Refiners Fight 2013 RFS In Court As Senators Debate Program's Future

摘要

Refiners are urging a federal appeals court to scrap EPA's 2013 renewable fuel standard (RFS) by arguing that the agency exceeded its statutory authority and lacked adequate data for its decision to ramp up the RFS' fuel production goals, while senators are debating the program's future - including whether to reform or repeal the RFS. EPA's RFS sets annual fuel blending requirements for conventional renewable fuel, which are largely met through the production of corn ethanol; for cellulosic biofuel; for biomass-based diesel; and advanced biofuel. Oil industry critics of the program argue that the agency sets unattainable targets that are not based on real data, which they say results in harm as they have no option other than to purchase renewable identification number (RIN) credits to comply. EPA recently proposed a 2014 RFS that would lower the conventional biofuel requirements, although there is no specific mandate for producing corn-based ethanol - by nearly 1 billion gallons from 13.8 billion gallons in the 2013 RFS to 13 billion gallons in 2014.