021 compliance 

deadlines and corresponding attest engagement 

reporting deadlines. The letter suggests that 

uncertainty due to the lack of 2019 and 2020 SRE 

decisions and the unknown 2021 RFS standards 

‘‘make it practically impossible for small refineries 

to plan for compliance.’’ This letter is available in 

the docket for this action. 

5Most small refineries currently have pending 

2019 SRE petitions before the agency. We are 

proposing to extend this flexibility to all small 

refineries because others may submit petitions in 

the future. 

6See 80 FR 33100, 33149 (June 10, 2015); 78 FR 

49823 (August 15, 2013) for discussion of obligated 

parties’ interests in extensions in past actions. 

and associated attest engagements by 

June 1 of the following year. In this 

action, we are proposing to revise 

certain reporting deadlines applicable to 

the 2019 and 2020 compliance years. 

On January 24, 2020, the U.S. Court 

of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued 

a decision in Renewable Fuels 

Association (RFA) v. EPA invalidating 

several SREs granted by EPA.1 The 

small refineries whose SREs were 

invalidated by the court in the RFA case 

sought rehearing from the Tenth Circuit, 

which was denied on April 7, 2020.2

Thus, the Tenth Circuit’s decision was 

not final until after the compliance 

reporting deadline for the 2019 

compliance year had already passed on 

March 31, 2020. Moreover, although the 

rehearing petitions have now been 

resolved in the Tenth Circuit, on 

September 4, 2020, the small refinery 

intervenors in that suit filed a petition 

for a writ of certiorari from the U.S. 

Supreme Court.3 This case is pending 

on the Supreme Court’s docket at this 

time. The resolution of the appeals 

process for the RFA case has the 

potential to impact the availability of 

SREs going forward. Because of the 

uncertainty both leading up to the 

March 31, 2020, deadline and of SREs 

going forward, we do not believe it 

would be appropriate to require small 

refineries to demonstrate compliance 

with their 2019 obligations pending 

ongoing appeals of the RFA decision.4

Therefore, we are proposing to extend 

the 2019 compliance deadline for small 

refineries. We believe that it is 

appropriate to do so only for small 

refineries because it is only the 

compliance requirements of these 

parties that would be affected by the 

outcome of the RFA case.5 All other 

obligated parties’ compliance 

obligations for 2019 remain the same 

regardless of the RFA decision. 

We intend to allow small refineries to 

revisit their compliance reports in the 

time period after this rule is finalized 

and by the new compliance date 

established by this rulemaking. This 

means that if a small refinery had 

decided to carry forward a deficit for 

2019 at the time of the March 31, 2020 

compliance deadline, but then later 

receives an SRE for 2019 or retires RINs 

in accordance with its obligation, that 

initial decision to carry forward a deficit 

will not constitute a carry-forward 

deficit (i.e., failing to meet the 

requirement to retire sufficient RINs as 

described in 40 CFR 80.1427(a)(1)) that 

would make the small refinery ineligible 

to do the same for the following 

compliance year (i.e., 2020) under 40 

CFR 80.1427(b). For small refineries that 

did not submit a compliance report as 

of the March 31, 2020, compliance 

deadline, we intend to treat those 

refineries as having carried forward a 

deficit for purposes of compliance status 

and do not intend to treat these 

refineries as being in noncompliance 

pending the implementation of this 

action to extend the compliance date for 

small refineries. Such small refineries 

would need to submit a compliance 

report to comply with the new 

compliance deadline, unless they 

receive an exemption. 

This proposed extension would apply 

only to those parties who meet the 

definition of small refinery in CAA 

section 211(o)(1)(k) and 40 CFR 

80.1441(e)(2)(iii) for the 2019 

compliance year. This proposal to 

extend only the deadline for parties that 

meet the definition of small refinery is 

appropriate because only a presently 

unknown number of small refineries’ 

compliance obligations will be affected 

by ongoing litigation and it is consistent 

with our eligibility requirements 

regarding SREs. We recognize that in 

recent years we have determined that 

some parties who have petitioned for 

SREs have been deemed ineligible by 

EPA, often due to the refinery’s 

throughput (i.e., more than 75,000 

barrels of crude per day) or the nature 

of their business (i.e., not a refinery). We 

are proposing that the parties that EPA 

has found ineligible because they do not 

meet the definition of small refinery in 

recent years would similarly not be 

eligible for the proposed compliance 

date extension for small refineries. 

