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EPA backs off on proposed RFS changes

EPA administrator Scott Pruitt told farm state senators in a letter sent last night that his agency is abandoning proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Pruitt said the agency will keep renewable fuel volume mandates for next year at levels equal or greater to those the agency proposed in July, reversing a proposal to cut the levels for biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol.

Pruitt also promised that the EPA will not take action on a rumored proposal to allow ethanol exports to count towards RFS compliance and will not move the point of obligation downstream to fuel wholesalers.

Pruitt has been under heavy pressure from lawmakers and other biofuels stakeholders to back off on the proposals.  In a statement, Iowa Senator Charles Grassley called it “a great day for rural America”.  Grassley had threatened to hold up EPA nominees in the Senate unless the agency backed off on the proposals.

Bob Dinneen of the Renewable Fuels Association said he was “grateful for Administrator Pruitt’s epiphany on the road to the RFS”.

In his letter, Pruitt said the agency will also explore whether it has the legal authority to approve year-round access to E15.  If not, he says EPA would work with Congress to resolve the issue.