Public Hearing for Modifications To Fuel Regulations To Provide Flexibility for E15; Modifications to RFS RIN Market Regulations March 29, 2019

March 19, 2019

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(Environmental Protection Agency/Federal Register) The EPA is announcing a public hearing to be held in Ypsilanti, MI on March 29, 2019 for the proposed rule ‘‘Modifications to Fuel Regulations to Provide Flexibility for E15; Modifications to RFS RIN Market Regulations.’’ This proposed rule will be published separately in the Federal Register. The pre-publication version of this proposal can be found at
https: www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standardprogram/notice-proposed-ulemakingmodifications-fuel-regulations-provide

In the separate notice of proposed rulemaking, EPA has proposed regulatory changes to allow gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol to take advantage of the 1-psi Reid Vapor Pressure waiver that currently applies to E10 during the summer months. EPA is also proposing an interpretive rulemaking which defines gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol as ‘‘substantially similar’’ to the fuel used to certify Tier 3 motor vehicles. Finally, EPA is proposing regulatory changes to modify certain
elements of the Renewable Fuel Standard compliance system, in order to improve renewable identification number market functioning and prevent market manipulation.

DATES: The public hearing will be held on March 29, 2019 at the location noted below under ADDRESSES. The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end when all parties present who wish to speak have had an opportunity to do so. Parties wishing to testify at the hearing should notify the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by March 26, 2019. Additional information
regarding the hearing appears below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the following location: Ann Arbor
Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest, 1275 S Huron St., Ypsilanti, MI 48197 (phone
number 734–487–2000).

A complete set of documents related to the proposal will be available for public inspection through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2018–0775.

Documents can also be viewed at the EPA Docket Center, located at 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 3334, Washington, DC between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia MacAllister, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Assessment and Standards Division, Environmental
Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; telephone
number: (734) 214–4131; Fax number: (734) 214–4816; Email address: RFSHearing@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposal for which EPA is holding the
public hearing will be published separately in the Federal Register. The pre-publication version can be found at
https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuelstandard-program/notice-proposedrulemaking-modifications-fuelregulations-provide

Public Hearing: The public hearing will provide interested parties the opportunity to present data, views, or arguments concerning the proposal (which can be found at https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standardprogram/notice-proposed-rulemakingmodifications-fuel-regulations-provide).

The EPA may ask clarifying questions during the oral presentations but will
not respond to the presentations at that time. Written statements and supporting
information submitted during the comment period will be considered with the same weight as any oral comments and supporting information presented at the public hearing. Written comments must be received by the last day of the comment period, as specified in the notice of proposed rulemaking.

How can I get copies of this document, the proposed rule, and other related
information?

The EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID No. EPA–
HQ–OAR–2018–0775. The EPA has also developed a website at the address
given above. Please refer to the notice of proposed rulemaking for detailed
information on accessing information related to the proposal.
Dated: March 12, 2019.
William Wehrum,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2019–05034 Filed 3–15–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P READ MORE

Robert White, VP of Industry Relations for the Renewable Fuels Association, joins to discuss the new E15 proposal, RINS, and the March 29th hearing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (AgNews Daily/Global Ag Network AUDIO)

EPA rules on issue pitting oil producers, corn farmers (AgriNews)

EPA Rushed Ethanol Plan Sought by Farmers After Trump Pledge (Bloomberg)

EPA to hold public hearing on E15 fuel rule change in Ypsilanti Township (MLive)

RFA Strongly Supports, Urges Quick Action on EPA Proposal to Allow Year-Round E15 (Renewable Fuels Association)

EPA READY TO HEAR FROM ALL COMERS ON E15: (Politico's Morning Energy)

MN BIOFUELS TESTIMONY AT EPA HEARING ON RVP (Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association)

PETERSON AND CRAIG'S STATEMENTS ON RVP RELIEF FOR E15 (Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association)

KLOBUCHAR STATEMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S NEWLY PROPOSED E15 RULE (Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association)

Excerpt from Bloomberg: The regulatory shift won’t “significantly alter the penetration of E15” and “we do not expect this action to significantly change overall ethanol use,” the Environmental Protection Agency said.

The comments were included in documents from a White House-led inter-agency review of the measure, released this week. They reveal how regulators skirted detailed analysis and brushed aside concerns about proposed changes in biofuel-credit trading that could bog down the measure.

The documents also demonstrate how politics infused the entire effort, as the EPA sought to fulfill Trump’s promise to an important voting bloc: Midwestern farmers who helped send him to the White House.

...

“President Trump promised it in Iowa and they had to deliver. It’s as simple as that,” said Wallace Tyner, an agricultural economist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

...

“In fact, EPA has been studying every environmental, economic, and legal detail of E15 since 2009 when the agency approved the fuel, and President Trump made a very public commitment that EPA would resolve the summertime ban on E15 a full five months before EPA finally produced this proposal,” Geoff Cooper, the president of the Renewable Fuels Association, an Ellisville, Missouri-based trade group, said in a statement.

...

The EPA says it is working “expeditiously” to finalize the measure “by the summer driving season, consistent with the president’s direction.” But first it will hold a hearing on the measure Friday in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and it is taking required public comment on its proposal until April 29. All of that feedback is meant to guide EPA’s final rule, which must go back to the White House for another round of reviews before it is released.

Although the EPA said it was considering providing additional analysis as part of its final rule, that approach would prevent public scrutiny and could open a legal vulnerability for critics to challenge in court.

“In order to get the rule out the door, the EPA simply ran roughshod over most of the legally required analyses,” said Amit Narang, a regulatory policy expert with Public Citizen. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: EPA READY TO HEAR FROM ALL COMERS ON E15: EPA is hosting its first and only public hearing on its proposal to allow year-round sales of 15 percent ethanol fuel today in Ypsilanti, Mich. The argument on EPA's proposed changes to the compliance credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard will create strange bedfellows, as the American Petroleum Institute and the Renewable Fuel Association have both opposed those changes, while refiner HollyFrontier plans to support them in its testimony. READ MORE