(a) No person may violate any prohibited act in this part or fail to meet a requirement that applies to that person under this part.

(b) No person may cause another person to commit an act in violation of this part.

(a)(1) EPA may use results from any testing required under this part to determine whether a given fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock meets any applicable standard. However, EPA may also use any other evidence or information to make this determination if the evidence or information supports the conclusion that the fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock would fail to meet one or more of the parameter specifications in this part if the appropriate sampling and testing methodology had been correctly performed. Examples of other relevant information include business records, commercial documents, and measurements with alternative procedures.

(2) Testing to determine noncompliance with this part may occur at any location and be performed by any party.

(b) Determinations of compliance with the requirements of this part other than the fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock standards, and determinations of liability for any violation of this part, may be based on information from any source or location. Such information may include, but is not limited to, business records and commercial documents.

(a) Any person liable for a violation under this part is subject to civil penalties as specified in 42 U.S.C. 7524 and 7545 for each day of such violation and the amount of economic benefit or savings resulting from the violation.

(b)(1) Any person liable for the violation of an average standard under this part is subject to a separate day of violation for each day in the compliance period.

(2) Any person liable under this part for a failure to fulfill any requirement for credit generation, transfer, use, banking, or deficit correction is subject to a separate day of violation for each day in any compliance period in which invalid credits are generated, transferred, used, or made available for use.

(c)(1) Any person liable under this part for a violation of a per-gallon standard, or for causing another party to violate a per-gallon standard, is subject to a separate day of violation for each day the non-complying fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock remains any place in the distribution system.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the length of time the fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock that violates a per-gallon standard remained in the distribution system is deemed to be 25 days, unless a person subject to liability or EPA demonstrates by reasonably specific showings, by direct or circumstantial evidence, that the non-complying fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock remained in the distribution system for fewer than or more than 25 days.

(d) Any person liable for failure to meet, or causing a failure to meet, any other provision of this part is liable for a separate day of violation for each day such provision remains unfulfilled.

(e) Failure to meet separate requirements of this part count as separate violations.

(f) Violation of any misfueling prohibition under this part counts as a separate violation for each day the noncompliant fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock remains in any engine, vehicle, or equipment.

(g) The presumed values of fuel parameters in paragraphs (g)(1) through (6) of this section apply for cases in which any person fails to comply with the sampling or testing requirements and must be reported, unless EPA, in its sole discretion, approves a different value. EPA may consider any relevant information to determine whether a different value is appropriate.

(1) For gasoline: 339 ppm sulfur, 1.64 volume percent benzene, and 11 psi RVP.

(2) For diesel fuel: 1,000 ppm sulfur.

(3) For ECA marine fuel: 5,000 ppm sulfur.

(4) For the PCG portion for PCG by subtraction under § 1090.1320(a)(1): 0 ppm sulfur and 0 volume percent benzene.

(5) For fuel additives: 339 ppm sulfur.

(6) For regulated blendstocks: 339 ppm sulfur and 1.64 volume percent benzene.

(a) Any person who violates any prohibited act or requirement in this part is liable for the violation.

(b) Any person who causes someone to commit a prohibited act under this subpart is liable for violating that prohibition.

(c) Any parent corporation is liable for any violation committed by any of its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

(d) Each partner to a joint venture, or each owner of a facility owned by two or more owners, is jointly and severally liable for any violation of this subpart that occurs at the joint venture facility or facility owned by the joint owners, or any violation of this part that is committed by the joint venture operation or any of the joint owners of the facility.

(e)(1) Any person that produced, imported, sold, offered for sale, dispensed, supplied, offered for supply, stored, transported, caused the transportation or storage of, or introduced into commerce fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock that is in the storage tank containing fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock that is found to be in violation of a per-gallon standard is liable for the violation.

(2) In order for a carrier to be liable under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, EPA must demonstrate by reasonably specific showing, by direct or circumstantial evidence, that the carrier caused the violation.

(f) If a fuel manufacturer's corporate, trade, or brand name is displayed at a facility where a violation occurs, the fuel manufacturer is liable for the violation. This also applies where the displayed corporate, trade, or brand name is from the fuel manufacturer's marketing subsidiary.

(a) Any person liable for a violation under § 1090.1715(e) or (f) will not be deemed in violation if the person demonstrates all the following:

(1) The violation was not caused by the person or the person's employee or agent.

(2) If PTD requirements of this part apply, the PTDs account for the fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock found to be in violation and indicate that the violating fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock was in compliance with the applicable requirements while in that person's control.

(3) The person conducted a quality assurance program, as specified in paragraph (d) of this section.

(i) A carrier may rely on the quality assurance program carried out by another party, including the party that owns the fuel in question, provided that the quality assurance program is carried out properly.

