17660 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 56 / Friday, March 22, 2013 / Notices 

1The tailpipe GHG emissions used for 

compliance with the CO2 standards described in 40 

CFR 86.1818 are the carbon-containing emissions 

(generally, CO2, hydrocarbons, and carbon 

monoxide), which are summed based on the carbon 

weight fraction of each component into a value 

described in the regulations as the ‘‘carbon-related 

exhaust emissions’’ (CREE). For simplicity, 

however, in this notice we are using the term CO2

instead of CREE, as CO2 is more broadly understood 

and makes up the vast majority of the total carbon 

emissions from vehicles. 

Dated: March 4, 2013. 

Chandler Sirmons, 

Acting Director, Information Management 

Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and 

Toxics. 

[FR Doc. 2013–06684 Filed 3–21–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9792–9] 

Draft Guidance for E85 Flexible Fuel 

Vehicle Weighting Factor for Model 

Years 2016–2019 Vehicles Under the 

Light-Duty Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

Program 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: EPA is requesting comment 

on draft EPA guidance to auto 

manufacturers for weighting the 

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a 

flexible fuel vehicle operating on E85 

with the GHG emissions of the vehicle 

operating on conventional gasoline, 

when calculating the compliance value 

to use for EPA’s GHG emissions 

standards. EPA also invites comment on 

the analysis used by EPA to determine 

the weighting factor. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 22, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2013–0120, by one of the 

following methods: 

• On-Line at http:// 

www.regulations.gov: Follow the OnLine Instructions for Submitting 

Comments. 

• Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 566–1741. 

• Mail: Air and Radiation Docket, 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2013– 

0120, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Mailcode: 6102T, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. Please include a total of two 

copies. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, 

Public Reading Room, EPA West 

Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

Such deliveries are only accepted 

during the Docket’s normal hours of 

operation, and special arrangements 

should be made for deliveries of boxed 

information. 

On-Line Instructions for Submitting 

Comments: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2013– 

0120. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http:// 

www.regulations.gov or email. 

The http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, 

which means EPA will not know your 

identity or contact information unless 

you provide it in the body of your 

comment. If you send an email 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through http://www.regulations.gov, 

your email address will automatically 

be captured and included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the public 

docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http:// 

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Materials relevant to this proceeding 

are contained in the Air and Radiation 

Docket and Information Center, 

maintained in Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2013–0120. Publicly available 

docket materials are available either 

electronically through http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Air and Radiation Docket in the EPA 

Headquarters Library, EPA West 

Building, Room 3334, located at 1301 

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC. The Public Reading Room is open 

to the public on all federal government 

work days from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 

generally, it is open Monday through 

Friday, excluding holidays. The 

telephone number for the Reading Room 

is (202) 566–1744. The Air and 

Radiation Docket and Information 

Center’s Web site is http://www.epa.gov/ 

oar/docket.html. The electronic mail 

(email) address for the Air and 

Radiation Docket is: a-and-rdocket@epa.gov, the telephone number 

is (202) 566–1742, and the fax number 

is (202) 566–9744. An electronic version 

of the public docket is available through 

the federal government’s electronic 

public docket and comment system. 

You may access EPA dockets at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. After opening the 

http://www.regulations.gov Web site, 

enter EPA–HQ–OAR–2013–0120 in the 

‘‘Enter Keyword or ID’’ fill-in box to 

view documents in the record. Although 

a part of the official docket, the public 

docket does not include Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Roberts French, Environmental 

Protection Specialist, Office of 

Transportation and Air Quality, 

Compliance Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 

Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 

48105. Telephone: (734) 214–4380. Fax: 

(734) 214–4869. Email address: 

french.roberts@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Under EPA’s greenhouse gas (GHG) 

program for passenger automobiles and 

light trucks, starting with the 2016 

model year, the regulations describe two 

pathways for determining the GHG 

value for flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) 

that run either on gasoline or on E85 (a 

fuel mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 

15 percent gasoline). The default 

approach is to use the GHG emissions 

of the vehicle operated solely on 

gasoline (see 40 CFR 600.510–12). The 

alternative is to combine the gasoline 

and E85 GHG values together in a way 

that accounts for real-world use of E85 

by using a weighting factor.1 When the 

weighting factor is used, the emissions 

value used for the vehicle model in the 

fleet average calculations would be 

determined by weighting the gasoline 

and E85 values of the model together 

using the specified factor (see 40 CFR 

600.510–12(k)). 

EPA’s regulations establish two 

different approaches that may be used to 

determine the value of the weighting 

factor. Manufacturers may request that 

EPA determine and publish by guidance 

an appropriate value for the E85 

weighting factor based on EPA’s 

assessment of the real-world use of E85. 

Alternatively, a manufacturer may 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 56 / Friday, March 22, 2013 / Notices 17661 

submit data demonstrating the actual 

real-world use of E85 by its vehicles. 

EPA would determine whether the data 

is adequate and what an appropriate 

weighting factor should be for the 

manufacturer. 

In mid-2012, manufacturers requested 

that EPA provide a weighting factor to 

use for 2016 and later model year 

vehicles. EPA has assessed the 

weighting factor that would be 

appropriate to use and intends to issue 

guidance to vehicle manufacturers 

regarding the E85 weighting factor 

(called the F factor) that may be used by 

manufacturers for weighting the CO2 of 

FFVs using E85 and conventional 

gasoline. EPA intends to establish the 

weighting factor for the 2016 model 

year. The weighting factor may also be 

used for the 2017–2019 model years 

unless EPA takes action to revise the 

factor for the later model years based on 

new information or data. 

EPA seeks input by the public prior 

to our issuing final F factor guidance, 

and requests comment on the value that 

we have determined and on the 

methodology used to derive this value. 

