U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Central Data Exchange 

User Manual for OTAQ Registration

Version 1.0
EPA-420-B-09-011 

April 2009

Compliance and Innovative Strategies Division 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Prepared for EPA by

Computer Sciences Corporation

EPA Contract No. GS00T99ALD0203

Work Assignment No. T038

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Central Data Exchange 

User Manual for OTAQ Registration

Version 1.0
U.S. EPA CDX User Manual for OTAQ Registration 

Revision History 

Change Record 

Version 

Number Description of Change Change Effective Date 

Change 

Entered By 

1.0 Initial draft 2/10/2008 D. Fox 

1.0 Initial formal deliverable with updates 03/13/2009 EPA/D. Fox/A. 

Marsh 

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Table of Contents 

Chapter 1. User Manual for OTAQ Registration....................................................................1-1

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1.1 Support ........................................................................................................................

Chapter 2. User Registration for CDX....................................................................................2-2

2.1 Obtaining a CDX User Account ...................................................................................2-2

2.2 Obtaining Permission to use OTAQ Registration.........................................................

2.3 Adding OTAQ Registration to Your Existing CDX Account........................................

Chapter 3. Registering with OTAQ Registration as a New User........................................

3.1 User Information ........................................................................................................

3.2 Company Information.................................................................................................

3.3 Facility Information.....................................................................................................

3.4 Completing the Submission .......................................................................................

3.5 A Note on the Submitter Role ....................................................................................

3.6 A Note for Existing OTAQ DC Fuels Submitters........................................................

3.7 Summary ...................................................................................................................

Chapter 4. Using OTAQ Registration ...................................................................................

4.1 Existing User Home Page..........................................................................................

4.2 Update User...............................................................................................................

4.2.1 Update User .....................................................................................................

4.2.2 Edit Company Affiliation ...................................................................................

4.2.3 New Association...............................................................................................

4.3 New Company ...........................................................................................................

4.3.1 Company Details ..............................................................................................

4.3.2 New Company Facilities...................................................................................

4.4 View Company...........................................................................................................

4.5 Edit Company ............................................................................................................

4.6 Nominate User...........................................................................................................

4.6.1 If You Have Been Nominated...........................................................................

Appendix A. Terms and Definitions ..........................................................................................

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List of Figures 

Figure 1. CDX Home Page ........................................................................................................2-2

Figure 2. Registration Warning Page.........................................................................................2-3

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Figure 3. Terms & Conditions ....................................................................................................

Figure 4. CDX User Information Page .......................................................................................

Figure 5. CDX Registration: Organization Information Page .....................................................

Figure 6. CDX Registration: Add Program Page .......................................................................

Figure 7. CDX Registration: Add Program ID page ...................................................................

Figure 8. CDX Registration Success Page ................................................................................

Figure 9. New User MyCDX Homepage ..................................................................................

Figure 10. 'Edit Current Account Profiles' link..........................................................................

Figure 11. Edit Organization Profiles page ..............................................................................

Figure 12. OTAQ Registration Home Page for a New User ...................................................

Figure 13. Calendar Data Entry Tool .......................................................................................

Figure 14. 5 Minute Timeout Warning Popup ..........................................................................

Figure 15. OTAQ Registration User Edit page.........................................................................

Figure 16. User Update Company Search Tab........................................................................

Figure 17. Search Results for Company Search .....................................................................

Figure 18. Enter New Company Info........................................................................................

Figure 19. Facility Search tab ..................................................................................................

Figure 20. Facility Search Results ...........................................................................................

Figure 21. Create New Facility page (Gas/Ethanol Facility). ...................................................

Figure 22. Create New Facility Page (Diesel/Biodiesel Facility) ..............................................

Figure 23. Offsite Record Storage Information ........................................................................

Figure 24. Associated Facilities Listing....................................................................................

Figure 25. 'Review and Submit' button ....................................................................................

Figure 26. Typical Error Messages ..........................................................................................

Figure 27. Review Page...........................................................................................................

Figure 28. Submission Page....................................................................................................

Figure 29. Submission Success Page .....................................................................................

Figure 30. ‘You do not have the Submitter role’ message .......................................................

Figure 31. Existing User Home Page.......................................................................................

Figure 32. Pending User Homepage .......................................................................................

Figure 33. Typical Existing User Home Page ..........................................................................

Figure 34. Edit User Information Page.....................................................................................

Figure 35. Update User Company/Roles Tab..........................................................................

Figure 36. Update User New Association tab ..........................................................................

Figure 37. Existing User New Company Details Page.............................................................

Figure 38. Existing User New Facility Creation Page ..............................................................

Figure 39. New Company Associate with Existing Facility ......................................................

Figure 40. Edit Company - Details Tab....................................................................................

Figure 41. Edit Company – Create/Display Facility Tab ..........................................................

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Figure 42. Edit Company - Associate with Existing Facility tab ...............................................

Figure 43. Nominate User........................................................................................................
U.S. EPA CDX User Manual for OTAQ Registration 

Chapter 1. User Manual for OTAQ Registration 

In accordance with the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA establishes fuel quality standards to 

help protect public health and the environment from harmful gas and particulate matter 

emissions from motor vehicles and engines. The Central Data Exchange (CDX) is the system 

that EPA has provided to all its Program Offices to standardize and centralize all the reporting 

functions and data submissions that are required of the various industries and communities, 

which are regulated by EPA. 

