In Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is supporting the Tenth Circuit Court’s January 2020 decision in Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. EPA. After careful review of the decision, EPA’s new leadership agrees with both the court and the biofuel litigants that small refinery exemptions were meant to be temporary and […]
In Iowa, compared to 2019, Iowa ethanol production fell 500 million gallons, or 12 percent, in 2020 as a result of dramatic demand destruction resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, trade disputes around the globe, and illegal exemptions granted from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Producing only 3.7 billion gallons, 2020 was the second year in […]
In Washington, Reuters reports the Supreme Court has agreed to review the 10th Circuit Court’s January 2020 ruling on how the Environmental Protection Agency approves small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The court ruling has sent the industry and RIN markets on their heads with the EPA forced to rework how SREs are […]
In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency has published a consent decree for public comment that would seek to settle one of its pending cases with small oil refiners—in this case with United Refining Company—over failure to make a decision regarding approvals of small refiner exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The EPA didn’t make a […]
In Washington, DTN reports 10 refining companies have sued the Environmental Protection Agency over rejection of their small refinery exemption applications, the latest of which is a farmers cooperative operating in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. CountryMark supplies mostly farmers at its 100 retail stations around the region and is a big supporter of […]
In Washington, Reuters reports that the Trump Administration through the Department of Justice has told the Supreme Court in a brief filed Tuesday it should not hear a case brought by oil refiners seeking to have the 10th Circuit Court ruling regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s way of approving small refinery exemptions. With the biofuels […]
In Washington, Reuters reports President Trump himself has told the Environmental Protection Agency to deny the “gap-year” waiver applications oil refiners submitted following the 10th Circuit Court ruling in January that slammed how EPA awarded SRE waivers previously. The decision to deny the waivers is thought to potentially help Iowa Senator Joni Ernst in her […]
In Washington, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined his colleagues, Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) in sending a bipartisan letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reject petitions for Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for past compliance years. In the letter, the senators warn […]
In Washington, Brownfield Ag News reports that the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency said in an interview that he doesn’t know how many requests for small refinery exemptions have been filed but believes that applications for “gap” SREs should be treated like any other request. The Department of Energy is currently reviewing the applications, […]
In Washington, Reuters reports that the Environmental Protection Agency did not file an appeal to the decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on small refinery exemptions made in January, which the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers calls “astonishing” and “effectively ends the small-refinery exemption program,” a move that has been praised by the […]