We note that all of the existing 

regulatory flexibilities for small 

refineries, including the ability to satisfy 

up to 20 percent of their 2019 RVOs 

using 2018 carryover RINs under 40 

CFR 80.1427(a)(4), and the ability to 

carry forward a deficit from 2019 to 

2020 if they did not carry forward a 

deficit from 2018 under 40 CFR 

80.1427(b), would continue to be 

available to them to demonstrate 

compliance for 2019 at the proposed 

later compliance deadline. Due to the 

ongoing litigation, we take no position 

on the availability of SREs for the 2019 

compliance year. 

B. Extension of the 2020 RFS 

Compliance Deadline for All Obligated 

Parties 

We are proposing to modify the 2020 

compliance deadline for all obligated 

parties. We are doing so because we 

have yet to promulgate the 2021 RFS 

standards, and we recognize the 

importance to obligated parties of 

planning their compliance for a given 

calendar year by understanding their 

obligations for the years before and 

after.6 That is, prior to demonstrating 

compliance with their 2020 obligations, 

obligated parties have a valid interest in 

knowing their 2021 compliance 

obligations. This is particularly true 

given the two-year ‘‘lifespan’’ for RINs; 

such that 2020 RINs can be used for 

compliance with either 2020 or 2021 

obligations. Compliance obligations for 

2021 will remain unknown until EPA 

finalizes the 2021 standards, and at this 

time, EPA has not yet proposed the 2021 

standards. 

We are also proposing to modify the 

2020 compliance deadline to allow 

small refineries who have not yet 

demonstrated compliance with their 

2019 obligations sufficient time between 

each year’s compliance obligation 

demonstration. Modifying the 2020 

compliance deadline to a date after the 

proposed 2019 compliance deadline for 

small refineries will allow for complete 

compliance for 2019 by all obligated 

parties, including these small refineries, 

prior to demonstrating compliance for 

2020. Requiring full compliance with 

the 2019 standards prior to the 2020 

compliance deadline will provide all 

obligated parties and market 

participants with an accurate picture of 

the RIN market, including the 

availability of 2019 carryover RINs for 

compliance with the 2020 standards. 

We are proposing a 2020 compliance 

date of January 31, 2022, for all 

obligated parties. This deadline would 

allow several things to occur prior to 

that compliance date. First, it would 

allow small refineries to complete 

compliance with their 2019 obligations. 

Second, it would provide 60 days 

between 2019 and 2020 compliance 

deadlines to allow for obligated parties 

to make additional RIN acquisitions, 

transfers, transactions, and retirements 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules 3931 

7See 40 CFR 80.1464. 

prior to the 2020 compliance deadline. 

Finally, this deadline would provide 60 

days between 2020 and 2021 

compliance deadlines, allowing the 

2021 compliance deadline to remain on 

March 31, 2022, as currently prescribed 

in our regulations.7

C. Corresponding Attest Engagement 

Report Deadlines 

We are proposing to revise the 

deadline for attest engagement reports 

in 40 CFR 80.1464(g) for small refineries 

for 2019 compliance demonstrations 

and for all obligated parties as well as 

RIN-generating renewable fuel 

producers, RIN-generating importers of 

renewable fuel, and other parties 

owning RINs for 2020 compliance 

demonstrations. 

