Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS):
The Environmental Protection Agency estimated small refinery exemptions as it set the annual RFS volumes for 2020, which will help to limit future damage to the biofuel industry. Nevertheless, EPA used an estimate of exempted volumes that is lower than the volumes actually exempted for 2016, 2017 and 2018. And EPA gave no assurance that it would stop handing out small refinery exemptions to everyone that asked. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit recently ruled that EPA exceeded its authority by expanding the use of small refinery exemptions.
Send emails to President Trump and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler through this form. Ask them to follow through on their commitment to ensure that small refinery exemptions don’t undercut RFS volumes.
Congress has proposed two bills -- the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act of 2019 (HR
3006) and the Small Refinery Exemption Fairness Act of 2019 (HR
4385) -- that will direct EPA to properly account for future demand destruction from the waivers.
Send a message to your Representative and Senators through this form and
ask them to support the Renewable Fuel Standard and the biodiesel industry. Let them know there is more they can do to help biodiesel and renewable diesel producers.
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 destroyed demand for hundreds of millions of gallons of biodiesel each year over the past several years.
- If EPA continues to hand out small refinery exemptions at the same rate, 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 cite as justification.
- EPA ignored Department of Energy recommendations on small refinery exemptions for 2016, 2017 and 2018. The biofuel industry can't rely on EPA to do so in the future.
- EPA has many options to repair the damage to the biodiesel industry and is required to do so.