ABFA, biofuels industry stakeholders appeal to EPA to remove RFS barriers

A group of biofuels industry stakeholders has urged the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalise provisions in the proposed Regulatory Enhancement Growth Support (REGS) rule to remove regulatory barriers for the production of certain advanced biofuels.

Members of the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA), the Coalition to Address Removal of Regulatory Impediments (CARRI) and others sent a letter to EPA assistant administrator Bill Wehrum, asking the agency to act on the following:

• To allow the production, transfer and use of biointermediates in renewable fuel production to generate Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs)
• To allow co-processing pathways to generate cellulosic D3 and D7 RINs
• To approve mass balance and other alternative, standardised, industry-compatible test methods under the existing regulations to account for the quantity of RINs generated by renewable fuel produced through co-processing.

“Finalising this language will create the opportunity for American companies to generate significant quantities of cellulosic fuels, including renewable jet fuel,” said ABFA president Michael McAdams. “This language has broad support and has already gone through the required notice and comment period, and I urge EPA to act without further delay.

“The scale and diversity of this letter’s signatories demonstrates the support of a broad array of American industries, from producers of both the feedstocks and the renewable fuels, to commercial consumers looking to use more sustainable fuels. They are all eagerly anticipating taking advantage of the opportunities these reforms will make possible.”

Airlines for America, BP, Shell, Honeywell, Attis Industries, Neste, Gevo, Velocys, Fulcrum Bioenergy and Red Rock Biofuels were among the signatories of the letter, which can be read in full here.