EPA Says It Will Issue RFS Rules by June 1

Federal agency settles lawsuit over long-delayed RFS rules.

April 14, 2015

WASHINGTON – Last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency held a conference call with reporters to announce that it is planning to issue a proposed rule covering 2014, 2015 and 2016 RFS volumes, including the 2017 biomass-based diesel volume requirement, by June 1.  The agency plans to finalize that package by November 30.  The package will propose a separate volume requirement for each year.  The 2014 numbers will reflect those volumes of renewable fuel that were actually used in 2014. The EPA had most recently said they would issue final rules for 2014, 2015 and 2016 this spring.

On the Friday call, the EPA also announced a court settlement with oil refiners and producers, adding a specific schedule to the agency’s previous promises to move quickly to set overdue requirements for the use of ethanol, biodiesel and other renewable fuels. Last month, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) sued the agency for failing to finish its 2014 and 2015 RFS rules, which would set the amount of renewable fuels that must be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply.

“EPA has failed year after year to implement the RFS effectively,” API General Counsel Stacy Linden told media outlets in a statement. “The agency still hasn’t finalized the RFS requirements for this year or even last year, leaving companies to guess how much ethanol they were mandated to blend into gasoline.”  According to EPA, the retroactive rule for 2014 will now be set at the actual level of renewable fuels used last year.

“Last year, NACS supported EPA’s proposed volumes for renewable fuels and we were disappointed that it was never finalized,” said NACS Director of Government Relations Paige Anderson. “With this latest announcement, we hope EPA will be keep its timetable and finalize the volumes for last year, this year and next year.  We believe it will help provide retailers with greater certainty in the fuels market.”

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement