WASHINGTON – On Monday, NACS filed comments in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request for information in its “Evaluation of Existing Regulations” process.
In February, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13777, “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,” which established a federal policy “to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens on the American people,” and directed federal agencies to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations. In accordance with the order, EPA is seeking input on regulations in their purview that may be appropriate for repeal, replacement or modification.
The NACS comments focused on two areas: the Point of Obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, and the Underground Storage Tank (UST) program.
EPA is currently reviewing comments on whether to formally deny petitions to change the point of obligation under the RFS program. Under the program, refiners, manufacturers and importers are “obligated parties.” Merchant refiners want to move the point of obligation downstream to fuel retailers. NACS supports keeping the point of obligation where it is and opposes efforts to shift the burden of compliance downstream. In its comments, NACS reiterated its position and recommended EPA deny these petitions.
On July 15, 2015, EPA published its final rule updating its Underground Storage Tank regulations. These revisions focused on spill prevention and proper operations and maintenance, and imposed new requirements for secondary containment and operations training. This final rule contained several improvements, which NACS recommended, from the original proposed rule. However, technological developments have rendered some of these provisions unnecessary and overly burdensome. In its comments, NACS shared, “alternative technology-based solutions for spill prevention and secondary containment, which have developed since 2015, are at least as effective as some requirements contained in the final rule and substantially less burdensome to operators.”
NACS asked EPA to review the existing regulations and update and modify them to reflect this new technology and lessen the burden on regulated entities.