For small refineries, given the short 

period of time between when small 

refineries will have to demonstrate 

compliance with their 2019 and 2020 

obligations, we do not believe it is 

feasible for them to conduct an attest 

engagement for 2019 between the 

proposed 2019 and 2020 compliance 

deadlines. As such, we are proposing 

that small refineries conduct their 2019 

attest engagement by June 1, 2022. For 

all obligated parties, as well as RINgenerating renewable fuel producers, 

RIN-generating importers of renewable 

fuel, and other parties owning RINs, we 

are proposing that the 2020 attest 

engagement report deadline would also 

be June 1, 2022. We believe this will 

provide all relevant parties with the 

time necessary to conduct their attest 

engagement in a timely manner and on 

a similar schedule. Because attest 

engagements are based on the 

information in the submitted 

compliance reports, sequencing the 

attest engagement to occur after the 

compliance deadline is a reasonable 

approach. We believe that this 

sequencing of reports, and the time 

allowed between them, will allow 

obligated parties to proceed to 

demonstrate their compliance with both 

2019 and 2020 RVOs in a logical and 

orderly fashion with all relevant 

information available and with 

sufficient intervening time so as not to 

pose an increased burden. Although up 

to three years of attest engagements will 

be due on the same day, obligated 

parties would need to submit a separate 

attest reports covering each year. For 

RIN-generating renewable fuel 

producers, RIN-generating importers of 

renewable fuel, and other parties 

owning RINs, maintaining a single attest 

report date for 2020 will alleviate any 

confusion for these parties who also 

need to submit attest engagements. We 

intend to also provide additional 

reporting instructions on our fuels 

reporting web page for the attest 

engagement reports prior to the revised 

deadlines. 

Given the potential for different 

reporting schedules for the 2019 and 

2020 compliance years that we are 

proposing for obligated parties, and the 

multiple considerations we are trying to 

balance across regulated parties, we 

seek comment on whether the proposed 

deadlines are appropriate in light of the 

considerations identified in this action 

and whether there are other specific 

considerations that we should evaluate 

when establishing the 2019 and 2020 

compliance demonstration and attest 

engagement reporting deadlines. 

II. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Additional information about these 

statutes and Executive Orders can be 

found at http://www.epa.gov/lawsregulations/laws-and-executive-orders. 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563: Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review 

This action is not a significant 

regulatory action and was therefore not 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for review. 

B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing 

Regulations and Controlling Regulatory 

Costs 

This action is not expected to be an 

Executive Order 13771 regulatory action 

because this action is not significant 

under Executive Order 12866. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

This action does not impose any new 

information collection burden under the 

PRA. OMB has previously approved the 

information collection activities 

contained in the existing regulations 

and has assigned OMB control number 

2060–0725 and 2060–0723. This action 

proposes only to make a one-time 

change in the compliance dates for 

certain regulated parties and adjusts the 

due date of their compliance reports and 

attest engagements to reflect this 

change. It does not change the 

information to be collected or increase 

the frequency of collection. 

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

I certify that this action will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the RFA. In making this 

determination, the impact of concern is 

any significant adverse economic 

impact on small entities. An agency may 

certify that a rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities if 

the rule relieves regulatory burden, has 

no net burden or otherwise has a 

positive economic effect on the small 

entities subject to the rule. This action 

proposes to extend the RFS compliance 

deadlines. We do not anticipate that 

there will be any costs associated with 

these proposed changes. We have 

therefore concluded that this action will 

have no regulatory burden for all 

directly regulated small entities. 

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) 

This action does not contain an 

unfunded mandate of $100 million or 

more as described in UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 

1531–1538, and does not significantly or 

uniquely affect small governments. This 

action imposes no enforceable duty on 

any state, local or tribal governments. 

Requirements for the private sector do 

not exceed $100 million in any one 

year. 

F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This proposed action does not have 

federalism implications. It will 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. 

G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

This action does not have tribal 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13175. This proposed rule only 

affects RFS obligated parties. Thus, 

Executive Order 13175 does not apply 

to this action. 

H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 

as applying only to those regulatory 

actions that concern environmental 

health or safety risks that EPA has 

reason to believe may 

disproportionately affect children, per 

the definition of ‘‘covered regulatory 

action’’ in section 2–202 of the 

Executive Order. This action is not 

subject to Executive Order 13045 

because it does not concern an 

environmental health risk or safety risk. 

3932 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 10 / Friday, January 15, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

I. Executive Order 13211: Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This action is not subject to Executive 

Order 13211, because it is not a 

significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866. 

J. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) and 1 CFR 

part 51 

This proposed action does not involve 

technical standards. 

K. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions to Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

The EPA believes that this action is 

not subject to Executive Order 12989 (59 

FR 7629, February 16, 1994) because it 

does not establish an environmental 

health or safety standard. 

III. Statutory Authority 

Statutory authority for this action 

comes from section 211(o) of the Clean 

Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7545(o). 

