The Renewable Fuels Association is urging the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to require all new vehicles with internal combustion engines sold within the state be flex-fuel capable in an effort to achieve California’s carbon emissions goals. RFA submitted comments to CARB in response to a late June workshop on potential amendments to the state’s Advanced Clean Cars II regulations. …
Court Decision Impacts RFS Small Refinery Exemptions
Ethanol industry leaders are disappointed and surprised by a U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit order on Friday vacating most of the EPA’s 2022 denials of petitions for small refinery exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard obligations, and remanding those petitions to EPA for further proceedings. While the court’s opinion remains under seal and is unavailable for public review the coalition …
Ethanol Report on DC Board Meeting
Renewable Fuels Association board members had the opportunity this past week to meet with administration officials and lawmakers in both Houses and from both sides of the aisle to talk about priorities for the ethanol industry. The event included a timely talk with USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small about tracking climate-smart farming practices and hearing from EPA Administrator Michael …
Busy Week on Capitol Hill for RFA
It was an eventful and historic week in Washington D.C. for many reasons, and members of the Renewable Fuels Association had a very busy and productive annual board meeting in the middle of everything else happening. The event included meetings with EPA Administrator Michael Regan and USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, as well as Capitol Hill visits to the …
USDA Gets Climate Smart Farming Feedback
The U.S. Department of Agriculture received lots of input from biofuels groups this week on how to prove the impact of climate-smart farming practices on the greenhouse gas (GHG) net emissions estimates associated with the production of domestic agricultural commodities used as biofuel feedstocks, in response to a Federal Register request last month. The Request for Information is expected to …
RFA Files Briefs Supporting EPA Set Rule
The Renewable Fuels Association has filed two joint briefs in the DC Circuit Court defending the Environmental Protection Agency’s “set rule” volumes. The briefs were filed in the case of Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency in which CBD and others, including oil refiners, are challenging EPA’s renewable volume obligations for the 2023-2025 compliance years. RFA and other …
Chevron Reversal Could Impact EPA Clean Air Rules
One of the federal agencies likely to be most impacted by the recent Supreme Court decision that reversed the Chevron deference is the Environmental Protection Agency, which was the one responsible for the original case decision in 1984. Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff Cooper says it’s still too early to tell exactly what the reversal could mean for …
Ethanol Report on California and E15
It has been nearly 15 years since the Environmental Protection Agency approved the sale of 15% ethanol blended fuel (E15) for 2001 model year cars and older, and nearly every state in the nation now sells it, often at a discount to regular gasoline. The only state that bans the sale of E15 is California, despite the fact that the …
Study Shows E15 Could Save California Drivers
According to a new study by economists at UC Berkeley and the U.S. Naval Academy and sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association, California drivers could save up to 20 cents per gallon if the state allowed gas stations to sell 15% ethanol blended fuel or E15. The potential savings for California consumers could reach $2.7 billion annually, according to the …
Scientists Urge Court to Reject Land Use Claims
Eight of the nation’s leading experts in agricultural economics and biofuels lifecycle analysis are urging the D.C. Circuit Court to reject claims made by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) in its lawsuit challenging EPA’s 2023-2025 Renewable Fuel Standard volumes. In its challenge to EPA’s so-called “RFS set rule,” CBD relied on debunked studies by University of Wisconsin researcher Tyler …