(a)
(1) Transportation fuel produced at a refinery by a refiner, or foreign refiner (as defined at § 80.1465(a)), is exempt from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010 from the renewable fuel standards of § 80.1405, and the owner or operator of the refinery, or foreign refinery, is exempt from the requirements that apply to obligated parties under this subpart M for fuel produced at the refinery if the refinery meets the definition of a small refinery under § 80.1401 for calendar year 2006.
(2) The exemption of paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall apply unless a refiner chooses to waive this exemption (as described in paragraph (f) of this section), or the exemption is extended (as described in paragraph (e) of this section).
(3) For the purposes of this section, the term “refiner” shall include foreign refiners.
(4) This exemption shall only apply to refineries that process crude oil through refinery processing units.
(5) The small refinery exemption is effective immediately, except as specified in paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
(b)
(1) A refiner owning a small refinery must submit a verification letter to EPA containing all of the following information:
(i) The annual average aggregate daily crude oil throughput for the period January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006 (as determined by dividing the aggregate throughput for the calendar year by the number 365).
(ii) A letter signed by the president, chief operating or chief executive officer of the company, or his/her designee, stating that the information contained in the letter is true to the best of his/her knowledge, and that the refinery was small as of December 31, 2006.
(iii) Name, address, phone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address of a corporate contact person.
(2) Verification letters must be submitted by July 1, 2010 to one of the addresses listed in paragraph (h) of this section.
(3) For foreign refiners the small refinery exemption shall be effective upon approval, by EPA, of a small refinery application. The application must contain all of the elements required for small refinery verification letters (as specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section), must satisfy the provisions of § 80.1465(f) through (i) and (o), and must be submitted by July 1, 2010 to one of the addresses listed in paragraph (h) of this section.
(c) If EPA finds that a refiner provided false or inaccurate information regarding a refinery's crude throughput (pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section) in its small refinery verification letter, the exemption will be void as of the effective date of these regulations.
(d) If a refiner is complying on an aggregate basis for multiple refineries, any such refiner may exclude from the calculation of its Renewable Volume Obligations (under § 80.1407) transportation fuel from any refinery receiving the small refinery exemption under paragraph (a) of this section.
(e)
(1) The exemption period in paragraph (a) of this section shall be extended by the Administrator for a period of not less than two additional years if a study by the Secretary of Energy determines that compliance with the requirements of this subpart would impose a disproportionate economic hardship on a small refinery.
(2) A refiner may petition the Administrator for an extension of its small refinery exemption, based on disproportionate economic hardship, at any time.
(i) A petition for an extension of the small refinery exemption must specify the factors that demonstrate a disproportionate economic hardship and must provide a detailed discussion regarding the hardship the refinery would face in producing transportation fuel meeting the requirements of § 80.1405 and the date the refiner anticipates that compliance with the requirements can reasonably be achieved at the small refinery.
(ii) The Administrator shall act on such a petition not later than 90 days after the date of receipt of the petition.
(iii) In order to qualify for an extension of its small refinery exemption, a refinery must meet the definition of “small refinery” in § 80.1401 for the most recent full calendar year prior to seeking an extension and must be projected to meet the definition of “small refinery” in § 80.1401 for the year or years for which an exemption is sought. Failure to meet the definition of small refinery for any calendar year for which an exemption was granted would invalidate the exemption for that calendar year.
(f) At any time, a refiner with a small refinery exemption under paragraph (a) of this section may waive that exemption upon notification to EPA.
(1) A refiner's notice to EPA that it intends to waive its small refinery exemption must be received by November 1 to be effective in the next compliance year.
(2) The waiver will be effective beginning on January 1 of the following calendar year, at which point the transportation fuel produced at that refinery will be subject to the renewable fuels standard of § 80.1405 and the owner or operator of the refinery shall be subject to all other requirements that apply to obligated parties under this Subpart M.
(3) The waiver notice must be sent to EPA at one of the addresses listed in paragraph (h) of this section.
(g) A refiner that acquires a refinery from either an approved small refiner (as defined under § 80.1442(a)) or another refiner with an approved small refinery exemption under paragraph (a) of this section shall notify EPA in writing no later than 20 days following the acquisition.
(h) Verification letters under paragraph (b) of this section, petitions for small refinery hardship extensions under paragraph (e) of this section, and small refinery exemption waiver notices under paragraph (f) of this section shall be sent to the attention of “RFS Program” to the address in § 80.10(a).
[75 FR 14863, Mar. 26, 2010, as amended at 79 FR 42163, July 18, 2014; 85 FR 7077, Feb. 6, 2020; 85 FR 78467, Dec. 4, 2020]