US Senator group urges EPA to uphold RFS

The pile of letters sent to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the planned Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes for 2017 keeps on growing.

This time around, 39 US Senators are urging EPA administrator Gina McCarthy to ensure the final 2017 ruling “promotes growth in the US biofuel sector and capture economic opportunity rather than drive investment overseas”.

The 2017 proposal calls on refiners to blend 14.8 billion gallons of conventional biofuels in 2017, below the 15 billion gallon level envisioned by Congress when it expanded the RFS in 2007.

The letter has drawn support from the biofuel industry, including the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA).

Bob Dinneen, CEO of the RFA, thanked the lawmakers “for their leadership to ensure EPA finalises a strong RFS that gets the program back on track.”

“In proposing a lower conventional biofuel target for 2017, the EPA is catering to the oil industry by relying upon an illegal interpretation of its waiver authority and concern over a blend wall that the oil industry itself is creating.

“The RFA has demonstrated just how easy it would be for obligated parties to reach the 15 billion gallon statutory volume for conventional biofuels next year—through rising gasoline demand, increased E15 and E85 and 2 billion surplus renewable identification numbers available to refiners,” Dinneen said.

He also noted that continued uncertainty has caused investments in new technology and advanced biofuel to languish or move overseas from the US.

Chip Bowling, president of the NCGA, said his association “challenges the assumptions used by the Agency in setting the 2017 conventional biofuels targets as well as its authority to reduce the levels under current circumstances.”

“America’s corn farmers and ethanol refiners have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to reach the 15 billion gallon statutory volume in a sustainable, cost-effective manner. With USDA projecting another record corn crop and carryover levels not seen for decades, America’s farmers have met the challenge Congress put forth to produce enough corn to feed and fuel the nation,” Bowling stated.