One down, 65 to go.

Ethanol supporters were pleased Friday to see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deny one small refinery exemption (SRE) petition that had been filed for the 2019 compliance year.

“We are greatly encouraged by EPA’s decision to deny this bailout request from an oil refinery that has continually attempted to dodge its legal obligations to blend low-carbon renewable fuels,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “Our industry lost more than 4 billion gallons of demand due to the previous administration’s rampant abuse of the SRE program, and we are pleased to see that the days of EPA-induced demand destruction appear to be behind us.”

However, Cooper notes that 65 exemption petitions are still pending, according to the EPA dashboard and this is only the first SRE denial decision by EPA under the Biden administration. The agency has reversed three exemptions granted by the previous administration, and 15 pending SRE petitions have been withdrawn.