A group of 15 U.S. Senators representing oil refining states sent a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler this week asking him to simply waive the Renewable Fuel Standard requirements for 2021 to “account for the unprecedented collapse in demand for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.”
The Renewable Fuels Association blasted the senators’ request, first noting that jet fuel is not subject to renewable fuel blending requirements under the RFS.
“It looks like the focus of the oil industry’s RFS avoidance strategy is shifting from ‘small-refinery waivers’ to ‘all-refinery waivers,'” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “But this letter from a handful of refinery-state Senators comes nowhere close to satisfying the high standard required to grant a general waiver of the RFS volumes—and EPA knows that. By asking Administrator Wheeler to undercut the 2021 RFS standards to avoid the so-called ‘blend wall,’ these Senators are unashamedly encouraging EPA to ignore clear-cut court decisions and established case law.”
“Enough is enough. EPA should immediately reject this attempt to further undermine the RFS with unjustifiable and unlawful waivers,” Cooper said. “The Senators’ letter should go straight to EPA’s dumpster, which is already littered with other baseless waiver petitions and ridiculous RFS complaints from oil state politicians and refiners.”