OTAQ has developed the DC Fuels online application to assist the fuel manufacturing 

community to more easily comply with reporting requirements by completing them online. The 

OTAQ Registration online application was developed to assist in this effort by allowing users, 

companies, and facilities to enter and maintain certain required information concerning them. 

This is the User Guide for the OTAQ Registration online application. 

1.1 Support 

CDX maintains a Help Desk for the use of registered users of CDX and those who are in 

process of registering for CDX. They can assist you with getting your account set up initially 

(including the necessary permissions to use OTAQ DC Fuels and OTAQ Registration), and 

assist you with obtaining a Digital Certificate (if you will be submitting information to DC Fuels). 

Additionally, there is a Help Desk specifically for OTAQ DC Fuels and OTAQ Registration, 

intended to assist existing registered users of these two systems who have questions or 

difficulties using them. 

There are three support options available for general and technical questions related to the 

Central Data Exchange (CDX): 

• Telephone - Person-to-person telephone support is available from the CDX Help Desk 

8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (EST). Call our toll-free line at 888.890.1995 and select Option 5. 

• E-mail - Send an e-mail to Technical Support at epacdx@csc.com with “OTAQ Fuel 

Tech Support” listed in the subject line. 

• Fax - Assistance requests are accepted 24/7 at 301.429.3905. Support personnel will 

respond to faxed requests Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Eastern). 

There are two support options available for technical questions related to OTAQ DC Fuels and 

OTAQ Registration: 

• Telephone - Person-to-person telephone support is available from the Verify/OTAQ Help 

Desk 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Eastern). Call our toll-free line at 888.890.1995 and select 

Option 4. 

• E-mail - Send an e-mail to the Verify/OTAQ Help Desk at verifyhelp@csc.com. 

If you have questions about the content, formats, or policies for OTAQ Fuel Submissions 

information, contact EPA at 202.343.9755. You may also find the answer to your question at 

the OTAQ FAQ Pages at http://fuelsprograms.custhelp.com. 

Any suggestions for enhancements to the OTAQ Fuel System or OTAQ Registration direct to 

christian.scott@epa.gov. 

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Chapter 2. User Registration for CDX 

OTAQ Registration is an ‘Open Registration’ system within CDX. What that means is that you 

can register yourself for this application without first having to submit any paperwork or 

coordinate with any external entities. If you already have an account on CDX, please skip to 

section 2.3 on page 2-10. 

2.1 Obtaining a CDX User Account 

The first step is to navigate to the CDX system itself. This is found at: 

http://cdx.epa.gov/epa_home.asp. This page is shown in Figure 1. 

Figure 1. CDX Home Page 

Click the word ‘here’ on the first line – ‘If you are new to CDX and wish to register’. This will 

take you to the Registration Warning Page, shown in Figure 2. 

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Figure 2. Registration Warning Page 

After reading the warning page, click on ‘Click here to continue’. This will take you to the Terms 

& Conditions page, shown in Figure 3. 

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Figure 3. Terms & Conditions 

Carefully read the CDX Terms & Conditions and print a copy for your records. Click on the <I 

Accept> button at the bottom of the “Terms & Conditions” screen to continue. The first of two 

Registration pages will be displayed. See Figure 4 below. Fill out the requested information. 

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Figure 4. CDX User Information Page 

The user name and password must be at least eight characters long. Additionally, the 

password must include at least one number. User name and password entries are restricted to 

letter and number characters. Neither may begin with a number. Neither may contain spaces 

or symbols (e.g., $, #, “, or @). The user name and password should not be the same. 

Note: You will need your user name and password each time you log on to CDX. You will need 

to remember your user name and password. 

Note: Your secret question and answer will be needed whenever you call the CDX Help Desk 

and ask certain changes to your user profile. Please select a question that will be easy for you 

to answer, but hard for others. 

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When you have completed the “CDX Registration: User Information” screen click on <Next>. 

The second of two Registration pages are displayed. This Registration page contains your 

organization information. Please note that this information will not be copied into your OTAQ 

Fuels registration records. See Figure 5 below. Fill out the requested information. 

Figure 5. CDX Registration: Organization Information Page 

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Review and/or complete the Organization Information page, which contains your company and 

contact information, and then click on <Next>. 

2.2 Obtaining Permission to use OTAQ Registration 

Now, the CDX Registration: Add Program page will be displayed. This is a listing of all the CDX 

programs that a user may sign up for without first obtaining permission from the appropriate 

Program Office, are known as the ‘Open Registration’ programs. OTAQ Registration is such a 

program. See Figure 6 below. 

Figure 6. CDX Registration: Add Program Page 

Select the radio button next to “Office of Transportation and Air Quality Fuels Registration 

(OTAQREG)” and then click on <Next>. The CDX Registration: Add Program ID page will be 

displayed. See Figure 7 below. 

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Figure 7. CDX Registration: Add Program ID page 

Note that when you click on the ‘ID’ field you will see a popup message displayed prompting you 

to enter the value ‘N/A’ into that field. This field is used by many of the applications within CDX, 

but not by OTAQ Registration. Nevertheless it is a required field and some value must be 

entered there. You may enter anything you please within reason; it will have no bearing on the 

success or failure of your registration or your subsequent use of OTAQ Registration. 

