[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 13 (Friday, January 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2979-2981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1073]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9620-5]
Regulation of Fuel and Fuel Additives: Modification to Octamix
Waiver
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: On February 1, 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
conditionally granted a waiver requested by the Texas Methanol
Corporation (Texas Methanol) for a gasoline-alcohol fuel, pursuant to
section 211(f) of the Clean Air Act.\1\ A minor correction was made on
May 12, 1988.\2\ A modification to the original conditions was made on
October 21, 1988.\3\ Baker Hughes submitted a request to modify the
waiver. The new request seeks approval on an alternative corrosion
inhibitor, TOLAD\TM\ MFA-10A, to be used within Texas Methanol's
gasoline-alcohol fuel, also known as OCTAMIX. EPA considers this to be
a request for modification of the waiver under 211(f) of the Clean Air
Act (Act).
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\1\ 53 FR 3636, February 8, 1988.
\2\ 53 FR 17977, May 19, 1988.
\3\ 53 FR 43768, October 28, 1988.
DATES: Comments or a request for a public hearing must be received on
or before February 21, 2012. EPA does not plan to hold a public hearing
on this notice, unless one is requested. If requested by February 6,
2012, a public hearing will be held. If such a hearing is held,
comments must be received within 90 days after the date of such
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hearing.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2011-0894, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: [email protected].
Fax: (202) 566-9744.
Mail: EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0894, Environmental Protection
Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC
20460.
Hand Delivery: EPA Headquarters Library, Room 3334, EPA
West Building, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. 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 Number EPA-HQ-OAR-
[[Page 2980]]
2011-0894. EPA's policy is that all comments will be included in the
public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, http://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 email. 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 email comment directly to EPA without
going through www.regulations.gov your email 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 instructions on submitting
comments, go to Unit 1.B of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document: http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
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 Docket, EPA
Headquarters Library, Mail Code: 2822T, EPA West Building, 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 holidays.
The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1742, and
the facsimile number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-9744.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding this
proposal contact, Joseph R. Sopata, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Transportation and Air
Quality, (202) 343-9034.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 211(f)(1) of the Clean Air Act (``CAA'' or ``the Act'')
makes it unlawful for any manufacturer of any fuel or fuel additive to
first introduce into commerce, or to increase the concentration in use
of, any fuel or fuel additive for use by any person in motor vehicles
manufactured after model year 1974, which is not substantially similar
to any fuel or fuel additive utilized in the certification of any model
year 1975, or subsequent model year, vehicle or engine under section
206 of the Act. The Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``the
Agency'') last issued an interpretive rule on the phrase
``substantially similar'' at 73 FR 22281 (April 25, 2008). Generally
speaking, this interpretive rule describes the types of unleaded
gasoline that are likely to be considered ``substantially similar'' to
the unleaded gasoline utilized in EPA's certification program by
placing limits on a gasoline's chemical composition as well as its
physical properties, including the amount of alcohols and ethers
(oxygenates) that may be added to gasoline. Fuels that are found to be
``substantially similar'' to EPA's certification fuels may be
registered and introduced into commerce. The current ``substantially
similar'' interpretive rule for unleaded gasoline allows oxygen content
up to 2.7 weight for certain ethers and alcohols.
Section 211(f)(4) of the Act provides that upon application of any
fuel or fuel additive manufacturer, the Administrator may waive the
prohibitions of section 211(f)(1) if the Administrator determines that
the applicant has established that the fuel or fuel additive, or a
specified concentration thereof, will not cause or contribute to a
failure of any emission control device or system (over the useful life
of the motor vehicle, motor vehicle engine, nonroad engine or nonroad
vehicle in which such device or system is used) to achieve compliance
by the vehicle or engine with the emission standards to which it has
been certified pursuant to sections 206 and 213(a) of the Act. The
statute requires that the Administrator shall take final action to
grant or deny an application after public notice and comment, within
270 days of receipt of the application.
