A letter by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) asks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fully account for small refinery exemptions in the annual Renewable Fuel Standard rules. Specifically, the letter addresses EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, asking him to “end the demand destruction for biodiesel.” The letter asks EPA to set RFS biomass-based diesel volumes for 2020 at 2.8 …
RFA Applauds President Trump’s E15 Announcement
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 …
Perdue Comments on DOJ Filing in 9th Circuit Chlorpyrifos Ruling
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue praised the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to request a rehearing of a pesticide case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. DOJ has asked for a panel rehearing and a rehearing en banc in a case in which the court directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban chlorpyrifos, a common and useful pesticide, within 60 …
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 …
Bayer Says Dicamba Decision Likely Coming Soon
The world’s largest agribusiness is predicting the Environmental Protection Agency will decide soon on the future of dicamba. Bayer expects the EPA to issue a renewal and an updated license for the product in the weeks ahead. Liam Condon, President of the Crop Science Division at Bayer, says, “The EPA wants to make a decision before the next growing season …
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 …
University Analysis: EPA’s Refiner Waivers Could Cost Ethanol Industry $20 Billion in Losses
A recent analysis by economists at the University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) shows that the U.S. ethanol industry could lose 4.6 billion gallons of domestic demand and nearly $20 billion in sales revenue over the next six years if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues its current practice of exempting dozens of small refiners from …
Lawsuit Filed Over Oil Refinery Waivers
Two of the biggest ethanol groups in America have sued both the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The focus of the suit is dozens of hardship waivers granted to oil refineries that allowed them to not blend ethanol into the fuel supply. Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association filed the suit to get access to records …