Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributable to Production and Transport of Pennycress (Thlaspi Arvense) Oil for Use in Biofuel Production
Posted Date: 2015-03-20T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 54 (Friday, March 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15002-15007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06444]

[[Page 15002]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091; FRL-9924-65-OAR]

Notice of Opportunity To Comment on an Analysis of the Greenhouse 
Gas Emissions Attributable to Production and Transport of Pennycress 
(Thlaspi Arvense) Oil for Use in Biofuel Production

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In this Notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
inviting comment on its analysis of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 
attributable to the production and transport of Thlaspi arvense 
(``pennycress'') oil feedstock for use in making biofuels such as 
biodiesel, renewable diesel, and jet fuel. This notice explains EPA's 
analysis of the production and transport components of the lifecycle 
GHG emissions of biofuel made from pennycress oil, and describes how 
EPA may apply this analysis in the future to determine whether biofuels 
produced from pennycress oil meet the necessary GHG reductions required 
for qualification as renewable fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard 
program. Based on this analysis, we anticipate that biofuels produced 
from pennycress oil could qualify as biomass-based diesel or advanced 
biofuel if typical fuel production process technologies are used.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 20, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2015-0091, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, Attention Air and Radiation 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091.
     Mail: Air and Radiation Docket, Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2015-0091, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail code: 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, EPA/DC, EPA WJC West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention 
Air and Radiation Docket, ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091. Such deliveries 
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2015-0091. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
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 www.regulations.gov or email. The 
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 www.regulations.gov, your email 
address will be automatically 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
for which disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, 
such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard 
copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air and 
Radiation Docket, EPA/DC, EPA WJC West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the Air and Radiation Docket is (202) 566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jon Monger, Office of Transportation 
and Air Quality, Mail Code: 6406J, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 20460; telephone number: (202) 
564-0628; fax number: (202) 564-1686; email address: 
monger.jon@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is organized as follows:

I. Introduction
II. Analysis of GHG Emissions Associated With Use of Pennycress Oil 
as a Biofuel Feedstock
    A. Feedstock Production, Land Availability, and Projected 
Volumes
    1. Background
    2. Volume Potential
    3. Indirect Impacts
    4. Crop Inputs
    5. Potential Invasiveness
    6. Crushing and Oil Extraction
    B. Feedstock Distribution
    C. Summary of Agricultural Sector GHG Emissions
    D. Fuel Production and Distribution
III. Summary

I. Introduction

    As part of changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program 
regulations published on March 26, 2010 \1\ (the ``March 2010 rule''), 
EPA specified the types of renewable fuels eligible to participate in 
the RFS program through approved fuel pathways. Table 1 to 40 CFR 
80.1426 of the RFS regulations lists three critical components of an 
approved fuel pathway: (1) Fuel type; (2) feedstock; and (3) production 
process. Fuel produced pursuant to each specific combination of the 
three components, or fuel pathway, is designated in Table 1 to 40 CFR 
80.1426 as eligible for purposes of the Clean Air Act's (CAA) 
requirements for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions to qualify as 
renewable fuel or one of three subsets of renewable fuel (biomass-based 
diesel, cellulosic biofuel, or advanced biofuel). EPA may also 
independently approve additional fuel pathways not currently listed in 
Table 1 to 40 CFR 80.1426 for participation in the RFS program, or a 
third-party may petition for EPA to evaluate a new fuel pathway in 
accordance with 40 CFR 80.1416.
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    \1\ See 75 FR 14670.
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    EPA's lifecycle analyses are used to assess the overall GHG impacts 
of a fuel throughout each stage of its production and use. The results 
of these analyses, considering uncertainty and the weight of available 
evidence, are used to determine whether a fuel meets the necessary GHG 
reductions required under the CAA for it to be considered renewable 
fuel or one of the subsets of renewable fuel. Lifecycle analysis 
includes an assessment of emissions related to the full fuel lifecycle,

