### December 5, 2014



### API Response to request for feedback on EPA’s Draft Tier 3 Technical Amendments

Feedback received by API from our members is listed below. The responses are consolidated with duplicates deleted, and are copy/pasted below; so please excuse the lack of uniformity in the

format of each comment.

Comment 1 Summarized findings are below:

A. Regarding the performance based testing, all the c hanges are consistent with requests made by API previously. I would like to see 80.47 (l) subsections on absolute fuel parameters (sulfur) be more consistent in the non-V CSB nomenclature. Clarification is

needed because there are different rules for VCSB a nd non-VCSB sulfur testing. Recommendations are in yellow below.

B. It should be noted in Section 80.85 Pentane Blender that reporting for pentane addition during VOC season will be required by refiner for e ach refinery. The original language did not require per refinery reporting. (We may ha ve already been reporting as now requested, but wanted to draw attention to this.)

C. In Section 80.163, paragraph b(3), the amount of su lfur contribution by gasoline additives will not be allowed to exceed 3 ppm sulfur maximum. (The existing language requires additive manufacturers to produce additives that do not exceed 3 ppm sulfur per their recommended treat rate. The new language reinforce s this requirement at the blender.) Unfortunately, one of our additives for silver strip is occasionally applied at levels that could contribute up to 8 ppm sulfur max . (Shawn is confirming this.) The subsequent 80.163 paragraph c (which is not in the draft) says that if the addit ive does not conform to the prescribed requirements, then the bl end is subject to all of the requirements in Subpart O including 80.1640, which covers adding new blendstock to previously certified gasoline. We need to investigate if we a re meeting these requirements for our

additized fuel.

Relevant excerpts:

80.47 (l) – from page 8 of draft (l) Qualification criteria for Voluntary Consensus Stan dard Based (VCSB) Method-Defined Parameter Test

Method and Non-voluntary Consensus Standard Based (non-VCS B) Absolute Fuel Parameter of Sulfur in

Gasoline and Butane. (1) (i) Beginning January 1, 2016, the test facility or VCSB include full test method documentation by the Voluntary Consensus Standard Based (VCSB) organizat ion, including a description of the technology

and/or instrumentation that makes the method functi onal. (ii) For Non-voluntary Consensus Standard Based (non-VCS B) Absolute Fuel Parameter of Sulfur in Gasoline and Butane, the test facility or VCSB [the method is non-VCSB] include full test method documentation, including a description of the techn ology and/or instrumentation that makes the

method functional. (2 ) (i) The test facility or VCSB include information reported in the test method tha t demonstrates the test method meets the applicable precision information f or the method defined fuel parameter as described i n this section. (ii) For the non-VCSB absolute fuel parameter of sulfur in gasoline and b utane, the test facility or VCSB include information reported in the test method tha t demonstrates the applicable accuracy criteria as described in §80.47(b)(2) for gasoline and §80.4 7(c)(2) for butane.

### December 5, 2014

From 80.85 – page 13 of draft:

(g) All pentane blended into gasoline during the an nual averaging period must be included in annual av erage compliance calculations by a refiner for the each of its refineriesy

.



### From 80.1613 – page 22 of draft (with additional te xt taken from the full document for context)

. 80.1613 Standards and other requirements for gasoli ne additive manufacturers and blenders.

Gasoline additive manufacturers and blenders must m eet the following requirements: (a) Gasoline additive manufacturers, as defined in 40 CFR 79.2(f), who manufacture additives with a ma ximum allowed treatment rate of 1.0 volume percent or les s must meet all the following requirements: (1) The additive must contribute no more than 3 ppm on a per gallon basis to the sulfur content of gas oline

when used at the maximum recommended treatment rate

. (2) The additive manufacturer must maintain records of its additive production quality control activit ies which demonstrates that the sulfur content of additive pr oduction batches complies with the sulfur requireme nt in paragraph (a)(1) of this section and make these rec ords available to EPA upon request. (3) The maximum treatment rate on the product trans fer document for the additive must state all the fo llowing: (i) The maximum registered concentration. (ii) The maximum allowed treatment rate which corre sponds to the maximum registered concentration. The

maximum allowed concentration must be less than 1.0 % by volume. (b) Any person who blends an additive that meets th e requirements of paragraph (a) in this section int o PCG is not subject to any requirement of this subpart O, excep t the downstream gasoline sulfur standard of §80.16 04(b) and the prohibition in §80.1660(f), if all the following co nditions are met: (1) The person blends the additive to PCG at a conc entration of less than 1.0% by volume. (2) The person does not add any other blendstock or additive except for oxygenates meeting the requirements of §80.1610 and additives meeting the requirements of this section to PCG. (3) The person does not add the additive at a conc entration that contributes more than 3 ppm on a per gallon basis to the sulfur content of gasoline. (c) Any person who blends any additive that does no t meet the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) o f this section, is subject to all of the requirements of this subpa rt O, including the standards and requirements at § 80.1640 that apply to refiners producing gasoline by blending bl endstocks into PCG. (d) Oxygenates subject to the 10 ppm per-gallon sul fur standard and the requirements of §80.1610 are n ot subject to the provisions of this section. On any occasion whe re the additive blender is solely acting as an oxyg enate blender, as defined in §80.2(mm), it is subject to the downs tream gasoline sulfur standard of §80.1604(b) and t he prohibition in §80.1660(e).