The CDX Registration Success Page will be displayed. See Figure 8 below. 

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Figure 8. CDX Registration Success Page 

Click on <Finished>. You will receive an e-mail message confirming that you have registered 

for the OTAQ Registration program at CDX. You will be taken to your MyCDX Home Page (See 

Figure 9 below). 

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Figure 9. New User MyCDX Homepage 

At this time, you have completed registering as a CDX user. You have also obtained 

permission to use the OTAQ Registration application. Please click on ‘OTAQREG: Fuels 

Programs Registration’ under ‘Available Profiles’ and proceed to the next section of this User 

Guide. 

2.3 Adding OTAQ Registration to Your Existing CDX 

Account 

If you are already, a user of OTAQ DC Fuels you may want to add OTAQ Registration to your 

existing user account. If you are receiving an error message that reads ‘You do not have the 

Submitter role’ when you attempt to use OTAQ DC Fuels you must sign up with OTAQ 

Registration in order to correct that situation. This is discussed in more detail in Section 3.5. It 

is a good idea to obtain permission to use OTAQ Registration in any case. EPA recommends 

that all OTAQ users obtain an account on OTAQ Registration. 

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To add OTAQ Registration to your user account, log in to CDX and access your MyCDX Home 

Page. Just above and to the right of the phrase ‘Available Account Profiles’ you will find a 

clickable link titled ‘Edit Current Account Profiles’ (See Figure 10 below). Click that link. 

Figure 10. 'Edit Current Account Profiles' link 

You will be presented with the ‘Edit Organization Profiles’ page (see Figure 11 below). Locate 

and click the link entitled ‘Add New Program. 

Figure 11. Edit Organization Profiles page 

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You will be presented with the ‘Add Program’ page as depicted in Figure 6 in Section 2.2 above. 

Continue with the instructions in Section 2.2 to add OTAQ Registration to your account. 

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Chapter 3. Registering with OTAQ Registration 

as a New User 

If your OTAQ Home page looks like Figure 12 below, you have gained access to the OTAQ 

Registration application. Congratulations! If you have not gotten to this page, please review 

your actions performed in Chapter 2 of this document and/or call the Help Desk as outlined in 

Chapter 1. 

Figure 12. OTAQ Registration Home Page for a New User 

This is the Home Page that most users will see the first time they enter OTAQ Registration. This 

is because OTAQ Registration has no record of you yet (using your CDX user id or your email 

address to match you up). Registering for CDX and obtaining permission to use OTAQ 

Registration does not automatically enter your user data in OTAQ Registration. This section will 

explain how to use “New User” to accomplish that. 

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Í Please Note: 

If you DO NOT have a ‘New User’ link on your home page and DO have additional links 

such as “View <Company Name>”,“Edit <Company Name>”, “Nominate on behalf of 

<Company Name>”, and “Update User” (see Figure 26 at the beginning of Chapter 4 

below for an example), then your User Profile has already been entered into OTAQ 

Registration. This is either because a) your User Profile information has been migrated 

from the existing OTAQ DC Fuels application or b) you have been Nominated by 

another user and EPA has approved the Nomination. Nomination is discussed in 

Section 4.5.1, ‘If You Have Been Nominated’, of this User Guide below. 

3.1 User Information 

Click on “New User”. The OTAQ Registration User Edit page should be displayed. See Figure 

15 below. Notice that all the applicable information from your CDX Registration was migrated 

over from CDX into OTAQ Registration. This information is not yet present in OTAQ 

Registration, but will be when you save and Submit this session. 

Items that are required are noted by the presence of a red asterisk (*). Note that the only 

required field that is not already filled out is ‘Position or Job Title’. You must supply this 

information. 

In addition to the required fields, you must select roles for you, the user. ‘Company Viewer’ is 

selected by default. This default role will only allow you to view your Company’s information. If 

you will be maintaining you company’s registration information you must select ‘Company 

Editor’ in lieu of ‘Company Viewer’. If you will be submitting reports you must select 

‘Submitter‘as well. If you will be nominating other, people from your Company to be users you 

must select ‘Nominator’. 

You may fill out any or all of “Middle Initial”, “Valid To Date”, “Address Line 2”, “Alternate Email”, 

“Phone Extension”, “Alternate Phone”, “Alternate Phone Extension”, or “Fax Number”. Note that 

“Valid From Date” has been filled in, defaulted to today’s date. You may edit this if you wish. It 

may be set to today’s date, a date in the past, or a date in the future. If you set it to a future 

date, you will not be able to use OTAQ Registration until that date arrives. 

OTAQ Registration provides a calendar date entry tool as a convenience. This is accessed by 

clicking on the ‘Calendar’ button beside the Valid From and Valid To entry boxes. See Figure 

13 below. 

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Figure 13. Calendar Data Entry Tool 

Please take note of the area at the bottom left of the illustration that reads “Click Here for more 

time:”. The CDX servers enforce a 20-minute timeout policy; if no action is seen in a user’s 

session in 20 minutes, that user is automatically logged out. Unsaved data is lost, and the next 

interaction will be automatically redirected to the CDX Login page. This notification is a 

“convenience function” in that it tells the user how much time is remaining on the timeout clock 

and offers a quick way to reset that clock by clicking on the notification itself. In addition, there 

is a 5-minute warning popup box that has a button to reset the timeout clock. See Figure 14 

below. 