The Texas Methanol Corporation received a waiver under CAA section
211(f)(4) for a gasoline-alcohol fuel blend, known as OCTAMIX,\4\
provided that the resultant fuel is composed of a maximum of 3.7
percent by weight fuel oxygen, a maximum of 5 percent by volume
methanol, a minimum of 2.5 percent by volume co-solvents \5\ and 42.7
milligrams per liter (mg/l) of Petrolite TOLAD MFA-10 corrosion
inhibitor.\6\ In the OCTAMIX waiver, the Agency invited other corrosion
inhibitor manufacturers to submit test data to establish, on a case-by-
case basis, whether their fuel additive formulations are acceptable as
alternatives to TOLAD\TM\ MFA-10.\7\ The physical properties of
TOLAD\TM\ MFA-10A are shown in EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0894-0002.
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\4\ OCTAMIX decision, 53 FR 3636 (February 8, 1988).
\5\ The co-solvents are any one or a mixture of ethanol,
propanols, butanols, pentanols, hexanols, heptanols and octanols
with the following constraints; the ethanol, propanols and butanols
or mixtures thereof must compose a minimum of 60 percent by weight
of the co-solvent mixture; a maximum limit of 40 percent by weight
of the co-solvents mixture is placed on the pentanols, hexanols,
heptanols and octanols; and the heptanols and octanols are limited
to 5 percent by weight of the co-solvent mixture.
\6\ Additional conditions were the final fuel must meet ASTM
volatility specifications contained in ASTM D439-85a, as well as
phase separation conditions specified in ASTM D-2 Proposal P-176 and
Texas Methanol alcohol purity specifications.
\7\ 53 FR at 3637.
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II. Today's Announcement
On October 14, 2011, Baker Hughes requested EPA allow the use of
its alternative corrosion inhibitor, TOLAD\TM\ MFA-10A, in the OCTAMIX
gasoline-alcohol fuel blend which otherwise would not be allowed under
the waiver.\8\ TOLAD\TM\ MFA-10A is a fuel additive formulation
consisting of a corrosion inhibitor.
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\8\ EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0894-0001.
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One of the major areas of concern to EPA in reviewing any waiver
request is the problem of materials compatibility. Materials
compatibility data could show a potential failure of fuel systems,
emissions related parts and emission control parts from use of the fuel
or fuel additive. Any failure could result in greater emissions that
would cause or contribute to the engines or vehicles exceeding their
emissions standards. Initially, Texas Methanol requested the use of
TOLAD MFA-10 or an appropriate concentration of any other corrosion
inhibitor such that the fuel will pass the National Association of
Corrosion Engineer's TM-01-72 (NACE RUST TEST). However, EPA concluded
that compliance with the NACE Rust Test alone was not adequate in
determining suitability of a corrosion inhibitor for use under the
OCTAMIX
[[Page 2981]]
waiver.\9\ The Agency decided, therefore, to look at corrosion
inhibitors on a case-by-case basis to establish whether each
formulation would be acceptable as an alternative to the formulation of
the original corrosion inhibitor used in the OCTAMIX waiver.\10\
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\9\ 53 FR at 3637
\10\ 53 FR at 3637.
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Therefore, pursuant to section 211(f)(4), EPA will examine the data
submitted by Baker Hughes, along with all comments received from
interested parties, to determine whether use of the corrosion
inhibitor, TOLAD\TM\ MFA-10A, in place of the original corrosion
inhibitor TOLAD MFA-10, would cause or contribute to vehicles or
engines failing to meet their emissions standards when using OCTAMIX.
If use of TXCeed does not cause or contribute to such failures, EPA
will modify the OCTAMIX waiver to allow the use of TOLAD\TM\ MFA-10A as
an alternative corrosion inhibitor to TOLAD MFA-10.
Dated: January 13, 2012.
Gina McCarthy,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2012-1073 Filed 1-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P