[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8254-8255]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3413]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0542; FRL-9631-4]


Notice of Data Availability Concerning Renewable Fuels Produced 
From Palm Oil Under the RFS Program; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 
an extension in the public comment period for the ``Notice of Data 
Availability Concerning Renewable Fuels Produced From Palm Oil Under 
the RFS Program'' (the notice is herein referred to as the ``palm oil 
NODA''). EPA published a NODA, which included a request for comment, in 
the Federal Register on January 27, 2012 (77 FR 4300). The public 
comment period was to end on February 27, 2012--30 days after 
publication in the Federal Register. The purpose of this document is to 
extend the comment period an additional 30 days until March 28, 2012. 
This extension of the comment period is provided to allow the public 
additional time to provide comment on the NODA.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 28, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2011-0542, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: Air and Radiation Docket and Information 
Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., 
Washington DC 20004. 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 No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2011-0542. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
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 protected]. 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 information about EPA's public docket visit the 
EPA Docket Center homepage at 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 and Radiation Docket 
and Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20004. The Public Reading Room is open from 
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-
1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron Levy, Office of Transportation 
and Air Quality, Transportation and Climate Division, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460 
(MC: 6041A); telephone number: 202-564-2993; fax number: 202-564-1177; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: In a separate notice of data availability, EPA provided 
an opportunity to comment on EPA's analyses of palm oil used as a 
feedstock to produce biodiesel and renewable diesel under the Renewable 
Fuel Standard (RFS) program. EPA's analysis of palm oil-based biofuels 
is a supplement to the final rule published on March 26, 2010, which 
made changes to the RFS program (75 FR 14670). EPA's analysis of the 
two types of biofuel shows that biodiesel and renewable diesel produced 
from palm oil have estimated lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission 
reductions of 17% and 11%, respectively, for these biofuels compared to 
the statutory baseline petroleum-based diesel fuel used in the RFS 
program. This analysis indicates that both palm-oil-based biofuels 
would not qualify as meeting the minimum

[[Page 8255]]

20% GHG performance threshold for renewable fuel under the RFS program.
    Extension of Comment Period: EPA received requests for an extension 
of the palm oil NODA comment period from various parties. After 
considering all of these comments, EPA has determined that an extension 
of the comment period would provide the public adequate time to provide 
meaningful comment on the NODA. However, this need must be balanced 
against our desire to finalize our analysis in a timely manner. EPA 
believes that an additional 30 days is an appropriate amount of time to 
balance these needs. Accordingly, the public comment period for the 
palm oil NODA is extended until March 28, 2012. EPA does not anticipate 
any further extension of the comment period at this time.

    Dated: February 7, 2012.
Margo Tsirigotis Oge,
Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
[FR Doc. 2012-3413 Filed 2-13-12; 8:45 am]
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