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RFA urges EPA to act on several RFS issues

The Renewable Fuels Association is urging EPA Administrator Wheeler to address several unresolved issues related to the Renewable Fuel Standard.

RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper says the RFS was adopted to provide market certainty for farmers, producers, and refiners.  

“But having that certainty and stability really depends on the EPA doing its job to implement the RFS and keep it on schedule and they’re just not doing that,” he says.

He tells Brownfield RFA sent a letter to Wheeler naming five areas where EPA decisions are needed immediately. 

“First is adopting the Tenth Circuit Court decision on small refinery exemptions and that’s going to impact how they deal with the 98 pending small refinery exemption petitions,” he says. “Two thirds of those are these so-called gap year exemption petitions.” 

Cooper says other areas include addressing the delay in publishing the proposed rule for 2021 renewable volume obligations and restoring the 500-million-gallon conventional renewable fuel volume that was waived from the 2016 RFS requirements.

He says acting on these issues will help return integrity to the RFS.

Audio: Geoff Cooper