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Regulatory

Announcement

Office of Transportation

and Air Quality

EPA420-F-06-036

May 2006

Proposed Boutique Fuels List 

Under Section 1541(b) of the Energy 

Policy Act and Request for Public 

Comment

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) requires the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) to publish a Federal Register notice listing 

fuels that were approved in all State Implementation Plans (SIPs) 

as of September 1, 2004. The list includes the states and Petroleum 

Administration for Defense Districts (PADDs) where the fuels are used. 

Publication of the list is intended to reduce the number of different fuels 

required around the country and thus increase the fungibility of fuels.

Background

The EPAct requires EPA, in consultation with the Department of Energy, to determine the total number of fuels approved into all SIPs as of 

September 1, 2004. The EPAct also requires EPA to publish a list of such 

fuels (often referred to as “boutique fuels”), including the states and 

PADDs in which they are used, for public review and comment. EPA is 

publishing the list, as required by Congress, along with an explanation 

of the Agency's rationale in developing it.

Under the Clean Air Act, state fuels programs respecting a fuel characteristic component that we have regulated under section 211(c)(1) are 

preempted. EPA may waive preemption through approval of the fuel 

program into a SIP. Approval into a SIP requires that the fuel program 

is necessary to achieve the National Ambient Air Quality Standard 
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(NAAQS). “Necessary” means that no other reasonable measures exist 

that would bring about timely attainment. 

The EPAct places additional restrictions on our authority to waive preemption by approving a state fuel into a SIP. These restrictions are: 1) we 

may not approve a state fuel program into a SIP if it would cause an increase in the “total number of fuels” approved into SIPs as of September 

1, 2004; 2) if approval would not increase the “total number of fuels,” we 

must find that the new fuel will not cause supply or distribution problems 

or have significant adverse impacts on fuel “producibility” in the affected 

or contiguous areas; and 3) we may not approve a state fuel unless that 

fuel is already approved in at least one SIP in the applicable PADD.

The EPAct requires EPA to determine the “total number of fuels” in order 

to generate a list for public comment. The term “total number of fuels” is 

not defined in the EPAct. EPA believes that it may be interpreted in two 

basic ways: by a fuel type interpretation or by a state specific interpretation. Under a fuel type interpretation, the total number of fuels is determined by the number of different types of fuels. Under a State specific 

interpretation, each individual state fuel is counted. 

As explained in detail in the Federal Register notice, EPA prefers the 

fuel type interpretation. We believe this approach appropriately balances 

the concerns at the heart of the EPAct provision while preserving some 

ability for states to adopt state fuel programs that can be useful in attaining the NAAQS. To aid the public in commenting, we have generated a 

fuels list based upon each interpretation - a list comprised of seven different types of fuels, as well as a list comprised of the 12 individual state 

fuels.

Health and Environmental Impacts

The clean air and human health benefits of fuels programs will continue 

to be realized. Many fuels programs are designed to address ground level 

ozone or “smog” and to reduce toxic emissions from the fuel burned in 

cars and trucks. Smog threatens millions of Americans each year with 

respiratory problems, and is particularly dangerous to children, who are 

increasingly at risk to asthma attacks.

Fungibility of Fuels

The boutique fuel provision in the EPAct makes an effort to reduce the 

number of different fuels required around the country and thus increase 
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the fungibility of fuels. Most fuels travel through common carrier pipelines based upon general specifications, most of which are dictated 

seasonally and by regulation. Terminals have limited storage tanks. The 

proliferation of different fuels creates a serious challenge to production, 

distribution, and storage, especially during times of disruption such as 

refinery shutdowns or weather related damage. The list and the EPAct 

limitations placed upon EPA’s ability to approve future fuels in SIPs are 

intended by Congress to limit further expansion of boutique fuels.

For More Information

You can access the Federal Register Notice on EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality Web site at:

www.epa.gov/otaq/boutique.htm

For further information, please contact Anne Pastorkovich at:

 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

 Office of Transportation and Air Quality (6406J)

 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

 Washington, DC 20460

 (202) 343-9623

 E-mail: pastorkovich.anne-marie@epa.gov