Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 8, 2022 / Notices 34873 

3CAA section 211(o)(9)(B)(ii). 4 ‘‘April 2022 Denial of Petitions for RFS Small 

Refinery Exemptions,’’ EPA–420–R–22–005, April 

2022; ‘‘June 2022 Denial of Petitions for RFS Small 

Refinery Exemptions,’’ EPA–420–R–22–011, June 

2022 (hereinafter the ‘‘SRE Denials’’). 5 ‘‘June 2022 Alternative RFS Compliance 

Demonstration Approach for Certain Small 

Refineries,’’ EPA–420–R–22–012, June 2022. 

6 87 FR 24294 (April 25, 2022). 

7 ‘‘April 2022 Alternative RFS Compliance 

Demonstration Approach for Certain Small 

Refineries,’’ EPA–420–R–22–006, April 2022. 

8Sinclair Wyoming Refining Co. v. EPA, No. 19– 

1196 (D.C. Cir.), Dec. 8, 2021 Order, Doc. No. 

1925942. 

9The June 2022 Compliance Action covers a total 

of 34 SRE petitions; however, the three additional 

SRE petitions were all submitted by small refineries 

that were previously covered in the April 2022 

Compliance Action. Thus, the June 2022 

Compliance Action still applies to 31 small 

refineries. 

10 In deciding whether to invoke the exception by 

making and publishing a finding that this final 

action is based on a determination of nationwide 

scope or effect, the Administrator has also taken 

into account a number of policy considerations, 

including his judgment balancing the benefit of 

obtaining the D.C. Circuit’s authoritative centralized 

review versus allowing development of the issue in 

other contexts and the best use of Agency resources. 

11 In the report on the 1977 Amendments that 

revised section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, Congress 

noted that the Administrator’s determination that 

the ‘‘nationwide scope or effect’’ exception applies 

would be appropriate for any action that has a 

scope or effect beyond a single judicial circuit. See 

H.R. Rep. No. 95–294 at 323, 324, reprinted in 1977 

U.S.C.C.A.N. 1402–03. 

1The CAA defines a small refinery as ‘‘a refinery 

for which the average aggregate daily crude oil 

throughput for a calendar year . . . does not exceed 

75,000 barrels.’’ CAA section 211(o)(1)(K). 

factors.3 In separate actions announced 

on April 7, 2022, and June 3, 2022, EPA 

denied 36 and 69 small refinery 

exemption (SRE) petitions, respectively, 

for the 2016–2021 compliance years by 

finding the petitioning small refineries 

did not face DEH caused by compliance 

with the RFS program.4 Forty-one of 

those 105 SRE petitions were for the 

2016, 2017, or 2018 compliance years, 

and 34 of those 41 SRE petitions had 

previously been granted, and those 

decisions were reversed on remand. It is 

the 2016, 2017, and 2018 RFS renewable 

volume obligations (RVOs or ‘‘RFS 

obligations’’) created by the denial of 

these 34 SRE petitions that are the 

subject of the June 2022 Compliance 

Action.5

II. Compliance Action 

Concurrent with issuing the April 

2022 SRE Denial on April 7, 2022, EPA 

announced 6 the availability of the April 

2022 Compliance Action,7 which 

provided an alternative compliance 

demonstration approach for the 31 small 

refineries whose SRE petitions had been 

previously granted for the 2018 

compliance year and were denied upon 

remand and reconsideration.8 With this 

notice, EPA is announcing the 

availability of the June 2022 Compliance 

Action, which supplements the April 

2022 Compliance Action to include 

three additional SRE petitions for the 

2016 or 2017 compliance year that had 

not yet been decided at that time.9 EPA 

is providing 31 specific small refineries 

with an alternative approach to 

demonstrating compliance with their 

2016, 2017, and/or 2018 RVOs created 

by the SRE Denials. Each of the 31 

specified small refineries had 

previously been granted an SRE for the 

2016, 2017, and/or 2018 compliance 

year; however, each of their petitions 

again came before EPA as the result of 

judicial remands. As established in the 

June 2022 Compliance Action, EPA has 

determined there are extenuating 

circumstances that warrant an 

alternative compliance demonstration 

approach that the specified small 

refineries may use to meet their 2016, 

2017, and/or 2018 RFS obligations 

without retiring any additional RINs. 