[[Page 15003]]

including feedstock production, feedstock transportation, fuel 
production, fuel transportation and distribution, and tailpipe 
emissions. Per the CAA definition of lifecycle GHG emissions, EPA's 
lifecycle analyses also include an assessment of significant indirect 
emissions, such as indirect emissions from land use changes, 
agricultural sector impacts, and production of co-products from biofuel 
production.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 80.1416, EPA received a petition from Arvens 
Technology, Inc., with contents claimed as confidential business 
information (CBI), requesting that EPA evaluate the lifecycle GHG 
emissions for biofuels produced using Thlaspi arvense (``pennycress'') 
oil, and that EPA provide a determination of the renewable fuel 
categories, if any, for which such biofuels may be eligible. As an 
initial step in this process, EPA has conducted an evaluation of the 
GHG emissions associated with the production and transport of 
pennycress when it is used as a biofuel feedstock, and is seeking 
public comment on the methodology and results of this evaluation.
    EPA expects to consider comments received and then use the 
information to evaluate petitions received pursuant to 40 CFR 80.1416 
that propose to use pennycress oil as a feedstock for the production of 
biofuel, and that seek an EPA determination regarding whether such 
biofuels qualify as renewable fuel under the RFS program. In evaluating 
such petitions, EPA will consider the GHG emissions associated with 
petitioners' biofuel production processes, as well as emissions 
associated with the transport and use of the finished biofuel, in 
addition to the GHG emissions associated with the production and 
transport of pennycress feedstock in determining whether petitioners' 
proposed biofuel production pathway satisfies CAA renewable fuel 
lifecycle GHG reduction requirements.

II. Analysis of GHG Emissions Associated With Use of Pennycress Oil as 
a Biofuel Feedstock

    EPA has evaluated the lifecycle GHG impacts of using pennycress oil 
as a biofuel feedstock, based on information provided in the petition 
and other data gathered by EPA. For these analyses, we used a similar 
approach to that used for camelina oil in a rule published on March 5, 
2013 \2\ (the ``March 2013 rule''). In that rulemaking, EPA determined 
that several renewable fuel pathways using camelina oil feedstock meet 
the required 50% lifecycle GHG reduction threshold under the RFS for 
biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuel because the GHG emissions 
performance of camelina-based fuels is at least as good as that modeled 
for fuels made from soybean oil.
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    \2\ 78 FR 14190.
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    EPA believes that new agricultural sector modeling is not needed to 
evaluate the lifecycle GHG impacts of using pennycress oil as a biofuel 
feedstock for purposes of making GHG reduction threshold determinations 
for the RFS program. This is in part because of the similarities of 
pennycress oil to soybean oil and camelina oil, and because pennycress 
is not expected to have significant land use change impacts. Instead of 
performing new agricultural sector modeling, EPA relied upon the 
soybean oil analysis conducted for the March 2010 rule to assess the 
relative GHG impacts of growing and transporting pennycress oil for use 
as a biofuel feedstock. We have looked at every component of the 
agricultural sector GHG emissions from pennycress oil production, 
including land use change, crop inputs, crushing and oil extraction, 
and feedstock distribution. For each component, we believe that the GHG 
emissions are less than or equal to the emissions from that component 
of soybean oil production. Based on this analysis (described below), we 
propose to evaluate the agricultural sector GHG emissions impacts of 
using pennycress oil in responding to petitions received pursuant to 40 
CFR 80.1416 by assuming that GHG emissions are similar to those 
associated with the use of soybean oil for biofuel production. We 
invite comment on this proposed approach.

