Denial of gap-year waivers a positive step, but more action is needed
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today it would be denying 54 of the 68 pending small refinery exemption (SREs), or waivers, to oil refiners. While the news was welcomed, additional action is required to provide certainty the waiver issue is resolved and the the law set by the Renewable Fuel Standard is followed.
A statement from Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) President-elect Tim Waibel:
“Today’s announcement that the EPA will deny the majority of gap-year refinery waivers was a positive step in stopping efforts by oil refiners to undermine the RFS. We are hopeful the remaining 14 requests are rightly denied in the coming days. However, simply rejecting these gap year requests does not fix the larger waiver issue that has already removed billions of biofuel gallons from the nation’s fuel supply.
”The Tenth Circuit ruled the EPA has exceeded its waiver authority in January, but the Administration has still not applied the ruling to current waiver requests. With 31 waiver requests for the 2019 and 2020 compliance years pending, Minnesota’s corn farmers need this ruling applied to ensure the EPA follows the law set by the RFS. We welcomed President Trump’s E15 infrastructure announcement over the weekend, and hope the EPA’s denial of the pending refinery waivers for 2019 and 2020 is the next much-needed positive development for our nation’s biofuel industry and corn farmers.”
MCGA will continue working with the National Corn Growers Association and its biofuel partners to ensure the necessary actions are taken to uphold the RFS. Stay connected to the latest news by subscribing to MCGA’s free weekly e-newsletter Leader Update below:
