Appeals Court Rules Against Oil Industry in RFS Case

The court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has “wide latitude” in modifying the standards.

May 08, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a challenge brought by the oil industry to the 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), Reuters reports. Refiners had challenged the standard, saying that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had not researched the issue of renewable fuel credits enough. The agency’s final numbers for this year’s quotas will be released next month.

The oil industry wanted the agency to reduce the federal mandate for this year to avoid an unfair burden on refiners. PBF Energy argued that the EPA should not look at any “leftover” ethanol credits from the previous year when considering goals for 2013.

The court ruled that the argument had no merit, adding that EPA “was entitled to conclude, as it did, that it had wide latitude to consider a range of factors as appropriate.”

PBF has not yet said whether it will appeal further. “We are disappointed in the court's ruling and do not agree that EPA properly exercised its discretion,” said a PBF spokesman.

Monroe Energy, part of the court challenge, said that the court’s reasoning that paying more for fuel credits would spur renewable fuel innovation had no basis. “These prices will not increase the volume of renewable fuel consumed in the U.S., and are in essence nothing but a tax on refiners,” said a company statement.

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