### CFR 80.1640

§ 80.1640 Standards and requirements that apply to refiners producing gasoline by blending blendstocks into previously certified gasoline (PCG). (a) Any refiner who produces gasoline by blending b lendstock into PCG, as defined at § 80.2(d), must m eet the requirements of § 80.1630 to sample and test every batch of gasoline as follows: (1) Exclude the PCG for purposes of demonstrating c ompliance with the sulfur standards of this subpart O. (2) To accomplish the exclusion required in paragra ph (a)(5) of this section, the refiner must determi ne the volume and sulfur content of the PCG used at the refinery and the volume of and sulfur content of the gasoline pr oduced at the refinery, and use the compliance calculation procedures in pa ragraphs (a)(3) and (4) of this section. (3) For each batch of PCG that is used to produce g asoline the refiner must include the volume and sul fur content of the PCG as a negative volume and a positive sulfur content in the refiner’s compliance calculations in accord with the requirements at § 80.1603. (4) For each batch of gasoline produced at the refi nery using PCG and blendstock, the refiner must det ermine the volume

and sulfur content of the combined product and include each batch of combined product for purposes of sulfur compliance in the r efinery’s compliance calculations at § 80.1603 without regard to the presence of previously certif ied gasoline in the batch.

### December 5, 2014

(5) The refiner must use any PCG that it includes a s a negative batch in its compliance calculations p ursuant to § 80.1603 as a component in gasoline production during the annua l averaging period in which the PCG was included as a negative batch in the refiner’s compliance calculations. (6) The refiner must also comply with § 80.65(i) wh en producing RBOB or RFG and § 80.101(g)(9) when pr oducing conventional gasoline or CBOB. (7) Any negative annual average sulfur value shall be reported as zero and not as a negative result. (b) In the alternative, a refiner may sample and te st each batch of blendstock when received at the re finery to determine the volume and sulfur content, and treat each blendstoc k receipt as a separate batch for purposes of compl iance calculations for the annual average sulfur standard and for reporting. T his alternative applies only if every batch of blen dstock used at a refinery during an averaging period has a sulfur content that is equal to, or less than, the applicable per gallon cap standard under § 80.1603. (c) Refiners who blend only butane into PCG may mee t the sampling and testing requirements of this sub part O for sulfur by using sulfur test results of the butane supplier, p rovided that the requirements of § 80.82 are met. (d) Refiners who blend only blender grade pentane i nto PCG may meet the sampling and testing requireme nts of this subpart O for sulfur by using sulfur test results of the pent ane supplier, provided that the requirements of § 8 0.85 are met.

Comment 2

There is a discrepancy in the April 28, 2014 public ation that was not addressed in the draft amendment s. Specifically, it is regarding precision criterion f or qualifying alternative benzene test method to D3 606. On page 170 of the document (linked here ), Table VI lists the site precision standard devia tion qualification for benzene as 0.15R (R is reproducibility of D3606 -10).

However, on page 223 (also page 7 of the amendments ), it states that the maximum allowable standard deviation is 0.3 times the reproducibility (R)...of D 3606. So apparently one part of the document specif ies 0.15R and the other part states 0.3R. A correction should be made in the amendments to address the discrepancy.

(i) Precision criteria for approval of the method defined fuel parameter of benzene in gasoline. (1) Precision. Beginning January 1, 2016, for motor vehicle gasoline, gasoline blendstock, and gasoline fuel additives subject to the gasoline standards of this part and MSAT2 standards at §§ 80.41, 80.101, 80.1230, the maximum allowable standard deviation computed from the

results of a minimum of 20 tests made over 20 days (tests may be arranged into

no fewer than five batches or fewer tests each, with only one such batch allowed per day over the minimum of 20 days) on samples using good laboratory practices taken from a single homogeneous commercially available gasoline must be less than or equal to 0.3 times the reproducibility (R), where

### December 5, 2014

‘‘R’’ equals the ASTM reproducibility of ASTM D3606 (Example: A gasoline having a 1Vol% benzene: Maximum

allowable standard deviation of 20 tests
δ 0.3*(0.18 Vol%) = 0.054Vol%).