EPA to streamline review of new chemicals for biofuel pathways

In Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new effort under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to streamline the review of new chemicals that could be used to displace current, higher greenhouse gas emitting transportation fuels.

Through this effort, the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s (OCSPP) New Chemicals Division (NCD) has implemented a robust, consistent, and efficient process to assess the risk and apply mitigation measures, as appropriate, for substitutes to petroleum-based fuels and fuel additives that use biobased or waste-derived sources to produce biofuels. This effort supports the goals under EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, which has Congressional mandates to replace or reduce quantity of petroleum-based transportation fuel, heat oil, or jet fuel with biofuels that are projected to have lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. This effort also supports EPA’s 2021 Climate Adaptation Action Plan which describes steps the agency will take to address the impacts of climate change on communities across the country, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions to confront the climate crisis. 

EPA has received over 30 biofuel premanufacture notices (PMNs) that collectively describe plans for close to 800 million gallons per year of production of advanced biofuels, that could contribute to annual volume mandates under the RFS program and help support the goals of energy security through increasing domestic production within the U.S.