Figure 14. 5 Minute Timeout Warning Popup 

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Figure 15. OTAQ Registration User Edit page 

3.2 Company Information 

After you have filled in your User information, click on the ‘Company Info’ tab at the top of the 

data entry section. The Company Search page will be displayed. See Figure 16 below. 

Every OTAQ user must be associated with one or more companies. As part of New User 

registration, you must either associate yourself with an existing company or enter the data for a 

new company to associate you with. 

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Figure 16. User Update Company Search Tab 

If you are associating with an existing company, you may enter the Company/Entity ID if you 

know it or locate it by searching for it. Your Responsible Company Officer (RCO) will have that 

information. Partial data entries work; for instance, entering ‘bil’ for City will find companies 

located in Billerica, MA and Mobile, AL. See Figure 17 below for an example of searching and 

search results. Clicking on any of the linked company names will result in that company’s 

information being entered in your User Profile data page. It is not editable. 

Í Please Note: 

If you do not search to see if your company exists and EPA finds that you are trying to 

create a duplicate company, EPA may deny your request. At that point, you will need 

to start over. Therefore, it is in your interests to search first! 

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Figure 17. Search Results for Company Search 

If you cannot find your company by searching for it, or know that you need to register your 

company as a new company, click on the ‘Enter New Company Info’ tab at the top of the data 

entry area. The New Company Information page will be displayed. See Figure 18 below. 

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Figure 18. Enter New Company Info 

Enter the appropriate information about your company. All data entry fields are required with 

the exception of Valid To, Address 2 and RCO Phone extension. Make sure to choose all 

applicable entries under Program Type and Business Activities. 

Please review the information under the Help button for definitions of the Business Activities and 

select only the ones that pertain to your Company as per the regulations. If you select any 

activity other than ‘RIN owner’, you must fill out facility information. Biodiesel producers must 

select the ‘Diesel’ program type. 

3.3 Facility Information 

As part of defining a new company, a new user may choose to search for one or more existing 

facilities and associate them with the new company, or define a new facility to associate with the 

new company. This is optional; a new company may be defined and submitted for approval 

without any facilities associated with it, and a company’s facilities may be added, deleted, or 

edited at any time. 

The OTAQ Registration currently has more than 6000 facilities defined in its database. If your 

company is using an existing facility, the chances are good that it is already defined. To search 

for a facility, click on the Facility Info tab at the top of the data entry area on the OTAQ 

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Registration new User webpage. You should see the Facility Information data entry page as 

shown in Figure 21 below. 

Click on the Facility Search tab at the top of the data entry section. The Facility Search page 

will be displayed. See Figure 19 below. 

Figure 19. Facility Search tab 

Enter as much data as you know, then click ‘Search’. Partial data entries work just as they do in 

Company search. See Figure 20 below for an example of search criteria and search results. 

You may choose as many facilities as are appropriate to associate with by selecting the 

checkbox to the left of the name and then clicking ‘Associate with Selected Facilities’. You may 

search more than once to locate and select all the facilities you wish to associate. 

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Figure 20. Facility Search Results 

If you need to define, a new facility then you should enter all appropriate data on the page 

shown in Figures 21 or 22 below, depending on whether you choose to define a Gas/Ethanol 

facility or a Diesel/Biodiesel facility. As with the other data entry screens, the required fields are 

marked with a red asterisk (*). 

Note near the bottom that you must indicate whether you store records for this facility onsite, 

offsite, or both. If you store records offsite, you must fill in some information about the offsite 

storage location and contact. See Figure 23 for details of this. 

Notice the area near the top in Figure 21 and 22 labeled ‘Associated Facilities’. The first time 

you define your company; this is empty except for the ‘Enter New Facility’ button. This indicates 

that there are no facilities currently associated with your company. 

Í Very Important! 

The correct way to define and associate one or more new facilities is to fill out the data 

entry area, then click ‘Add Facility to List’. You must perform this step or your facility 

data will not be transmitted to EPA for approval. 

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When you click this button, the name, city, and state of the facility will be listed in the 

‘Associated Facilities’ box, with buttons to show or delete each facility. See Figure 24 below. If 

you wish to re-edit any facility, click Show and that facility’s information will be displayed in the 

data entry area. Click Delete to delete all information entered about a facility (this is not 

reversible). Click ‘Enter New Facility’ to display an empty data entry area for a new Facility to 

be created. 

Figure 21. Create New Facility page (Gas/Ethanol Facility). 

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Figure 22. Create New Facility Page (Diesel/Biodiesel Facility) 

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Figure 23. Offsite Record Storage Information 

Figure 24. Associated Facilities Listing 

3.4 Completing the Submission 

After you have entered all of your information, you need to review your submission for accuracy 

and then transmit it to EPA for their consideration. The way to do this is to click the ‘Review and 

Submit’ button at the bottom of any data entry page. See Figure 26 below, “Review and Submit 

button” for an illustration of that. 

