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Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Changes to Renewable Fuel Standard Program; Notice of Availability of Expert Peer Review Record

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

PDF Version (3 pp, 90K, About PDF)

[Federal Register: August 17, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 157)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 41359-41361]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17au09-10]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 80
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161; FRL-8945-6]
RIN 2060-A081

Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Changes to Renewable Fuel
Standard Program; Notice of Availability of Expert Peer Review Record

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') announces
the availability of documents pertaining to the expert peer review
record completed on the Renewable Fuel Standard Program (RFS2)
Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Analysis. On May 5, 2009, EPA announced
proposed revisions to the National Renewable Fuel Standard program
(commonly known as the RFS program) as required by the Energy
Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. EISA established new
renewable fuel categories and eligibility requirements, including
setting the first ever mandatory GHG reduction thresholds for the
various categories of renewable fuels. EISA also defined the term
lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As part of proposed revisions
to the RFS program and in accordance with the EISA definition of GHG
emissions, EPA examined the GHG impacts associated with different types
of renewable fuels. Several new pieces of analysis were developed to
support this lifecycle assessment. EPA decided to initiate an
independent peer review to help respond to stakeholder concerns and to
ensure that the Agency makes decisions based on the best science
available. The Agency, in accordance

[[Page 41360]]

with the Office of Management and Budget and EPA peer review guidance
contracted with independent, third party sources to conduct an external
expert peer review of this work. The results of the expert peer review
are being made available to the public for notice and comment to
supplement the current record.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 25, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2005-0161, by one of the following methods:
    • www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
    • E-mail: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov.
    • Mail: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center,
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. In addition, please mail a copy of
your comments on the information collection provisions to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), Attn: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th St., NW., Washington, DC 20503.
    • Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20004. 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-
2005-0161. 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 e-mail.
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 e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov
your e-mail 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. For additional
instructions on submitting comments, please refer to the notice of
proposed rulemaking (Section XI, Public Participation, of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of the proposed rulemaking document).

How Can I Access the 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 whose 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 and
Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA 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 Docket is (202) 566-1742.

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- 2005-0161. The EPA has also developed a Web site for
the proposed RFS2 rule, including the notice of proposed rulemaking,
at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/index.htm. Please refer to
the notice of proposed rulemaking for detailed information on accessing
information related to the proposal, including the expert peer review record.

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; E-
mail address: macallister.julia@epa.gov, or Assessment and Standards
Division Hotline; telephone number (734) 214-4636; E-mail address:
asdinfo@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: To meet the lifecycle
requirements as defined by the Energy Independence and Security Act of
2007 (EISA), EPA, in consultation with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), developed a
comprehensive methodology, including an assessment of significant
indirect land use impacts. EPA has specifically relied on a number of
expert peer reviewed models and data sources for individual components
of the analysis. This methodology is described in detail in both the
Preamble and Draft Regulatory Impact Analysis of EPA's Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking available at: http://www.epa.gov/OMS/
renewablefuels/#regulations.
    In addition, several new pieces of analysis were developed to
support this lifecycle assessment and these new pieces underwent
scientific expert peer review contemporaneously with the public comment
period of the rulemaking. The new pieces of analysis presented for
expert peer review were: (1) Land use modeling (use of satellite data/
land conversion GHG emission factors); (2) Methods to account for the
variable timing of GHG emissions; (3) EPA estimates of GHG emissions
from foreign crop production (modeling and data used); (4) How the
models EPA relied upon are used together to provide overall lifecycle
estimates (not a review of models themselves but how the results of
each have been used together).
    The reviews were conducted following the Office of Management and
Budget's (OMB) expert peer review guidance that ensures consistent
government-wide implementation of expert peer review and according to
EPA's longstanding and rigorous expert peer review policies.
    In accordance with this guidance, EPA used independent, third-party
contractors to conduct the external expert peer review. The contractor
was responsible for identifying a list of expert reviewers and checking
for possible conflict of interest. EPA provided the contractor with a
description of expertise required and examples of experts that fit the
expertise needed for each review. EPA also provided a list of names,
submitted from several external sources, for the contractor to consider
during the selection process. Further, EPA provided charge questions for each

[[Page 41361]]

review which guided the review process. For these particular expert
peer reviews, the charge questions were reviewed by OMB. As part of the
review process, the Contractor also developed the expert peer review
record which EPA is now publicly available. The expert peer reviewers
were charged with working independently and were not asked to reach a
consensus decision.
    Notice of Availability: The expert peer review records completed in
this process are now available in the public docket and available at
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/index.htm.
    The docket includes: Materials provided to the expert peer
reviewers; list of names and affiliations of the expert peer reviewers;
a summary of comments, as well as comments attributable to individual
reviewers.

    Dated: August 7, 2009.
Margo T. Oge,
Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
[FR Doc. E9-19466 Filed 8-14-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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