US EPA finalizes new RFS, ethanol plant pollution rules

Washington (Platts)--1May2007

The US Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday finalized the
rules-of-the-road for the congressionally mandated renewable fuels standard,
saying in a Federal Register notice that the final rule will go into effect
September 1.

In another notice, the agency said its new final rule raising the amount
of pollution ethanol plants can emit before they are required to install new
equipment to control emissions goes into effect July 2.

EPA announced both final rules in mid-April, but they are not considered
completed until they are published in the Federal Register, with a start date.

EPA's regulations for the RFS program, which requires the use of 7.5
billion gal of renewable fuels in the US gasoline pool by 2012, establish a
compliance and trading program that would allow the covered entities to
purchase or sell credits, depending on whether they exceed their annual
obligation to use renewable fuels, or fall short.

The ethanol-plant rule would allow plants to emit as much as 250
tons/year of pollution before it considered a "major net emitter," a status
that requires it to install the most-effective air pollution equipment on the
market. The current threshold is 100 tons/year.

--Cathy Landry, cathy_landry@platts.com