Figure 25. 'Review and Submit' button 

The system will review your entries for correctness and completeness (only digits in phone 

numbers, all fields marked ‘required’ have been filled in, etc.) If the system detects any errors it 

will place text in red at the top of the page indicating which pages have errors and where the 

errors are on the current page (see Figure 26 below, “Typical Error Messages”). Note that the 

error messages that refer to data on the current page are ‘hyperlinked’; i.e., if you click on the 

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message it will take your cursor directly to the incorrect data and leave you ready to enter 

corrections. (The reference to any other tab is not hyperlinked; you will have to click on the tab 

to navigate to it.) 

Figure 26. Typical Error Messages 

If the system does not detect any errors, then the ‘Review’ page will be displayed. This is a 

read-only copy of all the data you are about to send EPA. See Figure 27 below, “Review Page” 

for an example. 

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Figure 27. Review Page 

Please look it over and make sure that it correctly indicates what you want to send to EPA for 

their consideration. If you need to make any corrections, click the ‘Back’ button at the bottom of 

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the page. If it is correct, click the ‘Submit’ button. You will then get the Submission page (see 

Figure 28 below, “Submission Page” for an example.) 

Figure 28. Submission Page 

Notice that there are some instructions and some mailing addresses. Please read them 

carefully. This is important! You are required to print out a paper document, sign it, and send it 

to EPA. They must receive this to process your application. You may access these documents 

(in .pdf format) via the link contained in the sentence ‘Print the registration forms (click here)’ 

near the bottom of the page. Note that the addresses are also contained in the printed 

documents. 

Í Very Important! 

You must print, sign, and mail these documents! (Or use a delivery service such as 

UPS, Fedex, etc.) EPA will not take any action on your New User submission until they 

are received. 

 After you have printed the documents, please select the button next to the sentence ‘I have 

printed this form and understand that I must mail it properly signed to one of the above 

addresses.’ The system will not allow you to click the ‘Continue’ button at the bottom of the 

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page until you have done so. Only when you click the ‘Continue’ button will the information you 

typed in be submitted to EPA. Please click the ‘Continue’ button. You will then see the 

‘Submission Success’ page (see figure 29 for an example). 

Figure 29. Submission Success Page 

It is now time to mail your documents and wait for EPA to review your New User submission. 

Please give the process a few days for your documentation to be received at EPA and for them 

to review it. You may click the ‘Continue’ button if you wish. You will be redirected to your 

OTAQ Registration Home Page. There will be a message displayed on that page indicating, 

“The system has detected that you have been registered but not yet approved.” 

3.5 A Note on the Submitter Role 

The Submitter role is currently mapped to a separate Web application within CDX. This 

application is known as ‘OTAQ DC Fuels Submission’. In order to submit OTAQ reports via the 

Web, you will need permission to use this application. OTAQ has already ‘granted’ this 

permission by approving your New User submission, Nominee submission, or Update User 

submission that contained the Submitter role as selected for the Company you wish to submit 

for. You will be notified by email once OTAQ has granted this permission. 

However, you will need to call the CDX Help Desk at 1-888-890-1995 option 5 and 

specifically ask for this application to be added to your CDX User Profile once you have 

received this email. They should have received an automatically generated message 

informing them of the OTAQ Approver’s decision and this should be easily done. If not, please 

contact the OTAQ Help Desk at 1-888-890-1995 option 4 and they will assist in sorting out any 

difficulties. Alternatively, you may refer to the DCFUEL User’s guide available at 

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/fuelsregistration.htm 

Please keep in mind that you will have to apply for and receive a Digital Certificate in order to 

successfully submit Confidential Business Information. (All OTAQ Reports are considered CBI, 

unless otherwise noted by the submitter.) In order to obtain the Certificate you will have to print, 

sign, and mail a Digital Signature Agreement. This agreement should have been presented to 

you as part of your registration process. It is also available by selecting ‘Digital Certificate’ from 

the left-side menu of your MyCDX Homepage (after you have obtained the OTAQ DC Fuels 

Submission role). The process of applying for and obtaining a Digital Certificate is explained 

fully in the OTAQ DC Fuels User Guide, which is available from either the CDX OTAQ Help 

Desk or the EPA OTAQ Help Desk. Please note there is a sample letter on the last page of the 

print out that contains the Digital Signature Agreement. This is required for all users that are not 

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Responsible Corporate Officers. Failure to include the letter will delay your registration and may 

delay your company registration. 

3.6 A Note for Existing OTAQ DC Fuels Submitters 

The OTAQ DC Fuels Submission application has been updated to ‘cooperate’ with OTAQ 

Registration. Now, it accesses the data kept by OTAQ Registration to determine which 

Companies a user has the Submitter role for, and presents that information to the user. If the 

user has this role for more than one Company, the user will be prompted to select which 

Company he/she is submitting for on this session. The user will then be prompted to verify the 

RCO information on file for that Company. If the user says ‘Yes’, they will be allowed to 

proceed to the OTAQ DC Fuels Submission application. If the user says ‘No’, they (and all 

users associated with that Company) will be deactivated pending EPA resolution of the RCO 

information. 

Every effort has been made to pre-register all existing OTAQ DC Fuels Submitters with OTAQ 

Registration. However, this was of necessity a manual operation working with imperfect 

information, and some users may not be pre-registered correctly or at all. 

