Document Edzjg4RY4Q9g5daZr1g8pbNJb

G V E R N D R S ' l> ; O !; U E ! S- C O A L F "F' F O N <s Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, Chair Iowa Gov. Kitw Reynolds, Vice Chair >Executive Director, Larry Pearce August 23, 2017 The Honorable Scott Pruitt Administrator US. Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Administrator 1101A 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460 Subject: Demonstration of mid-lew! ethanol Mends in siate-mmed legacy vehicles Dear Administrator Pruitt; This letter follows up on my June 12 letter and describes a regulatory pathway for EPA to authorize the demonstration of mid-level ethanol fuel blends, My Coalition colleagues and I seek to assess the effects of these fuels on vehicle performance, fuel economy, and emissions control systems by using them in state-owned fleet vehicles, Including non-flex-fuel vehicles (non-PFVs). To undertake such a program, the states need EPA to grant exemptions from two sets of rules. First, EPA rules prohibit selling, dispensing, or transporting gasoline that exceeds the applicable Reid vapor pressure. (RVP) standard, 40 C.ER, 80.27(a)(2), Currently EPA's rules interpret the Clean Air Act to impose a more stringent RVP standard on gasoline blended with more than 10 percent ethanol. I d >80.27(d)(2). Mid-level ethanol blends produced by adding more ethanol to .regular gasoline may exceed this standard. Second, EPA has previously interpreted the Clean Air Act to limit the amount of ethanol that, may be blended into gasoline for use in non-PEVs, The basis for this Interpretation was the "sub-slm" law... section 211 (f) of the Acf--which prohibits the sale (or increased concentration) of fuels and fuel additives that are not `substantially sim ilar' to a fuel or fuel additive used in new-vehicle certification testing. 42 U.S.C. 7545(f)(1)(B); see, e.g., Partial Grant o f Clean Air Act Waiver Application Submitted by Growth Energy To Increase the Allowable Ethanol Content o f Gasoline to IS Percent, 76 Fed, Reg. 4662, 4682 (Jan. 26,2011) (granting a waiver of die sttb-sim law to allow gasoline with up to 15% ethanol for use in some non-FPVs), Although ethanol recently began to be used as a fuel additive In the certification of new gasoline-fueled vehicles, see 40 C.ER. 1065.710(b)(2), EPA has not yet reinterpreted "substantially similar" to allow increased concentrations of ethanol in gasoline or repealed P h ! g 4 :>2 'S : 2 i:i . G V:2 2 ?2: U : -2 : >2 ! 2-, :>; Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 10 ED 002061 00126905-00001 labeling rules intended to deter the use of higher-ethanol blends in non-PFVs. 40 C ER . 80.1501. In addition, informal guidance from, former EPA officials also implies that using mid- level blends in non-FFVs might violate provisions of the Clean Air Act relating to fuel registration and tampering with emissions control systems. See Letter from Adam M, Kushner, Director, EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Air Enforcement .Division., to Boh Greco, Director, American Petroleum Institute .Downstream and Industry' Operations (July31,2008) (citing 42 U.S.C. 7522(a)(3)(A), 7547(d)), Without endorsing continued application of EPAs past interpretations of the Clean Air Act, it would be prudent to obtain an exemption from any conceivable limitat ion of mid- level ethanol blends to FPYs. Cf. 40 C.F.R. 80,1504(a)(3) ("No person shall... fb]e prohibited from manufacturing, selling, introducing, or causing or allowing the sale or introduction of gasoline containing greater than 10 volume percent ethanol into any ilex-fuel vehicle"), EPA may grant such a testing exemption under 40 C E R . $ 1068.210 ("[EPA] may exempt engines/ equipment that you will use for research, investigations, studies, demonstrations, or training,"), EPA has granted exemptions for state-led vehicle research in the past, For example, EPA granted South Dakota a waiver under 40 CER, 80.27(e) to allow7the state to useEl 5 in excess of the applicable RV3?standard in state-owned vehicles. See Letter from John Wiehrauch, Center Director, EPA Fuels Compliance Center, to Hunter Roberts, Energy Policy Director, South Dakota Governors Office of Economic Development (May 29,2014), Your approval of this request, to use higher ethanol blends will allow7us to demonstrate that these blends improve vehicle performance and do not impair emission control systems. Thank you, Sincerely, Pete Ricketts Chairman and Governor of Nebraska cc: Member Governors The Honorable Dennis Daugaard The Honorable Kim Reynolds Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 10 ED 002061 00126905-00002