Senators call on EPA to set strong RFS RVOs, deny pending SREs
Summary
“These volume were finalized over two years ago in December 2019, and adjusting them downward after the fact would set a troubling precedent and negatively impact the entire agriculture and fuel supply chain,” the senators wrote. The senators are urging the agency to increase the proposed 2021 RVO to statutory levels, noting that “the administration cannot meet its ambitious climate goals without providing for growth and certainty in the RFS.” The senators support the agency’s proposal to set the 2022 RVO at 20.77 billion gallons, plus 250 million gallons in supplemental obligations that would address the remand of the 2014-2016 annual rule by the D.C. Court of Appeals in Americans for Clean Energy v. EPA. The senators are also urging the “EPA to finalize its proposed change in approach to SRE eligibility, which notes that ‘small refineries fully recover the costs of RFS compliance through higher prices on sales of gasoline and diesel, and that as a result they do not suffer economic hardship due to the RFS.’” In addition to Klobuchar and Grassley, the letter is signed by Sens. “By taking the senators’ recommendations to abandon the after-the-fact cut to 2020, maintain robust volumes for 2021 and 2022, and reject pending small refinery exemption waivers, EPA can fully utilize the RFS for its enacted purpose, to replace petroleum with low carbon alternatives, which will help grow demand for biofuels that benefit rural America as well as the Administration’s decarbonization goals.” “The final versions of the recently proposed 2020, 2021, and 2020 RVOs will have an immense impact for years to come on not only the biofuels industry, but also on the environment as our nation works to achieve net-zero emissions,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. By doing so, EPA would be making meaningful progress in the Biden Administration’s commitment to move toward more low carbon alternatives in our transportation sector while supporting farmers and biofuels producers.” A full copy of the letter can be downloaded from Klobuchar’s website.