EPA announces RFS timeline

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it will finalise the volume requirements for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), in addition to the 2017 volume requirement for biomass-based diesel, by 30 November.

The following schedule has been established following a proposed consent decree in litigation brought against EPA by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Institute and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM):
• The volume requirements for 2015 will be proposed by 1 June
• By 30 November, EPA will finalise volume requirements for 2014 and 2015, and resolve a pending waiver petition for 2014

Outside the scope of the consent decree, EPA also commits to:
• Propose the RFS volume requirements for 2016 by 1 June, and finalise them by 30 November
• Propose and finalise the RFS biomass-based diesel volume requirement for 2017 on the same schedule
• Re-propose volume requirements for 2014, by 1 June, that reflect the volumes of renewable fuel that were actually used in 2014.

EPA says on its website that it intends to issue a Federal Register Notice allowing the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed consent decree.

 

SOURCE: US EPA