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Environmental Protection Act
Loi sur la protection de l’environnement

ONTARIO REGULATION 535/05

Greener Gasoline — bio-based content requirements for gasoline

Historical version for the period March 31, 2020 to November 24, 2020.

Last amendment: 111/20.

Legislative History: 64/07, 76/07, 477/16, 227/18, 111/20.

This Regulation is made in English only.

Interpretation

1. (1) In this Regulation,

“additive” means a substance that is added to gasoline that does not materially affect its composition as gasoline, and includes metal deactivators, oxidation inhibitors, corrosion inhibitors, icing inhibitors and induction system detergents, but does not include oxygenates;

“bio-based content” means, subject to subsection (1.0.1),

(a) any material that is derived from biological matter that is available on either a renewable or recurring basis, or

(b) ethyl alcohol that is derived from renewable or recurring sources and any denaturant that has been added to it;

“blend” means to add bio-based content to gasoline or a blendstock;

“blended gasoline” means a combination of gasoline and bio-based content;

“blendstock” means a fossil-based substance that is not suitable for use in a spark ignition engine until combined with an oxygenate;

“compliance year” means a calendar year in which a fuel supplier is required to comply with this Regulation;

“facility” means,

(a) a site, vehicle, vessel or other place where a fuel supplier undertakes the manufacture of gasoline or blended gasoline, or

(b) a site, vehicle, vessel or other place where gasoline or blended gasoline is received pursuant to an inter-refiner agreement;

“fuel supplier” means a person who, in Ontario,

(a) manufactures gasoline or blended gasoline, and uses it or sells it at wholesale or retail,

(b) imports gasoline or blended gasoline, and uses it or sells it at wholesale or retail, or

(c) acquires gasoline or blended gasoline through an inter-refiner agreement and uses it or sells it at wholesale or retail;

“gasoline” means a fossil-derived liquid that is represented or sold as gasoline or that is designed for use in a spark ignition engine, but does not include,

(a) aviation fuel, except when used or intended to be used to generate power by means of internal combustion in a vehicle other than an aircraft,

(b) the products commonly known as diesel fuel, fuel oil, coal oil or kerosene, except when any such product is mixed or combined with gasoline, or

(c) blendstock, not sold or represented as gasoline, that is intended to be further refined or blended before sale or use as gasoline;

“GHGenius model” has the same meaning as in Ontario Regulation 97/14 (Greener Diesel — Bio-Based Content Requirements for Diesel Fuel) made under the Act;

“greenhouse gas intensity” means the greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per megajoule of energy, that are attributable to a substance as quantified under,

(a) the GHGenius model, or

(b) another methodology if the Director provides the methodology for the substance under subsection 3.1 (3);

“import” means to import from outside Ontario;

“inter-refiner agreement” means an arrangement between refiners for the transfer of gasoline or blended gasoline, and includes purchase and sale and product exchange;

“manufacture” means to produce gasoline or blended gasoline, but does not include modification of gasoline or blended gasoline solely by the addition of additives;

“Northern Ontario” means all those parts of Ontario lying north and west of the Mattawa River, Lake Nipissing and the French River, including the Territorial District of Manitoulin;

“professional engineer” means a person who holds a licence, limited licence, provisional licence or temporary licence under the Professional Engineers Act;

“source separated organics” has the same meaning as in Ontario Regulation 79/15 (Alternative Low-Carbon Fuels) made under the Act. O. Reg. 535/05, s. 1 (1); O. Reg. 477/16, s. 1 (1-3); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 2 (1-11).

(1.0.1) For the purposes of the definition of “bio-based content” in subsection (1), bio-based content does not include solid municipal waste that contains,

(a) source separated organics, except for residues generated by the processing of the waste;

(b) compost produced by composting;

(c) anaerobic digestion output; or

(d) leaf and yard waste collected or accepted by a leaf and yard waste system to which section 13 of Ontario Regulation 101/94 (Recycling and Composting of Municipal Waste) made under the Act applies, except for residues generated by the composting of the waste at a leaf and yard waste composting site as defined in Part V of that Regulation. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 2 (12).

