Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of the Reformulated Gasoline Program to Maine's Southern Counties

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to extend the Clean Air Act's (CAA) prohibition against the sale of conventional gasoline in reformulated gasoline (RFG) areas to the southern Maine counties of York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Knox, and Lincoln. This proposal is based on a request from the Governor of the State of Maine for areas within the ozone transport region established under the CAA. The CAA does not give the EPA discretion to deny a Governor's request on this matter. The scope of the EPA's discretion is limited to establishing the date that the prohibition commences. Consistent with the Governor's request, the EPA proposes that this prohibition commence on May 1, 2015 for all refiners, importers, and distributors in the Maine counties referenced in the Governor's request, and on June 1, 2015 for all retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers in those counties. The EPA is also adding in its RFG opt-out rules a provision to reflect that there is a four- year minimum opt-in period for areas that opt into the RFG program on the basis of their location within the ozone transport region. This clarification will align the federal regulatio