Over 140 witnesses provided feedback to the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday on the agency’s recent proposed volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, who both urged EPA to reconsider the advanced biofuels and cellulosic ethanol levels.

“When you’re talking about the advanced biofuels, I think it’s a mistake to go backwards with regards to those targets,” said Gov. Ricketts during a press conference in advance of his testimony. NE Gov. Ricketts, EPA hearing press conference

Gov. Reynolds pointed to the plants in Iowa that are producing cellulosic ethanol from corn stover and corn kernels. “The near term future for cellulosic is much brighter than the proposed obligations,” she said. IA Gov. Reynolds, EPA hearing press conference

EPA proposed setting the 2018 level for advanced biofuels based on a minimum applicable volume of 4.24 billion gallons, a decrease from 4.28 billion gallons for 2017, and cuts the cellulosic biofuel requirement to 238 million gallons.

National Corn Growers Association Board member Keith Alverson also testified at the hearing Tuesday on the need for increasing cellulosic and advanced biofuel levels. “As EPA noted in the proposed rule, many ethanol producers are investing in new technologies to produce cellulosic ethanol at existing facilities. NCGA urges EPA to work with producers to fully quantify this production and consider all 2017 cellulosic data,” Alverson testified. Corn grower Keith Alverson, EPA hearing press conference

Others who testified and took part in the press conference were Jan Koninckx, DuPont Industrial Biosciences; Brent Erickson, BIO Industrial & Environmental Section; Brooke Coleman, Advanced Biofuels Business Council; and Chris Bliley, Growth Energy. Listen to the full press conference here: Fuels America Press Conference