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State Water Resources Control or Linda S. Adams Division of Water Quality Secretaryfor 1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814* (916) 341-5455 Environmental Protection Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2231, Sacramento, California 95812 FAX (916) 341-5808 * Internet Address: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov February 28, 2008 To: Local UST Regulatory Agencies and Interested Parties Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor CLARIFICATION OF REGULATIONS APPLYING TO BIODIESEL-E STORED IN UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK (UST) SYSTEMS There are several chemically different versions of "biodiesel" all of which are produced from the same feedstock: animal fats, raw vegetable oils, and recycled cooking greases. The most common and widely distributed version is a fuel composed of mono -alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids produced through a transesterification process, which we refer to as Biodiesel-E to indicate it is an "ester" version. A second version reportedly under development is an alkane fuel produced via the Fisher-Tropsch process and depolymerization, which we refer to as Biodiesel-A. This letter addresses only Biodiesel- E described below as "biodiesel", as Biodiesel-A is not yet available. Biodiesel can be used, either as a pure fuel or blended with conventional petroleum- based diesel fuel, to power diesel engines. The use of biodiesel is expected to increase in the coming years as a result of the Energy Independence and Security Act signed into law in December 2007, which mandates an increase of renewable fuels from 6 billion gallons in 2007 to 36 billion gallons by 2022. In anticipation of this increased use, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is issuing this letter to clarify how existing state laws and regulations apply to underground storage tank (UST) systems storing biodiesel and biodiesel blends. This letter supersedes any previous correspondence regarding biodiesel. Yes. Even biodiesel that has been manufactured in strict accordance with ASTM D6751 -07a (March 2007) standards for biodiesel usually meets the definition of "hazardous substance" provided in the California Health and Safety Code, Chapter 6.7, section 25281(h), because the most recent ASTM biodiesel specifications' allow 0.2 %v/v methanol, which is a hazardous substance. Biodiesel manufactured out of specification has an even higher probability of containing hazardous substances, and to date most biodiesel has been manufactured out of specification2. ' ASTM D6751 -07a (March 2007) 2 In 2007 the U.S Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory published the results of tests conducted on B100 samples obtained from biodiesel manufacturers around the U.S. and found that approximately 60% DID NOT meet the ASTM D6751 -07(a) standard for biodiesel including out of specification peroxide levels. California Environmental Protection Agency Recycled Paper