Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...
Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...
Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...
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For purposes <strong>of</strong> assessing the impacts <strong>of</strong> today's rule on small entities, small<br />
entity is defined as: (1) a small business as defined by the Small Business<br />
Administration’s (SBA) regulations at 13 CFR 121.201 (see table below); (2) a small<br />
governmental jurisdiction that is a government <strong>of</strong> a city, county, town, school district or<br />
special district with a population <strong>of</strong> less than 50,000; <strong>and</strong> (3) a small organization that is<br />
any not-for-pr<strong>of</strong>it enterprise which is independently owned <strong>and</strong> operated <strong>and</strong> is not<br />
dominant in its field. The following table provides an overview <strong>of</strong> the primary SBA<br />
small business categories potentially affected by this regulation:<br />
Defined as small entity by SBA if: NAICS Codes a<br />
Industry<br />
Gasoline refiners ≤1,500 employees <strong>and</strong> a crude<br />
capacity <strong>of</strong> ≤125,000 bpcd b<br />
324110<br />
a<br />
North American Industrial Classification System<br />
b barrels <strong>of</strong> crude per day<br />
2. Background - Small Refiners Versus Small Refineries<br />
Title XV (Ethanol <strong>and</strong> Motor <strong><strong>Fuel</strong>s</strong>) <strong>of</strong> the Energy Policy Act provides, at Section<br />
1501(a)(2) [42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(9)(A)-(D)], special provisions for “small refineries”, such<br />
as a temporary exemption from the st<strong>and</strong>ards until calendar year 2011. The Act defines<br />
the term “small refinery” as “…a refinery for which the average aggregate daily crude oil<br />
throughput for a calendar year…does not exceed 75,000 barrels.” This term is different<br />
from a small refiner, which is what the Regulatory Flexibility Act is concerned with. A<br />
small refiner is a small business that meets the criteria set out in SBA’s regulations at 13<br />
CFR 121.201; whereas a small refinery, per the Energy Policy Act, is a refinery where<br />
the annual crude throughput is less than or equal to 75,000 barrels (i.e., a small-capacity<br />
refinery), <strong>and</strong> could be owned by a larger refiner that exceeds SBA’s small entity size<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ards.<br />
Previous EPA fuel regulations have afforded regulatory flexibility provisions to<br />
small refiners, as we believe that refineries owned by small businesses generally face<br />
unique economic challenges, compared to larger refiners. As small refiners generally<br />
lack the resources available to larger companies (including those larger companies that<br />
own small-capacity refineries) to raise capital for any necessary investments for meeting<br />
regulatory requirements, these flexibility provisions were provided to reduce the<br />
disproportionate burden on those refiners that qualified as small refiners.<br />
3. Summary Of Potentially Affected Small Entities<br />
The refiners that are potentially affected by this proposed rule are those that<br />
produce gasoline. For our recent proposed rule “Control <strong>of</strong> Hazardous Air Pollutants<br />
From Mobile Sources” (71 FR 15804, Wednesday, March 29, 2006), we performed an<br />
industry characterization <strong>of</strong> potentially affected gasoline refiners; we used that industry<br />
characterization to determine which refiners would also meet the SBA definition <strong>of</strong> a<br />
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