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More work to be done in biofuel industry

Now that the EPA has denied some gap year small refinery exemptions, National Biodiesel Board’s Kurt Kovarik says he’s hopeful the administration will make similar decisions moving forward.

“They still have 14 gap SREs that their memo says they’re not taking action on because they’re still at the Department of Energy,” he says. “I would certainly hope, and the biodiesel community would certainly hope that they treat those 14-remaining gap SREs the same way they treated those 54 and simply deny them.”

He tells Brownfield the industry is also waiting on the 2021 Renewable Volume Obligations.  

“We also have the rulemaking that would set the volume for ethanol, biodiesel, and other renewable fuels for 2021 and 2022 for biomass-based diesel, so we’ve got a lot yet ahead of us,” he says.

EPA is supposed to set the volume requirement’s by Nov. 30 each year, but Administrator Wheeler has said the coronavirus pandemic has made it more challenging.