(1.1) In this Regulation, the following words and expressions have the same meanings as in Regulation 347 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 (General — Waste Management) made under the Act:

1. Anaerobic digestion output.

2. Composting.

3. Municipal waste. O. Reg. 477/16, s. 1 (4).

(2) This Regulation does not apply with respect to,

(a) gasoline or blended gasoline that enters Ontario in the fuel tank of a vehicle and that is used to power that vehicle;

(b) gasoline or blended gasoline that is imported into Ontario to be used in scientific research other than marketing research or studies of consumer preferences relating to gasoline or blended gasoline, where the fact of the use for scientific research can be established by written evidence;

(c) gasoline or blended gasoline that is in transit through Ontario from a place outside Ontario to another place outside Ontario, where the fact of the transit can be established by written evidence; or

(d) gasoline or blended gasoline that is manufactured or sold for export where the fact of the manufacture or sale for export can be established by written evidence.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 1 (2); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 2 (13).

(3) For the purposes of this Regulation, a volume of gasoline or blended gasoline is “placed in the Ontario market” if a fuel supplier,

(a) manufactured or blended it and used it or sold it at wholesale or retail, in Ontario;

(b) imported it and used it or sold it at wholesale or retail, in Ontario; or

(c) acquired it in Ontario through inter-refiner agreement and used it or sold it at wholesale or retail in Ontario.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 1 (3); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 2 (13).

(4) For the purposes of any calculations under this Regulation, if a volume of gasoline or blended gasoline is placed in the Ontario market more than once, it shall only be accounted for by the fuel supplier that first placed it in the Ontario market.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 1 (4); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 2 (13).

(5) For the purposes of this Regulation, gasoline or blended gasoline is not sold if it is transferred from one refiner to another as the result of an inter-refiner agreement.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 1 (5); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 2 (13).

Blended gasoline quality

2. (1) No person shall distribute blended gasoline for use or sale in Ontario unless the blended gasoline meets the standards and specifications set out in the following documents as applicable to the type of fuel:

1. Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) document CAN/CGSB-3.511, as amended from time to time.

2. Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) document CAN/CGSB-3.5, as amended from time to time.

3. Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) document CAN/CGSB-3.512, as amended from time to time.

4. An equivalent set of standards and specifications that is approved in writing by the Director before the blended gasoline is distributed. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 3 (1).

(2) Revoked: O. Reg. 227/18, s. 3 (2).

(3) Where a person seeks approval for an equivalent set of standards and specifications to satisfy the requirement in subsection (1), the person shall provide the Director with whatever information, including methods and protocols for testing, that is required to satisfy the Director of the equivalency.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 2 (3).

(4) Subsection (1) is in addition to, and not in place of, any other requirements respecting gasoline or blended gasoline quality to which the person is subject.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 2 (4); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 3 (3).

(5) Compliance with subsection (1) shall be determined in accordance with the appropriate test methods and requirements set out in the standards provided for in subsection (1).  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 2 (5); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 3 (4).

(6), (7) Revoked: O. Reg. 477/16, s. 2 (2).

Temporary volatility limits

2.1 (1) Despite subsection 2 (1), from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020,

(a) no person shall distribute blended gasoline for use or sale in Ontario unless the blended gasoline has a volatility of not more than,

i. 110 kiloPascals, for gasoline distributed in the North, and

ii. 97 kiloPascals, for gasoline distributed in the Southern Ontario corridor; and

(b) any volatility limits set out in the documents or standards referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 of subsection 2 (1) do not apply to the distribution of blended gasoline for use or sale in Ontario. O. Reg. 111/20, s. 1 (1).

(2) In this section,

“North” has the same meaning as in Ontario Regulation 271/91 (Gasoline Volatility) made under the Act;

“Southern Ontario corridor” has the same meaning as in Ontario Regulation 271/91. O. Reg. 111/20, s. 1 (1).

Note: On December 31, 2020, section 2.1 of the Regulation is revoked. (See: O. Reg. 111/20, s. 1 (2))

Minimum bio-based content

3. Every fuel supplier shall ensure that the gasoline and blended gasoline it places in the Ontario market for each compliance year after 2019 contains an average adjusted volume of bio-based content of at least 10 per cent calculated in accordance with the applicable compliance formula in section 4. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 4.

