Regulatory Announcement

EPA Proposes 2012 Renewable Fuel 

Standards and 2013 Biomass-Based 

Diesel Volume 

Introduction 

Under the Clean Air Act Section 211(o), as amended by the Energy Independence 

and Security Act of 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required 

to set the annual standards under the Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS) each 

November for the following year based on gasoline and diesel projections from the 

Energy Information Administration (EIA). EPA is also required to set the cellulosic 

biofuel standard each year based on the volume projected to be available during 

the following year, using EIA projections and assessments of production capability 

from industry. This regulatory action proposes these annual standards for cellulosic, 

biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuels that apply to all 

gasoline and diesel produced or imported in year 2012. 

EPA is also required to determine and promulgate the applicable volume of biomassbased diesel that will be required in 2013 and beyond, as the statute does not specify 

the applicable volumes for years after 2012. In today’s action we are proposing an 

applicable volume of 1.28 billion gallons for biomass-based diesel (BBD) for 2013. 

We are proposing this volume for 2013 based on consideration of the factors specified 

in the statute, including a consideration of biodiesel production, consumption, and 

infrastructure issues. As required under the statute, we also assessed the likely impact 

of BBD production and use in a variety of areas, including climate change, energy 

security, the agricultural sector, air quality, and others. 

In today’s action we are also proposing a number of changes to the RFS regulations. 

These proposed changes are intended to: 

•	 Clarify certain provisions because we have learned that there is some confusion 

among some regulated parties 

•	 Clarify the application of certain provisions to unique circumstances 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality 

EPA-420-F-11-018 

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Regulatory Announcement 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•	 Provide greater specificity in the definition of certain terms 

•	 Correct regulatory language that inadvertently misrepresented our intent 

Finally, today’s rule also proposes to make a minor amendment to the gasoline benzene regulations 

regarding inclusion of transferred blendstocks in a refinery’s early benzene credit generation 

calculations. 

General Background 

EPA is required to determine and publish the applicable annual renewable fuel percentage standards 

for each compliance year by November 30 of the previous year. Determining the applicable standards 

under RFS requires EPA to conduct an in-depth evaluation of the volume of qualifying cellulosic 

biofuel that can be made available the following year. If the projected available volume of 

cellulosic biofuel is less than the required volume specified in the statute, EPA must lower the 

required volume used to set the annual cellulosic biofuel percentage standard to the projected 

available volume. EPA must also determine whether the advanced biofuel and/or total renewable fuel volumes should be reduced by the same or a lesser amount. The proposed rule provides 

EPA’s evaluation of the projected production of cellulosic biofuel for 2012, and the proposed 

percentage standards for compliance year 2012. 

Also, for years after 2012, EPA must determine the applicable volume of biomass-based diesel 

at least 14 months prior to the year in which the volume will be required. Thus, for the 2013 

compliance year, we must specify the applicable volume of biomass-based diesel by November 1, 

2011. 

Proposed Percentage Standards for 2012 

To calculate the proposed percentage standard for cellulosic biofuel for 2011, EPA used a volume 

of 3.55 - 15.7 million ethanol-equivalent gallons. EPA is also proposing that the applicable 

volumes for biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for 2012 will be 

those specified in the statute. These volumes are shown in Table 1. 

Table 1 

Proposed Volumes for 2012 

Actual Volume Ethanol Equivalent Volumea 

Cellulosic biofuel 3.45 - 12.9 mill gal 3.55 - 15.7 mill gal 

Biomass-based diesel 1.0 bill gal 1.5 bill gal 

Advanced biofuel 2.0 bill gal 2.0 bill gal 

Renewable fuel 15.2 bill gal 15.2 bill gal a Biodiesel and cellulosic diesel have equivalence values of 1.5 and 1.7 ethanol equivalent gallons respectively. As a result, ethanol-equivalent 

volumes are larger than actual volumes for cellulosic biofuel and biomass-based diesel. 

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Regulatory Announcement 

The volumes in Table 1 are the minimum that would need to be consumed in the U.S. Insofar 

as excess volumes of cellulosic biofuel or biomass-based diesel were to be consumed, they would 

count towards the advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel volume requirements. 

Four separate standards are required under the RFS program, corresponding to the four separate 

volume requirements shown in Table 2. The percentage standards represent the ratio of renewable 

fuel volume to non-renewable gasoline and diesel volume. Thus, in 2012 about 9% of all fuel used 

will be from renewable sources. The proposed standards for 2012 are shown in Table 2. 

Table 2 

Proposed Percentage Standards for 2012 

Cellulosic biofuel 0.002 to 0.010% 

Biomass-based diesel 0.91% 

Advanced biofuel 1.21% 

Renewable fuel 9.21% 

Finally, in today’s action we are proposing an applicable volume of 1.28 billion gallons for 

biomass-based diesel (BBD) for 2013. This is the volume that was projected for 2013 in the RFS 

final rulemaking. 

For More Information 

For more information on this proposal, please visit the RFS website at: 

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels 

To submit a question on the RFS program, and to view Frequently Asked Questions, please visit: 

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/compliancehelp/index.htm 

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