If you have not accessed OTAQ DC Fuels Submission application in some time, you may be 

presented with the following message: “Either your user account with OTAQ Fuels Registration 

has expired, or you do not have the Submitter role for any active, valid companies.” (See figure 

30 below.) If this happens, it is because you do not yet have an active account profile in OTAQ 

Registration. You will need to add the OTAQ Registration role to your CDX Profile as explained 

above and perform a New User submission, remembering to check the Submitter role and to 

search for and select the appropriate Company to associate with yourself. 

Figure 30. ‘You do not have the Submitter role’ message 

3.7 Summary 

The minimum you need to do to submit your user information to the OTAQ Registration system 

is to sign up with CDX, select OTAQ Registration, enter the OTAQ Registration system, select 

New User, provide a Position or Job Title, search for, locate, and select a company to associate 

with, and submit your information for approval. All other data are optional, and can be entered 

later by editing your profile, editing your company, defining new facilities or facility associations, 

etc. 

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Chapter 4. Using OTAQ Registration 

After you have successfully composed and submitted as a New User, EPA will review your 

submission. This will include waiting for your printed and signed copy of the submission 

information, calling you and/or your RCO to confirm details of your submission, or other 

activities. Be sure to print a copy of the .pdf file that was presented to you at the completion of 

your New User submission, sign it, and mail it to the indicated address. 

When EPA approves your New User submission, the roles that you requested will be shown on 

your OTAQ Registration Home Page. (This assumes that EPA did not make any changes to 

your submitted information. EPA can edit any submission before it is approved.) You should be 

able to View one or more companies, Edit one or more companies, and/or Nominate on behalf 

of one or more companies. Figure 31 below presents a typical Home Page with roles displayed 

for two companies. 

If you see a Home Page similar to Figure 32 below, it is because you have submitted your New 

User request but it has not yet been approved by EPA. You may call EPA at 202-343-9755 to 

enquire as to the status, or you may log back in later to see if it has been approved. 

Figure 31. Existing User Home Page 

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Figure 32. Pending User Homepage 

There are 5 general activities possible from the Home Page – Update User, New Company, Edit 

<Company>, View <Company>, and Nominate on Behalf of <Company>. Note that not all 

users will have all of these available to them. 

All users will have Update User. This is the function provided for you to update your own 

information in OTAQ Registration. Additionally, this is where you would associate or deassociate with one or more companies. 

All users (with a few exceptions) will have the Nominate role for each company they are 

associated with. This allows you to start the registration process for another person in your 

company. It is essentially the same as performing a “New User” submission for someone other 

than you. 

Generally, a user will have the View or Edit roles for a given company, but not both. Both roles 

allow access to all the information about a company that is stored in OTAQ Registration, 

including the facilities associated with that company. Edit allows a user to change that 

information and submit the changes to EPA for approval, including information about the 

associated facilities. Editing a company includes being able to associate and de-associate 

existing facilities and define new ones. 

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4.1 Existing User Home Page 

After your New User submission has been approved by EPA, your OTAQ Registration Home 

Page will reflect the roles and permissions that you have been granted. (See Figure 33 below.) 

You should be able to View one or more companies, Edit one or more companies, and/or 

Nominate on behalf of one or more companies. Each of these will be discussed at greater 

length below. 

Figure 33. Typical Existing User Home Page 

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4.2 Update User 

Update User is the name of the function within OTAQ Registration where a user manages his or 

her own information. This would include your name, address, email address, and company 

affiliations. 

4.2.1 Update User 

Every user will have a ‘User Info’ tab and a ‘New Association’ tab. In addition, there will be one 

tab for each company that a user is currently associated with. This tab will display and manage 

the companies that the user is associated with, and the roles that go with each of those 

assignments. Each required field is marked with an asterisk. Since this is not a New User, all 

required data should already be present. The exception to this is if your data was migrated from 

the existing CDX OTAQ DC Fuels submission application. In that case, the first time you edit 

your data you will need to enter a Position or Job Title. Your Valid From date should default to 

the date you first registered in OTAQ DC Fuels. 

Figure 34. Edit User Information Page 

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Í Very Important! 

For now, any time that you edit/update your User Profile EPA requests that you print a 

copy of the Review and Submit screen and have your RCO sign it to indicate his/her 

concurrence. This signed copy MUST be mailed to EPA before the changes will be 

approved. The next release of the software will include functions to assist with this 

process. 

4.2.2 Edit Company Affiliation 

Each Company tab lists the Name and Company/Entity ID of one company you are affiliated. It 

also displays the roles assigned to you on behalf of that company. You may edit these role 

associations via the use of the checkboxes provided. If you select Submitter or Company 

Editor, you must have a signed Digital Signature Agreement on file with EPA/CDX. The system 

will present you with an Agreement and prompt you to print it out, fill it out, sign it, and mail it in. 

Figure 35. Update User Company/Roles Tab 

4.2.3 New Association 

The Update User New Association tab allows a user to request that a new Company association 

be established for him/her. It works the same as the Company Search tab in the New User 

page. The user enters information about the company they wish to associate with and clicks 

Search. A list of companies that match that information is displayed, and the user selects one 

from that list. 

There is no way to request an association to a new Company from this screen. An existing user 

must first perform a New Company submission and wait for EPA to approve the Company 

before being able to associate themselves to that Company. See Figure 36 for the New 

Association tab. 

