|
 |
|
|
|||
|
 |
|
Oct. 14, 2026 Source: Renewable Fuels Association news release Washington -- The Renewable Fuels Association today thanked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Trump administration for their proposed rule providing for 100 percent reallocation of the renewable fuel volume requirements recently waived via 29 small refinery exemptions announced at the end of August. To read the rule click here. "We thank Administrator Lee Zeldin and the White House for honoring their commitment to fully restore the renewable fuel volumes lost to recent small refinery exemptions," said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. "While we believe most of the exemptions were unjustified, EPA's reallocation plan--if finalized as proposed--will help offset the demand loss for ethanol producers and farmers. We look forward to this proposal being swiftly finalized so that renewable fuel producers, refiners, and our partners in agriculture have the certainty they need heading into 2027. "With refiners enjoying record-high profit margins, gasoline supplies tightening, and drivers still paying too much at the pump, the Trump administration understands this is no time to undermine domestic biofuels with SREs. The administration should be expanding access to affordable American-made ethanol--not giving the oil industry another break." In August, EPA granted full exemptions to 18 refiners and partial exemptions to another 11, representing a total of 1.76 billion exempted RINs, or renewable fuel blending credits. This represented the second-highest annual volume of SREs ever granted by EPA. Today's announcement advances the agency's stated intention to reallocate 100 percent of this newly exempted renewable fuel volume into the 2026 and 2027 renewable volume obligations. RFA continues its call for reform of the broken SRE program, Cooper said. "These exemptions were always meant to be a temporary measure to give truly small, independent refiners a little more time to come into compliance with the RFS program. Unfortunately, many so-called small refiners have viewed SREs as an entitlement program and have exploited this loophole for two decades, putting American consumers, farmers, and biofuel producers on the losing end." EPA's own analyses show that RIN costs for all refiners--big and small--are passed along to buyers of refined fuels at the wholesale level, and those costs are offset when lower-cost renewable fuels are blended with gasoline, Cooper added. Further, recent polling for RFA by Morning Consult found that more than three-quarters of respondents with an opinion want oil companies to be required to meet their renewable fuel blending requirements. Less than a quarter want oil companies to be allowed to avoid them. About the RFA Since 1981, the Renewable Fuels Association has been the leading trade association for America's ethanol industry, working to drive expanded demand for American-made renewable fuels and bioproducts worldwide. Tweet |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