Rules for applying compliance formulas

3.1 (1) In calculating “y” for the purposes of the formulas in section 4, the fuel supplier shall,

(a) comply with any written directions made by the Director under subsection (2); and

(b) ensure that a professional engineer is of the opinion that,

(i) the primary data used is reasonable, and

(ii) the calculation is correct. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 4.

(2) The Director may issue written directions as to the manner in which the following types of data are to be input into the GHGenius model:

1. Primary data, consisting of quantified values of products, materials or energy flows that enter and leave a production process or activity, directly measured, calculated or obtained and based on specific original source measurements.

2. Secondary data, consisting of quantified values of products, materials or energy flows that enter and leave a production process or activity, indirectly measured, calculated or obtained and not based on specific original source measurements. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 4.

(3) If a fuel supplier wishes to use bio-based content that is not listed in the GHGenius model, the fuel supplier shall request that the Director provide a methodology for calculating the greenhouse gas intensity of that bio-based content and the fuel supplier shall use the methodology the Director provides. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 4.

(4) For the purposes of calculating the formulas under section 4, any portions of the volume of bio-based content in blended gasolines placed in the Ontario market in a compliance year that have been transferred from the records of one fuel supplier to the records of another fuel supplier within the same compliance year may be included. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 4.

(5) For the purposes of the formulas in section 4, the following categories of gasoline or blended gasoline may be deducted from the total amount of gasoline or blended gasoline placed in the Ontario market in a compliance year, if the fuel supplier so elects and can establish, by written evidence, that the gasoline or blended gasoline was distributed for those purposes:

1. Gasoline or blended gasoline placed in the Ontario market in the same compliance year for the purposes of generating power in aircraft, marine vessels or equipment, off-road vehicles or equipment, or vehicles manufactured prior to 1980.

2. Gasoline or blended gasoline that has an antiknock index of 89 or greater placed in the Ontario market in the same compliance year, if the gasoline or blended gasoline is not included in the category described in paragraph 1. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 4.

(6) For the purposes of the formula in subsection 4 (1), the following category of gasoline or blended gasoline may be deducted from the total amount of gasoline or blended gasoline placed in the Ontario market in a compliance year, if the fuel supplier so elects and can establish, by written evidence, that the gasoline or blended gasoline was distributed for those purposes:

1. Gasoline and blended gasoline that the fuel supplier distributed to, from or within Northern Ontario in the same compliance year. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 4.

Compliance formulas

4. (1) For the 2020, 2021 and 2022 compliance years, the following formula shall be used to calculate the average adjusted volume of bio-based content:

[{C [(83.9 − y) / 37.8] + D − E} / (A + B − F − G − H)] × 100

in which,

  “A” is the volume of blended gasolines that the fuel supplier placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year,

  “B” is the volume of non-blended gasolines that the fuel supplier placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year,

  “C” is the volume of bio-based content contained in “A”,

  “D” is the volume of bio-based content transferred from the records of other fuel suppliers within the same compliance year,

  “E” is the volume of bio-based content transferred to the records of other fuel suppliers within the same compliance year,

“F” is the volume of blended gasolines and non-blended gasolines placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year for the purposes of generating power in aircraft, marine vessels or equipment, off-road vehicles or equipment or vehicles manufactured prior to 1980, if the fuel supplier has made an election under subsection 3.1 (5),

  “G” is the volume of gasolines or blended gasolines that have an antiknock index of 89 or greater placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year and that is not included in the definition of “F”, if the fuel supplier has made an election under subsection 3.1 (5),

  “H” is the volume of gasolines and blended gasolines distributed from or sold in Northern Ontario in the compliance year, if the fuel supplier has made an election under subsection 3.1 (6), and

“y” is the greenhouse gas intensity of the bio-based content in blended gasolines that the fuel supplier placed in the Ontario market during the compliance year, calculated on a weighted average basis by volume.

