II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1840 

To establish certain requirements for the small refineries exemption of the 

renewable fuels provisions under the Clean Air Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. THUNE, Ms. ERNST, and 

Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish certain requirements for the small refineries 

exemption of the renewable fuels provisions under the 

Clean Air Act, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ7 mental Protection Agency. 

8 (2) PETITION.—The term ‘‘petition’’ means a 

9 petition for an exemption from the requirements of 


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1 paragraph (2) of section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act 

2 (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)) under paragraph (9) of that 

3 section for a calendar year. 

4 SEC. 2. ANNUAL DEADLINE FOR PETITIONS BY SMALL RE5 FINERIES FOR EXEMPTIONS FROM RENEW6 ABLE FUEL REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) DEADLINE.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law, a petition shall be submitted to the Adminis9 trator not later than June 1 of the year preceding the year 

10 in which an exemption under the petition, if the petition 

11 were granted, would be in effect. 

12 (b) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If 

13 a petition described in subsection (a) is not submitted by 

14 the deadline described in that subsection, the petition shall 

15 be ineligible for consideration or approval. 

16 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY. 

17 (a) INFORMATION IN PETITION SUBJECT TO PUBLIC

18 DISCLOSURE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

20 information submitted to the Administrator by a 

21 person, including a small refinery, in a petition— 

22 (A) shall not be a trade secret or confiden23 tial information; and 

24 (B) notwithstanding section 552(b) of title 

25 5, United States Code, and any other Federal 


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1 law (including regulations), shall be subject to 

2 public disclosure. 

3 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) applies 

4 only with respect to information submitted under a 

5 petition for calendar year 2021 or subsequent cal6 endar years. 

7 (b) DECISION.—The Administrator shall, at the same 

8 time that the Administrator informs the petitioner of a 

9 decision of whether to grant the petition— 

10 (1) make publicly available— 

11 (A) the name of the petitioner; 

12 (B) the name and location of the facility 

13 for which relief under the petition was re14 quested; 

15 (C) the time period for which relief under 

16 the petition was requested; and 

17 (D) the extent to which the Administrator 

18 granted or denied the petition; and 

19 (2) submit to Congress a report— 

20 (A) describing the nature of the relief re21 quested in the petition, including the factors 

22 identified by the petitioner to demonstrate dis23 proportionate economic hardship under section 

24 211(o)(9)(B)(i) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 7545(o)(9)(B)(i)); and 


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1 (B) that includes the detailed discussion 

2 required by section 80.1441(e)(2) of title 40, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

4 date of enactment of this Act), submitted by 

5 the petitioner describing the hardship the refin6 ery would encounter in producing transpor7 tation fuel (as defined in section 211(o)(1) of 

8 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(1)) that 

9 meets the requirements of section 80.1405 of 

10 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (as in ef11 fect on the date of enactment of this Act). 

12 SEC. 4. ANNUAL RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARDS. 

13 When determining the annual value of the renewable 

14 fuel standard for a calendar year under section 80.1105 

15 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

16 the date of enactment of this Act), the Administrator 

17 shall, for the variable GEi referenced in that section, 

18 which is the quantity of gasoline projected to be produced 

19 by exempt small refineries and small refiners in gallons 

20 for a calendar year, use the number that is the sum of 

21 the total number of gallons waived as a result of all peti22 tions granted by the Administrator for that calendar year. 

Æ 


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