The Renewable Fuels Association is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to “swiftly and soundly” reject requests for waivers from the Renewable Fuel Standard from the governors of Alabama and Louisiana, warning that such an action would result in higher gas prices and harm to farmers. RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper says ethanol is already keeping gas prices lower than …
Governors Move to Petition EPA for RFS Waiver
The governors of Louisiana and Alabama are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver from the Renewable Fuel Standard. In a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin yesterday, Governors Jeff Landry and Kay Ivey requested a partial waiver for 2027, calling it “targeted, prospective and temporary” and saying it “would not prevent ethanol from continuing to be blended wherever …
EPA Proposes Full SRE Volume Reallocation
While visiting Iowa Tuesday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced revisions to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) “Set 2” rule volumes, providing for 100 percent reallocation of the renewable fuel volume requirements to compensate for 29 small refinery exemptions announced at the end of August. The agency is proposing two options for revisions, both of which would reallocate …
Ethanol Report on 45Z Opportunities
U.S. ethanol producers are finally getting the chance to take full advantage of the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit, which was first created under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, then extended and modified in the One Big Beautiful Bill of 2025, and is in the last stages of a final rule. Earlier this month, the IRS published …
EPA Grants Refinery Exemptions, Proposes Reallocation
The Environmental Protection Agency today announced its decisions on 34 individual small refinery exemption petitions for the 2025 compliance year, granting full (100 percent) exemptions to 18 petitions, partial (50 percent) exemptions to 11 petitions, denying three petitions, and determining two petitions to be ineligible. Based on that analysis, EPA is exempting 1.76 billion RFS compliance credits, known as Renewable …
Ethanol Under Fire
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) launched a full-fledged attack on corn ethanol over the weekend with nine posts on his X account, calling on President Trump to “end the tyranny of the Cornography Caucus” and saying all Republicans should categorically reject federal “ethanol mandates” that “let government pick winners and losers in the economy.” Starting with a link to a Washington …
RFA Disappointed with EPA SRE Approvals
The Environmental Protection Agency this week announced its decisions on six individual small refinery exemption petitions from four refineries seeking an exemption from their Renewable Fuel Standard obligations for the 2023 and 2024 compliance years, granting full (100 percent) exemptions to one petition, partial (50 percent) exemptions to two petitions, and determining three petitions to be ineligible. According to the …
Poll Shows Record Support for RFS
A new nationwide poll just released by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) shows a record 74 percent of registered voters support the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) today, with just 12 percent opposed to the policy first enacted in 2005 and expanded in 2007. This is the highest level of support for the RFS in 10 years of quarterly polling by …
Ethanol Report on EPA Announcements
The Trump administration hit two home runs for the ethanol industry during the last week of March amidst National Agriculture Month celebrations – announcing waivers to allow sales of E15 through the summer, in lieu of Congressional action to make it permanent, and finalizing the long-delayed renewable volume obligations for 2026 and 2027. In this edition of The Ethanol Report …
Industry Reacts to Final RFS Volumes
Ethanol industry stakeholders are pleased with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for the 2026 and 2027 compliance years under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) ‘Set 2’ Rule overall, but still take issue with the 70% partial reallocation of the 2023–2025 granted small refinery exemptions (SREs). Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says they …