Senate bill focusing on small refiner exemptions from RFS introduced

In Washington, D.C., Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced the RFS Integrity Act of 2019 on Friday. The bill sets a June 1 deadline for small refiners to submit petitions for exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), requires transparency in filing in place of the current confidential waiver process, requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to account for exempted gallons when determining annual renewable volume obligations (RVOs), and requires the EPA to report to lawmakers on the methodology used to determine granted waivers. The June 1 deadline would also give the EPA time to calculate the volumes waived and apply them to the next year’s blending mandates, the senators said in a statement according to Reuters.