III. Judicial Review 

Section 307(b)(1) of the CAA governs 

judicial review of final actions by the 

EPA. This section provides, in part, that 

petitions for review must be filed in the 

United States Court of Appeals for the 

District of Columbia Circuit: (i) when 

the agency action consists of ‘‘nationally 

applicable . . . final actions taken by 

the Administrator,’’ or (ii) when such 

action is locally or regionally 

applicable, but ‘‘such action is based on 

a determination of nationwide scope or 

effect and if in taking such action the 

Administrator finds and publishes that 

such action is based on such a 

determination.’’ For locally or regionally 

applicable final actions, the CAA 

reserves to the EPA complete discretion 

whether to invoke the exception in (ii) 

described in the preceding sentence. 

This final action is ‘‘nationally 

applicable’’ within the meaning of CAA 

section 307(b)(1). In the alternative, to 

the extent a court finds this final action 

to be locally or regionally applicable, 

the Administrator is exercising the 

complete discretion afforded to him 

under the CAA to make and publish a 

finding that this action is based on a 

determination of ‘‘nationwide scope or 

effect’’ within the meaning of CAA 

section 307(b)(1).10 This final action 

provides an alternative approach to 

demonstrating compliance with the 

2016, 2017, and/or 2018 RFS obligations 

for 31 small refineries across the 

country and applies to small refineries 

located within 16 states in 7 of the 10 

EPA regions and in 7 different Federal 

judicial circuits.11 This final action is 

based on the extenuating circumstances 

applicable to these 31 small refineries 

and the impacts their compliance with 

their newly created 2016, 2017, and/or 

2018 RFS obligations under the existing 

compliance scheme would have on the 

RFS program. For these reasons, this 

final action is nationally applicable or, 

alternatively, the Administrator is 

exercising the complete discretion 

afforded to him by the CAA and hereby 

finds that this final action is based on 

a determination of nationwide scope or 

effect for purposes of CAA section 

307(b)(1) and is hereby publishing that 

finding in the Federal Register. 

Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, 

petitions for judicial review of this 

action must be filed in the United States 

Court of Appeals for the District of 

Columbia Circuit by August 8, 2022. 

Joseph Goffman, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, 

Office of Air and Radiation. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12357 Filed 6–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0566; FRL–9867–01– 

OAR] 

Notice of June 2022 Denial of Petitions 

for Small Refinery Exemptions Under 

the Renewable Fuel Standard Program 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Denial of petitions. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is providing notice of its 

final action entitled June 2022 Denial of 

Petitions for RFS Small Refinery 

Exemptions (‘‘SRE Denial’’) in which 

EPA denied 69 small refinery exemption 

(SRE) petitions under the Renewable 

Fuel Standard (RFS) program. EPA is 

providing this notice for public 

awareness of, and the basis for, EPA’s 

decision announced on June 3, 2022. 

DATES: June 8, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karen Nelson, Office of Transportation 

and Air Quality, Compliance Division, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 

Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 

48105; telephone number: 734–214– 

4657; email address: nelson.karen@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Clean Air Act (CAA) provides 

that a small refinery 1 may at any time 

petition EPA for an extension of the 


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34874 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 110 / Wednesday, June 8, 2022 / Notices 

2CAA section 211(o)(9)(B)(i). 

3CAA section 211(o)(9)(B)(ii). 

4 ‘‘June 2022 Denial of Petitions for RFS Small 

Refinery Exemptions,’’ EPA–420–R–22–011, June 

2022. 

5 ‘‘Proposed RFS Small Refinery Exemption 

Decision,’’ EPA–420–D–21–001, December 2021 

(hereinafter the ‘‘Proposed Denial’’). 86 FR 70999 

(December 14, 2021). 

6 In deciding whether to invoke the exception by 

making and publishing a finding that this final 

action is based on a determination of nationwide 

scope or effect, the Administrator has also taken 

into account a number of policy considerations, 

including his judgment balancing the benefit of 

obtaining the D.C. Circuit’s authoritative centralized 

review versus allowing development of the issue in 

other contexts and the best use of Agency resources. 

7 In the report on the 1977 Amendments that 

revised section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, Congress 

noted that the Administrator’s determination that 

the ‘‘nationwide scope or effect’’ exception applies 

would be appropriate for any action that has a 

scope or effect beyond a single judicial circuit. See 

H.R. Rep. No. 95–294 at 323, 324, reprinted in 1977 

U.S.C.C.A.N. 1402–03. 

