During a visit to Wisconsin this week, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler was once again questioned about the status of so-called “gap year” waiver requests from refineries asking for relief from their Renewable Fuel Standard obligations from previous years.

Because the petitions go back as much as eight years, Wheeler said he is not sure how long it will take to review them. “One question that I personally have is how can you prove an economic harm in 2012 if you’re still in existence today?”

Wheeler says determining Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) under the RFS for 2021 is also proving to be challenging due to the economic impact of COVID-19. “People are still not driving as much as previous years, we take that into account when we set the RVO,” said Wheeler. “We’re still going through all the data to try to figure out what the impact COVID is going to have on the RVO.”

The administrator added that EPA has been proud to be able to meet the deadline for the RVO proposal the previous three years of the administration but “it does not look like we’re going to be on time this year.”

Listen to Wheeler’s comments here:
EPA Admin Andrew Wheeler 8-11-20