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Figure 36. Update User New Association tab 

4.3 New Company 

Every user has the ability to submit a new Company for approval/registration to EPA. The New 

Company submission process works very similarly to the process for defining/submitting a new 

Company as part of the New User Registration process. 

Í Very Important! 

For now, any time that you submit a new Company request EPA requests that you print 

a copy of the Review and Submit screen and have that Company’s RCO sign it to 

indicate his/her concurrence. This signed copy MUST be mailed to EPA before the 

changes will be approved. The next release of the software will include functions to 

assist with this process. 

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4.3.1 Company Details 

Figure 37. Existing User New Company Details Page 

Required data is indicated with a red asterisk. One or more Program Type selections are 

required, as is one or more Business Activity selections. 

You may define one or more new Facilities to associate with the New Company at the time you 

submit the New Company. You may also associate the new Company with one or more 

existing Facilities. Neither of these is required; you may define and submit a new Company with 

no Facility information. If the Company is approved by EPA, it is possible to create or associate 

Facilities with it via the use of the Edit Company function. 

Í Very Important! 

The correct way to define and associate one or more new facilities is to fill out the data 

entry area, then click ‘Add Facility to List’. You must perform this step or your facility 

data will not be transmitted to EPA for approval. 

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4.3.2 New Company Facilities 

Figure 38. Existing User New Facility Creation Page 

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Figure 39. New Company Associate with Existing Facility 

4.4 View Company 

View Company is provided so that a User may be allowed to look up and discover information 

about one or more Companies that they are associated with but not be able to edit or change 

that information. Typically a user will not be granted View Company and Edit Company for the 

same Company, as there would be no advantage to having both a read-only and a read-write 

view of the same information. However, selecting both will not cause a problem. 

The View Company screen looks exactly like the Review and Submit screen on the Edit 

Company function, and will not be reproduced here. 

4.5 Edit Company 

This is the function provided to edit the information that OTAQ maintains on every company. Not 

every user will have a role to edit Company information for any or all of the Companies they are 

associated with. Therefore, the “Edit <Company>” menu choice as shown in Figure 33 above 

may or may not be available on your particular OTAQ Registration home page. 

The Edit Company Details page is shown in Figure 40 below. Every required field is marked 

with a red asterisk, and should already be filled in. Note that the Company ID field is NOT 

editable. Make the necessary changes and press ‘Review and Submit’. If no errors are found, 

your edits will be reflected in the read-only page that is presented. If there are errors, there will 

be red error messages at the top of the edit page. Those messages are hyperlinked to the data 

causing the error (you can click on an error message and be taken to the ‘offending’ data 

directly). If there are no errors, you will be presented with a read-only page of data that reflects 

the changes you wish to make. Click ‘Submit’ for your changes to be transmitted to EPA for 

review and approval. 

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The Edit Company page also has an Associated Facilities tab (See Figure 41 below). This is 

where you may review the data concerning each Facility that is associated with your Company. 

At the top there is a list of the associated Facilities. Clicking the ‘Show’ link next to one will 

display the information about that Facility below the list. Clicking the ‘Delete’ link will delete the 

association between your Company and that Facility – not the Facility record itself. At this time, 

there is no way for the Facility data itself to be edited, since Facilities may be shared between 

two or more Companies. 

Again, press ‘Review and Submit’ if you have made any new associations or deleted any 

existing ones. Your changes will be reflected in the read-only page that is presented. Click 

‘Submit’ for your changes to be transmitted to EPA for review and approval. 

Figure 40. Edit Company - Details Tab 

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Figure 41. Edit Company – Create/Display Facility Tab

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Figure 42. Edit Company - Associate with Existing Facility tab

You may also search for an existing Facility record to associate with your Company via the 

Facility Search tab. OTAQ recommends that you try this first, as there are over 6000 Facilities 

already listed in the system. It is likely that the one you need is already in the system, and reusing an existing Facility definition will save time and increase the accuracy of the data in the 

Fuels Registration database by possibly avoiding establishing two records for the same Facility. 

Please see Section 3.3, “Facility Information” above for more detail as to how to use this 

function. 

4.6 Nominate User 

Users may nominate another person to be a user of the OTAQ Registration system. This is 

very similar to the New User function, except that you are entering data on behalf of someone 

other than yourself. In addition, the Registration system will only allow you to Nominate on 

behalf of a Company that has given you permission for this role. That is to say, when you 

Nominate a new user they will automatically receive the Company ID of one given Company 

and you will not have any opportunity to change that. 

Not every user will have a role “Nominate on behalf of <Company>” for any or all of the 

Companies they are associated with. Therefore, the “Nominate” menu choice as shown in 

Figure 33 above may or may not be available on your particular OTAQ Registration home page. 

Figure 43 shows the Nominate User page. The information is the same as for the New User 

function. Required information is designated with a red asterisk. The calendar widget is 

available as a shortcut for entering dates into the Valid From and Valid To fields. 

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Figure 43. Nominate User

Note that since each of the Roles listed is optional (a given user may or may not possess each 

or any of them) it is possible to submit a Nomination without any Roles chosen at all, and this 

will pass the system’s error-checking function. Please remember to select one or more Roles 

for the Nominated person; otherwise, the person will possibly be approved and registered for 

the OTAQ Fuels Registration system, but will not be able to actually do anything when they log 

in! 