A. Feedstock Production

1. Background
    Pennycress is an oilseed crop of the flowering mustard plant family 
Brassicaceae. Pennycress is native to Eurasia and has been in North 
America for approximately 200 years. It is widespread throughout 
temperate regions, and can grow in cropland, fallow land, and along 
roadsides, among other places.\3\ It is a winter annual that flowers in 
spring.\4\ The fertilized flowers produce seedpods, with each plant 
producing up to 15,000 seeds. These seeds have a high oil content.\5\
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    \3\ Pennycress Resource Network, http://www.wiu.edu/pennycress/agronomics/. Accessed February 19, 2015.
    \4\ Fan, J. et al. (2013) ``A life cycle assessment of 
pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.)--derived jet fuel and diesel.'' 
Biomass and Bioenergy, 55:87-100.
    \5\ Moser, B.R., et al. (2009) ``Production and evaluation of 
biodiesel from field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) oil.'' Energy 
and Fuels, 23:4149-4155.
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    Pennycress oil is not edible, and currently has no commercial 
markets, but it has many potential uses. Pennycress oil has high 
concentrations of erucic acid,\6\ which could make it useful for 
industrial purposes such as lubricants and textiles softeners.\7\ In 
addition, pennycress seed meal has been investigated for use as a 
biofumigant.\8\ There is currently interest in developing pennycress 
for use as a biofuel crop because it can be grown in the winter between 
seasons for other major crops such as soybeans and corn, requires 
little inputs, and has a high oil content.\9\ In addition, growing 
pennycress can help preserve soil quality and water quality by reducing 
runoff and erosion.\10\ Because of the interest in pennycress as a 
biofuel crop, pennycress growth and fuel production are areas of active 
research at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Western 
Illinois University, and in private industry.\11\
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    \6\ Moser, B.R., et al. (2009) ``Production and evaluation of 
biodiesel from field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) oil.'' Energy 
and Fuels, 23:4149-4155.
    \7\ USDA Economic Research Service, ``Crambe, industrial 
rapeseed, and tung provide valuable oils,'' September 1996. 
Available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/ersDownloadHandler.ashx?file=/media/933430/ius6c_002.pdf. Accessed July 8, 2014.
    \8\ Vaughn, S.F., et al. (2005) ``Biofumigant compounds released 
by field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) seedmeal.'' Journal of 
Chemical Ecology, 31(1):167-177.
    \9\ Moser, B.R., et al. (2009) ``Production and evaluation of 
biodiesel from field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) oil.'' Energy 
and Fuels, 23:4149-4155.
    \10\ Christiansen, J. and C. Taylor, ``Cover crops improve soil 
health, help farmers weather drought.'' USDA National Resources 
Conservation Service. Available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/home/?cid=STELPRDB1083051. Accessed 
January 26, 2015.
    \11\ Evangelista, R.L. et al. (2012) ``Extraction of pennycress 
(Thlaspi arvense L.) seed oil by full pressing.'' Industrial Crops 
and Products, 37:76-81; Moser, B.R. et al. (2009) ``Composition and 
physical properties of cress (Lepidium sativum L.) and field 
pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) oils.'' Industrial Crops and 
Products 30:199-205; Moser, B.R., et al. (2009) ``Production and 
evaluation of biodiesel from field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) 
oil.'' Energy and Fuels, 23:4149-4155.
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2. Volume Potential
    Based on information currently available, pennycress is expected to 
be primarily planted in the U.S. as a rotation crop with corn and 
soybeans,\12\ on acres that would otherwise remain fallow (see Table 
1). Current research indicates that planting pennycress in

[[Page 15004]]

lieu of fallowing would not decrease the next soybean yield.\13\ Since 
substituting fallow land with pennycress production would not typically 
displace another crop, EPA does not believe new acres would need to be 
brought into agricultural use to increase pennycress production.
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    \12\ Moser, B.R., et al. (2009) ``Production and evaluation of 
biodiesel from field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) oil.'' Energy 
and Fuels, 23:4149-4155.
    \13\ Phippen, W.B. et al. (2010) ``Planting date, herbicide, and 
soybean rotation studies with field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense 
L.)'' Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops Annual 
Meeting, Fort Collins, CO. September 19-22, 2010. Poster. Available 
at: http://www.wiu.edu/pennycress/current-experiments/Planting%20Date%202010.pdf.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN20MR15.005

