Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS):
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to include an estimate of gallons that will be exempted due to small refinery waivers in its formula to set 2020 and future RFS obligations. The agency is inviting public comment on the proposal through November 29, 2019.
EPA proposes to estimate future exemptions based on an average of those recommended by the Department of Energy in past years. NBB is asking EPA to use a three-year average of its actual exemptions to estimate future exemptions, which we believe will be a more accurate prediction.
Please join us in commenting on the proposed rule. You can use this form to automatically submit comments directly to EPA’s rule docket.
As our members and industry stakeholders communicate with Members of Congress, Washington policy makers, the media, and the public, NBB provides the resources to the right and works with them to amplify these points:
- Small refinery exemptions have destroyed demand for hundreds of millions of gallons of biodiesel over the past several years.
- If EPA continues to hand out small refinery exemptions at the same rate as the past two years, it will reduce biodiesel demand by 2.54 billion gallons and cause a $7.7 billion loss for the industry, according to University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin.
- Just one small refinery exemption can eliminate demand for an entire biodiesel facility. A “small” oil refinery can produce up to 3 million gallons of fuel per day. It’s annual RFS obligation for biodiesel is only 20 million gallons,
which is more than some small biodiesel plants produce in a year.
- EPA began freely handing out small refinery exemptions before receiving the Congressional directives and Court decisions they currently cite as justification.
- EPA has ignored Department of Energy recommendations regarding whether small refinery exemptions are merited.
- EPA has many options to repair the damage to the biodiesel industry and is required to do so.