EPA gets 52 new petitions for retroactive biofuel blending waivers

In New York, Reuters reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received 52 new petitions for retroactive biofuel blending waivers that, if granted, would help bring oil refiners into compliance with a court ruling this year. The new pending applications for blending exemptions are for compliance years 2011 through 2018.

“The waivers exempt oil refiners from U.S. laws that require they blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their fuel pool,” according to Reuters. “In January, the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that waivers granted to small refineries after 2010 had to take the form of an “extension.” The decision called into question the future of the EPA’s exemption program because most of the recipients of waivers in recent years have not continuously received them each year since 2010.”