Ethanol and biodiesel producers and industry representatives are back in Ypsilanti, Michigan for the second time in three months to provide comments on an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) proposed rule. On July 31, it was the rule to set 2020 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) and the 2021 RVO for biomass-based diesel, where the majority of comments …
Biofuels Industry Testifies on Harm Done by RFS Waivers
Biofuels industry representatives testified during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing Tuesday on how the increase in small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard has hurt ethanol and biodiesel producers and farmers. “EPA’s secretive and underhanded approach to the SRE provision in recent years has destabilized the RFS, reduced the production and use of clean renewable biofuels, …
Registration Open for 2020 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
The 2020 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit will take place at the Prairie Meadows Conference Center in Altoona, Iowa on January 16, 2020, just days before the Iowa Presidential Caucuses. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper will keynote the annual event gathering biofuels industry representatives together in the Midwest with the theme Empower, Promote, and Advocate. In the …
Witnesses Scheduled for RFS Waiver Abuse Hearing
Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper will lead off a panel of witnesses for a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing today on “Protecting the RFS: The Trump Administration’s Abuse of Secret Waivers.” Testimony will also be presented by Gene Gebolys, President and CEO, World Energy; Kelly Nieuwenhuis, President, Siouxland Energy Cooperative; and Chet Thompson, President and CEO, …
Biodiesel Foundation Receives Clean Diesel Project Grant
The National Biodiesel Foundation has been awarded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funding for its 2020 National Clean Diesel Project. In partnership with Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT), Optimus Technologies, and Renewable Energy Group (REG), the project supports the purchase of three new replacement snowplows that will operate on B100 and retire older more polluting vehicles. It is the first …
House Subcommittee Hearing to Address RFS Waiver Abuse
“Protecting the RFS: The Trump Administration’s Abuse of Secret Waivers,” is the title of a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing scheduled for next Tuesday October 29. The Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee hearing will focus on EPA’s “mismanagement of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program” and will also examine H.R. 3006, the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act of 2019, …
New Court Docs Show EPA Abuse of Waivers
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today highlighted newly available court documents which show how EPA “inappropriately granted Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance exemptions to certain small refineries that did not even qualify for the waivers, and that there was division within the Trump administration about its new approach to small refinery hardship exemption requests.” Specifically, the briefs and supporting documents …
NBB Announces New West Coast Office
The National Biodiesel Board is opening a new west coast office to be led by long-time California Air Resources Board (CARB) Division Chief Floyd Vergara. The expansion will bolster NBB’s presence on the west coast where climate programs are a substantial market driver for low carbon fuels like biodiesel and renewable diesel and will also bring critical regulatory expertise to …
No More Iowa Nice
No more Mr. Iowa Nice Guy. That was a message delivered during a press conference with representatives of Iowa’s corn, ethanol, biodiesel and soybean producers in response to the Supplemental Proposal for Renewable Fuels Volumes released Tuesday by EPA. Iowa Corn Growers Association CEO Craig Floss quoted one farmer who is outraged over the proposal. “No more Iowa Nice, now …
Biofuels Groups Disappointed With EPA Proposal
Less than two weeks ago biofuels organizations and stakeholders were praising the Trump Administration agreement to promote biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Now that the details have been made public, not so much. The notice released by EPA on Tuesday “does not change the proposed volumes for 2020 and 2021. Instead, it proposes and seeks comment on adjustments …