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, Penalties, Petroleum, 

Renewable fuel, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Andrew Wheeler, 

Administrator. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, EPA proposes to amend 40 

CFR part 80 as follows: 

PART 80—REGISTRATION OF FUELS 

AND FUEL ADDITIVES 

■ 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 

■ 2. Amend § 80.1451 by adding 

paragraphs (a)(1)(xiv)(E) and (F) to read 

as follows: 

§ 80.1451 What are the reporting 

requirements under the RFS program? 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(xiv) * * * 

(E) For obligated parties that meet the 

requirements for a small refinery under 

§ 80.1441(e)(2)(iii), for the 2019 

compliance year, annual compliance 

reports must be submitted no later than 

November 30, 2021. 

(F) For obligated parties, for the 2020 

compliance year, annual compliance 

reports must be submitted no later than 

January 31, 2022. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 80.1464 by adding 

paragraphs (g)(7), (8) and (9) to read as 

follows: 

§ 80.1464 What are the attest engagement 

requirements under the RFS program? 

(g) * * * 

(7) For obligated parties that meet the 

requirements for a small refinery under 

§ 80.1441(e)(2)(iii), for the 2019 

compliance year, reports required under 

this section must be submitted to the 

EPA no later than June 1, 2022. 

(8) For obligated parties, for the 2020 

compliance year, reports required under 

this section must be submitted no later 

than June 1, 2022. 

(9) For RIN-generating renewable fuel 

producers, RIN-generating importers of 

renewable fuel, and other parties 

owning RINs, for the 2020 compliance 

year, reports required under this section 

shall be submitted to the EPA no later 

than June 1, 2022. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2021–00204 Filed 1–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 751 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2016–0163; EPA–HQ– 

OPPT–2016–0387 and EPA–HQ–OPPT– 

2016–0231; FRL–10018–67] 

RIN 2070–AK03; 2070–AK11 and 2070–AK07 

Withdrawal of Proposed Rules; 

Discontinuing Three Rulemaking 

Efforts Listed in the Semiannual 

Regulatory Agenda 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed rules. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the 

proposed regulatory requirements 

described in the three proposed rules 

that are identified in this document. 

This document summarizes the 

proposed rules and provides a brief 

explanation for the Agency’s decision 

not to finalize the proposed actions. 

DATES: As of January 15, 2021, the 

proposed rule published on December 

16, 2016 (81 FR 91592; FRL–9949–86); 

the proposed rule published on January 

19, 2017 (82 FR 7432; FRL–9950–08); 

and the portion of the proposed rule 

published on January 19, 2017 (82 FR 

7464; FRL–9958–57) that pertains to nMethylpyrrolidone (NMP) and 

methylene chloride in commercial paint 

and coating removal, are withdrawn. 

ADDRESSES: The dockets are available at 

http://www.regulations.gov or at the 

EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), 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, 

for the OPP Docket it is (703) 305–5805, 

and the telephone number for the OPPT 

Docket is (202) 566–0280. 

Due to the public health concerns 

related to COVID–19, the EPA Docket 

Center (EPA/DC) and Reading Room is 

closed to visitors with limited 

exceptions. The staff continues to 

provide remote customer service via 

email, phone, and webform. For the 

information on EPA/DC services, 

submitting comments and docket 

access, please visit https://

www.epa.gov/dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Katherine Sleasman (7101M), Mission 

Support Division, Office of Program 

Support, Office of Chemical Safety and 

Pollution Prevention, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 

20460–0001; telephone number: (703) 

347–0409; email address: 

sleasman.katherine@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Does this action apply to me? 

This action is directed to the public 

in general and may be of particular 

interest to those persons who follow 

proposed rules issued under section 6(a) 

of the Toxic Substances Control Act 

(TSCA), 15 U.S.C. 2605. Since others 

may also be interested, the Agency has 

not attempted to describe all the specific 

entities potentially interested. 

II. Why is EPA issuing this withdrawal 

of proposed rules? 

This document serves the following 

purposes: 

1. It announces to the public that EPA 

is withdrawing certain proposed rules 

for which the Agency no longer intends 

to issue a final rule; and 

2. It officially terminates the ongoing 

rulemaking activities, which allows the 

Agency to close out the individual 

rulemaking entries for these actions that 

appear in EPA’s Semiannual Regulatory 

Agenda. 

All agencies publish Semiannual 

Regulatory Agendas describing 

regulatory actions they are developing 

or have recently completed. These 

agendas are published in the Federal