    Pennycress is currently cultivated on approximately 1,000 acres of 
land in the U.S., in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana.\14\ EPA 
anticipates that these states are most likely to have large scale 
increases in pennycress production in the short term, because 
pennycress is already cultivated there. Also, these states have high 
soybean acreage and the appropriate climate for pennycress to be 
cultivated as a winter crop before soybean planting. Based on USDA data 
on soybean acreage in 2014, pennycress could be cultivated on 31 
million acres in these states.\15\ However, industry is also 
considering cultivating pennycress in other Midwest corn-belt states, 
and according to their estimates, 40 million acres could be 
cultivated.\16\ Industry projects that by 2022, approximately 2 million 
of these available acres will be used for pennycress production.\17\ 
Based on our calculations of the potential biodiesel production from 
pennycress, as described below, we do not anticipate demand for 
pennycress oil to be greater than can be satisfied by available fallow 
acres.
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    \14\ Correspondence with Terry Isbell of USDA Agricultural 
Research Service (ARS).
    \15\ 2014 soybean acreage from USDA, National Agricultural 
Statistics Service, http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1000.
    \16\ Arvens Technology, Inc., ``About Pennycress.'' Available 
at: http://arvenstech.com/about.html. Accessed February 23, 2015.
    \17\ Petition from Arvens Technology, Inc., June 2012.
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    Average yields of 1,000-2,000 pounds of pennycress seed per acre 
have been achieved on test plots,\18\ and are in line with expected 
yields of other oilseeds such as canola/rapeseed. Based on a mid-range 
yield of 1,500 pounds per acre and current acreage (1,000 acres), 
approximately 55,000 gallons of pennycress-based biodiesel could be 
produced from existing pennycress acres (assuming 0.28 pounds of 
pennycress oil can be extracted from a pound of seed, and 7.6 pounds of 
oil produces 1 gallon of biodiesel).\19\ Yield improvements of 
pennycress are expected to approach the yield growth rates of other 
oilseed crops over the next decade, as experience with growing 
pennycress improves cultivation practices and the application of 
existing technologies are more widely adopted.\20\ Assuming a yield 
growth rate of 2% per year, starting with a yield of 1,500 pounds per 
acre, yields would be 1,800 pounds per acre by 2022. Based on this 
yield and the industry's projection of 2 million acres of pennycress in 
2022, approximately 133 million gallons (MG) of pennycress-based 
biodiesel could be produced.\21\ If investment in new seed technology 
allows yields to increase to levels projected by industry (4,000 pounds 
per acre), significantly more pennycress-based renewable fuels could be 
produced.\22\ For the purposes of this analysis, we took a conservative 
approach in terms of lifecycle GHG impacts of crop production by 
assuming the lower yield estimate of 1,800 pounds per acre.
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    \18\ Isbell, T. and S. Chermak (2010). ``Thlaspi arvense 
(Pennycress) germination, development and yield potential.'' 
Advancement of Industrial Crops Annual Meeting, Fort Collins, CO. 
September 19-22, 2010. Abstract, p. 29. Available at: http://www.aaic.org/10program.htm.
    \19\ For biodiesel produced from soybean oil, 7.6 pounds of oil 
are also needed for one gallon of biodiesel. According to the 
petition, 0.28 lbs of pennycress oil can be extracted from a pound 
of seed. A similar value of 0.29 lbs oil per pound of seed is used 
by: Fan, J. et al. (2013) ``A life cycle assessment of pennycress 
(Thlaspi arvense L.)--derived jet fuel and diesel.'' Biomass and 
Bioenergy, 55:87-100.
    \20\ Correspondence with Terry Isbell of USDA ARS.
    \21\ Different amounts of feedstock oil are needed to produce a 
gallon of different types of fuel (biodiesel, renewable diesel, and 
renewable jet fuel). For simplicity, we only estimated the potential 
biodiesel production here, which requires the least amount of 
feedstock oil per gallon of fuel.
    \22\ Petition from Arvens Technology, Inc., June 2012.
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3. Indirect Impacts
    Unlike commodity crops that are tracked by USDA, pennycress does 
not have a well-established, internationally traded market that would 
be significantly affected by an increase in pennycress-based biofuels. 
Based on information provided in the petition itself, from USDA, and in 
the scientific literature, returns on pennycress are expected to be 
approximately $120 per acre, given average yields of 1,800 pounds per 
acre and a contract price of $0.15 per pound (See Table 2). For 
comparison purposes, the USDA estimates of corn and soybean returns, 
including operating costs but not overhead costs such as hired labor, 
were between $206 and $440 per acre in 2013.\23\ Over time, 
advancements in seed technology, improvements in planting and 
harvesting techniques, and changes in input usage could significantly 
increase future pennycress yields and returns, but it is unlikely the 
returns to farmers from pennycress will ever compete with the returns 
from corn, soybeans or other widely traded commodity crops. In 
addition, because pennycress is expected to be grown on

[[Page 15005]]

fallow land, it will not impact other commodities through land 
competition. For these reasons, EPA has determined that, unlike a crop 
such as soybeans, production of pennycress-based biofuels is not 
expected to have a significant impact on other agricultural commodity 
markets and consequently would not result in significant indirect 
impacts, including indirect land use changes.
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    \23\ USDA Economic Research Service, Commodity Costs and 
Returns. Available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/commodity-costs-and-returns.aspx. Accessed June 12, 2014.

