Notice2022-27939
Notice of Public Comment Period for the Biofuels and the Environment: Third Triennial Report to Congress External Review Draft
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Published
January 3, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the public comment period for the draft document titled, "Biofuels and the Environment: Third Triennial Report to Congress (External Review Draft)." The document was prepared by EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), in consultation with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy. EPA is releasing this draft document to seek review by a contractor-led peer review panel. The peer review, organized by EPA's contractor, ERG, will be conducted under the framework of EPA's Scientific Integrity Policy (https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-02/documents/ scientific_integrity_policy_2012.pdf) and follow procedures established in EPA's Peer Review Handbook 4th Edition, 2015 (EPA/100/B-15/001). The draft document and information about the peer review meeting can be found through www.epa.gov/risk/biofuels-and-environment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 1 (Tuesday, January 3, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72-74]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27939]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-ORD-2020-0682; FRL-10163-02-ORD]
Notice of Public Comment Period for the Biofuels and the
Environment: Third Triennial Report to Congress External Review Draft
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing
the public comment period for the draft document titled, ``Biofuels and
the Environment: Third Triennial Report to Congress (External Review
Draft).'' The document was prepared by EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD) and Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), in
consultation with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy. EPA
is releasing this draft document to seek review by a contractor-led
peer review panel. The peer review, organized by EPA's contractor, ERG,
will be conducted under the framework of EPA's Scientific Integrity
Policy (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-02/documents/scientific_integrity_policy_2012.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-02/documents/scientific_integrity_policy_2012.pdf</a>) and follow procedures established
in EPA's Peer Review Handbook 4th Edition, 2015 (EPA/100/B-15/001). The
draft document and information about the peer review meeting can be
found through <a href="http://www.epa.gov/risk/biofuels-and-environment">www.epa.gov/risk/biofuels-and-environment</a>.
DATES: The 60-day public comment period begins January 3, 2023 and ends
March 6, 2023. Comments must be received on or before March 6, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please follow the instructions as provided in the section
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of this notice entitled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the period of
submission, contact the ORD Docket at the EPA Headquarters Docket
Center; phone: 202-566-1752; fax: 202-566-9744; or email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#523d20367c363d31393726123722337c353d24"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="49263b2d672d262a222c3d092c3928672e263f">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical information, contact Christopher
Clark; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#de9db2bfacb5f09db6acb7adaab1aeb6bbac9ebbaebff0b9b1a8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4f0c232e3d24610c273d263c3b203f272a3d0f2a3f2e61282039">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information About the Document
In 2007, Congress enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act
(EISA) with the stated goals of ``mov[ing] the United States toward
greater energy independence and security [and] to increase the
production of clean renewable fuels.'' In accordance with these goals,
EISA revised the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program, which was
created under the 2005 Energy Policy Act and is administered by EPA, to
increase the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended into
transportation fuel to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022. Section 204
of EISA directs EPA, in consultation with the U.S. Departments of
Agriculture and Energy, to assess and report triennially to Congress on
the environmental and resource conservation impacts of the RFS Program.
The first report to Congress (RtC1) was completed in 2011 and
provided an assessment of the environmental and resource conservation
impacts associated with increased biofuel production and use (EPA/600/
R-10/183F). The overarching conclusions of this first report were: (1)
the environmental impacts of increased biofuel production and use were
likely negative but limited in impact; (2) there was a potential for
both positive and negative impacts in the future; and (3) EISA goals
for biofuels production could be achieved with minimal environmental
impacts if best practices were used and if technologies advanced to
facilitate the use of second-generation biofuel feedstocks (corn
stover, perennial grasses, woody biomass, algae, and waste).
The second report to Congress (RtC2) was completed in 2018 and
reaffirmed the overarching conclusions of the RtC1 (EPA/600/R-18/195).
The RtC2 noted that the biofuel production and use conditions that led
to the conclusions of the RtC1 had not materially changed, and that the
production of biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks anticipated by both
the EISA and the RtC1 had not materialized. Noting observed increases
in acreage for corn and soybean production in the period prior to and
following implementation of the RFS Program, the RtC2 concluded that
the environmental and resource conservation impacts associated with
land use change were likely due, at least in part, to increased biofuel
production and use associated with the RFS Program. However, the RtC2
also concluded that further research was needed to assess the linkages
between environmental impacts and either the biofuels market generally
or the RFS Program specifically.
This RtC3 builds on the previous two reports and provides an update
on the impacts to date of the RFS Program on the environment. This
report assesses air, water, and soil quality; ecosystem health and
biodiversity; and other effects. This third report also includes new
analyses not previously included in the first and second reports.
II. Information About This Peer Review
On May 9, 2022, EPA announced through an FRN (87 FR 27634) that it
was seeking public comment on a pool of twenty (20) candidates
identified through a previous FRN seeking nomination of experts (87 FR
5479, February 1, 2022). After considering public comment, and the
balance and collective expertise of the reviewers, ERG identified two
(2) additional candidates to strengthen expertise gaps in ecology,
water quality, and economics, and allow a more balanced panel. On
August 1, 2022, EPA announced through an FRN (87 FR 46958) that it was
seeking public comment on the two (2) additional peer review
candidates.
After review and consideration of public comments on the candidates
submitted in response to the previous FRNs (87 FR 27634, May 9, 2022,
and 87 FR 46958, August 1, 2022), EPA's contractor, ERG, selected nine
(9) peer reviewers from the pool in a manner consistent with EPA's Peer
Review Handbook 4th Edition, 2015 (EPA/100/B-15/001) and independently
conducted a conflict of interest (COI) screening of candidates to
ensure that the selected experts have no COI in conducting this review.
Candidates' combined expertise span the following disciplines:
economics, engineering, agronomics, land use change, remote sensing,
air quality, biogeochemistry, water quality, hydrology, conservation
biology, limnology, and ecology. The external peer review panel, peer
review meeting dates, and registration information will be available on
<a href="http://www.epa.gov/risk/biofuels-and-environment">www.epa.gov/risk/biofuels-and-environment</a>.
III. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at
www.regulations.gov
We encourage the public to submit comments to Docket ID No. [EPA-
HQ-ORD-2020-0682] via web at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a> or via email
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b7d8c5d399d3d8d4dcd2c3f7d2c7d699d0d8c1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5c332e387238333f3739281c392c3d723b332a">[email protected]</span></a>, as there may be a delay in processing mail and
faxes. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received at the EPA Docket
Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding Federal Holidays. For further information on EPA Docket
Center services and the current status, please visit us online at
<a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets</a>.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. [EPA-HQ-ORD-
2020-0682]. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the
specified comment period. It is EPA's policy to include all materials
it receives in the public docket without change and to make the
materials available online at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, including any
personal information provided, unless materials include 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
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or email. The <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> website 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 directly to EPA without going
through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, your email address will be automatically
captured and included as part of the materials that are placed in the
public docket and made available on the internet. If you submit
electronic materials, EPA recommends that you include your name and
other contact information in the body of your materials and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your materials due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider the materials you submit. 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 EPA's Docket Center homepage at <a href="http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm">www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm</a>.
Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> index. Although listed in the index, some
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information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials,
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or in hard copy at the ORD Docket in EPA's
Headquarters Docket Center.
Wayne Cascio,
Director, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Office
of Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 2022-27939 Filed 12-30-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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