Minnesota’s corn farmers must once again make their voice heard and demand the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) follows the law set by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

The Trump Administration announced in October that the EPA would finally replace ethanol gallons waived through refinery exemptions moving forward. Unfortunately once details were released on how that reallocation would happen, the nation’s corn farmers were greatly disappointed.

While the EPA will begin to account for waivers to keep the RFS whole, it proposed to use a three-year average of how much the Department of Energy (DOE) recommended in waivers to project waivers issued in the year ahead, rather than a three-year average of what EPA actually waived.

The EPA has consistently waived nearly double the gallons the DOE recommended. Recent history suggests this approach means the EPA is likely to continue shortchanging the RFS statute that provides for 15 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended. 

The EPA has reduced RFS requirements by more than 4 billion gallons over three years by granting waivers to refineries at an unprecedented rate. In the past marketing year, corn use for ethanol production has fallen by 229 million bushels.

EPA’s proposal to redistribute future waived gallons is half of what the President committed to. Tell the EPA to follow the RFS law and hold up their end of the deal. The deadline for comments is November 29. Please send your comment to the EPA today by clicking here.