EPA Eyeing Partial Exemptions Under RFS
The agency received requests from 36 refineries for exemptions from blending compliance rules.
May 06, 2019 | 1 min read
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Politico reports that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler is considering issuing partial exemptions to small refiners that would relieve them of half their biofuel blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
The EPA has received requests from 36 refineries for exemptions from their 2018 blending compliance requirements. According to Politico, issuing partial waivers rather than the full waivers that EPA has been granting refiners could be a compromise to try to assuage both the biofuel backers and the oil industry.
Sources told Politico that Wheeler is weighing various options on RFS. “Corn and ethanol groups see the waivers as undermining the ethanol standard and reducing demand for biofuel,” Politico reports.
“No decisions regarding 2018 [Small Refinery Exemptions] have been made,” agency spokesperson Michael Abboud said in a statement. “EPA continues to implement the Renewable Fuel Standard program in accordance with the Clean Air Act, taking into consideration additional direction from Congress, recommendations from Department of Energy, and relevant court decisions.”
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