          Table 2--Pennycress Costs and Returns, Per Acre \20\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       2022 Pennycress (1,800 lbs/acre)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Inputs
Seed:
    Pennycress seed (cost: $1/lb)...  $13.00 (13 lbs/ac).
Fertilizer:
    Nitrogen Fertilizer (cost: $1/    $50.00.
     lb).
    Phosphate Fertilizer (cost: $1/   $20.00.
     lb).
    Potassium Fertilizer (cost: $1/   $20.00.
     lb).
        Sub-Total...................  $103.00.
Logistics:
    Planting Trip...................  $10.00.
    Harvest & Hauling...............  $36.00.
                                     -----------------------------------
        Total Cost..................  $149.00.
Yields (lbs/acre)...................  1,800.
Price (per lb)......................  $0.15.
Total Revenue.......................  $270.00.
Returns.............................  $121.
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    \24\ Based on information from Arvens Technology, Inc., USDA, 
scientific literature, and EPA calculations.
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    Although we expect most pennycress used as a renewable fuel 
feedstock for the RFS program would be grown in the U.S. and Canada, we 
expect that pennycress grown in other countries would also not have a 
significant impact on other agricultural commodity markets and would 
therefore not result in significant indirect GHG emissions.
4. Crop Inputs
    As part of our analysis of the GHG impacts from growing pennycress, 
we compared crop inputs for pennycress to those for soybeans. Inputs 
compared include nitrogen fertilizer, phosphorus fertilizer, potassium 
fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, diesel, and gasoline.\25\ We also 
looked at the N2O emissions from both the nitrogen 
fertilizer inputs and the crop residues associated with pennycress.
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    \25\ Diesel and gasoline are used for planting and harvesting 
pennycress. These values assume that no irrigation is needed.
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    Current literature suggests that only minimal fertilizer inputs are 
needed to grow pennycress.\26\ Information from USDA and other sources 
suggests that approximately 50 lbs per acre nitrogen fertilizer may be 
required for successful pennycress cultivation, although information 
from the petitioner indicates that no additional nitrogen fertilizer 
would be needed.\27\ Some current trials have not required the addition 
of phosphorus or potassium fertilizer since these nutrients have been 
available in the soil after corn plantings.\28\ However, it is possible 
that when pennycress is produced at a commercial scale, some amount of 
phosphorus and potassium might be added to replace the phosphorus or 
potassium that is removed from the soil. Therefore, Table 3 shows a 
range of potential input assumptions for pennycress production,\29\ 
compared to the FASOM agricultural input assumptions for soybeans, 
which were used in our assessment of soybeans for the March 2010 rule. 
From the March 2010 rule, we used soybean projected yields for 2022 of 
1,500 to 3,000 lbs of seed per acre. For pennycress, we used projected 
2022 yields of 1,800 lbs of seed per acre.
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    \26\ Moser, B.R., et al. (2009) ``Production and evaluation of 
biodiesel from field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) oil.'' Energy 
and Fuels, 23:4149-4155.
    \27\ 50 lb N/acre from: Rukavina, H. et al. (2011) ``The effect 
of nitrogen rate on field pennycress seed yield and oil content.'' 
Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops 23rd Annual 
Meeting, Fargo, ND. September 11-14, 2011. Poster. Available at: 
http://www.wiu.edu/pennycress/current-experiments/Nitrogen%202011.pdf.
    \28\ Correspondence with Win Phippin, Western Illinois 
University.
    \29\ Arvens Technology, Inc.; Correspondence with USDA. For more 
information, see ``Pennycress data and calculations--for docket'' on 
Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091.
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    Pennycress has a higher percentage of oil per pound of seed than 
soybeans. Soybeans are approximately 18% oil by mass, therefore 
crushing one pound of soybeans yields 0.18 pounds of oil. In 
comparison, pennycress seeds can contain up to 34% oil, and mechanical 
crushing extracts approximately 28% oil.\30\ The difference in oil 
yield was taken into account when calculating the emissions per ton of 
feedstock oil included in Table 3. As shown in Table 3, GHG emissions 
associated with agricultural inputs for pennycress and soybeans are 
similar when factoring in variations in oil yields per acre and 
fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, and petroleum use.\31\
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    \30\ Petition from Arvens Technology, Inc., June 2012. A similar 
value of 0.29 lbs oil per pound of seed is used by: Fan, J. et al. 
(2013) ``A life cycle assessment of pennycress (Thlaspi arvense 
L.)--derived jet fuel and diesel.'' Biomass and Bioenergy, 55:87-
100.
    \31\ For more details on the greenhouse gas emissions associated 
with agricultural inputs, see ``Pennycress data and calculations--
for docket'' on Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091.

