(a) Program participation. (1) Except for a gasoline manufacturer that has an approved in-line blending waiver under § 1090.1315 that covers all gasoline produced at their facility, a gasoline manufacturer that elects to account for oxygenate added downstream under § 1090.710 must participate in the national sampling and testing oversight program (NSTOP) in this section.

(2) Other gasoline manufacturers may elect to participate in the NSTOP for purposes of establishing an affirmative defense to a violation under § 1090.1720. A gasoline manufacturer that has an approved in-line blending waiver under § 1090.1315 does not need to participate in the NSTOP in order to establish an affirmative defense to a violation under § 1090.1720.

(3) A gasoline manufacturer that elects to participate in the NSTOP must test, or arrange to be tested, samples collected from their gasoline manufacturing facilities as specified in paragraph (c)(2) of this section and report results to the independent surveyor within 10 business days of the date that the sample was collected.

(b) Program requirements. The NSTOP must meet all the following requirements:

(1) The NSTOP must be planned and conducted by an independent surveyor that meets the independence requirements in § 1090.55 and the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section.

(2) The NSTOP must be conducted at each gasoline manufacturing facility from all participating gasoline manufacturers.

(c) Independent surveyor requirements. The independent surveyor conducting the NSTOP must meet all the following requirements:

(1) Submit a proposed NSTOP plan that meets the requirements of paragraph (d) of this section to EPA for approval each calendar year.

(2)(i) Obtain at least one sample representing summer gasoline and one sample representing winter gasoline for each participating gasoline manufacturing facility. If the fuel manufacturer only produces fuel during either the summer or winter season, obtain at least one sample during the season that the fuel manufacturer produces fuel.

(ii)(A) Observe the gasoline manufacturer collect at least one sample representing each gasoline required under paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section for each participating gasoline manufacturing facility and evaluate whether the gasoline manufacturer collected representative sample(s) in accordance with applicable sampling procedures specified in § 1090.1335. Immediately notify EPA and the gasoline manufacturer if the applicable sampling procedures are not followed.

(B) The independent surveyor must also obtain a portion of the sample collected by the gasoline manufacturer and ship the sample as specified in paragraph (c)(2)(v) of this section.

(C) The observed sample does not need to represent a batch of certified gasoline (i.e., the independent surveyor may observe the collection of a simulated sample if the gasoline manufacturer does not have a batch of certified gasoline available).

(iii) The independent surveyor must immediately notify EPA of any refusal of a gasoline manufacturer to allow samples to be taken. A gasoline manufacturer that refuses to allow the independent surveyor to take portions of collected samples is no longer considered by EPA to be participating in the NSTOP and must not account for oxygenate added downstream under § 1090.710.

(iv) Samples must be retained by the independent surveyor as specified in § 1090.1345(a)(1).

(v) Samples collected must be shipped via ground service within 2 business days from when the samples are collected to an EPA-approved laboratory as established in an approved plan under this section. A random subset of collected samples must also be shipped to the EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory as established in an approved plan under this section.

(3) Test, or arrange to be tested, samples collected under paragraph (c)(2) of this section as follows:

(i) Winter gasoline samples must be analyzed for oxygenate content, sulfur content, benzene content, distillation parameters, aromatics, and olefins.

(ii) Summer gasoline samples must be analyzed for oxygenate content, sulfur content, benzene content, distillation parameters, aromatics, olefins, and RVP.

(iii) All samples must be tested by an EPA-approved laboratory using test methods specified in subpart N of this part.

(iv) All analyses must be completed by the EPA-approved laboratory within 10 business days after receipt of the sample.

(v) A gasoline manufacturer must analyze gasoline samples for sulfur content, benzene content, and for summer gasoline, RVP.

(4) Using procedures specified in the EPA-approved plan under this section, notify EPA and the gasoline manufacturer within 24 hours after the EPA-approved laboratory has completed analysis when any of the following occur:

(i) A test result for a gasoline sample yields a sulfur content that exceeds the fuel manufacturing facility gate sulfur per-gallon standard in § 1090.205(b).

