Christmas came very early this year for ethanol stakeholders who have been pressing for sales of E15 to be allowed year round, as President Trump announced he was instructing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to initiate a rulemaking process that would extend the summer Reid Vapor Pressure waiver to E15. “What it really means is that we’re helping our farmers,” …
EPA Updates RFS Website to Improve Transparency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today updated the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program website to increase transparency and include new data and information for both stakeholders and the public. The data will provide new information for renewable fuel producers, fuel refiners, importers, and marketers including: The number of small refinery exemption petitions received, approved, and denied for each compliance year; …
Bipartisan House Members Push for E15 Year Round
House Biofuels Caucus co-chairs Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) led more than 20 House members in writing a letter this week to EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler urging the approval of year-round E15. The letter encourages the Administration to reduce federal regulations on ethanol instead of implementing policies that only work against farmers and slow the biofuels market …
Ethanol Groups File New Lawsuit Over Exemptions
Two major ethanol advocacy organizations are demanding transparency from the Environmental Protection Agency on the granting of small refinery exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy filed a joint lawsuit in federal district court, alleging that EPA and Department of Energy have “improperly denied agency records requested …. under the Freedom of …
Senators Ask EPA to Increase Biodiesel Volumes
A bipartisan group of nearly 40 U.S. Senators led by Patty Murray (D-WA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have sent a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase volume obligations for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuel and ensure any small refiner economic hardship exemptions are appropriately accounted for in its final rule for …
NBB Seeks Higher Biodiesel Volumes
Comments filed by the National Biodiesel Board on the proposed Renewable Fuel Standards for 2019 and Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for 2020 urge EPA to increase the volumes in both categories and to fully account for small refinery exemptions. In a letter accompanying the comments, Kurt Kovarik, vice president of federal affairs for NBB, writes, “The biomass-based diesel industry has proven …
Ethanol Stakeholders Submit RFS Comments
Friday was the final day to submit comments to the EPA on proposed 2019 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) renewable volume obligations (RVOs) and ethanol stakeholders made sure they had their say. Despite the EPA specifically noting that comments on small refinery exemptions would be “deemed beyond the scope of this rulemaking,” every group commenting had something to say about the …
Grassley Has “Good Discussion” with EPA’s Wheeler
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had a chance to sit down with EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler while he was in Iowa this week. “There seems to be a real message from the White House to Wheeler to do something for E15 twelve months a year,” said Grassley. “But there has to be something also done for refineries so I think …
EPA’s Wheeler Talks RFS with Farmers in Iowa
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler got a taste of the famous Iowa State Fair Monday as the guest of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and while he had some fun, Wheeler was there to meet with farmers about critical issues. “I enjoyed the round table we just had with different ag groups in the state…hearing what their concerns and problems are,” …
High Octane Ethanol Fits Fuel Economy Standards
The proposed Fuel Economy Standards for 2021-2026 Vehicles could put high octane ethanol in the fast lane at last. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are seeking public comment on a wide range of regulatory options proposed in the SAFE Vehicles Rule, including how high octane fuels could facilitate engine efficiency improvements and …