In Washington, D.C., the Renewable Fuels Association welcomed the D.C. Circuit Court’s outright rejection of arguments from oil refiners that the Renewable Fuel Standard causes them economic hardship and therefore the Environmental Protection Agency should have waived their 2019 RFS obligations. The court’s rebuke of the refiners’ arguments was part of a decision published Friday […]
In Washington, D.C., The Hill reports that during the politically-charged confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination for the Supreme Court, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) specifically asked Barrett about cases involving renewable fuel standard waivers, which give exemptions to requirements for a certain amount of ethanol to be blended into fuel. Ernst, who has been […]
EPA might have a new name in some circles – Exemptions for Petroleum Agency – thanks to the 31 small refinery waivers issued on Friday which has the biofuels and agriculture industries reeling after promises made by President Trump to look into why big oil companies were getting these exemptions intended for small biorefineries and […]
In Washington, Reuters reports that about 40 applications for small refinery hardship waivers are on hold while President Trump undergoes a review of the policies used to determine approvals for those exemptions. Three sources told Reuters that he has brought in the Cabinet to review the decision-making that has led to a four-fold increase in […]
In Washington, D.C., back from his Midwest tour hearing from frustrated corn farmers and biofuel industry representatives, President Trump requested that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency review the expanded use of waivers that exempt small refineries from the Renewable Fuel Standard. According to Reuters, sources said that as soon as Trump returned from the Midwest […]
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 […]
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved forward in what is considered as a win for the corn industry with its first step in reviving part of a rule that could reveal the names of oil refineries that applied for exemptions that have been marking controversy recently. The waiver program has been critiqued […]
In Washington, Reuters reports that the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to compromise on the issue of hardship waivers for small oil refineries, deciding it will issue partial waivers for some of the 39 applications it received for 2018 compliance. Only once has the EPA granted a partial waiver in the past and that was […]