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[[Page 15006]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN20MR15.006

     
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    \32\ The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 
equations for N2O emissions were updated since our 
earlier analysis of soybeans. We use the updated equations here.
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5. Potential Invasiveness
    Pennycress has naturalized in all of the continental United 
States,\33\ and is not listed on the federal noxious weed list.\34\ 
However, nine states currently have pennycress listed on a restricted 
weed list, indicating limitations on the use of the plant in those 
states.\35\ A weed risk assessment by USDA found that pennycress has a 
high risk of invasiveness, and a high probability of impacting 
production systems such as agriculture, nurseries, forest plantations, 
and orchards.\36\ However, unlike some other biofuel feedstocks 
evaluated under the RFS program for invasiveness, USDA found no 
evidence of pennycress causing impacts in natural systems or 
anthropogenic systems such as cities, suburbs, or roadways. Based on 
the potential risk to production systems, and in consultation with 
USDA, the use of pennycress as a biofuel feedstock raises concerns 
about its threat of invasiveness and whether its production could 
require remediation activities that would cause additional GHG 
emissions. Therefore, similar to EPA's actions with respect to other 
biofuel feedstocks found to present invasiveness risks, EPA anticipates 
that any petition approvals for renewable fuel pathways involving the 
use of pennycress oil as feedstock will include requirements associated 
with mitigating risks associated with invasiveness. Because pennycress 
does not pose as great an invasiveness risk as Arundo donax or 
Pennisetum purpureum, EPA believes that monitoring and reporting 
requirements similar to those for Arundo donax and Pennisetum purpureum 
would be appropriate, but does not expect to apply all of the Risk 
Management Plan (RMP) requirements that exist for those feedstocks. We 
would expect to impose monitoring and reporting requirements similar to 
40 CFR 80.1450 (b)(1)(x)(A)(1)(i), (ii), (iii), and (v) and 80.1450 
(b)(1)(x)(A)(3), (4), (5), and (7). In addition, a letter documenting 
the feedstock grower's compliance with all of the relevant federal, 
state, regional, and local requirements related to invasive species 
would be required. With these requirements in place, we would assume 
that there are no GHG emissions associated with potential invasiveness 
when pennycress is used as a biofuel feedstock. EPA is taking comment 
on the invasiveness concerns of pennycress and the appropriateness of 
the referenced requirements in mitigating those concerns.
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    \33\ USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. ``Weed 
risk assessment for Thlaspi arvense L. (Brassicaceae)--Field 
pennycress,'' [Forthcoming].
    \34\ USDA (2014). ``Federal Noxious Weed List.'' Available at: 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/weedlist.pdf.
    \35\ USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (2014). ``State 
Noxious-Weed Seed Requirements Recognized in the Administration of 
the Federal Seed Act.'' Available at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5090172. Producers interested in 
growing pennycress in these states should consult with the 
appropriate federal, state, and local authorities.
    \36\ USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. ``Weed 
risk assessment for Thlaspi arvense L. (Brassicaceae)--Field 
pennycress,'' [Forthcoming]. Traits that contributed to this result 
are that pennycress is a prolific seed producer, forms a persistent 
seed bank, can cause yield losses of field crops, and is poisonous 
to livestock.
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6. Crushing and Oil Extraction
    EPA evaluated the seed crushing and oil extraction process and 
compared the lifecycle GHG emissions from this stage for soybean oil 
and pennycress oil. EPA assumed the processing of pennycress would be 
similar to soybeans, canola, and camelina. Because pennycress seeds 
produce more oil per pound than soybeans, the GHG emissions associated 
with crushing and oil extraction are lower for pennycress than soybeans 
per pound of feedstock oil produced.
    There is not a significant amount of industry data on energy used 
for crushing and oil extraction of pennycress. Based on data provided 
in the petition submitted, and EPA's standard emissions factors for 
electricity and natural gas, we estimate that the GHG emissions from 
crushing and oil extraction are 80 kgCO2e/ton pennycress oil. For 
comparison, in the analysis for the March 2010 final rule, the 
lifecycle GHG emissions from crushing and oil extraction were estimated 
to be 426 kgCO2e/ton soybean oil. As a conservative estimate, we 
propose to assume that the GHG emissions related to crushing and oil 
extraction are the same for pennycress as for soybeans.
    Similar to soybeans, a press cake is also produced when pennycress 
is crushed and the oil is extracted. In our modeling of soybean oil for 
the March 2010 RFS rule, the FASOM and FAPRI-CARD models included the 
use of the soy meal (sometimes referred to as press cake) co-product as 
livestock feed. In our modeling, the use of the soy meal as livestock 
feed displaced the need for other similar feed products and therefore 
impacted the relative prices and production of crop and livestock 
products. These crop and livestock impacts were reflected in the land 
use change, livestock and agricultural sector GHG emissions impacts 
estimated for biofuels produced from soybean oil. Although EPA did not 
conduct modeling to isolate the GHG impacts of the soy meal co-product, 
we believe that overall the soy meal co-product lowered the GHG 
emissions associated with soybean oil-based biofuels. Similarly, we 
believe that any use of the pennycress press cake would provide an 
additional benefit (i.e., lower GHG emissions) not reflected in our 
lifecycle GHG emissions analysis of pennycress oil. Little is known at 
this time about the possible beneficial use of pennycress press cake. 
Pennycress press

