The comment period for the EPA’s proposed volume obligations for biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has officially ended and stakeholders in both the biodiesel and ethanol industries made their voices heard.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) submitted comments “urging the agency to finalize the RVOs that were included in EPA’s first draft of the proposal that was submitted for interagency review in May.” EPA’s initial draft proposed RVO requirements of 384 million gallons for cellulosic biofuel, 4.38 billion gallons of advanced biofuel; and 19.38 billion of total renewable fuel, higher than what the agency ultimately proposed in July.

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) comments emphasized the economic benefits of the RFS, use of the general waiver authority, the potential of a future “reset” of the RFS, and the advanced and cellulosic biofuel levels.

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) called for higher volumes of advanced biofuels and biomass-based diesel, which were cut or frozen in the proposal. NBB asked EPA to increase the advanced biofuel volume for 2018 to at least 4.75 billion gallons and the biomass-based diesel volume for 2019 to at least 2.5 billion gallons.

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) comments asked EPA to maintain the proposed amount of conventional ethanol blended into the nation’s gas supply for 2018, and to raise the amount of cellulosic, advanced, and total biofuels.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association commented that EPA should “follow the law” and set a 2.75 billion gallon biodiesel level and a 384 million gallon cellulosic level in the final rule.