Hi Keith and others, I've got more info about the EPA registration issue and it's not good. I sent the info that Keith compiled ( http://archive.nnytech.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/27488/ ) to Jon Van Gerpen of Iowa State University who then contacted the EPA about the discrepancy in their registration process (I'm not sure who exactly he spoke with).
I didn't get full details yet from Dr Van Gerpen (especially the question of whom it was that he spoke with, but I"ll try and find out next week) , but here's what he wrote to me: Quote: "Regarding my email exchange with EPA. It was pretty much a bust. I explained to them my understanding of the registration process and then asked them for the rationale they use to categorize biodiesel as an atypical fuel. In the response I received, they confirmed that my understanding of the process was correct but ignored my request for the rationale. I can't fault them too much for not being responsive. We're all busy. However, I still think there is no sound technical basis for not including biodiesel as a non-baseline fuel. This would allow it to qualify for the small business exemptions. I think the most likely path to getting this would be to find a friendly senator who might be willing to push the EPA to loosen up." (end quote) We have been organising here this fall in Northern California to talk about forming a statewide B100 consumers' association, as a sort of partnership with the several small biodiesel distributors, 'small business users' (ie people like Thanksgiving Coffee who run a few vehicles on B100 but aren't considered a fleet in the traditional sense), and passenger car biodiesel consumers- underserved markets, and ones hard-hit by IWP's quality problems this fall. The first item on the agenda besides 'how to greet the industry when it comes here for it's winter convention' is 'how to do a legal challenge to the EPA registration rules so we can have legal local production'. I agree with Dr Van Gerpen's suggestion about finding a politician to take it up, but we're still in the beginning stages of debating strategy on this in our area, and more importantly trying to raise awareness about this issue locally. More info coming shortly. . I think a legal challenge would have to hinge partly on a re-definition of 'small producer'. Currently the small business exemption for non-baseline fuel is for operators making less than 50 million dollars a year. That would leave the NBB high and dry, as no one is making that much from biodiesel production in the US. My personal proposal for redefining 'small producer' is someone making a half million gallons a year or less. This is considered pilot plant scale for the industry- but it's a reasonable scale for local sourcing and production. I think it'd be less threatening to the industry than demanding the current non-baseline registration rules, which would exempt everyone in the industry big and small from the Tier 1/Tier 2 testing, if followed to the letter. Also another heads-up: someone whom I know in the NBB contacted me about their winter convention- they're having a 'small producer panel' discussion in the convention. They're trying to get Jim Caldwell to be one of the speakers,and didn't know yet who the others would be. My acquaintance in the NBB read the official statement about the panel to me- and it said something like 'while we recognise that small producers have a role to play in the development of the biodiesel market" (which I read rather cynically!), but [I paraphrase here cause I can't remember the actual language] the issues of quality need to be addressed' or something like that. Now this was amusing to me to hear. We've had serious problems with bad quality substandard non-spec biodiesel coming out of NBB member Imperial Western Products' plant this summer and fall, with drivers having big repair bills as a result, but the NBB has no clue that this is happening and still believes that small producers would have quality control problems. I asked my acquaintance in the NBB if he had any idea about this issue and of course no one had told them. As usual the NBB is somewhat out of touch on B100 issues. Amusingly, the next thing scheduled on the NBB convention agenda right after the small producer discussion is suposed to be a tour of the IWP plant. I realy think they all have no idea that this sort of thing has been happening. Remember it also happened with World Energy this spring, causing some consumers to question 'yellow grease'-sourced B100 after THEIR repair bills occurred. ALso remember that those who cught the problem were basically watchdog grassroots people- if no one was watching, or everyone was getting their B100 from a regular gas station, it would have taken a lot longer to figure out that there was a problem. By the way my reading of the above NBB statement is that the NBB lumps homebrewers in with small producers so all the usual quality control rumors take over, I think they're primarily worried about homebrewers. Again this is a place where redefinition might be handy strategy-wise- defining small commercial producers as a different thing than homebrewers. IN reality a few folks in our budding consumers group think that local smaller producers would probalby be more accountable than the industry is, as far as quality goes. mark --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > <snip>. The website you > reference is dated February 13, 2002, nearly two years ago. It's > outdated, I think it's one-sided, it's certainly no longer accurate, > and Tom Leue shouldn't still have it there. > > This is what Jim Caldwell of the EPA said at the time: > > >"He hasn't gotten registered yet, so he shouldn't have introduced > >this fuel to vehicles," Caldwell said, adding that Leue is still > >allowed to sell the fuel for non-road vehicles such as tractors. "I > >wouldn't say we shut him down," Caldwell said, noting they've taken > >no enforcement steps. > -- From "EPA: Order shuts down biodiesel fuel manufacturer", AP > http://www.spinninglobe.net/bioupdate3.htm > > When it came up we formed a separate closed discussion group with > interested Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list members, including Tom Leue, > and checked the whole thing out thoroughly. Tom was convinced, and I > think he still is, that it was a conspiracy by Archer Daniels Midland > against small biofuel operators, but there's no evidence for that and > he was never able to offer any. Much more likely is that small > producers simply fell beneath the National Biodiesel Board's radar > screen: their definition of "small-scale" operators is those with > total annual sales of less than $50 million. People producing Tom's > 3,650 gallons a year simply weren't considered. The NBB was after > getting their soy check-off dollars back that had paid for the Clean > Air Act Health Effects Data studies for biodiesel, but they were > breaking their own rules, small-scale operators were supposed to be > exempt from paying the fees. Again, almost certainly mere neglect and > inefficiency rather than enemy action. > > Meanwhile other list members at the Biofuels-biz list set to work > checking the rules and regulations and got in contact with the EPA > and other people. Complicated stuff concerning fuel definitions and > categorisations and much besides, but eventually the EPA agreed that, > according to their own rules and definitions in fact, in order to > register as on-road fuel producers small producers were indeed not > required to pay for access to the Health Effects Data, nor did they > have to join the NBB and pay the NBB's various fees and taxes - BUT > they had to produce evidence that the fuel they produced met the ASTM > D-6751 quality specifications. Also there was the different matter of > fuel taxes, both federal and state. > <big snip> > > This is a summing up of the whole saga and outcome of the so-called > "EPA hassle" with small-scale biodiesel producers: > http://archive.nnytech.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/27488/ > > Keith Addison > Journey to Forever > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. 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