[[Page 15007]]

cake contains glucosinolates, which may be toxic to animals in large 
concentrations.\37\ However, the heat produced from crushing pennycress 
seeds may reduce the toxicity of the press cake,\38\ or pennycress 
press cake could be mixed in low amounts with other seed meal for use 
as animal feed.\39\ Alternatively, pennycress press cake could be used 
as a biofumigant.\40\ Based on our analysis of pennycress oil, which 
does not consider use of the press cake, we have found that the 
agricultural, livestock and land use change emissions associated with 
producing pennycress oil are less than or equal to the corresponding 
emissions associated with producing soybean oil. Therefore, any 
beneficial use of the pennycress press cake (e.g., as livestock feed or 
boiler fuel) would only serve to make the GHG emissions associated with 
pennycress oil even lower than the corresponding emissions for soybean 
oil.
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    \37\ Moser, B.R. (2012) ``Biodiesel from alternative oilseed 
feedstock: camelina and field pennycress.'' Biofuels, 3:193-209.
    \38\ Fan, J. et al. (2013) ``A life cycle assessment of 
pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.)--derived jet fuel and diesel.'' 
Biomass and Bioenergy, 55:87-100.
    \39\ Moser, B.R. (2012) ``Biodiesel from alternative oilseed 
feedstock: camelina and field pennycress.'' Biofuels, 3:193-209. It 
is important to note that all animal feed products must be approved 
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they can be 
sold in the United States. Nothing in EPA's analysis should be 
construed as an official federal government position regarding the 
approval or disapproval of pennycress press cake as an animal feed. 
Only FDA is authorized to make that determination.
    \40\ Vaughn, S.F., et al. (2005) ``Biofumigant compounds 
released by field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) seedmeal.'' Journal 
of Chemical Ecology, 31(1):167-177.
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B. Feedstock Distribution

    EPA's assessment, based on the following reasoning, is that GHG 
emissions from feedstock distribution will be the same for pennycress 
as such emissions for soybeans. Because pennycress contains more oil 
per pound of seed, as discussed above, the energy needed to move the 
pennycress before oil extraction would be lower than soybeans per ton 
of oil produced. To the extent that pennycress is grown on more 
disperse fallow land than soybeans and would need to be transported 
further, the energy needed to move the pennycress could be higher than 
soybeans. Therefore, we believe we may assume for purposes of GHG 
emissions assessment that the GHG emissions associated with 
transporting pennycress and soybeans to crushing facilities will be the 
same. Pennycress and soybean oils are quite similar in terms of density 
and energy content; therefore, we also assumed that the GHG emissions 
from transporting the oil from a crushing facility to a biofuel 
production facility would be the same for the two different feedstocks.

