NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Winters
202-737-8801
pwinters@biodiesel.org
WASHINGTON, DC - Today,
the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) expressed disappointment in a Court
ruling that upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's method for
setting biomass-based diesel volumes in the 2017 RFS rules. The U.S.
Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit dismissed NBB's petition as a policy
disagreement with EPA's choice of biomass-based diesel volumes.
In
the same decision, the Court rejects refiners' arguments that they are
burdened by RIN prices and that EPA should change the point of
obligation. The Court further rejected arguments that the 2017 RFS
volumes were set too high and that EPA should have used additional
waiver authority.
Kurt
Kovarik, NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs, said, "The Court's
decision is disappointing. It fails to consider the obvious flaw in
EPA's choice of biomass-based diesel volumes for 2018, which was set a
year in advance of the other annual volumes. The Court found persuasive
EPA's promise to allow growth for biodiesel and renewable diesel under
the yet-to-be-set 2018 advanced biofuel. However, as we argued was the
danger, EPA did not provide that growth -- it flatlined the advanced
biofuel volume in 2018.
"Nevertheless,
we see one bright spot in today's Court decision. The Court agreed with
EPA's evidence that refiners are not harmed by the cost of RINs. The
Court's ruling highlights the disparity between EPA's findings and its
current practice of granting hardship exemptions to every refinery that
asks. If the refiners aren't harmed by RIN costs, what exactly is the
hardship they're facing?
"EPA's
small refinery exemptions have caused severe economic hardships for
biodiesel and renewable diesel producers, forcing some to close their
doors and lay off workers. EPA must put the RFS program back on track."
Made
from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking
oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable,
clean-burning diesel replacement that can be used in existing diesel
engines without modification. It is the nation's first domestically
produced, commercially available advanced biofuel. NBB is the U.S. trade
association representing the entire biodiesel value chain, including
producers, feedstock suppliers, and fuel distributors, as well as the
U.S. renewable diesel industry.
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For more about biodiesel, visit www.biodiesel.org.