As with all data entry pages in the OTAQ Fuels Registration system, press ‘Review and Submit’ 

when you are finished entering data. If there are errors, there will be red error messages at the 

top of the Nominate User page. Those messages are hyperlinked to the data causing the error 

(you can click on an error message and be taken to the ‘offending’ data directly). If there are no 

errors, you will be presented with a read-only page of data that reflects the Nomination you wish 

to make. Click ‘Submit’ for your Nomination to be transmitted to EPA for review and approval. 

4.6.1 If You Have Been Nominated 

If you have been Nominated by another user to become an OTAQ Registration user, you will 

first establish a user account with CDX just the same as if you were entering the system for the 

first time. The first difference is that you will have received an email from the OTAQ Fuels 

Registration system directing you to do so, with a document attached showing the data the 

Nominator had entered concerning you. The second difference will be that you will have an 

OTAQ Fuels Registration Home Page that is already populated with the roles that the 

Nominator selected for you, and you will not have to go through the New User process. Note: 

the OTAQ Fuels Registration system uses your email address as the identifier to discover 

whether you are a Nominee or a New User. This means it is very important to enter it correctly! 
U.S. EPA CDX User Manual for OTAQ Registration 

Appendix A. Terms and Definitions 

Company Editor: 

An individual delegated by the Responsible Corporate Officer who can edit the company's 

registration information and provide the Responsible Corporate Officer with the forms to sign 

and mail in. Not delegating a user to do this will mean that only the responsible corporate 

officer can edit the company's information. 

Company Viewer: 

User with this role can only view the company's registration information. It is suggested all 

users have this role. 

Nominator: 

An individual delegated by the Responsible Corporate Officer who can nominate other users for 

the system and provide the Responsible Corporate Officer with the forms to sign and mail in. 

Not delegating a user to do this will mean that only the responsible corporate officer can 

nominate users to use this system. 

Submitter: 

An individual that can submit reports on a company's behalf. This is a longer registration 

process and the user must further register with EPA to receive a digital signature. This role will 

allow the user to submit information electronically. If the user is not a Responsible Corporate 

Officer, the Responsible Corporate Officer must delegate them and accept responsibility for the 

user's reports as instructed. 

Valid From: 

Date the user may begin using the system. 

Valid To: 

Date the user's access to the system is no longer valid. 

Responsible Corporate Officers, Business Owners and Delegated Individuals: 

The various fuels reporting programs implemented by the Office of Transportation and Air 

Quality (OTAQ) contain regulatory language requiring that reports submitted to EPA be signed 

and certified by a responsible corporate officer (RCO) or owner. 

The Fuels Reporting Program, implemented using EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX), 

provides an electronic reporting method that is secure and completely paperless. An RCO or 

owner establishes a personal CDX account and applies for and obtains a digital certificate. The 

digital certificate enables the RCO or owner to electronically sign and certify reports submitted 

to EPA. Alternately, EPA will accept reports that are signed by someone to whom the 

responsibility is delegated by an RCO or owner. One or more individuals, who are employees 

of the company, and who are familiar with the information being submitted, may be named by 

an RCO or owner, if the delegations are made in writing, on company letterhead. The letter 

must be signed by an RCO or owner and must include a statement acknowledging that, the 

RCO or owner and their delegate(s), are responsible for report information submitted. The 

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2

following information must be provided for each person to whom reporting authority is 

delegated: 

Each person to whom reporting authority is delegated by an RCO or owner will be required to 

set up a personal CDX account, apply for, and obtain a digital certificate, enabling them to 

electronically sign and certify reports submitted to EPA. 

Responsible Corporate Officers may also delegate reporting to a third party non-employee, for 

example, a consultant who prepares reports or the company lawyer. In order to do so the RCO 

must follow the instructions on the CDX Information page. 

Programs (Select all that apply) 

Title 40 CFR Part 80 Registration is based on programs you must report to comply with. For 

example, if you are from a company that only blends renewable fuel into gasoline and is going 

to take ownership of Renewable Identification Numbers, you only need to select RFS. 

However, if you were a blender of gasoline blendstocks you would need to also select gasoline 

and comply with the gasoline programs. 

Gasoline (Registration for compliance with Subparts D, E, G, H, J, and L). 

Diesel (Registration for compliance with Subpart I, please note all Biodiesel producers must 

comply with part I). 

Renewable Fuel Standard (Registration for compliance with Subpart K). 

Business Activities (Select all that apply) 

Refiner (All programs; Refiner of petroleum products, see 80.2). 

Biodiesel Producer (Subparts I and K only; Producer of Biodiesel, see 80.1101(h)). 

Oxygenate Blender (Subpart D only). 

RIN Generator (Subpart K only, must be selected by all who import or produce renewable fuel 

as defined by Subpart K). 

Pipeline/Pass-Through Terminal (Subpart I only). 

Truck Loading Terminal (Subpart I only). 

Importer (All programs; Importer of petroleum products, see 80.2). 

Transmix (Subpart I only). 

Independent Lab (Gasoline Programs only). 

RIN Owner (Subpart K only, must be selected by all who register under subpart K) 

Mobile Facility (Subpart I only). 

Renewable Diesel (Subparts I and K only, see 80.1101(i)).