(ii) A retailer or WPC is not required to conduct sampling and testing of fuel as part of their quality assurance program.

(b) For a violation found at a facility operating under the corporate, trade, or brand name of a fuel manufacturer, or a fuel manufacturer's marketing subsidiary, the fuel manufacturer must show, in addition to the defense elements required under paragraph (a) of this section, that the violation was caused by one of the following:

(1) An act in violation of law (other than the Clean Air Act or this part), or an act of sabotage or vandalism.

(2) The action of any retailer, distributor, reseller, oxygenate blender, carrier, retailer, or WPC in violation of a contractual agreement between the branded fuel manufacturer and the person designed to prevent such action, and despite periodic sampling and testing by the branded fuel manufacturer to ensure compliance with such contractual obligation.

(3) The action of any carrier or other distributor not subject to a contract with the fuel manufacturer, but engaged for transportation of fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock despite specifications or inspections of procedures and equipment that are reasonably calculated to prevent such action.

(c) For any person to show under paragraph (a) of this section that a violation was not caused by that person, or to show under paragraph (b) of this section that a violation was caused by any of the specified actions, the person must demonstrate by reasonably specific showings, through direct or circumstantial evidence, that the violation was caused or must have been caused by another person and that the person asserting the defense did not contribute to that other person's causation.

(d) To demonstrate an acceptable quality assurance program under paragraph (a)(3) of this section, a person must present evidence of all the following:

(1)(i) A periodic sampling and testing program adequately designed to ensure the fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock the person sold, dispensed, supplied, stored, or transported meets the applicable per-gallon standard. A person may meet this requirement by participating in the NFSP under § 1090.1405 that was in effect at the time of the violation.

(ii) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section, a gasoline manufacturer must also participate in the NSTOP specified in § 1090.1450 at the time of the violation.

(2) On each occasion when a fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock is found to be in noncompliance with the applicable per-gallon standard, the person does all the following:

(i) Immediately ceases selling, offering for sale, dispensing, supplying, offering for supply, storing, or transporting the non-complying fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock.

(ii) Promptly remedies the violation and the factors that caused the violation (e.g., by removing the non-complying fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock from the distribution system until the applicable standard is achieved and taking steps to prevent future violations of a similar nature from occurring).

(3) For any carrier that transports a fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock in a tank truck, the periodic sampling and testing program required under paragraph (d)(1) of this section does not need to include periodic sampling and testing of gasoline in the tank truck. In lieu of such tank truck sampling and testing, the carrier must demonstrate evidence of an oversight program for monitoring compliance with the requirements of this part relating to the transport or storage of the fuel, fuel additive, or regulated blendstock by tank truck, such as appropriate guidance to drivers regarding compliance with the applicable per-gallon standards and PTD requirements, and the periodic review of records received in the ordinary course of business concerning gasoline quality and delivery.

(e) In addition to the defenses provided in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section, in any case in which an oxygenate blender, distributor, reseller, carrier, retailer, or WPC would be in violation under § 1090.1715 as a result of gasoline that contains between 9 and 10 percent ethanol (by volume) but exceeds the applicable standard by more than 1.0 psi, the oxygenate blender, distributor, reseller, carrier, retailer, or WPC will not be deemed in violation if such person can demonstrate, by showing receipt of a certification from the facility from which the gasoline was received or other evidence acceptable to EPA, all the following:

(1) The gasoline portion of the blend complies with the applicable RVP standard in § 1090.215.

(2) The ethanol portion of the blend does not exceed 10 percent (by volume).

(3) No additional alcohol or other additive has been added to increase the RVP of the ethanol portion of the blend.

(4) In the case of a violation alleged against an oxygenate blender, distributor, reseller, or carrier, if the demonstration required by paragraphs (e)(1) through (3) of this section is made by a certification, it must be supported by evidence that the criteria in paragraphs (e)(1) through (3) of this section have been met, such as an oversight program conducted by or on behalf of the oxygenate blender, distributor, reseller, or carrier alleged to be in violation, which includes periodic sampling and testing of the gasoline or monitoring the volatility and ethanol content of the gasoline. Such certification will be deemed sufficient evidence of compliance provided it is not contradicted by specific evidence, such as testing results, and provided that the party has no other reasonable basis to believe that the facts stated in the certification are inaccurate. In the case of a violation alleged against a retail outlet or WPC facility, such certification will be deemed an adequate defense for the retailer or WPC, provided that the retailer or WPC is able to show certificates for all the gasoline contained in the storage tank found in violation, and, provided that the retailer or WPC has no reasonable basis to believe that the facts stated in the certifications are inaccurate.

[85 FR 78469, Dec. 4, 2020, as amended at 89 FR 14775, Feb. 29, 2024]