SCOTUS biofuel waiver decision – What it means, the good news, reactions, why it isn’t over yet

The case

Today’s decision stems from a May 2018 challenge brought against EPA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit by the Renewable Fuels Association, the National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, and the American Coalition for Ethanol, working together as the Biofuels Coalition. The petitioners argued that the small refinery exemptions were granted in direct contradiction to the statutory text and purpose of the RFS and challenged three waivers the EPA issued to refineries owned by HollyFrontier Corp. and CVR Energy Inc.’s Wynnewood Refining Co.

The case is HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association, 20-472 and the high court heard oral arguments in April. The case involved exemptions given to units of HollyFrontier Corp (HFC.N) and CVR Energy Inc (CVI.N). Reuters reports that at issue in the case was whether the EPA impermissibly exempted units of HollyFrontier and CVR Energy in 2017 and 2018 when they had not received continuous prior extensions of an initial exemption.

In January 2020, the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the EPA exceeded its authority “because there was nothing for the agency to ‘extend.'” According to the Circuit Court ruling, “the statute limits exemptions to situations involving ‘extensions,’ with the goal of forcing the market to accept escalating amounts of renewable fuels over time.” The refineries appealed to the Supreme Court, and the federal government, under Biden, switched sides to favor the biofuel supporters.

Go to the next page for the decision and what it means, reactions, the good news and more.