We have placed a draft guidance letter, 

including a support document 

attachment that provides additional 

background and describes the 

methodology used by EPA to determine 

the weighting factor, in the EPA Air 

Docket EPA–HQ–OAR–2013–0120 and 

available at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/ 

regs/ld-hwy/greenhouse/ld-ghg.htm. 

The draft guidance letter provides for 

use of a weighting factor of 0.2. 

Interested parties should submit 

comments according to the guidelines 

described in this notice. After fully 

considering the comments we receive, 

we will issue a final guidance 

document. 

II. Procedures for Public Participation 

EPA will keep the record open until 

April 22, 2013. All information will be 

available for inspection at the EPA Air 

Docket No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2013–0120. 

Persons with comments containing 

proprietary information must 

distinguish such information from other 

comments to the greatest extent possible 

and label it as ‘‘Confidential Business 

Information’’ (‘‘CBI’’). If a person 

making comments wants EPA to base its 

decision on a submission labeled as CBI, 

then a non-confidential version of the 

document that summarizes the key data 

or information should be submitted to 

the public docket. To ensure that 

proprietary information is not 

inadvertently placed in the public 

docket, submissions containing such 

information should be sent directly to 

the contact person listed above and not 

to the public docket. Information 

covered by a claim of confidentiality 

will be disclosed by EPA only to the 

extent allowed, and according to the 

procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. 

If no claim of confidentiality 

accompanies the submission when EPA 

receives it, EPA will make it available 

to the public without further notice to 

the person making comments. 

Dated: March 15, 2013. 

Christopher Grundler, 

Director, Office of Transportation and Air 

Quality, Office of Air and Radiation. 

[FR Doc. 2013–06657 Filed 3–21–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9792–7] 

Proposed Reissuance of a General 

NPDES Permit for Oil and Gas 

Exploration Facilities in the Federal 

Waters of Cook Inlet—Permit Number 

AKG–28–5100 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. Proposed reissuance of a 

general permit. 

SUMMARY: The EPA proposes to reissue 

the National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) for Oil and 

Gas Exploration Facilities in Federal 

Waters of Cook Inlet (AKG 31–5000). As 

proposed, the permit would authorize 

certain discharges of pollutants into 

Cook Inlet Federal Waters from oil and 

gas exploration facilities subject to 

limits and requirements designed to 

minimize pollution and protect water 

quality. 

DATES: Comments. Interested persons 

may submit comments on the proposed 

reissuance of the general permit to EPA, 

Region 10 at the address below. 

Comments must be postmarked by May 

21, 2013. 

Public Hearings. Public Hearings are 

scheduled for the following dates, and 

locations: 

(1) Kenai, AK on April 29, 2013, 6:00 to 

9:00 p at the Kenai Chamber of 

Commerce and Visitors Center, 11471 

Kenai Spur Hwy, Kenai, AK 99611 

(2) Homer, AK on April 30, 2013 at the 

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife 

Refuge Island & Ocean Visitor Center 

Auditorium, 95 Sterling Highway, 

Suite 1, Homer, AK 99603 

(3) Anchorage, AK on May 2, 2013 at the 

University of Alaska Gorsuch 

Commons Building, Conference Room 

106, 3700 Sharon Gagnon Lane, 

Anchorage, AK 98508 

All hearings will begin at 6:00 p.m. 

and will continue until all testimony is 

heard or until 9:00 p.m., whichever is 

earlier. Hearing statements may be 

provided orally or in written format. 

Commenters providing oral testimony 

are encouraged to provide written 

statements to ensure accuracy of the 

record. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed 

general permit reissuance should be 

sent to the attention of the Director, 

Office of Water & Watersheds, EPA— 

Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue Suite 900 

OWW–130, Seattle, WA 98101. 

Comments may also be submitted 

electronically to godsey.cindi@epa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Copies of the proposed general permit, 

Fact Sheet and Ocean Discharge Criteria 

Evaluation are available upon request. 

Requests may be made to Audrey 

Washington at (206) 553–0523 or to 

Cindi Godsey at (907) 271–6561. 

Requests may also be electronically 

mailed to: washington.audrey@epa.gov 

or godsey.cindi@epa.gov. These 

documents may also be found on the 

EPA Region 10 Web site at http:// 

yosemite.epa.gov/r10/WATER.NSF/ 

NPDES+Permits/DraftPermitsAK. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

existing NPDES General Permit for Oil 

and Gas Exploration, Development and 

Production Facilities Located in State 

and Federal Waters in Cook Inlet, 

NPDES Permit No. AKG–31–5000 (2007 

Permit) expired on July 2, 2012. The 

2007 Permit authorized discharges from 

19 facilities, all located in State Waters, 

and continues in effect for facilities that 

applied in a timely manner. The 2007 

Permit for discharge to State Waters was 

transferred to Alaska Department of 

Environmental Conservation (ADEC) in 

2013 following resolution of a permit 

appeal pursuant to the Memorandum of 

Agreement between EPA and ADEC. 

Once ADEC reissues permits that cover 

the discharges to State Waters, coverage 

under the 2007 permit will end. As 

proposed, the EPA’s Permit AKG 28– 

5100 would reissue the exploration 

component of the 2007 Permit in 

Federal Waters. Concurrently, ADEC is 

taking action to reissue the exploration 

permit in State Waters. 

Executive Order 12866: The Office of 

Management and Budget exempts this 

action from the review requirements of 

Executive Order 12866 pursuant to 

Section 6 of that order. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act: Under the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq., a Federal agency 

must prepare an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis ‘‘for any proposed 

rule’’ for which the agency ‘‘is required 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES