Importers who import gasoline into the United States by truck may comply with the following requirements instead of the requirements to sample and test every batch of gasoline under §80.1630, and the annual sulfur average and per-gallon cap standards otherwise applicable to importers under §80.1603:

(a) Alternative standards. The imported gasoline must comply with the following standards:

(1) The annual average standard of 10 ppm and the per-gallon standard of 80 ppm as provided by §80.1603; or

(2) A per-gallon standard of 10 ppm.

(b) Terminal testing. The importer may use test results for sulfur content testing conducted by the terminal operator, for gasoline contained in the storage tank from which trucks used to transport gasoline into the United States are loaded, for purposes of demonstrating compliance with the standards in paragraph (a) of this section, provided all the following conditions are met:

(1) The sampling and testing shall be performed after each receipt of gasoline into the storage tank, or immediately before each transfer of gasoline to the importer's truck.

(2) The sampling and testing shall be performed using the methods specified in §§80.8 and 80.47, respectively.

(3) At the time of each transfer of gasoline to the importer's truck for import to the United States, the importer must obtain a copy of the terminal test result that indicates the sulfur content of the truck load (or each compartment if fuel was loaded from different storage tanks).

(c) Quality assurance program. The importer must conduct a quality assurance program for each truck loading terminal as follows:

(1) Quality assurance samples must be obtained from the truck-loading terminal and tested by the importer, or by an independent laboratory, and the terminal operator must not know in advance when samples are to be collected.

(2) The sampling and testing must be performed using the methods specified in §§80.8 and 80.47, respectively.

(3) The quality assurance test results for sulfur must differ from the terminal test result by no more than the ASTM reproducibility of the terminal's test results, as determined by the following equation:

R = 105 × ((S + 2) / 104) 0.4

(4) The frequency of the quality assurance sampling and testing must be at least one sample for each fifty of an importer's trucks that are loaded at a terminal, or one sample per month, whichever is more frequent.

(d) Party required to conduct quality assurance testing. The quality assurance program under paragraph (c) of this section shall be conducted by the importer. In the alternative, this testing may be conducted by an independent laboratory that meets the criteria under §80.65(f)(2)(iii), provided the importer receives, no later than 21 days after the sample was taken, copies of all results of tests conducted.

(e) Assignment of batch numbers. The importer must treat each truckload of imported gasoline as a separate batch for purposes of reporting under §80.1652 and assigning batch numbers and maintaining records under §80.1653.

(f) EPA inspections of terminals. EPA inspectors or auditors, and auditors conducting attest engagements under §80.1667, must be given full and immediate access to the truck-loading terminal and any laboratory at which samples of gasoline collected at the terminal are analyzed, and must be allowed to conduct inspections, review records, collect gasoline samples, and perform audits. These inspections or audits may be either announced or unannounced.

(g) Certified Sulfur-FRGAS. This section does not apply to Certified Sulfur-FRGAS.

(h) Reporting requirements. Any importer who elects to comply with the alternative standards in paragraph (a) of this section shall comply with all the following requirements:

(1) All importer recordkeeping and reporting requirements under §§80.1652 and 80.1653, except as provided in paragraph (h)(2) of this section.

(2) An importer who elects to comply with the alternative standards in paragraph (a)(2) of this section must certify in the annual report whether it is in compliance with the applicable per-gallon batch standard set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, in lieu of providing the information required by §80.1652 regarding annual average sulfur content and compliance with the average standard under §80.1603.

(i) Effect of noncompliance. If any of the requirements of this section are not met, all gasoline imported by the truck importer during the time any requirements are not met is deemed in violation of the gasoline sulfur average and per-gallon cap standards in §80.1603. Additionally, if any requirement is not met, EPA may notify the importer of the violation and, if the requirement is not fulfilled within 10 days of notification, the truck importer may not in the future use the sampling and testing provisions in this section in lieu of the provisions in §80.1630.