MSAT2 Questions and Answers

MSAT2 Questions and Answers


Assessment and Standards Division 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

EPA420-F-07-053 

August 2007 
I. Introduction 

This document responds to questions we have received concerning the manner in which 

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to implement and ensure 

compliance with the regulations in the Control of Hazardous Air Pollutants From Mobile 

Sources (“MSAT2”) rulemaking published on February 26, 2007 (72 FR 8428). 

Regulated parties may use this document to aid in achieving compliance with the MSAT2 

regulations. However, it does not in any way alter the requirements of the MSAT2 

regulations. While the answers provided in this document represent the Agency’s 

interpretation and general plans for implementation at this time, some of the responses 

may change as additional information becomes available or as the Agency reconsiders 

certain issues. 

This document does not establish or change legal rights or obligations. It does not 

establish binding rules or requirements and is not fully determinative of the issues 

addressed. Agency decisions in any particular case will be made by applying the law and 

regulations on the basis of specific facts and actual action. 

The EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) posts MSAT2 regulations, 

regulatory supporting documents, Question and Answer documents and other MSAT2 

related documents on the following EPA Internet site: 

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/toxics.htm 

(Look in What’s New or under the specific rulemaking topic for recently published 

regulations.) 

Official Federal Register notices are made available on the date of publication on the 

following Internet site: 

http://www.epa.gov/doc/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/index.html 

II. Early Credit Generation and Benzene Baselines 

II-1. Question: The provisions of §80.1275(d) include a requirement that a refiner must 

show that it is using one of several benzene reduction strategies/technologies listed in 

§80.1275(d)(1) in order to generate early benzene credits. Can a benzene reduction 

strategy/technology that is not listed also be used? 

Answer: The regulations as currently written allow only those benzene reduction 

strategies/technologies listed in §80.1275(d)(1) to fulfill the requirement for §80.1275(d). 

However, we are strongly considering amending the rule to allow us to consider and 

approve the use of other benzene reduction strategies or technologies if they are 

consistent with the intent of the technology requirement for early credit generation. For 

instance, under this potential revision, we would expect to consider benzene alkylation to 
be a strategy that is consistent with the intent of that requirement. We intend to initiate 

rulemaking action on this matter in the near future. 

II-2. Question: With regard to the benzene reduction strategies/technologies listed at 

§80.1275(d)(1), the regulations do not clearly indicate when or where or how a refiner 

should "show" that they have fulfilled this requirement. Please clarify. 

Answer: §80.1354 specifies the requirements for the Annual Gasoline Benzene 

Report. A refiner must submit an Annual Gasoline Benzene Report beginning with the 

first period in which it participates in the gasoline benzene program. (See §80.1354(a) 

and §80.1347(a)(2).) This report must be submitted by the last day of February for the 

prior calendar year averaging period. Since the strategy/technology must be implemented 

in order for early benzene credits to be valid, we believe that the Annual Gasoline 

Benzene Report is the most appropriate place to include the showing that at least one of 

the benzene reduction strategies/technologies listed at §80.1275(d)(1) has been 

implemented since 2005. §80.1354(c) allows EPA to require submission of additional 

information. 

We expect that a refiner will provide a brief but detailed write-up indicating 

which of the listed benzene strategies/technologies it has implemented, and when the 

strategy/technology was implemented or became effective. (Per §80.1275(d)(1), the 

implementation date must have been after 2005.) We encourage refiners to provide any 

additional information related to the planning or installation of equipment that would 

support the refiner’s stated implementation date of the strategy/technology, and “before 

and after” gasoline benzene levels. Note that the use of the technology does not have to 

result in a 10% reduction in average gasoline benzene levels. The amount of benzene 

reduction attributable to the strategy/technology can be a fraction of the required 10% 

reduction, with the rest of the reduction resulting from other means, e.g., ethanol 

blending. 

The write-up described above would not be expected to change from year to year 

because the strategy/technological change only needs to be made once. However, the 

write-up should be included with the Annual Gasoline Benzene Report for each year the 

refiner generates early credits. We intend to initiate rulemaking action to codify this 

reporting process as a regulatory requirement in the near future. 

II-3. Question: What constitutes gasoline suitable for inclusion in a benzene baseline 

application for a foreign refiner? 

Answer: Under this program, a benzene baseline is required for those refiners 

that intend to generate early benzene credits. Such refiners must have produced gasoline 

for sale in the U.S. during the 2004-05 baseline period. For a foreign refiner to be able to 

generate early benzene credits it had to have sent gasoline to the U.S. during 2004-05 that 

it included in its compliance calculations (i.e., the gasoline was Certified-FRGAS). Only 
the foreign refiner’s 2004-05 Certified-FRGAS can be used in determining its benzene 

baseline. 

