Learn the Issues
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What is a satisfactory quality assurance program that ensures oxygenates are being added to RBOB at a non-proprietary terminal?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. For refiners and importers who wish to claim the actual oxygenate type and amount blended with RBOB, a program of contractual controls and quality assurance sampling and testing over the downstream oxygenate blending operation must be carried out. Under…
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We understand it is not necessary to use the words "transferor" and "transferee" on PTD's as long as the parties giving and receiving custody/title are identified. Our concern was with the carrier receiving custody from a marketing terminal and then passing it on to another party. This makes him a transferee and then a transferor. The concern was having the carrier alter the bill of lading to reflect this change. We understand that as long as we show the name and address of the carrier (or show a carrier identification number that is directly related to the carrier's address) on the PTD and also show the party to whom the product is being shipped, we have sufficient information to satisfy the obligation for us as well as the carrier. Please confirm that this is a correct interpretation.
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. Your interpretation is correct. If the paperwork properly reflects the chain of custody through the carrier and shows the proper dates and locations for the different transfers, you have met the PTD requirements with regard to the transfer of…
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We would like to preprint as much of the PTD information as possible on our bill of lading for gasoline sales at our terminals. We would like to print a statement such as the following on all tickets: "Maximum RVP of 8.3 psi if gasoline is designated as VOC controlled for Region 2." This would enable us to have the same bill of lading for both the summer and winter period even though this statement would have no effect for gasoline that is not designated as VOC controlled. Is this language acceptable?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. A statement such as the one in the question would be acceptable assuming that the product is also identified as being VOC controlled or not VOC controlled in accordance with § 80.77(g)(1)(i). (1/17/95) This question and answer was posted…
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Should actual measured values be used for compliance calculations even when they are below those negligible limit values used in the baseline? For example, if a sulfur content of 10 ppm is measured in a batch of finished gasoline, should 10 ppm be used for compliance calculations instead of 30 ppm?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. The measured values must be reported on the batch reports and used for compliance calculations. (4/18/95) This question and answer was originally posted at
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Section 80.77 states that product transfer documents should include the name and address of the transferor and transferee. In the interest of keeping the PTD's as a single document, would it be permissible to retain the addresses of the transferees in a permanent file and not print them on the PTD's? We believe it would be in the best interest of the EPA and the industry to maintain all PTD information within a single document and the addition of the addresses may make it difficult to meet both EPA and Department of Transportation requirements on a single page.
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. Under § 80.77(a) and (b), the product transfer documents for each transfer of title or custody must include both the name and address of the transferor and the transferee. However, EPA will consider this requirement to be met in…
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Section 80.78(a)(8) prohibits "any person" from combining any VOC-controlled RFG produced using ethanol with any VOC-controlled RFG using any other oxygenate between January 1 and September 15. There is no exclusion from this prohibition for retail outlets or wholesale purchaser-consumer facilities as there is for certain other mixing prohibitions. How is the retail outlet expected to be aware that it is receiving a shipment of gasoline that cannot be commingled with gasoline produced using a different oxygenate?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. The RFG regulations were amended on July 20, 1994, to include a product transfer documentation requirement, found in 80.77(g)(3), requiring the "identification of VOC-controlled reformulated gasoline or RBOB as gasoline or RBOB which contains ethanol, or which does not…
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Section 80.78(a) requires segregation of several categories of gasoline and precludes the mixing of any amount of the gasolines that must be segregated. EPA recognized the difficulty in changing the service of a storage tank as a result of tank heels, and and outlined a 5-step procedure for changing the service of a gasoline storage tank. EPA's description of this procedure does not state that a company will avoid
violating the § 80.78(a) segregation prohibition if this procedure is followed, and, therefore, the procedure appears to expose companies to liability for violation of the segregation requirements.
In addition, EPA outlined procedures for dealing with interface mixtures. It is unclear if a party who follows these procedures will be in violation of the § 80.78 segregation prohibitions. If this interface activity is considered a violation, the regulated parties will be exposed during all sequential shipping of gasoline on a pipeline, an activity acknowledged by EPA to be necessary for conducting business and supplying gasoline to the marketplace. Without some type of relief, regulated parties will not be able to ensure delivery of available supplies of RFG.
