Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS):
On September 14, 2020, EPA rejected 54 of 68 petitions from refineries seeking brand-new, "gap-filling" small refinery exemptions going all the way back to 2011. The petitions were filed in 2020 by 17 small refineries in 14 states, many of whom did not file petitions until recent years. Small refinery exemptions destroy demand for biodiesel and undercut markets for soybean farmers.
Send emails to President Trump and Administrator Wheeler through this form. Thank them for keeping their promise to restore integrity to the RFS. Encourage them to reject all pending small refinery exemption petitions that don't meet standards set by the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
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 these bills. Let them know there is more they can do to help biodiesel and renewable diesel producers.
For example, recently 24 Senators and
44 Representatives wrote President
Trump in support of the RFS and to oppose calls to waive this year's volumes. You can send a quick note of thanks through this web form.
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.
- Refiners are filing the "gap" petitions to undo a U.S. Court of Appeals decision from earlier in the year that
limited them. Rather than abide by the Court ruling, EPA is helping refiners create a brand new loophole in the RFS.
- EPA has many options to repair the damage to the biodiesel industry and is required to do so.