II-4. Question: How should California gasoline be considered in the development of a 

benzene baseline? 

Answer: Benzene baselines are based on the information contained in the 2004-

05 reformulated gasoline (RFG) and anti-dumping reports. Because information on 

California gasoline is not reported to us, these reports do not contain any California 

gasoline data. Thus, no benzene baseline will "contain" California gasoline. We intend 

to initiate rulemaking action to clarify this aspect of the rule in the near future. 

II-5. Question: Are "blenders" -- that is, parties that blend blendstocks to create 

gasoline -- eligible to generate early credits under the new benzene rule? 

Answer: No; §80.1270(a) limits eligibility to generate early benzene credits to 

refineries that "process crude oil and/or intermediate feedstocks through refinery 

processing units." (40 CFR 80.1270(a)(1)(ii)). Only these types of entities would be able 

to make the kinds of changes required under §80.1275(d)(1) to generate early credits. 

II-6. Question: What information should be included in a benzene baseline submission? 

Answer: Under §80.1285(c)(3), we require that copies of the RFG and antidumping annual reports be included in a refinery’s benzene baseline application. 

We also encourage refiners to include benzene and volume data for each batch of 

gasoline (RFG and conventional gasoline) produced by the refinery during 2004-05. This 

is particularly helpful in reviewing data for the refinery if a company complies with antidumping on an aggregate basis (the annual report reflects combined information and not 

the individual refinery information). We have provided a benzene baseline (submission) 

template on http://www.epa.gov/otaq/toxics.htm which refiners may use as part of their 

baseline submission. This template includes space for batch information. 

III. Inclusion of Gasoline Products 

III-1. Question: How does the benzene standard apply to products subject to 

downstream oxygenate addition, i.e., blendstock for oxygenate blending (BOBs – RBOB, 

CBOB, etc.)? 

Answer: BOBs are included in a refinery’s benzene compliance determination. 

(See §80.1235(a)). Oxygenate added downstream of the refinery is included according to 

the requirements as §80.1238(b). 
IV. Relation to RFG Standards 

IV-1. Question: How do the RFG NOx and toxics emissions requirements change with 

MSAT2? 

Answer: The gasoline sulfur program becomes the sole regulatory means for 

achieving compliance with the RFG and anti-dumping NOx requirements beginning in 

2007. Certain small refiners continue to be subject to the NOx requirements through 

2007, or through 2010, as applicable. (See §80.41(e)(2), §80.41(f)(2), and 

§80.101(c)(3)). 

The gasoline benzene program becomes the sole regulatory means for achieving 

compliance with the RFG and anti-dumping toxics requirements beginning in 2011, or 

beginning in 2015 for approved small refiners. (See §80.41(e)(3), §80.41(f)(3), and 

§80.101(c)(4)). MSAT2 replaces the MSAT1 toxics performance requirements. 

IV-2. Question: How does the 1.3 vol% per gallon RFG cap change with MSAT2? 

Answer: In MSAT2, even though the benzene standard becomes the "sole 

mechanism" for achieving compliance with the RFG toxics performance requirements at 

§80.41, we intended to keep the 1.3 vol% per gallon benzene cap for RFG under the RFG 

averaging standards at §80.41(f) (see footnote 200 at the bottom of page 8498 of the FR 

notice). Because we recognize that some of our regulatory language is ambiguous on this 

point, we intend to initiate regulatory action in the near future to clarify our intent that the 

1.3 vol% RFG cap remains. 

V. Benzene Credit Trades 

V-1. Question: For benzene credits, a maximum of two trades are allowed before the 

credit must be used or retired. Does this also apply to intracompany transfers? 

Answer: An intracompany credit transfer occurs when a credit is passed from 

one facility of a company (i.e., a refiner or importer) to another facility of the same 

company. Intracompany benzene credit transfers under MSAT2 are unlimited. The 

discussion on page 8489 in the preamble to the final rule refers exclusively to transfers 

from refiners and importers to other refiners and importers, and does not address transfers 

between facilities of the same refiner or importer. The regulatory language at 

§80.1295(a)(3) indicates that intracompany credit transfers differ from transfers from one 

company to another. In addition, §80.1295(b)(1)(iii) discusses transfers from the 

generating refinery or importer to another refiner or importer, thus indicating that only 

transfers between companies are limited.