Growth Energy submits supplemental comments on EPA’s SRE proposal
Summary
“EPA should be steadfast in its findings that SREs can only be granted in a narrow set of circumstances of disproportionate economic hardship caused solely by compliance with the RFS. It should ignore continued erroneous claims from oil industry commenters seeking to avoid blending more homegrown, low-carbon biofuels into their fuel. With historically high gas prices amid the war in Ukraine, we need more American biofuels available at the pump – not less.” In its proposal, EPA presents a statutory interpretation of the SRE provisions of the Clean Air Act that would, upon application to 65 pending SRE petitions, lead EPA to deny all 65 petitions. Growth Energy has been a leader in the charge to end the abuse of small refinery exemptions, repeatedly urging EPA to faithfully implement rigorous standards for SRE eligibility, as it is required to do so under the RFS. In addition, Growth Energy submitted comments on Friday in response to the proposed 2020, 2021, and 2022 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs), urging EPA to ensure that any future SREs are accounted for during the RVO rulemaking process, and to ensure that past SREs issued retroactively, after RVOs were finalized, be made up in future RVO years.