The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) applauds the announcement by President Donald Trump that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is beginning a formal rulemaking process to allow year-round sales of E15 nationwide. Currently, E15 (gasoline containing 15% ethanol) cannot be sold during the summer months in most of the country. The de facto summertime ban on E15 is the result of …
Bipartisan Support for Biodiesel Tax Incentive Extension
The National Biodiesel Board is grateful for the 46 members of Congress who voiced strong support for a multi-year extension of the biodiesel tax incentive. The members of Congress represent states all the way from California to Connecticut, and they asked for a resolution in the coming weeks from House leadership. The biodiesel tax incentive was retroactively renewed for 2017 …
White House Considers Limits on Biofuel Trading for E15 Deal
Three sources familiar with the discussion told Reuters that the Trump Administration is considering limits on trading biofuels credits. The goal would be to discourage speculation and reduce costs for oil refiners to comply with U.S. biofuels policy. The sources also told Reuters that an announcement could be made in the weeks ahead. The move would be part of a …
EPA RFS Waiver Website Doesn’t Include Justification
A new website by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t satisfy all sides of the hardship waiver issue under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The National Corn Growers Association called the website a “good place to start,” but says there is “a lot of questions left unanswered.” The effectiveness of a website depends not only on its content but also …
EPA Releases RFS Waiver Information Online
The agency says it granted 49 waivers in 2016 and 2017. Those waivers added up to 2.25 billion gallons in biofuels, which negatively affected roughly 800 million bushels of corn demand. Because of those waivers, the National Biodiesel Board says that amounted to a loss of 300 million gallons of biofuels. In a statement issued last week, Acting EPA Administrator …
Growth Energy Welcomes Congressional Support for Year-Round E15
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor thanks the 24 members of the House Biofuels Caucus for sending a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking them to approve year-round E15 and support the Renewable Fuels Standard. The letter also calls for the agency to “put an end” to the secretive refinery waivers that have “hurt farmers and the growth of ethanol.” …
RFA Statement on EPA Efforts to Provide Greater Transparency on RFS
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced new efforts to provide greater transparency in the Renewable Identification Number (RIN) market, used to show compliance with annual Renewable Fuel Standard requirements. As part of this announcement, EPA said it will be providing aggregated annual data on small refiner exemptions, as well as waiver requests for current and future compliance years. RFA President …
Growth Energy Launches Bus Tour Promoting E15
The summer ban on E15 sales in select areas ended over the weekend as Growth Energy launched a campaign to promote E15 and higher blended fuels. As part of their campaign, Growth Energy is launching a bus tour to rally support for quick action on the president’s promise to unleash E15 ethanol blends. Over the next few months, the bus …
Refiner Waivers Could Cost Ethanol Industry $20 Billion
New research estimates the U.S. ethanol industry could lose 4.6 billion gallons of domestic demand and $20 billion in sales from the administration’s approach to the Renewable Fuel Standard. Economists at the University of Missouri estimated the losses over the next six years, if the Environmental Protection Agency continues exempting dozens of small refiners from their blending obligations under the …
Farm, Ethanol Groups Urge President to Restore Integrity to RFS, Allow Year-Round E15 Sales
In a letter to President Trump, the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, National Sorghum Producers, American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, and Renewable Fuels Association urged the administration to act immediately to restore the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and allow year-round sales of E15 and other mid-level ethanol blends. The groups …