If your business is one of the very few that continues to submit CDs or diskettes with information required by the EPA under 40 CFR Part 80 (Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives), your option to do so will expire on August 31, 2012. As of that date, EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAG) will require that entities under Part 80 comply with their reporting obligations by using EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX). The requirement also applies to those who must submit certain fuel and petroleum information under the Agency’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting requirements at 40 CFR Part 98. The EPA lists 50 different reports that must be filed through the CDX under the two parts.

The EPA has been gradually shifting reporting provisions under its various programs to the Internet-based CDX system, which the Agency describes as fast, efficient, and secure. Among the advantages are the ability to submit data through one centralized point of access; receive confirmation from the EPA when submissions are received; submit data in a variety of formats, including Excel and flat-file; and reduce costs associated with submitting and processing data submissions.

Burning and irradiation

In its notice, the EPA says it is specifically terminating the use of alternatives to reporting through the CDX; these alternatives were intended as temporary measures that the Agency believes are no longer necessary.

Problems associated with CDs and diskettes include improper burning of data onto CDs so that no report is submitted and damage caused by irradiation that is performed for security reasons. In such cases, the material must be resubmitted. The EPA must also review, catalog, and store both the media and the paperwork (which includes an explanation of why the CDX is not being used) that accompany the electronic media. With the CDX, the amount of physical material that must be managed at the Agency end is greatly reduced.

Applicable subparts

The notice applies to the following regulations:

• Reformulated gasoline (RFG) and antidumping regulations of Subparts D and E
• Tier 2 gasoline sulfur regulations of Subpart H
• Gasoline toxics requirements (MSAT2) of Subpart J
• Diesel sulfur reporting regulations of Subpart I
• Renewable fuel standard (RFS2) regulations of Subpart M
• Mandatory reporting of GHG rule of 40 CFR Part 98, Subparts LL (suppliers of coal-based liquid fuels) and/or MM (suppliers of petroleum products)

The EPA adds that the August 31, 2012, deadline should provide all parties with ample time to sign on to the CDX. Any party requiring a new CDX account may register at http://cdx.epa.gov/epa_home.asp.

EPA’s notice on using the CDX to submit compliance reports under the gasoline, RFS2, and GHG gas programs was published in the July 27, 2012, FR.