Will EPA exercise enforcement discretion and not initiate an enforcement action if parties follow the procedures described in the Question and Answer Document, or will EPA enter into written enforcement protocols with regulated parties to ensure no enforcement actions are brought in order to "facilitate the orderly conduct of business."See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. A party who follows the procedures for dealing with the change of service for a gasoline storage tank, or for dealing with pipeline interface mixtures, that are described in the Question and Answer Document will be considered by EPA…
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Section 80.69(e) refers to "additional requirements for oxygenate blenders who blend oxygenate in delivery trucks." What type of activity is this intended to cover?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. This section refers to any case where the RBOB and oxygenate is not combined, mixed, and tested in a storage tank before loading into a truck. Thus, the provision includes cases both where the RBOB and oxygenate are sequentially…
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Section 80.67(a)(2) authorizes a compliance procedure for benzene and oxygen averaging on a "covered area" basis. If a refinery participates in a compliance survey, does this section apply? Does this section apply only if a refinery decides to average oxygen or benzene and does not participate in a compliance survey? Do ratchets apply to parties complying with oxygen and benzene averaging under this section?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. The compliance procedure described in this section allows for oxygen and benzene averaging on an area-specific basis. Since the purpose of surveys is to assure that nationwide averaging provides adequate quality gasoline overall on an area-specific basis, a party…
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For refiners that in-line blend and are exempt from the independent sampling and testing requirements, which test measurements are to be used for the certified fuel properties, the integrated readings from on-line analyzers and flow meters, spot samples, composite samples, or samples taken from storage tanks downstream of the blending process?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. Generally, the results from the composite sample, tested using the methods specified in § 80.46 of the regulations, should be used. If more than one composite sample is taken during the blend and tested to determine compliance, or if…
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If a terminal receives gasoline that is delivered directly from a foreign source but the operator or owner of the receiving terminal is not the importer of that gasoline, is that terminal still considered to be the import facility? Is it the responsibility of the terminal operator or owner, who is not the importer, to do the testing, certification, recordkeeping, reporting, attest engagements and other functions described as importer responsibilities in the final RFG rules?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. The requirements for certification of RFG are applied to the importer, not the import facility. As described above, the importer is the person who is the importer of record with the Customs Service for the gasoline, and normally is…
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If a refinery supplies averaged gasoline to an area which fails a survey, can the refinery during the following year opt to meet per gallon standards and thus avoid the ratcheted standards which would have been applicable to its averaged gasoline?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. Yes. If a refinery opts to meet per gallon standards instead of averaging, ratcheted standards do not apply to that refinery even if the refinery had supplied averaged gasoline to the ratcheted area the previous year. Ratcheted standards apply…
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If a spot sample indicates the analyzers were off, can a sample from the transporting ship or truck in which the fuel is being shipped be used to certify the batch? Can this sample be taken when off-loading the fuel?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. In the case of an approved in-line blending system, spot sample results should be used to correlate with the results from on-line analyzers. If a spot sample shows that the on-line analyzers are not properly monitoring the fuel parameters…
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If a batch of reformulated gasoline fails to meet the RFG specifications but meets the anti-dumping (i.e. conventional gasoline) specifications, can this batch be certified as conventional gasoline? May it be distributed through a facility located in an RFG area? What is required on the bill of lading? What else is required of the distributor? Is the distributor liable if the recipient sells the conventional gasoline in an RFG area?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. Gasoline that does not meet the requirements for reformulated gasoline may be designated as conventional gasoline prior to leaving the refinery and must be included in the refiner's compliance calculations in accordance with the anti-dumping requirements regardless of its…
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If an area's standards have been ratcheted, some suppliers of that area will likely opt for a per gallon standard the following year and thus are not required to meet the ratcheted standards. Will it not be much more likely for that area to fail a subsequent survey since subsequent surveys will be comparing results obtained from samples of largely per gallon RFG to a ratcheted standard? Furthermore, if surveys occur during the first part of a year, before it is known whether surveys were failed late in the previous year, how will regulated parties know the standard against which these survey results will be compared?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. These are two of several questions which are based upon the following incorrect interpretation of the regulations: Determination of a survey failure during a year when ratcheted standards are in place is based upon a comparison of the survey…
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How should storage tanks be sampled for RFG?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. Section 80.65(e)(1) of the regulations states that "[e]ach refiner or importer shall determine the value of each of the [reformulated gasoline] properties for each batch of reformulated gasoline it produces or imports prior to the gasoline leaving the refinery…
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NPDES Permit Basics
Answers to questions like what is an NPDES permit, what is a pollutant, do I need an NPDES permit, etc.
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Superfund Human Exposure Dashboard
View the status of EPA’s site-wide Human Exposure environmental indicator for each Superfund NPL and Superfund Alternative Approach site. Human Exposure is one of the metrics EPA uses to communicate its progress in cleaning up Superfund sites.
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According to the RFG and anti-dumping provisions, a regulated party must keep records for as long as 5 years. Can the original documents, such as bill of ladings, be transferred by a regulated party to micro fiche and allow the original records to be destroyed?
See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help. The regulations do not specify in what form records must be kept. A method of storage which faithfully reproduces records, like micro fiche recording, would be acceptable so long as means of referencing the information are kept on hand…
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NPDES Applications and Forms-EPA Forms
A place for all NPDES applications and forms.