O. Reg. 227/18, s. 5.

(2) For any compliance year after the 2022 compliance year, the following formula shall be used to calculate the average adjusted volume of bio-based content:

[{C [(83.9 − y) / 37.8] + D − E} / (A + B − F − G)] × 100

in which,

  “A” is the volume of blended gasolines that the fuel supplier placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year,

  “B” is the volume of non-blended gasolines that the fuel supplier placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year,

  “C”   is the volume of bio-based content contained in “A”,

  “D” is the volume of bio-based content transferred from the records of other fuel suppliers within the same compliance year,

  “E” is the volume of bio-based content transferred to the records of other fuel suppliers within the same compliance year,

“F” is the volume of blended gasolines and non-blended gasolines placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year for the purposes of generating power in aircraft, marine vessels or equipment, off-road vehicles or equipment or vehicles manufactured prior to 1980, if the fuel supplier has made an election under subsection 3.1 (5),

  “G” is the volume of gasolines or blended gasolines that have an antiknock index of 89 or greater placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year and that is not included in the definition of “F”, if the fuel supplier has made an election under subsection 3.1 (5), and

“y” is the greenhouse gas intensity of the bio-based content in blended gasolines that the fuel supplier placed in the Ontario market during the compliance year, calculated on a weighted average basis by volume.

O. Reg. 227/18, s. 5.

Report

5. (1) On or before March 31 in each year, every fuel supplier shall file a report with the Director respecting its compliance with this Regulation in the previous compliance year.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 5 (1); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 6 (1).

(2) The report shall contain, at a minimum,

(a) information identifying the fuel supplier and the officer who submits the report;

(b) the result of the calculation provided for in section 4 and the values for all of the information included in reaching that result;

(c) Revoked: O. Reg. 477/16, s. 5.

(d) in the case of a fuel supplier who elects to deduct gasoline or blended gasoline placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year for the purposes of generating power in aircraft, marine vessels or equipment, off-road vehicles or equipment, or vehicles manufactured prior to 1980, a statement to that effect;

(d.1) in the case of a fuel supplier who elects to deduct gasoline or blended gasoline placed in the Ontario market in the compliance year having an antiknock index of 89 or greater and not otherwise deducted as described in clause (d), a statement to that effect; and

(e) sufficient information to determine compliance with the requirements of this Regulation, and to verify the calculation of the formula provided for in section 4.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 5 (2); O. Reg. 477/16, s. 5; O. Reg. 227/18, s. 6 (2-6).

(2.1) The report filed in 2020 respecting the 2019 compliance year shall include the information required by this Regulation as it read on December 31, 2019 and is not required to include the information required by this Regulation as it read on January 1, 2020. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 6 (7).

(3), (4) Revoked: O. Reg. 227/18, s. 6 (8).

Records

6. (1) Every fuel supplier shall keep at its principal place of business in Ontario, and with respect to each of its facilities and transactions, or, in the case of imported gasoline or blended gasoline, with respect to its total imports, records and books of account in such form and containing such information as will enable the accurate determination of compliance with this Regulation, including, without being limited to,

(a) data and calculations of the volumes reported for the purposes of the formulas set out in section 4;

(b) dated metered-values, bills of lading, invoices, sales receipts, records of payment and records or transaction for volumes of blended gasolines, non-blended gasolines, bio-based content or blendstock used, blended, sold, imported, acquired through an inter-refiner agreement or transferred to or from another fuel supplier or facility and identifying information about such fuel suppliers and facilities; and

(c) dated contracts, records of transfer, invoices and records of payment for volumes of bio-based content that are transferred between the records of fuel suppliers. O. Reg. 535/05, s. 6 (1); O. Reg. 227/18, s. 7.

(2) Every fuel supplier required to keep business records and books of account under subsection (1) shall maintain every such record or book of account, as well as any other document necessary to verify the information in such record or book of account for a period of seven years following the end of the relevant compliance year, unless written permission for their disposal is received from the Director.  O. Reg. 535/05, s. 6 (2).

Giving or submitting records

7. (1) In this Regulation, if a notice, report, statement or other document is required to be given or submitted, other than a document required to be given or submitted by the Director, the notice, report, statement or other document shall be submitted in a form provided by or approved by the Director and in a manner approved by the Director. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 8.

(2) The Director may require that a document or other record that is given to the Director under this Regulation be given in an electronic format specified by the Director. O. Reg. 227/18, s. 8.