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Report: RFS is focus of White House meetings

Possible changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) will be discussed in White House meetings today and next Tuesday, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Today’s meeting reportedly involves President Trump, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue. Bloomberg’s sources say a follow-up meeting on Tuesday will include Iowa’s two senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both ardent supporters of biofuels—and Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who are seeking changes to the RFS.

The meetings come amid growing debate over the RFS. The dispute intensified last month with the bankruptcy filing of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, which supplies more than a quarter of the East Coast’s crude refining capacity. The company blames its troubles on the cost of fulfilling annual biofuel quotas, but ethanol supporters say it’s a result of mismanagement.

Participants also are likely to discuss the EPA’s authority to grant an RVP waiver, allowing E15 fuel to be sold year-round. Biofuel supporters have argued the limitation on E15 sales unfairly throttles the market for ethanol and should be lifted.