exemption from the obligations of the 

RFS program for the reason of 

disproportionate economic hardship 

(DEH).2 In evaluating such petitions, the 

EPA Administrator, in consultation with 

the Secretary of Energy, will consider 

the findings of a Department of Energy 

(DOE) study and other economic 

factors.3

II. Decision 

In the SRE Denial,4 we conducted an 

extensive analysis and review of 

information provided to EPA by small 

refineries in their SRE petitions and in 

the comments submitted in response to 

the Proposed Denial.5 We sought 

comment on all aspects of the Proposed 

Denial, including on our conclusions 

that the CAA requires small refineries to 

demonstrate that DEH is caused by 

compliance with the RFS program. We 

also sought comment on our economic 

analyses and conclusion that no small 

refineries face disproportionate costs of 

compliance due to the RFS program, no 

economic hardship, and, therefore, no 

DEH caused by RFS compliance. We 

requested additional data that would 

show the relationship between RFS 

compliance costs and the price of 

transportation fuel blendstocks. We also 

sought comment on our proposed 

change in approach to SRE eligibility 

based on receipt of the original statutory 

exemption, and our proposed decision 

to deny all pending SRE petitions based 

on the proportional nature of the RFS 

requirements and our findings regarding 

RIN cost passthrough. We considered all 

the comments received and have 

responded to them in the SRE Denial 

and its corresponding appendices. 

In the SRE Denial, we find that all 

refineries face the same costs to acquire 

RINs regardless of whether the RINs are 

created through the act of blending 

renewable fuels or are purchased on the 

open market. This happens because the 

market price for these fuels increases to 

reflect the cost of the RIN, much as it 

would increase in response to higher 

crude prices. In other words, this 

increased price for gasoline and diesel 

fuel allows obligated parties to recover 

their RIN costs through the market price 

of the fuel they produce. Because the 

market behaves this way for all parties 

subject to the RFS program, there is no 

disproportionate cost to any party, 

including small refineries, and no 

hardship given that the costs are 

recovered. As a result, we conclude that 

small refineries do not face DEH. Given 

this conclusion and the other reasons 

described in the SRE Denial, we have 

denied 69 SRE petitions for the 2016– 

2021 compliance years by finding the 

petitioning refineries do not face DEH 

caused by compliance with their RFS 

obligations. 

III. Judicial Review 

Section 307(b)(1) of the CAA governs 

judicial review of final actions by the 

EPA. This section provides, in part, that 

petitions for review must be filed in the 

United States Court of Appeals for the 

District of Columbia Circuit: (i) when 

the agency action consists of ‘‘nationally 

applicable . . . final actions taken by 

the Administrator,’’ or (ii) when such 

action is locally or regionally 

applicable, but ‘‘such action is based on 

a determination of nationwide scope or 

effect and if in taking such action the 

Administrator finds and publishes that 

such action is based on such a 

determination.’’ For locally or regionally 

applicable final actions, the CAA 

reserves to the EPA complete discretion 

whether to invoke the exception in (ii) 

described in the preceding sentence. 

This final action is ‘‘nationally 

applicable’’ within the meaning of CAA 

section 307(b)(1). In the alternative, to 

the extent a court finds this final action 

to be locally or regionally applicable, 

the Administrator is exercising the 

complete discretion afforded to him 

under the CAA to make and publish a 

finding that this action is based on a 

determination of ‘‘nationwide scope or 

effect’’ within the meaning of CAA 

section 307(b)(1).6 This final action 

denies 69 petitions for exemptions from 

the RFS program for over 30 small 

refineries across the country and applies 

to small refineries located within 15 

states in 7 of the 10 EPA regions and in 

8 different Federal judicial circuits.7

This final action is based on EPA’s 

revised interpretation of the relevant 

CAA provisions and the RIN discount 

and RIN cost passthrough principles 

that are applicable to all small refineries 

no matter the location or market in 

which they operate. For these reasons, 

this final action is nationally applicable 

or, alternatively, the Administrator is 

exercising the complete discretion 

afforded to him by the CAA and hereby 

finds that this final action is based on 

a determination of nationwide scope or 

effect for purposes of CAA section 

307(b)(1) and is hereby publishing that 

finding in the Federal Register. 

Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, 

petitions for judicial review of this 

action must be filed in the United States 

Court of Appeals for the District of 

Columbia Circuit by August 8, 2022. 

Joseph Goffman, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, 

Office of Air and Radiation. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12359 Filed 6–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[OMB 3060–0288; FR ID 90242] 

Information Collection Being Reviewed 

by the Federal Communications 

Commission Under Delegated 

Authority 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork burdens, and as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC or 

Commission) invites the general public 

and other Federal agencies to take this 

opportunity to comment on the 

following information collection. 

Comments are requested concerning: 

whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

the accuracy of the Commission’s 

burden estimate; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; ways to minimize 

the burden of the collection of 

information on the respondents, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology; and ways to 

further reduce the information 

collection burden on small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 employees. 

The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a 

collection of information unless it 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES