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NBB on proposed biodiesel cuts: different president, same EPA

The COO of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) says even though it’s under a new administration, the EPA continues to underestimate the biodiesel industry.

Following a recent proposal to further reduce the total renewable fuel volume requirements for biomass-based diesel in 2018 and 2019, Doug Whitehead describes this as a familiar scenario.

“We’ve been here before, (and) I say that because every time we go through an RVO discussion or rule-making process, the (EPA) has low-balled us.  And we’ve had to come back with data.  So there’s a little bit of a misunderstanding about our capacity and our production.”

He tells Brownfield the EPA possesses data verifying the U.S. biodiesel industry is capable of producing 4.2 billion gallons annually.

The proposed cuts would slash that by almost a half-billion.

“We don’t have any capacity issues.  We’re not trying to eliminate imports.  We’re trying to level the playing field for our companies in the United States.”

Among his concerns, Whitehead says this proposal sends a negative signal to U.S. biodiesel producers that could slow growth within the industry.

The EPA is expected to release its final RVO numbers for 2018 and ’19 around the end of November.