2022 EnviroFlash Announcements about EPA Fuel Programs

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This page lists recent EnviroFlash announcements that have been released to update stakeholders about EPA fuel programs.

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Notification of upcoming biointermediates compliance workshop

The EPA is hosting a virtual workshop on September 29th from 1-4pm Eastern Daylight Time on the new biointermediates provisions of the Renewable Fuel Standard program. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) final rule for years 2020, 2021, and 2022 (see 87 FR 39600, July 1, 2022) contained new provisions for the use of certain biointermediates to produce qualifying renewable fuels and specified requirements that apply when renewable fuel is produced through sequential operations at more than one facility. Additionally, the new provisions cover the production, transfer, and use of biointermediates and new regulatory requirements related to registration, recordkeeping, and reporting for facilities producing or using a biointermediate for renewable fuel production.

The virtual public workshop will provide the opportunity for EPA to update stakeholders on how to register and comply with the new requirements (producing, transferring and using biointermediates) and generate RINs. There will also be a question and answer period for stakeholders to ask additional questions related to biointermediates.

All attendees must pre-register for the workshop by sending an e-mail to [email protected] no later than September 27th, 2022.

Additional information related to the workshop will be posted on EPA's website at Workshop Biointermediates Compliance 2022. Interested parties should check the website for any updated information.

For further information, contact [email protected].

Notice of EPA's Intent to Update RFS Small Refinery Exemption Data

At 3 pm today (EDT), June 3, 2022, EPA will announce decisions involving petitions from small refineries for exemption from the Renewable Fuel Standard, and at the same time will update the Renewable Fuel Standard Small Refinery Exemption website to reflect that information.

Attest engagement reports covering 2021

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would like to remind all attest auditors and regulated parties (e.g., gasoline refiners and renewable fuel producers) under 40 CFR part 80, subpart M (Renewable Fuels Program) and 40 CFR part 1090, subpart S (Regulation of Fuels, Fuel Additives, and Regulated Blendstocks) that attest auditors must register with EPA in CDX and submit attest reports on behalf of regulated parties as directed below. Attest engagement reports covering compliance year 2021 must be submitted to EPA by June 1, 2022. Note: attest engagement reports for obligated parties for the 2019-2021 compliance years are due as specified in 40 CFR 80.1464(d)(1).

Attest engagement reports must be submitted by an attest auditor registered with EPA. Regulated parties may not submit attest engagement reports and those regulated parties that have already submitted attest engagement reports must arrange for a registered attest auditor to submit the attest engagement reports.

The following interim steps to submit reports are necessary until information technology functionality is fully implemented to enable e-registration association and e-reporting:

-    Attest auditors must register their company in OTAQReg.
-    The regulated parties under 40 CFR part 80 and 40 CFR part 1090 must associate with their attest auditor(s) by submitting to DCFuels documentation demonstrating the association. This regulated party/attest auditor association must be completed by the June 1, 2022, deadline. The association documentation must include the company ID of the attest auditor and the regulated party's company and facility ID numbers. To facilitate this association activity, EPA is providing a sample attest engagement association letter. 
-    The attest auditor must submit the ATT0100 form(s) and their attest engagement report(s) to DCFuels by June 1, 2022.

See instructions on How to Submit Attest Engagements Reports.

Contact the Fuels Program Helpdesk at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Notice of EPA's Intent to Update RFS Small Refinery Exemption Data

At 3:30 pm today (EDT), April 7, 2022, EPA will provide decisions to 36 facilities with outstanding RFS small refinery exemption petitions that were the subject of a December 8, 2021 order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. At the same time, EPA will update the Renewable Fuel Standard announcements webpage as well as the Small Refinery Exemption website to reflect that information.

EMTS and OTAQReg Systems - Back Online

The EPA Moderated Transaction System (EMTS) and the OTAQ Registration System (OTAQReg) are both back online as of 11:00 AM EDT today, April 05, 2022. Thank you for your patience and collaboration while the connectivity issues have been resolved.

CDX Connectivity Issues Impacting EMTS and OTAQREG

EPA's Central Data Exchange posted a notice on April 2, 2022, that they are experiencing connectivity issues that may intermittently impact users of the Exchange Network and Shared CROMERR Services. 

We have confirmed that both EMTS and OTAQREG are adversely impacted by these CDX connectivity issues.  As a result, users may experience slow performance, submission errors, and lack of system availability in EMTS and OTAQReg, as well as lack of synchronization in EMTS with registration data entered in OTAQReg.

CDX has stated that they are working with EPA's network team and their service provider to resolve the issue. Updates will be shared as they become available.

Approaching Reporting Deadline for Fuel Manufacturers under 40 CFR part 79

Fuel manufacturers and importers no longer need to submit the Report for Motor Vehicle Gasoline or Diesel Fuel (Form 3520-12Q) on a quarterly basis - this report is required on an annual basis, with the first annual report for 2021 due by March 31, 2022. 