(ii) A test result for a gasoline sample yields an RVP that exceeds the applicable RVP standard in § 1090.215.

(5) Make the test results available to EPA and the gasoline manufacturer for all analyses specified in paragraph (c)(3) of this section within 5 business days of completion of the analysis.

(6) Compare test results of all samples collected under paragraph (c)(2) of this section and all test results obtained from the gasoline manufacturer from the same samples as specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this section and notify EPA and the gasoline manufacturer if the test result for any parameter tested under paragraph (c)(3) of this section is greater than the reproducibility of the applicable method specified in subpart N of this part.

(7) Provide quarterly reports to EPA that include the information specified in § 1090.925(d).

(8) Keep records related to the NSTOP as specified in § 1090.1245(b)(3).

(9) Submit contracts to EPA as specified in § 1090.1400(b).

(10) Review the test performance index and precision ratio for each method and instrument the laboratory used to test the gasoline samples collected under this section as follows:

(i) For each test method and instrument, the surveyor must obtain the relevant records from the gasoline manufacturer to determine the site precision, either from an inter-laboratory crosscheck program or from ASTM D6299 (incorporated by reference in § 1090.95).

(ii) Using relevant information obtained from the gasoline manufacturers, the surveyor must determine the appropriate Test Performance Index (TPI) and Precision Ratio (PR) from Table 2 Guidelines for Action Based on TPI in ASTM D6792 (incorporated by reference in § 1090.95).

(iii) A gasoline manufacturer must supply copies of the necessary information to the independent surveyor to review the TPI and PR for each method and instrument used to test the gasoline samples collected under this section.

(11) Permit any representative of EPA to monitor at any time the conducting of the NSTOP, including sample collection, transportation, storage, and analysis.

(d) NSTOP plan requirements. The NSTOP plan specified in paragraph (c)(1) of this section must include, at a minimum, all the following:

(1) Advance notice of sampling. The NSTOP plan must include procedures on how to keep the identification of the gasoline manufacturing facilities included in the NSTOP plan confidential with minimal advanced notification from any participating gasoline manufacturer prior to collecting a sample. However, this information must not be kept confidential from EPA.

(2) Gasoline manufacturing facility selection. (i) Each participating gasoline manufacturing facility must be sampled at least once during each season they produce fuel. The plan must demonstrate how these facilities will be randomly selected within the summer and winter seasons.

(ii) In addition to the summer and winter season samples collected at each participating gasoline manufacturing facility, additional oversight samples are required under paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section. The independent surveyor must identify how these samples will be randomly distributed among participating gasoline manufacturing facilities.

(3) Number of samples. (i) The number of gasoline manufacturing facilities to be sampled must be calculated for the total number of samples to be collected for the next calendar year as part of the NSTOP plan.

(ii) The minimum number of samples to be included in the NSTOP plan for each calendar year is calculated as follows:

(4) Laboratory designation. Any laboratory that the independent surveyor intends to use to test samples collected as part of the NSTOP must be approved annually as part of the program plan approval process in § 1090.1400(a). The independent surveyor must include the following information regarding each laboratory it intends to use to test samples:

(i) The name of the laboratory.

(ii) The address of the laboratory.

(iii) The test methods for each fuel parameter measured at the laboratory.

(iv) Records demonstrating the laboratory's performance in a laboratory crosscheck program for the most recent 12 months prior to submission of the plan.

(5) Sampling procedure. The plan must include a detailed description of the sampling procedures used to collect samples at participating gasoline manufacturing facilities.

(6) Notification of test results. The NSTOP plan must include a description of how the independent surveyor will notify EPA and gasoline manufacturers of test results under paragraph (c)(4) of this section.

(7) Submission. NSTOP plans submitted under this section must be approved annually under § 1090.1400(a).