C. Summary of Agricultural Sector GHG Emissions

    Compared to soybean oil, pennycress oil has less than or equal GHG 
emissions per ton of oil from crop inputs, crushing and oil extraction, 
and direct and indirect land use change. Pennycress and soybean oils 
are also likely to have similar GHG emissions from feedstock 
distribution. Therefore, we believe that the feedstock production and 
transport portion of the lifecycle GHG emissions associated with 
pennycress are likely to be similar to or less than the GHG emissions 
for the corresponding portion of the lifecycle analysis for soybean 
oil. EPA's purpose in evaluating petitions under 40 CFR 80.1416 is not 
to prepare a precise lifecycle GHG emissions analysis of every fuel 
type, but to gather sufficient information on which to inform its 
decision of whether proposed biofuels qualify under the program in 
terms of lifecycle GHG emissions reduction. Based on our comparison of 
pennycress oil to soybean oil, EPA proposes to use, in its future 
evaluations of petitions proposing to use pennycress oil as a feedstock 
for biofuel production, an estimate of the GHG emissions associated 
with the cultivation and transport of pennycress oil that is the same 
as that which we have used for soybean oil, on a per ton of oil basis. 
Although EPA could conduct a more precise analysis, we do not believe 
it is necessary for purposes of the determinations EPA must make in 
responding to petitions. EPA solicits comment on this proposed 
approach.

D. Fuel Production and Distribution

    Pennycress oil has physical properties that are similar to soybean 
and camelina oil, and is suitable for the same conversion processes as 
these feedstocks. In addition, the fuel yield per pound of oil is 
expected to be the same for each of these feedstocks. After reviewing 
comments received in response to this Notice, we will combine our 
evaluation of agricultural sector GHG emissions associated with the use 
of pennycress oil feedstock with our evaluation of the GHG emissions 
associated with individual producers' production processes and finished 
fuels to determine whether the proposed pathways satisfy CAA lifecycle 
GHG emissions reduction requirements for RFS-qualifying renewable 
fuels. Based on our evaluation of the lifecycle GHG emissions 
attributable to the production and transport of pennycress oil 
feedstock, EPA anticipates that fuel produced from pennycress oil 
feedstock through the same transesterification or hydrotreating process 
technologies that EPA evaluated for the March 2010 RFS rule for biofuel 
derived from soybean oil and the March 2013 RFS rule for biofuel 
derived from camelina oil would qualify for biomass-based diesel (D-
code 4) RINs or advanced (D-code 5) RINs.\41\ However, EPA will 
evaluate petitions for fuel produced from pennycress oil feedstock on a 
case-by-case basis.
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    \41\ The transesterification process that EPA evaluated for the 
March 2010 RFS rule for biofuel derived from soybean oil feedstock 
is described in section 2.4.7.3 (Biodiesel) of the Regulatory Impact 
Analysis for the March 2010 RFS rule (EPA-420-R-10-006). The 
hydrotreating process that EPA evaluated for the March 2013 rule for 
biofuel derived from camelina oil feedstock is described in section 
II.A.3.b of the March 2013 rule (78 FR 14190).
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III. Summary

    EPA invites public comment on its analysis of GHG emissions 
associated with the production and transport of pennycress oil as a 
feedstock for biofuel production. EPA will consider public comments 
received when evaluating the lifecycle GHG emissions of biofuel 
production pathways described in petitions received pursuant to 40 CFR 
80.1416 which use pennycress oil as a feedstock.

    Dated: March 12, 2015.
Christopher Grundler,
Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
[FR Doc. 2015-06444 Filed 3-19-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P