Per 40 CFR part 79 5(a)(1), fuel manufacturers are required to submit an annual report.  However, in the interim, a fuel manufacturer should submit a 3520-12Q indicating the 4th quarter of 2021 but reporting for all of 2021. In addition, fuel manufacturers must submit an annual report per 40 CFR part 79 5(a)(2) via EPA form 3520-12A.

Per 40 CFR part 79 5(b), fuel additive manufacturers must submit an annual report via EPA form 3520-13A. 

These reports can be found at: How to Report Annually for Fuel and Fuel Additive Registrations (FFARs) webpage.
The reports should be submitted via DCFuels in accordance with the instructions at: EPA's Fuel Programs Mailing Addresses.

Contact the Fuels Program Helpdesk at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Note:  A prior Enviroflash was sent regarding the approaching reporting deadline for Gasoline and Diesel Programs under 40 CFR part 1090.

Approaching Reporting Deadline for Gasoline and Diesel Programs under 40 CFR part 1090

As the March 31 deadline approaches, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would like to remind all reporting parties for the Gasoline and Diesel programs to use the appropriate reporting forms for 40 CFR part 1090. The forms can be found at: List of All Gasoline, Diesel, and Regulated Blendstock Reports.

We would also like to remind reporting parties generating gasoline sulfur and/or gasoline benzene credits, that the credit generation formula for each was modified under 40 CFR part 1090 to incorporate compliance sulfur and compliance benzene values respectively.  Currently EMTS does not accommodate the reporting of these compliance values, but credits must be calculated and reported using the formulas at 40 CFR part 1090.725. 

Parties may find it useful to review materials from the Fuels Regulatory Streamlining rule virtual workshop that EPA held on December 9-10, 2020. These materials are available at: Fuels Regulatory Streamlining Virtual Workshop on December 2020 webpage.

Please note that EPA is aware that some outdated references to 40 CFR part 80 exist throughout its Fuels Program website, and is working diligently to correct these.

Contact the Fuels Program Helpdesk at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Note: A subsequent Enviroflash will be sent regarding the approaching reporting deadline for Fuel Manufacturers under 40 CFR part 79.

EMTS and OTAQREG Downtime: Thursday, February 24, 2022, 9-11:59 PM ET

On Thursday, February 24, 2022, the EPA Moderated Transaction System (EMTS) and OTAQ Registration (OTAQReg) will be down for emergency upgrade during the 9 AM - 11:59 PM ET period.

To avoid failed submissions and other possible issues, please do not attempt to submit any node-based or web-based transactions in EMTS starting at 9 AM ET Thursday, February 24, 2022.

The upgrade is expected to be completed by 11:59 PM ET Thursday, February 24, 2022.

EMTS Maintenance Downtime: Friday, February 11, 2022, 5-7 PM ET

On Friday, February 11, 2022, 5-7 PM ET, the EPA Moderated Transaction System (EMTS) will be down for maintenance.

To avoid failed submissions and other possible issues, please do not attempt to submit any node-based or web-based transactions in EMTS starting at 5 PM ET on Friday, February 11, 2022. 

The maintenance is expected to be completed by 7 PM ET Friday, February 11, 2022.

Announcing Upcoming Virtual Meeting on Biofuel Greenhouse Gas Modeling

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a virtual workshop on biofuel greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling that will take place on Monday, February 28, 2022 and Tuesday, March 1, 2022 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) each day.  More details on this announcement can be found in the Federal Register (FRL-9307-01-OAR).

The purpose of this workshop is to solicit information on the current scientific understanding of greenhouse gas modeling of land-based biofuels used in the transportation sector.  The information gathered as part of this workshop will be used to inform a range of current and future actions, including EPA's methodology for quantifying the greenhouse gas emissions under the Renewable Fuels Standard.  Through this workshop, we will initiate a public process for getting input on (i) how to incorporate the best available science into an update of our lifecycle analysis (LCA) of biofuels, and (ii) what steps EPA should take next in this work area.  The meeting is being conducted by EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality in consultation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy.

This is a virtual meeting and open to the public. To register for the meeting, please visit: Workshop on Biofuel Greenhouse Gas Modeling.

Please monitor the same website for any changes to meeting logistics and the final meeting agenda.  In addition, EPA will be accepting comments related to the questions described in the Supplementary Information section of the Federal Register notice via the federal docketing system. Comments identified by docket ID number: OAR-2021-0921, must be received on or before April 01, 2022.

OTAQReg Downtime Friday, January 7, 2022, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (EST)

Friday, January 7, 2022, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (EST), Part 79 registration in OTAQReg will be unavailable for technical maintenance.

Users will not be able to process transactions in OTAQReg during the downtime.

To avoid failed submissions and other possible issues, please do not attempt to submit any transactions in OTAQReg during the maintenance window, Friday, January 7, 2022, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (EST).

The maintenance is expected to be completed by 9 p.m. (EST) Friday, January 7, 2022. 

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Last updated on March 29, 2024