Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS):
Contact Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler about small refinery exemptions.The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel industry provides more than 90 percent of the nation’s advanced biofuels under the RFS program. Unfortunately, EPA is undermining the RFS program’s support for advanced biofuels by handing out small refinery exemptions to nearly every oil refinery that asks.
Administrator Wheeler recently stated that his agency’s approval of E15 should make up for continued small refinery exemptions. The draft ask him to ensure that small refinery exemptions don’t destroy demand for biodiesel and renewable diesel.
Use this form to send an email or tweet to EPA Administrator Wheeler.
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.