BRAG Seeks Biodiesel Exemptions

STREATOR, Ill. (DTN) -- The Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group submitted petitions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requesting that biodiesel fuel manufacturers be granted the same chemical data reporting exemptions that petroleum-based diesel manufactures already receive.

In a news release posted by BRAG on its website Monday, Oct. 27, BRAG said it submitted the petitions to the EPA Oct. 21 through two mechanisms allowed under Toxic Substances Control Act rules.

"We hope EPA recognizes that these petitions only seek to level the playing field for biodiesel and petroleum-derived diesel manufacturers," said Kathleen M. Roberts, BRAG's executive director.

"Under current regulation, biodiesel producers are required to spend significant amounts of time and money gathering and providing CDR information to EPA while petroleum-derived producers are not, for chemicals that are very similar, serve the same purpose, and are managed in equivalent ways."

One petition, under Section 21 for Section 8(a) Partial Exemption in Chemical Data reporting for biodiesel products, was submitted to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy requesting that EPA initiate a rulemaking to amend the TSCA Section 8 CDR partially exempted chemical list set forth in the EPA regulations at 40 C.F.R. Section 711.6(b)(1).

Specifically, BRAG petitioned EPA to add biodiesel as a chemical category for partial exemption for the same reasons as those given for petroleum chemicals already included, which occurred via a rulemaking process based on proposals submitted by the American Petroleum Institute.

The second petition for partial exemption of biodiesel products was submitted to the CDR Coordinator of EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. In it, BRAG petitions to add biodiesel as a chemical category in the partially exempted chemical list at 40 C.F.R. Section 711.6(b)(2)(iv), referred to as the (b)(2) List.

Amending the CDR partial exemption list to include biodiesels is necessary to ensure equitable regulatory treatment of chemical substances of comparable release and exposure potential, and to avoid EPA providing regulatory relief to one subset of diesel products over another, BRAG said.

BRAG provides a platform for organizations engaged in bio-based chemistries to identify regulatory barriers for their unique products and to work collectively to address them.

(BM/AG)

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